Bookbinders, Take Heart!

Early on in my youth, I worked at a New York City printer that offered letterpress shop printing for rare coin and stamp dealers. Our presses? Heidelberg cylinder letterpresses. I can recall these presses chugging away, and the Mergenthaler hot-lead typesetting machines in prepress.

Needless to say, that's all gone now. So it was with some amazement that I learned that these presses are still in some demand and being used today. Why? Well, letterpress print quality is still the "gold standard." And it turns out that there are lots of small boutique design and print shops offering invitations, business cards, and high-end marketing materials (art galleries, etc.) where this type of quality is in demand. Sure, you will pay more, but you will always pay more for the best.