Digital, Letterpress or Foil: Which Printing Process is Best For Your Project?

NooneyArt Designs has partnered with local printers to make sure that our customers get quality printing that works for their design and budget needs. We offer three printing methods - flat digital printing, letterpress and foil stamping. Below is some basic information on the three different processes that we think should be helpful in making your choice.

Digital Printing
Flat digital printing is the most commonly used process due to its quick turn around and economical price point. It also allows for personalization on items such envelopes and name cards. Full color designs can be printed on a variety of paper and card stocks up to 130# cover weight. White ink is also available with digital printing, which is a great choice if you wish to print your text or design on a darker paper stock.

Chateau de la Valouze wedding invitation, printed digital on Superfine cover stock.

Letterpress
Letterpress printing is a centuries old technique of relief printing which has a luxurious, tactile feel. The process starts with the creation of a plate that has a raised image and/or text which is then inked and pressed into paper stock. It’s typically best to use a thicker paper stock in order to achieve a deep impression that you can see and feel. We’ve done letterpress on cover stock weights from 100# to double thick 240# with good results.

Letterpress on its own typically uses one or two inks that are printed separately, but we often combine it with digital printing to add full color artwork and images to a design.

Letterpress is more expensive than digital printing, and requires additional production time (we require 2-3 weeks).

Letterpress wedding invitations, combined with digitally printed artwork.

Foil Stamping
Foil stamping is a great way to add formal elegance to your printed project. It requires a similar process to letterpress, but instead of ink, very thin sheets of foil are used to press the design into the paper. The foil is available in a variety of colors including gold, rose gold and silver. Like letterpress, this method can be combined with digital printing, requires additional production time and is more expensive than digital printing alone.

Gold foil monogram printed on black cover stock.

Saratoga NY wedding invitation, with gold foil stamping combined with digital printing.

Contact NooneyArt Designs for more information or to schedule your printing project!