CSS @font-face flickering in Firefox, somewhat solved

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OK this is off the beaten track, but I’ve been trying to get one of our websites free from the Georgia/Verdana death grip through using CSS @font-face and Typotheque web fonts. I had some problems getting a CSS @font-face formatted text to look right in Firefox because it first loads in the fallback font; this is a Firefox issue that’s well documented, and I’m comfortable with how Safari and IE are loading the page. Since there are a lot of images on the page, it can take a few seconds before the text “jumps” into the right typeface. None of these tricks really improved the situation, so I decided to hide the content until the page loaded. Here is the code I’d used.

(all the examples assume that you're loading the jQuery javascript library)

$(document).ready(function(){
$("body").hide();
$(window).load(function(){
$("body").fadeIn();
});
});

Since the body was hidden while other scripts were running, though, other elements of the page broke (specifically a jQuery plugin and a YUI component). This wasn’t ideal either because the browser screen had to go blank between every page for every visitor. This code affects all visitors to the site when I’m really only worried about the 30% who use Firefox. So I came up with this solution which only affects Firefox users and which doesn’t hide the body elements (so that nothing breaks):

$(document).ready(function(){
$("body").css("-moz-opacity","0"); //this css is only used by Mozilla browsers like Firefox
$(window).load(function(){
$("body").css("-moz-opacity","1");
});
});

It doesn’t seem to be working when I use this “-moz-opacity” style in a “loading” CSS class (and then use $("body").addClass("loading") and $("body").removeClass("loading") to change the styling). Perhaps this is because Mozilla has deprecated this style. I also don’t like reading that Gecko 1.9.1/ Firefox 3.5 and later do not support -moz-opacity. By now, you should be using simply opacity. However, it seems to be working when jQuery applies this style with css. Just to make sure this trick works in the future, I’ll instead use the css opacity style after doing a jQuery browser detect:

In the stylesheet:
.loading{opacity:0;}

In the javascript:
if($.browser.mozilla){
$("body").addClass("loading");
$(window).load(function() {
$("body").removeClass("loading",500);//I'm using the jQuery UI animation here to fade content in, omit the ",500" if you aren't loading jqueryui.1.7.2.js.
});
};

Ah. This appears to be working and only will affect the Firefox users with the screen going blank. But once the fonts are formatted, the body will gracefully fade in. Your thoughts or suggestions are appreciated!

Happy Halloween from Boxcar Press!

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Halloween became so much more fun once we started having kids who wear cute costumes…after much debate (UPS Man? Mailman? UPS Man? Mailman?), the Boxcar Toddler decided to be a U.S. Mailman this year. He delivered hand drawn letters to lucky people all over the building. (and yes, there is, in existence, a very cute Boxcar Baby #2, who is dressed up as the letter “J” and even wore a Halloween bib….but we forgot to take a photo of her! Typical second child, right?!?!)

From Our Print Shop – Letterpress Marketing Materials for Corinna Raznikov Photography

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Printing these super cool letterpress marketing pieces for Corinna Raznikov Photography, designed by Sharon Bartholomew, was a treat. It was also a big challenge, but a really fun challenge we couldn’t wait to tackle. The primary map card has a combination of large letterpress solids and hundreds of tiny dots, which required some crafty printing to get just right. The result is a collection of really bold letterpress pieces we consider pretty awesome.

photographer-3

photographer-1

photographer-7-closeup
The letterpress correspondence card, letterpress pricing card and letterpress promotional card feature calligraphy by Debi Zeinert of The Blooming Quill. All of the pieces were printed in a bright red ink and blind deboss with a hit of transparent white to make the colors pop. In combination with the striking illustrations dreamed up by Sharon Bartholomew and created by Pier Gustafson, and the old school script calligraphy, the pieces are a bit of a study in juxtaposition, something we think is especially sweet.

photographer-1

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This set quickly became a crowd favorite around Boxcar and it’s pretty easy to see why. We love getting to letterpress pieces that are innovative and unique and this set definitely fits the bill.

Letterpress films with the in-laws

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Debbie and I, the co-owners of Boxcar Press, found ourselves for a week in Chicagoland visiting her parents last week. While the kids ran amuck upstairs, Debbie’s father and I combed through the basement looking for films on printing. Larry Urbanski, as it happens, owns the largest film archive in the Midwest, and his basement is filled wall-to-wall (and floor-to-ceiling) with stacks of printing films. “Looking for films” involves skirting on tip-toes through stacks of precariously stacked film cases with flashlight in hand, hoping to find a gem.

Well, despite hours combing through a small portion of the basement, I didn’t find anything related to printing. Freight trains? Yes. 1898 footage of NYC subway construction? Yes. 1950’s dating advice? Yes. Nothing on printing in all my searching. It was quite fun and I hope that someday Larry and I can visit his 5,000 square foot warehouse of film in downtown Chicago to spend a few days combing there.

But thankfully Larry had two already pulled aside from the archive when we arrived. Larry took the time to help transfer the one below from 16mm film to a disk, then I got this in format to share with you. This film is about Ginn and Company, a large textbook publisher. The first 9 minutes are a little slow, but you can skip ahead to watch the printing and bookbinding of a textbook on 1925 equipment. I found the machinery and craftsmen & craftswomen very interesting to watch. Grab some popcorn and enjoy!

Ginn and Company (Athenaeum Press), 1925 from Harold Kyle on Vimeo.

Also, he had pulled another film called Newspaper Story, from 1950. This movie shows a lot of interesting footage from the Rockford, Illinois newspaper at the time. The parts that weren’t about printing were even worth watching. Here’s the video courtesy of archive.org:

Here’s hoping that the Moviecraft archive can continue to produce printing films to share on future visits to the in-laws!

From Our Print Shop: Cool Letterpress Business Cards for Salt & Syrup

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These letterpress business cards, printed for Salt & Syrup, are simple but really cool. We love the combination of blind deboss with a cool green ink. They have a clean Scandinavian feel, perfect for this fun Swedish stationery line.

Boxcar Press plates at work: more gorgeous political letterpress from Anagram Press/Springtide Press

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We get so excited when we see Boxcar’s photopolymer plates & the Boxcar Base hard at work making really beautiful stuff! Thanks to Chandler for sending us pics of “Prop Cake,” the latest installment of the Feminist Broadside Series, designed by Chandler O’Leary of Anagram Press and letterpress printed by Jessica Spring of Springtide Press, using a Vandercook Universal One, Boxcar’s 94FL plates, and the Boxcar Base. The Feminist Broadside Series has been such a success — the last two broadsides are SOLD OUT (yay!), and this one is going fast too I’m sure. Jessica and Chandler will be speaking at the Tacoma Art Museum on May 12, and the power duo had a great mention in City Arts Magazine. To purchase the latest broadside, go to Anagram Press’s etsy store. Check out the first broadside and the second broadside in the series

Chandler writes about the new broadside, “Because we believe everyone deserves an equal slice of wedding cake, the next broadside in the series features a quote by Alice Paul: ‘There is nothing complicated about ordinary equality.’ ‘Prop Cake’ features an original illustration inspired by the architecture of San Francisco, epicenter of the battle over Proposition 8 in California. The broadside is printed from hand-lettered typography, on 10 x 18-inch archival, 100% rag, recycled paper, in an edition of 108, and is priced at $30.”

Boxcar Plates in Action: Letterpress Invitations Featured on Mint

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We think it’s beyond cool when people decide to tackle letterpressing their own wedding invitations. Like Lindsay, Beverly and Neil, a graphic designer and an architect, designed and printed their own letterpress invitations. We love the hands-on approach! These were featured on Mint earlier this week – the couple used photopolymer plates from Boxcar Press and Neenah paper, and got to take over the printshop of their friend Amos Kennedy of Kennedy Prints. How sweet is that? Beverly and Neil printed invitations, thank you notes and all of the corresponding envelopes, then added a cool textile inspiration by sewing the invitations.

You can read more about these invitations on Mint.

photo via Mint

Boxcar Press Letterpress Platemaking – Free Shipping, Faster Service + Your Feedback

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There are some exciting changes going on here at the old Boxcar – we’re now offering free shipping and faster service to better serve our platemaking customers. Hooray! And while we’re at it, we’d love to get your feedback! Tell us what you think: take our high tech, 4 minute survey and we’ll happily plant a tree for every survey participant. (Oh and you can now follow Boxcar on Twitter, too!)

Free 2-Day Shipping

Be gone, shipping charges! That’s so 2008. We now offer free 2-day UPS shipping on all domestic platemaking orders over 90 square inches.(Edit: As of August 15th, 2014, our minimum platemaking eligibility is 120 square inches) That’s less than 8.5 x 11, if you don’t have a calculator handy! (View our international or other shipping charges)

One Day Turnaround On All Orders!

One day rushes, get out of here! Our standard turnaround is now one day, which means:

* if you send in your order and your ready-to-go files by 5:59 p.m. EST, we’ll ship your order on the next business day. (see new turnaround chart here)
* same day turnaround rushes are still available if you submit your files by 1 p.m. EST (see pricing here)
* if your files aren’t ready to go, keep in mind this may delay your ship date (unless you request that we process your plate no matter what seems wrong with the file)

Questions about any of these changes? Let us know and we’re happy to help!

How to Reach Us (it’s easy, trust us!)

(A happy note: we have finally fired our auto-attendant for our phones. You now get to talk to a real live person when you call during our business hours, 9 a.m.to 6 p.m. EST. Hooray!)

Cathy Smith, Customer Accounts Manager
existing orders & ordering questions • pre-press file prep questions
letterpress printing questions • plate problems • troubleshooting • supply needs
cathy@boxcarpress.com • 315-473-0930 x12Anthony Allen, Prepress Manager
file problems on existing orders
anthony@boxcarpress.com • 315-473-0930 x13

Julie Salzar-Smith, Admin Assistant
billing questions or concerns
julie@boxcarpress.com • 315-473-0930 x14

Kim Stevens, Operations Manager
praise or complaints
kim@boxcarpress.com • 315-473-0930 x15

Cyd Converse, Blog Editor
get your print shop profiled on our blog
share good news and printing samples that we’ll post on our blog
cynthia@boxcarpress.com • 315-473-0930 x19

We like planting trees for you.

Remember, for every platemaking order you place over $100, we plant a tree with American Forests. Over its lifetime, each new tree planted will absorb roughly 740 pounds of carbon dioxide. Go trees!

Need coaching, tutoring, or one on one help for preparing your letterpress files?

We’ve been doing prepress for letterpress for a decade now, and we love helping out both new and old printers & designers overcome technical challenges to create the perfect pre-press files. If you’re new to the polymer world, or if you simply hate file prep, give Cathy a shout out (cathy@boxcarpress.com, 315-473-0930 x 12), and we’ll find ways to make the file prep process a breeze for you. (You also might want to take a look at our file prep tips and our FAQ’s on our web site).

We want to hear your thoughts (and we want to plant you a tree too)

We know Boxcar Press wouldn’t exist without you, so we’ll be honest—we love each and every one of you guys. We admire your enthusiasm for letterpress and we share your passion for cool heavy machinery. And we care a whole lot about what you think. We hope that you share your thoughts, great ideas, and disappointments with us whenever you can—but wouldn’t it be fun to also fill out a high-tech survey about how we’re doing? All you need to do is go here by August 8. It’ll take about 4 minutes of your time, and in return, we’ll plant a tree in your honor with American Forests. Thanks!

Get profiled on the Boxcar Blog!

One of our favorite things to do is recognize our platemaking customers and the great letterpress printing they create with our plates. We’d love to profile your print shop and your work on our blog! Drop an email to cynthia@boxcarpress.com if you’re interested, and check out previous customer profiles on our blog here.

At Boxcar, it’s all about letterpress and the printers who love old presses as much as we do…

Boxcar Press began 10 years ago, with a guy named Harold, a polymer washout brush, a tray full of warm water, a dream about an easy-to-use printing base, a few rescued presses, poetry, and a lot of caffeine. When employee #2 (Debbie, Harold’s wife) joined Boxcar in 2000, Harold was still hand processing plates himself in the basement sink of their Syracuse, NY house and keeping track of orders on a white board. There were no order forms (or auto-attendants either!). Our little company has changed a bit since then. We’ve learned a lot. We have order forms now. Our home is now 12,000 square feet of space in an old artist warehouse in Syracuse, New York, and we have a team of employees here that keep your happiness close at heart. We’ve processed tens of thousands of plates for thousands of letterpress shops internationally. We’ve fallen more deeply in love with letterpress and this cool printing community. And we’ve had the amazing experience of helping shops, both large and small, figure out how to get their hulking cast iron presses to print well. But we’re still the same friendly folks at heart who love coffee and who are doing what we do because we love letterpress.

Planning delivery.

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Email exchange this morning:

Harold: Debbie and I have a new baby coming any day now [so I’d like to wrap up this purchase]. I’ll mail the initial payment today for you. When will you deliver the press? I probably need to give my guys here two weeks to get the space ready.

Equipment dealer: Good luck with the new baby. We can deliver at any time, so just have your guy call us when you are ready up there, many thanks

Harold: Didn’t know you got involved in midwifery HAHAHAHA. Will call when ready for the press delivery. Honestly, I’d rather you deliver the press instead!

Equipment dealer: Got me there. I will stick with Heidelberg deliverys, thanks

[Truth be told I have been known to call my Heidelbergs my babies.]

Boxcar Sponsors Community Supported Agriculture

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Here at Boxcar Press, we’re always looking for new ways to support the environment and get involved with our local Syracuse community too. Last year, we started subsidizing CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) memberships for all employees — as well as hosting one of the weekly vegetable pick-ups for other locals. We’re thrilled that year 2 of our CSA adventure has begun! As a result, a good number of Boxcar employees can be found carting home large bags and baskets full of fresh, organic produce every Tuesday. Delivered once a week by local organic Grindstone Farm, fresh veggies and herbs are delivered here at the Delevan Center, the old warehouse we call home. We have found that half the fun is figuring out what to do with the unusual ingredients that tend to come home with us on CSA delivery days!

Typically, we get an assortment of great lettuces, kale, fresh herbs like cilantro and dill, broccoli so fantastic we never want to eat anything other than organic broccoli again, garlic scapes, cool daikon radishes that resemble white carrots, and lots and lots of bright red radishes. As the season is progressing, so are the crops, and the produce that arrives every week is changing, but we’ve continued to get a lot of radishes, which led a few of us to start looking into recipes that use radishes and ideally the radish greens too. After some hunting around, one of our letterpress printers, Carrie, who is one of the finest artisans we know to ever run an Original Heidelberg windmill, found and tweaked the following recipe that was fantastic. At a loss as to what to do with all of your radishes? Give this recipe a whirl!

Asian Hamburger Skillet

  • 1lb lean hamburger (although many of us are vegetarians so we substituted the Morning Star ground “meat” instead)
  • 1 medium red onion, sliced about 1/4? thick then cut into 2? lengths
  • 1 bunch of radishes, cut in matchsticks
  • 1 bunch of radish tops, cut roughly into 1? pieces
  • 4 carrots, julienned or cut into 1/4? slices
  • 1-1/2 tsp ginger paste
  • 2 tbsp fish sauce (although we’ve also tried General Tso’s sauce and it was delicious!)
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • 1 lime (optional)
  • Freshly ground pepper, to taste

In a large sauté pan, cook hamburger (or meat substitute) over medium high heat, until just beginning to brown, breaking into small bits with spatula. Stir in onion and radishes and cook another 2-3 minutes. Stir in carrots, radish tops, ginger paste and fish sauce and cook 5-10 minutes until onions are softened and hamburger is cooked through. Sprinkle with lime juice (if using) and pepper, to taste. Serve immediately.