Each workshop is a self-contained learning experience producing a finished printed piece. Work at your own pace through video lessons, reference materials, and guided projects.
A complete orientation to the letterpress process. This workshop covers the history and mechanics of relief printing, an overview of press types, and the vocabulary you will use throughout your practice. No materials required — just attentive watching and note-taking.
Your first hands-on workshop. Learn to select type from a California job case, set it in a composing stick, build a form, and lock it in a chase. Covers spacing techniques, leading, and the basics of typographic composition in physical space.
Prepare your first ink slab, roll out an even ink film, and pull your first print. This workshop demystifies makeready and impression adjustment on tabletop platen presses, guiding you through the tactile feedback that tells an experienced printer whether the setup is right.
Move beyond premixed colors. This workshop teaches oil-based ink mixing using a simple palette system, covers transparency modifiers and extenders, and shows how to create and maintain a personal color reference library. Paper-to-ink interaction is covered in depth.
Photopolymer plates allow you to bring any artwork to the press, not just what is available in physical type. This workshop covers file preparation, plate ordering from commercial suppliers, plate mounting, and printing with photopolymer on both platen and Vandercook presses.
Paper is the surface that makes or breaks a letterpress print. This workshop examines cotton rag papers, dampening for deeper impression, grain direction, weight and thickness, and how to evaluate sheets before buying. Includes sourcing guidance for US-based paper merchants.
Printing in multiple colors requires precise registration — the accurate alignment of successive impressions on the same sheet. This workshop covers registration systems, gauge pins, guide systems, and how to design layouts that work with, not against, the limitations of tight register.
Large-scale wood type creates bold typographic compositions with a presence that metal type cannot match. This workshop covers wood type care and maintenance, designing with large-format letterforms, and printing techniques specific to wood type on both platen and cylinder presses.
Send us a note describing your current experience level and what you hope to create. We can help you identify the most useful starting point for your specific situation.
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