Our Presses

All INK MEETS PAPER cards are letterpress printed at our studio in charming Greenville, South Carolina. Our oldest press is a Chandler & Price platen press from 1896, and our youngest press is a Heidelberg Windmill from 1959. We love a good piece of antique equipment around here— they just don’t make ‘em like they used to!

Team INK Fun Fact:
 Our first press was a 1,000-pound 8×12 Chandler & Price press that we purchased from a print shop in Jacksonville, FL. They were closing out the letterpress portion of their shop, so we’re happy to have given this press a new life! For many years, this was our only press, and each card is fed by hand, one color at a time. While not our daily-use press anymore, we still print with this press on a regular basis!

Press Room at our Greenville, SC Studio
stack of freshly cut paper on antique paper cutter

Our Papers

More than just printed ephemera, our cards are printed on quality paper stocks designed to uphold the beauty of handwritten correspondence. We work with American mills and suppliers to source our papers. Most of our cards are printed on thick 100% cotton paper, which is tree free and produced using wind energy and carbon neutral manufacturing. Our other paper stocks are fully recyclable and biodegradable with FSC certification. The paper for our signature envelopes (exclusive to INK MEETS PAPER) is FSC certified and produced with 100% wind energy.

Team INK Fun Fact:
Our 100% cotton paper is tree free and uses cotton that’s recycled from the garment industry.

Our Process: Mixing Ink

We start the printing process by mixing ink according to the color formula in the Pantone guide, which is basically like a recipe book for ink colors. This ensures we’re mixing up the same color each time we print.

Mixing ink is one of the hands-on aspects to the process that we absolutely love. From computer screen to ink palette, the color truly comes to life. 

Team INK Fun Fact:
Our inks are vegetable-oil based, and a little goes a long way when it comes to letterpress printing. We have cans of ink from when we first started printing back in 2008 that are still used today!

Mixing red ink in the press room
Process - Allison printing with Chandler and Price press

Ready to print!

Once the ink colors are mixed, we’re ready to head to print. Our workhouse machine is our antique Chandler & Price platen press from 1923. It’s 1,000 pounds of cast iron, and our press lady (and co-owner) Allison still hand feeds each piece of paper, one color at a time, into the press. Between colors, the press must be washed up and then the new design set up and registered in order to begin printing the second color.

 

…yes, she is a badass. 😉

We take craftsmanship and quality seriously in order to produce a finished product that is delightful to the senses, visually and tactilely. Throughout the print run, Allison constantly checks the inking, impression, and registration to ensure the quality of each card is consistent.

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We’re glad you’re here. Together we can make the world more human, one card at a time.

 

Now go and make someone’s day and tell them they are amazing 🙂