Winter Printing
Since January 1, Dubuque has seen about 60 feet of snow... well, it seems like it anyway.
Fortunately, the press and other necessaries are happily ensconced in our new quarters at 880 White St.
(should be a photo here!)
I've completed a few projects thus far, though momentum is very slow in building. The Heidelberg in particular requiring a steady and patient approach.
The best way to start learning is to clean the press from top to bottom, and then re-read the little manual which, fortunately, has been passed along with it.
Finding the perfect balance of settings to get the thing feeding these high-texture (and expensive!) papers takes learning to think like an engineer along with a close eye on each variable.
However, with encouragement from the generous online letterpress folks in PPLetterpress, I'm now feeling much more comfortable with the press. Of course actually having to print a real job helps to hone the point...
Currently (and for the last few weeks, due to weather and travel delays) I'm printing a six (seven?) piece wedding invitation, two-sides, two-panels, with scoring. It's also bilingual, in Russian and English. Quite beautiful, designed by the groom's father, a long time typographic acquaintance of mine through the Association Typographique Internationale (ATypI.org).
I expect to get this wrapped up this week -- although they are still considering whether to have a Menu card done... It's a wee bit maddening not to have all the pieces of the job ready to print at one time. Understandably, though, they need the "Save the Date" cards well before the rest of the package. I may need to update my policies on this, as there are additional costs involved (shipping not the least of them) when a job stretches over two months.
