Papers for Letterpress

Hi, I’m from Singapore and am totally new to letterpress.

Realised there’s an increasing interest in letterpress in Singapore and am hoping some kind soul can tell me where in Singapore I can get paper that is suitable for letterpress. I have tried calling some of the usual paper suppliers listed online but none seem to have anything suitable.

Appreciate any leads I can get here. Thanks!

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A lot of papers are suitable, but not being familiar with suppliers in Singapore, I can’t offer any names.

For kiss impressions, nearly any stock is workable. Experimentation will be a good guide to follow. Personally, I prefer uncoated stocks, which allow the ink to dry without the use of additional compounds.

For deep impression, cotton stocks seem to be the most popular and workable. Look for something over 300 gsm if possible, such as Crane’s Lettra. Although you can order from the US, it’s likely to only work as a high end product for you if you can’t source it locally.

Try checking with artist supply groups. Watercolor papers are workable, and you might have a better chance of finding a suitable paper.

As a final note, if you’re asking suppliers directly for letterpress papers, they may not have any idea of what you need. Many suppliers in the US are not familiar with the medium, so if it’s just now getting “hot” in Singapore, it may be a similar situation. Just ask about papers by specifications, like 100% cotton or over 300 gsm.

Good luck!

James Beard
Vrooooom Press
www.vrooooom.org

hi james, thank you so much for replying. i did what you recommended and managed to find some materials to work with. 300gsm and above seems to work well. On another note, i recently bought some samples from etsy and there was a letterpress studio that was able to get some really good impressions on standard linen card (250gsm thereabouts). The paper was thin and stiff but there were some good impressions made. When i start increasing my impression strength the words start to smudge and gets fat. I can’t seem to get it sharp and deep. Any suggestions would be great.

Things i have tried:
different types of packing
reexposing my polymer for a longer time

You have to learn how to do fine letterpress printing with a kiss impression first. Later you can go to smash printing if you wish.
Good printing starts with good inking. Without that, no amount of packing adjustment, cursing or waving of hands will help. Understand that the type or image has a surface face and the vertical relief part. In type the vertical is called the beard. You must adjust your amount of ink and your roller pressure so only the surface of your form is inked. If you have too much ink or too much roller pressure, you will get ink on the beard. Are you now a step ahead of me at the ah-ha moment? If you have ink on the beard and smash the type or image into the paper, the ink on the beard will rub off on the side of the indentation and the image will not be crisp. Think of it as having put butter on both sides of a knife and then pressing it down between two fingers.
Alternately, you can do a nice kiss impression with ink. Then when the ink is completely dry, run the stock back through without ink on the form and with an incresed amount of soft (like newspaper) packing directly under the tympan sheet. You must be very careful that all of the inked copies are precisely in register with one another, and that your second pass is fed very precisely.
It will help to clean the form in the press and not take it out as there are a few thousandths slop as the chase is fitted to the bed.
Get well grounded in the basics and think how the system works. This is the place to come to ask questions. Also learn to think the issue through. I say you have to be a little smarter than the press. Not a lot, but at least a little.

Hi Satangelic, Im from singapore too. Looking for Lettra paper but the suppliers dont seem to have any. Mind sharing what kind of papers you tried using and the effect if its good?

Also, did you try shipping direct from the states? I wonder if it’ll be really expensive.

Hi Pamplemousse, been sometime since i last logged on. Just saw your message. I have been using standard materials from fancy, however they are still quite stiff and not as soft as cotton paper. Managed to ship in a packet of lettra from the states, but it cost a bomb!! i have been keeping it for something special and still have yet to test. What machine are you using currently? are you using the adana?

Try finding some of the Mohawk Superfine sheets.
WJM