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Specialty Printing
Offset Lithography
This is the standard printing process that most commercial printers use. Though the process is standard, the quality of the printed pieces requires great expertise and solid equipment. The offset process involves two things: ink and water. As we all know, ink (oil) and the water never mix. When a plate with the image is created, it is dampened with water first, then with ink. The ink sticks to the plate where the image area is, and the water binds to the non-image area. The image is then pressed to a rubber blanket, and then finally to the paper. This is why it is called "offset", because the plates never actually touch the paper as in other forms of printing.
We provide a variety of other printing processes as well, and each one gives its own unique appearance.
Thermography
Thermography is also called "raised" printing and is one of our specialties! We do many, many thermographic pieces and each time the completed piece has its own unique outcome! The process of thermography takes offset printing a step further. While the ink is still wet, the sheet will go through a machine that dusts the ink with a fine powder, which can be clear or colored. The fine resin powder sticks to the wet ink and is vacuumed off the dry areas of the sheet. The piece goes through a type of oven that fuses the ink with the powder, and literally raises the ink off the page so you can feel it with your hands. Pearl, glitter, colored, dull, and even scratch-n-sniff powders add very creative and unique effects to any printed piece.
  
Embossing
Embossing may be the most elegant printing process. When embossed, the sheet is actually run through a letterpress that places the sheets between two metal plates--a die and counter die. The letterpress exerts the necessary force to actually press the sheet between the two dies, molding the actual paper into the shape of the dies. The result gives a tangible impression that like thermography, you can feel with your hands.
Foilstamping
Foil stamping is done with a letterpress as well. A die is pressed onto the sheet with a piece of colored foil between it and the die. The technique results in an effect that is beautiful and basically replaces an ink impression with a piece of foil that is reflective and eyecatching. A foil die can be made from almost any shape you desire.
 
Die Cutting
A hand crafted die, similar to a cookie cutter, can cut almost any shape of image from the paper it is pressed into.
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