Category Archives: Letterpress Is Fun

Rob LoMascolo Featured on Fortnight Journal

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Letterpress artist Rob LoMascolo of Upstate New York talks about the traditional craft of letterpress printing in a recent collaborative effort known as Fortnight. Fortnight is an online multi-media and documentary project that’s been put together by a group of 20-somethings to recognize different disciplines that honor the past while defining the path of the future.

LoMascolo is one of Fortnight’s fourteen contributors, and he talks about the traditional craft of printing that has exploded again in the digital age.  He is featured with his Challenge Proof Press in this instructional video as he provides a lesson in Letterpress 101.

Fortnight Journal traveled to the Finger Lakes in New York to interview and film Rob in his studio.  We are pleased that not only is Rob showcased for his printing prowess but he’s a neighbor of ours and prints right down the highway from Syracuse.

To find out more about this project, visit fortnightjournal.com/about.

A Sweet Suprise From Igloo Letterpress

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A delightful surprise awaited us in the pre-press department of Boxcar Press two mornings ago, bearing sweet tidings (and cookies!) from the baker/printer extraordinaire behind Igloo Letterpress, Allison Chapman. The last of the delicious cookies have mysteriously vanished but in its place is a big thank you going out to Allison for the wonderful present!

Type Lice Bait

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A Type Lice bait that is effective on pests but safe for printers!

Print shops have long battled the ubiquitous type lice that settles deep into their metal and wood type drawers.   The parasite is not life threatening but can leave dander that causes sneezing and rashes when the type is handled.

There are many different suggested treatments for luring, trapping, and eliminating these lice.  We offer a natural bait that is irresistible to the lice and will clean up any infestation in less than one week.  The bait is dabbed in small amounts onto a quarter size piece of paper and placed in the trap.

This works with all trap, but we have found the best type lice trap is this model created by Ivan Gulkov of Pillowface Press.  It is simple in design, uses recycled materials, and works well with the type lice bait. We welcome the submissions of other trap designs and models.

The bait comes in a 3 ounce squeeze bottle where you can dispense small amounts at a time.  The lice will flock to the bait, be trapped in the lice trap and can be disposed of quickly.  The bottle will last for approximately 50 applications, leaves no residue and has no odor.  It is
from natural organic compounds and hypoallergenic.

Contact local printer supply shops for this eco- friendly product for all print studios.  This product offer may expire April 1, 2012

How to Easily Outline Fonts into Vector Shapes

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One of easiest ways to ensure smooth sailing from file to plate is to outline your fonts into vector shapes if you are using either Adobe Illustrator or InDesign. Outlining text into shapes frees you of the troublesome worry of whether you need to send along your fonts or embed them with your file. It also lets you add strokes to thinner fonts with ease – since the text becomes a vector shape, you’ll have more control over how each character looks.

Here’s the scoop in three simple steps:

•    Select the text with your black arrow tool in either Illustrator or InDesign. The black arrow tool is your default selection tool.
•    Select TYPE>Create Outlines.
•    Click anywhere that is blank on your art board and voila! Your text is now converted into fully editable vector shapes!

If the text looks a little thicker than usual, don’t panic! Simply deselect your text or click anywhere on your art board to deselect it and you’ll find that your text looks completely normal.

Fresh Letterpress Fun: A Springtime Vector Set!

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Spring seems to be coming a bit early here at Boxcar Press and we thought you’d enjoy a free spring themed vector set to kick the season off right! This vector set includes a festive pair o’lucky St. Patrick’s Day graphics, a typographic spring greeting, and to top it off… a trio of finely crafted Ukrainian Easter Eggs! All are free for use and in both EPS and PDF format. Enjoy!

A free springtime vector set from Boxcar Press

The Art of Currency – The Imagery of Presses

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As a coin collector, it’s very easy to appreciate the art, colors, and designs of all the national currencies in our world. And when a beautiful currency note reveals a printing press? It doesn’t get much better than that.  We have two examples of small but oh so detailed works of art depicting presses and pressmen.

On the Colombian Cien Pesos Oro – circa 1990 – is a little jewel in the corner of a common press.  There is an interesting story behind this currency and explains why a press image.  On the front is General Antonio Nariño, who was a political activist and founded a political newspaper in the 1800’s.  He was a great admirer of Benjamin Franklin and translated the Declaration of the Rights of Man, which he printed and distributed from his own private press, much to the ire of his government.

On the 50 Kronur from Iceland, circa 1981, is a wonderful illustration of two pressmen on a Gutenberg Press. On the front is Bishop Gudbrandur Thorlaksson, who lived from 1570 to 1627.  He edited and published over 80 books including the first complete Icelandic translation of the Bible.  He set up a press in his home and was also the engraver of the woodcuts in this Bible.  A rare first edition of this Bible is in the National Library of Scotland.

Not only can we appreciate the art but the stories remind us that people today are still printing books and broadsides from similar presses.

Letterpress Graces Special Edition Book of Georgia O’Keeffe

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The Vandercook takes the spotlight once again, as its printing powers are drawn upon by letterpress printer, Tom Leech, for the newest memoir regarding Georiga O’Keeffe. Read on to get the scoop and enjoy the wonderful video in the Santa Fe New Mexican.com article here!

Letterpress pieces printed by Tom Leech were used for a new Georgia O'Keefe memoir.

Sisterly Surprise Makes For a Wonderful Boxcar Visit

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Right before the holidays, Boxcar enjoyed a visit from designer, printer, letterpress instructor, and sister: Amy Redmond. 

Amy’s sister, Carrie, called and arranged the tour as a surprise.  She kept Amy guessing until a short time before they got to our studios.

It was more of a meeting of minds and souls than a tour, as we spent a couple of hours with Amy and Carrie.  We traded stories, shared tips and tricks printer to printer, and discovered how Amy got to where she is now, a Seattle-based freelance graphic designer and instructor of an introductory letterpress printing class at the School of Visual Concepts in Seattle.

We are thankful to Amy for being a mentor to many students of letterpress and for giving us a fun day at Boxcar!

Hunting In the Type Drawers

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Here at Boxcar Press, it’s not all about the photopolymer.  People shouldn’t be surprised to know that Harold has a secret room with California Job cases and type cabinets.  Some have never even been unwrapped.

So many of you can understand the feeling, then, when we get a chance to pull out drawers and search through for treasures.  I am partial to the larger wood type and the ornaments.  We hope you enjoy a few of the ornaments and type we find.


These two images are sending the silent message that we should go get a cold one and a jumbo burger – loaded!


The other one is our salute to the military with insignias from the United States Marine Corp, United States Navy W.A.V.E.S (anchor with propeller) and the United States Coast Guard.