Letterpress File Setup - Details

Line Thickness

Lines that are too thin will wash off during the plate-making process. All lines should have a thickness of .75 or more.

Type Size

Always reference the Minted Master Font List to make sure any fonts in a letterpress item are above the minimum font size. Letterpress excels at printing type and handles most fonts very well. However, any font that is too small will wash off during the plate-making process.

Never use text sizes smaller than the Minted minimum guidelines. This is a must for letterpress cards
Add at least a 0.1 stroke to most fonts
Don't track or kern too tightly

Minimum Stroke: Common Fonts

A common error when proofing letterpress items is text with no stroke or too thin of a stroke. A missing stroke or insufficient stroke size can cause fine details to wash off during the plate-making process, resulting in broken lines in the finished product. Common fonts to pay attention to include:

Engravers MT: 0.1 pt stroke
Burgues Script: 0.3 pts stroke
Mrs. Eaves: 0.2 pts stroke

Knockout Type

Although it is rare, knockout text will occasionally be used in letterpress designs. If you work on a design with knockout text, keep the font at a larger size. Consider adding a stroke as well, to compensate for ink spread.

Knockout type should be 2+ pts larger than Minted's minimum suggested font size
Add a stroke to help maintain legibility in the finished printed product

For example, see the "M" monogram in the Abiding Love Letterpress Invitation:

What is Overprinting?

When two different colors overlap it is called overprinting. Pantone spot colors (ink) will multiply when printed over one another.

Things to Keep in Mind:

Be mindful of overlapping colors.
Dark colors can be overprinted over lighter colors. As a best practice, dark colors should be at the top of the layers and light colors should be at the bottom.
Make sure both the Overprint Fill and Overprint Stroke boxes are checked on the Attributes panel. Most letterpress product files have the checkboxes selected, however, when we alter designs it can change the settings. Sometimes, one or the other of these options will be greyed out. In that case, be sure to select any option that is available.

Overprinting Example: What We See on the Screen as Designers vs. What Generates in the File for the Printer

As an example, let's look at a 2-color card, in Stone and Matte Gold, without the Overprint Fill and Overprint Stroke settings selected.

As DAs we see a design file with no obvious issues:

The printer receives a file with two images from which to make plates. One image is for the Stone layer, which looks fine:

And the other image is for the Matte Gold layer. This image includes knock-out areas where the darker Stone color overlaps the Matte Gold color. If shifting occurs between the two colors during the printing process it can cause visible registration issues in the final product. To avoid knockouts and ensure a clean, finished product for our customers, always select the Overprint Fill and Overprint Stroke settings:

How Do We Fix Overprinting?

Trapping

When two colors are next to one another but are not supposed to overlap, it can cause inconsistencies during the printing process. To help ensure consistency throughout a print run, we use trapping. Trapping involves adding space (sometimes called spread) during the print production process to eliminate misregistration of the press. When colors are not supposed to overlap and are close enough that shifting can cause errors during a print run, always build in space so colors do not touch or overlap one another.

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