Examples of Items Printed on Kelsey 3x5
Hello,
I am new to letterpress and recently purchased a Kelsey 3x5. I’m waiting for my rollers to arrive, so I haven’t started printing yet, but I was just curious if anyone had some examples of items they’ve printed on a 3x5 that they’d be willing to post pictures of.
I took a letterpress class using a C&P 6x10 and I thought the impression looked great. After the class, our instructor showed us some items he had printed on a Kelsey 3x5. To be honest, I was slightly disappointed in the quality. The impression from the 3x5 was not very sharp or deep. I was just wondering if this was normal and what kind of results others have achieved.
Thanks.
The impression sharpness/deepness is not so much the press itself as it is the plate being used. All presses have limitations, the 3x5 is a very small press and is best suited for business cards or ACEO-sized prints. The impression you can get decreases as the size of your plate increases. A general rule of thumb is that your image size should be 2/3 the size of your press or smaller. Sometimes you can get away with larger if it does not require a lot of actual printed area. With time, you will also learn the different methods of printing larger than your press allows (by turning the paper, shifting the paper over, etc.).
There have been lots of discussions on here regarding press sizes and their limitations, do a search and read through some of the archived discussions.
Here’s one of the gift tags that I print on my 3x5. I mainly use my Kelsey for demonstration when I work at craft fairs, it is a nice little press but you are definitely restricted by its size (or lack of!) Use care not to use too much impression on it, the little one will break if you use too much. Have fun!
Steve
Paper Stone Printing
Steve Nartowicz
P.O. Box 137
Chesterfield MA 01012
413-834-0930
www.paperstoneprinting.com
http://www.etsy.com/shop/paperstoneprinting
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