We’ll be open tomorrow during Open Studios. Please stop by as we demonstrate the intaglio process!

We’re excited about the Pacific Center for the Book Arts‘ triennial member show, BookWorks 2008, at the San Francisco Public Library (main downtown branch). Over one hundred books will be featured from July 1 - September 26, 2008 in the Skylight Gallery, with an impressive collection of books ranging in size, shape and subject matter. Please come by the opening reception on Tuesday, July 1, from 6:30 - 8 pm.

BookWorks 2008
San Francisco Public Library
Skylight Gallery, 6th Floor
100 Larkin St
San Francisco, CA 94102

Opening Reception: Tuesday, July 1, from 6:30–8 pm
More info: www.pcba.info

Bitmap (Raster) vs. Vector Art

First of all, let’s define the functions of standard graphic software. Many designers and letterpress printers use Adobe Photoshop to create digital files for letterpress, where ragged edges tend to appear. Why does this happen in Photoshop, and not in Illustrator or InDesign?

The answer: Photoshop is a bitmap (also referred to as raster)-based program. It uses pixels to assign and manage both color and detail information. Because Photoshop works with a fixed number of pixels, the quality of a file is dependent upon its resolution (e.g., a higher resolution file = a higher quality print). However, when type or images are modified in Photoshop, fine details are often lost or compromised — that’s when fuzzy or jagged edges can emerge.

Unlike Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign are vector-based programs based on mathematical calculations that represent letterforms and images. Thus, type and graphics can be resized and printed while maintaining the same crisp edge quality.

Best of all, it’s a cinch to compose and format your page layout in InDesign. Within an InDesign document, you can create text blocks as well as place native Illustrator (.ai) and PDF files, all without compromising final output quality. Both Illustrator and InDesign can also generate PDF files which are convenient to show to your clients as soft proofs.

Scanning

Now that we’ve established the differences between software applications, let’s see how we can capture the best scan from your scanner.

When scanning images for letterpress, it’s best to turn sharpening off and increase the contrast between the image and its background. This prevents images from picking up small artifacts (such as white cavities in solid areas) and translates into a cleaner scan which is easier to edit in both Photoshop and Illustrator.

Here’s an example of how a scanned image looks, the first without sharpening and the second (bottom) with sharpening. Notice the small white cavities in the second image:

Using Illustrator’s Live Trace tool

Once you have scanned your image, how do you refine those uneven edges? Here’s a sample image that we scanned in grayscale mode at 350 dpi (top image); below is the same file, after it was run through Adobe Illustrator’s Live Trace tool:

Here’s how you can clean up those ragged edges:

• Open your file in Adobe Illustrator (CS3 recommended)
• Select the desired image or text using the Direct Selection tool (open arrow tool)
• Go to Object > Live Trace > Tracing Options
• Under Tracing Options, you’ll see a variety of options for our process. We’ll use the Threshold tool to determine what we keep and discard of the image as it converts the bitmap information into vector art
• 
• Play with different Threshold values to see how much detail you lose or hold; each image will vary. Check the Preview box to the right to see the transformed image.
• Once you are satisfied with your image, you can scale it up or down without losing any detail. However, avoid decreasing the overall image size by more than 15% to prevent loss of finest detail.
• If using InDesign, you can simply place your modified Illustrator file in its native format (.ai). Otherwise, you can use the native Illustrator file or save it as a PDF file for plate-making purposes.

One-Week Summer Intaglio

• Wednesday, June 25 from 7-9 pm;
  Saturday, June 28 from 1-5 pm
• Cost: $85 + $15 materials fee
• Intaglio class syllabus

If you’re a photographer or printmaker, come to this introductory course and learn about the beautiful, easy and non-toxic process of intaglio. We’ll dive into each step of the intaglio process with the chance to make and take away fine art prints:

• Optimizing your digital photo files for photogravure
• Preparing ImagOn for copper plates
• Exposing the plates for printing
• Etching press fundamentals
• You’ll also get the chance to flex your freehand skills with alternative, non-photo techniques like toner wash-based printing!

One-Week Summer Screen Printing

• Wednesday, July 9 from 7-9 pm;
  Saturday, July 12 from 1-5 pm
• Cost: $85 + $15 materials fee
• Screen Printing class syllabus

Fancy making your very own shirts, bags, or posters? Try your hand at screen printing! We’ll cover essential foundation skills for screen printing using water-based inks. You’ll also have the opportunity to experiment with both paper and textiles.

Saturday Letterpress Sessions

Our popular Letterpress class series continues this summer, this time with specific topics requested by clients.

We teach a variety of “outside the manual” letterpress workshops, each conveniently held on a Saturday. Students who enroll in all three workshops qualify for a 15% discount on total fees.

Workshops include:

• Digital Pre-Press

  Saturday, July 19 from 1-5 pm
  Cost: $85

  This class is targeted at letterpress printers who use photopolymer plates, graphic designers and those who seek advanced digital pre-press production skills. We’ll show you the best way to lay out your digital files to be made into plates, efficient methods for converting bitmap type and graphics into vector outlines, and typographic fundamentals specific to letterpress.

  Students of this class qualify for a 10% discount on future plate orders from Logos Graphics.

• Black vs. Black

  Saturday, August 2 from 1-5 pm
  Cost: $85

  The perfect black can be elusive to letterpress printers! Come and solve the mystery between different black inks and their responses to a range of papers. We’ll compare sized vs. unsized papers, and use a densitometer to examine edge sharpness, ink strength, and film thickness between different black inks.

• Job Planning 101

Saturday, August 9 from 1-5 pm
Cost: $85

Have you ever printed a job and then found that you’ve accidentally (or unwittingly) skipped a step in your job planning? Come to this class of essential, but often underlooked, job planning skills.

We’ll cover everything you’ll need to know to successfully execute your next job and maximize your (often limited) budget too.

You’ll learn how to properly choose and trim the right paper, layout digital type and graphic files for film and plate-making, determine the appropriate press sheet size, set up complex jobs (double-sided, tumbled or work-and-turn print jobs), as well as set the order of printing multiple pieces. A must for all printers.

Clients often ask us about our popular paper trimming services (see our Trimming section for prices), and we encourage them to plan their press sheets to include a minimum of an extra 1/2 inch margin for the guide and gripper on the press.

This allows any type or graphics — especially those that bleed off any edges — to have adequate space on the sheet before the printed press sheets are trimmed to their final dimensions.

To be safe, we encourage you to include extra wiggle room on all four sides of the sheet (not only the guide and gripper edges) for you to position the plate properly on the press.

Remember, we offer two types of paper trimming services:

• Break down parent sheets into press-sized sheets - $35
• Break down parent sheets into press-sized sheets + trim your printed sheets to the final dimensions - $50

• Break down parent sheets into press-sized sheets - $35
• Break down parent sheets into press-sized sheets + trim your printed sheets to the final piece size - $50
• Scoring and punching - We can also create professional scores and punches for fold-over greeting cards/invitations, book covers, etc. If interested, please send us a quote request.

• Rives BFK
• Crane’s Lettra
• Somerset Velvet
• Classic Crest Cover (60% recycled, 30% post-consumer; FSC certified)
• Evergreen 50/50 (FSC certified)
• Synergy Vellum Double Thick Cover (50% recycled, 20% post-consumer)
• Mohawk Options Cover (100% recycled, 30% post-consumer)
• Strathmore Writing Cover Bristol (30% post-consumer)

Each student was able to punch and sew a sample book to take home. The classic choices for letterpress papers — Rives BFK, Somerset Velvet, Cranes Lettra — printed beautifully due to their softer, denser pile. Of the “green” sheets, Synergy received a great response, especially with a light soft pack with tissue paper behind the press tympan.

Hope y’all have a great holiday tomorrow!

1 Day Letterpress: All About Paper

If you have ever wondered about the differences between letterpress papers, this is the class for you! We’ll answer such questions as:

• How does one paper print differently from another?
• Which papers take a letterpress impression better than others?
• How does grain direction affect my printing?
• Which papers are readily available vs. pre-ordering?
• Cost comparison of papers?

Come to this one-day class and explore which papers are best for you, and try your own hand at testing several different types! We’ll provide samples of Rives BFK, Hannemühle, Crane’s Lettra, Somerset, and more for you to take home. Light snacks will be provided.

Class Fee: $40, includes one bound paper sample book; additional sample books available at $5 apiece

Date and Time: Saturday, November 17, 2007 | 10 am - 2 pm

Email us to sign up!

5 Week Intaglio: Photo and Hand Work

Held over five Thursday evenings, this intensive intaglio series encompasses an extensive range of intaglio techniques. Each week, we’ll dive into each step of the intaglio process with the chance to make and take away fine art prints:

• Optimizing your digital photo files for photogravure
• Preparing ImagOn for copper plates
• Exposing the plates for printing
• Etching press fundamentals
• You’ll also get the chance to flex your freehand skills with alternative, non-photo techniques like toner wash-based printing!

Class Fee: $400
All materials are provided for weeks 1 through 3, you provide paper for weeks 4 and 5.
Dates: February 7, 14, 21, 28; March 6
Time: 6:30-9:30 pm

5 Week Screen Printing

Screen printing is a quick and easy way to produce to beautiful prints. We’ll cover essential foundation skills for screen printing using water-based inks. Both paper and textiles will be used. This five-week series will be held on Thursday evenings.

Class Fee: $400
Dates: March 20, 27; April 3, 10, 17.
Time:  6:30-9:30 pm