From vintage graphics to invitations

How vintage? Some old images may still be covered by copyright. Steamboat Willie is still under copyright by Disney even though he turns 80 in a couple of months. But assuming you have the rights to the images either through permission or a determination they are in the public domain, then you could have a magnesium or copper cut made by a place like Owosso Graphic Arts from either a printed or digital image. You could also have a photopolymer plate made (or could make if you had the right equipment). Boxcar Press is one place that can make these.

The stuff I have is mostly 20’s and 30’s…..old billheads, invoices, and things like that. I’ve been reading up on the photopolymer plates which seem like the way to go. I’m not sure about what kind of digital image/file is required to do the plates?

These days you can use almost any file format, being vector the best you can get. You can also use images such as jpgs or tifs of photoshop files. The result will depend on the resolutions. Images (tifs / jpgs / psd) files are better if 300 dpi or higher. Vector files work just fine. If you don’t have means to produce the plates yourself, you can get them from boxcar; they can do the prepress work for you. Cheers.