Letterpress VS. Foil

Need help distinguishing between letterpress and foil? This blog has got you covered!

On the left is my letterpress, and on the right is my foil press!

At A Basic Level

Without getting too technical, the biggest difference between the two is the colors they can print!

Foil printing typically has reflective, shiny finishes such as gold, holographic, or silver. The text or design will sparkle and shine when you move it around in the light!

Letterpress will create more of a matte colored finish and won’t be reflective or shiny. It will be one color throughout and a standard color (black, dusty pink, sage green, etc).

Now, let's get more specific –

The Differences:

Foil

• Foil printing uses heat, requiring a specific press that will heat up and specific metal printing plates to print from. You can’t use the plastic plates that you do with letterpress because they’ll melt!

• When it comes to foils, you are limited to the colors that are available for purchase. You cannot simply mix any foil color and print it. While matte foils like flat white or black can be purchased, they can be tricky to print. Additionally, foil is opaque, so you cannot overlay two colors like you can with letterpress.

• Foil machines allow for more options for embossing, including 3D embossing! You can also buy a foil printer brand new from Metallic Elephant, which is pretty awesome. They’ll ship internationally, too.
  

letterpress

• Letterpress printing uses no heat, and some presses don’t even hook up to electricity.

• Printing plates are plastic and a little cheaper than the metal plates used for foil.

• With letterpress, you can print any color of the rainbow (just get a Pantone book and see all the options!). There are even neon inks!

• Because the ink with letterpress is transparent, you can overlap two different colors and create a third, opening a lot of options for creative exploration. So if you printed red, and then yellow on top, anywhere it overlaps will then look orange.

• Certain letterpress machines do have die-cutting abilities, which can be fun if you want to cut designs into unique shapes.

• Letterpress machines are no longer made today, so you have to buy them secondhand. Facebook, Craigslist, or Briar Press are good places to look!

An example of overlapping colors in letterpress. This print was only two colors: yellow and light pink. Where the two colors overlap, it creates orange!

The Similarities:

letterpress & foil

• Both create an indention in the paper, that beautiful ‘impression’ we all love. Letterpress might get a little more impression than foil, though.

• You can only print one color at a time with both. You can’t print a design that has the names in red, and the body text in black all at once. You have to print one color, then change to the next color and print the second.

• Both can blind deboss

• You can play with your printing materials. I’ve printed on fabric on my letterpress, and a lot of people print on leather with their foil press.

A blind deboss is when your image or text are pushed into the paper with no ink or foil in between.

The Best of Both Worlds

These two types of printing methods are both beautiful and very unique. If I had to choose between one I would be absolutely torn! Hopefully, this has given you a better understanding of letterpress verses foil printing.

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Want to learn how to letterpress print?

Check out my course, Makeready, that teaches the foundations of letterpress printing.

Using my experience from over 13 years behind the printing press, I will teach you all the tools and techniques you need to know to create beautiful art with letterpress.

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