Much buzz around these days regarding the new L Letterpress Tool and the debate about it's authenticity in comparison to the antique letterpress. I would say there isn't a comparison, however like the Print Gocco, it does have it's place in the realm of printing and looks like a fun new tool I'd like to get my hands on. The one question that hasn't been answered which the folks at Papercrave ask in their review is, does it allow you to make/customize or use your own plates? That would definitely be the only limitation that would keep potential creatives from purchasing. We tried contacting the company for an answer, however finding an email address to do so was rather difficult. We left a comment on their blog, and hope we'll hear a reply. If anyone has the answer to this, we'd love to hear from you!
Much buzz around these days regarding the new L Letterpress Tool and the debate about it's authenticity in comparison to the antique letterpress. I would say there isn't a comparison, however like the Print Gocco, it does have it's place in the realm of printing and looks like a fun new tool I'd like to get my hands on. The one question that hasn't been answered which the folks at Papercrave ask in their review is, does it allow you to make/customize or use your own plates? That would definitely be the only limitation that would keep potential creatives from purchasing. We tried contacting the company for an answer, however finding an email address to do so was rather difficult. We left a comment on their blog, and hope we'll hear a reply. If anyone has the answer to this, we'd love to hear from you!
Comments
On to the machine. It comes with a small set of these hard plastic plates that are much thicker than traditional printing plates. I assume this is because you don't have the natural force of the press to create a deep impression. Having a thicker plate helps compensate? I compared them to some of my polymer plates and they are at least 3 times the thickness, so sadly you wouldn't be able to substitute using polymer plates. According to the company they only sell pre-designed plates with generic messages such as 'happy birthday' etc. Since the designs are created by the company, I think anyone wanting to use this to make cards to sell, might have some copyright issues to deal with? You also have to hand ink the plate before each print so it certainly cuts down on production time if you are looking to do big sets of cards. Good for doing a single card or two (which my big press is not) From what my friend said when she purchased it, the company had claimed they were looking into the option of offering custom plates in the future that you would order directly from them but it sounded like that was all talk at this point.
I think if you want another fun tool in the craft room, it wouldn't hurt to have. Great if you have kids too and want to teach them a really simplified printmaking technique. But as someone who has a 1200 lb printing press and several years of training (with much more to go), I would really hope that anyone using this machine would not refer to the product as "letterpress". But that is just me. ;)
casey, that is interesting that they said that. i am sure technically you could use polymer but just comparing it to their plates, they are much much thinner. i gave my friend an old plate to play with so we will see what she says. it did seem like you could use an old printers trick and raise the area under the plate by putting scrap paper under the surface. it is basically a tray with a piece of plexi that sits on top. then you stick the plate to the plexi. pretty simple machine so i am sure you can rig something up.
i just think the quality is what will be the issue. but for fun, why not. ;)
a side note: truly well done letterpress has a very slight "kiss" into the paper - not a deep emboss. this machine is more of an embosser with ink.
its pretty much a cheap little plastic machine that's a waaay simpler version of an authentic letterpress.
there have been manufacturing problems with it... the plastic plates break way too easily. and so does the clear plastic part that holds down the plates.
you can get custom plates at letterpressplates.com, and am sure you can find more resources online.
the quality is not that great. i'm sure with time and practice they'll look better. it just seems a lil to "gimmicky". and i can see the infomercials for it, along with the cricket.
Also, the machine you use is actually a die cutting machine. Die cutting machines that aren't electronic typically use plastic plates for cutting and embossing.
What I gather from reading Quickutz's policies on using their images commercially, you can do so as long as you notify them in writing. If your product contains a considerable amount of the product, then somewhere it is supposed to say something about Quickutz. I know this is the policy concerning their dies, but I'm not sure if that includes the new letterpress line. Here's their current policies: http://www.quickutz.com/qk2/about/policies.aspx
I haven't used this yet, so I'm curious to see a final result. I imagine it wouldn't be stellar results for the professional...probably just designed with the everyday crafter in mind.