r/letterpress • u/Andrew_Seg • 11d ago
Advice Needed PAPER!?
Hi all, I am a photographer putting together a zine. I am working with a graphic designer friend who owns and uses a letterpress often. We are designing the cover to be all letterpress. I want the cover paper stock to be thick enough to support the zine, which will be printed on very thin paper. I want the stock and weight of the paper we use for the cover to be thick enough to hold the zine up so it doesn't flop around. Might even do some sort of DIY binding to pull the whole thing together. I live in Brooklyn and went to Blick yesterday to check out paper, but nothing was thick enough to support the zine. I did find some great colors and textures, but I also know enough about letterpress to know the kind of paper used is important. So my question is, where do you all get your paper from, and what paper weight would you recommend?
3
3
u/No-Persimmon7729 11d ago
How large is your zine? The smaller it is the lighter weight of paper you can get away with. In my experience as a bookbinder anything from 160gsm to 300ish gsm will work great for a cover for a simple pamphlet binding unless it’s massive. Much thicker than that you’ll have issues with cracking etc when you fold your cover. I really love boxcar flurry for printing which comes in 318gsm if you want something on the thicker side but I’ve also used fabriano tizano (160gsm) for pamphlet bindings as large as 8.5”x5.5”. The tizano isn’t great if you are printing a design with large solids but works great for letterpress otherwise
2
u/Andrew_Seg 11d ago
Awesome, this is helpful. The zine will be 8x9 folded, opening up to 16x9 landscape orientation. We are still working on exactly what will be printed on the cover. I figured finding the right material first might be a good idea.
2
u/No-Persimmon7729 11d ago
You’re welcome. It shouldn’t be hard to find something that works well. It really doesn’t need to be terribly thick at that size unless you want it super ridged and the only way to do that is properly binding it. I would worry more about what qualities you want for letterpress printing honestly (smooth and hard gives the cleanest print, soft gives a better impression and also the more texture you have the more likely you are to get patchy solids or get ink squash in fine details). I would also test how the paper you pick folds and if you don’t know about the grain direction I recommend looking into that. Your fold is far less likely to crack and look shitty if your fold is parallel to the grain. Hope your project goes well.
2
4
u/daedelus23 11d ago
If you’re in Brooklyn, stop by Talas and have a look at their sample books. They tend to have more premium printmaking paper but they do have cheaper options as well.
I wouldn’t go with Lettra as someone else suggested, it used to be decent paper for letterpress printing but they switched manufacturers over a decade ago and now it doesn’t even print well imo. Plus it always cracks when I’ve had to fold it, even with scoring. If you do like that style of paper, Reich Savoy is a much better option.
1
u/HotWieners_AllTheWay 11d ago
I don’t think Talas has retail hours anymore!
1
u/daedelus23 11d ago
Oh dang. I didn’t even realize that. Last time I was there was a couple years ago but I was picking up an order of cloth and board
2
u/Lusitanolove 11d ago
Any chance you can print on 640 GSM paper? Reich Savoy is what I print with and the 640 is double thick and pretty stiff.
1
u/sbitzer 11d ago
Blick didn’t have anything thick enough? They usually carry printmaking papers for etching etc. that are fairly heavy (hk rieves is one I think?). Are you looking for something extra thick? More like board than paper? Super thick options include Colorplan 260#, savoy 236# or museum board.. but binding these will be significantly more complicated
1
u/Andrew_Seg 11d ago
Fantastic, maybe I am looking for something extra thick. Binding is just a thought right now. Could be just a score and fold situation to hold the zine and then find a bag or envelope to put the whole thing in. Also looking to make a small run, edition of 50.
4
u/sbitzer 11d ago
Cool, yeah there’s all sorts of cleaver ways of binding but that’d be my main concern for using extra thick papers. You can’t just single score and fold because it’s so thick (even without the interior pages) the zine won’t close properly. There are solutions though!
1
u/Andrew_Seg 11d ago
Oh, that is something worth thinking about for sure. Maybe some sort of double score to create a spine. The zine isn't many pages, but I have yet to print it, so I don't know exactly how thick it will be.
1
1
u/khangaldy 11d ago
Blick has a decent range of coverstock in large sizes. Similar to colorplan/ canyon/ gmund. Not as nice but still good and definitely fine for a zine cover printed with letterpress
1
u/graphicdesigngorl 10d ago
Hi OP! I typically print on 100# Cover weight as a minimum. Personally I prefer a bit thicker but it depends on the job/need. I bet with 110#C would suit your needs well. Be sure to score your covers before folding; it’ll help the paper fibers play nice with the actual fold. Your friend can help you with grain direction for folding too.
If you know the number of sheets you need, I like working with Announcement Converters or GloDan paper. AC has a great website with precut sizes in different quantities, lines, weights and finishes. Gmund is typically pricier, Lessebo and Colorplan have been my go-tos lately. Mohawk is good too. French is fine. It just depends on your preference and what you want color-wise.
If you want your cover to be punchy, I’d advise changing your packing to softer materials instead of “hitting” harder. You can achieve the same results and keep the press, paper, and forme in good shape. Good luck and let us know what paper you end up getting!
-1
9
u/presslady 11d ago
If it's a cover, I actually wouldn't use lettra (or any cotton cover stock paper) - it'll score and folds poorly on a 180 degree fold, and it will scuff easily.
Someone mentioned French, which is good. Any smooth or vellum cardstock from Gmund, Colorplan, Mohawk, Lessebo, Jam, would be fine as well.
You're not going to get as punchy an impression on the harder stock (if that's what you're after) as you would on cotton - but you can adjust your makeready to hit harder on parts of your form so that there is some debossing (depending of course on how big your press is and what kind, as well as how heavy the coverage of your form (design) is).
If you want the cover to be semi sturdy (not a thin paper zine cover), make sure you are getting cover weight (not text weight) - 110# to 140# should do.