Val Lucas is one of the few changing the game and carrying on the legacy of metal typecasting. We were introduced to her stunning work via her pattered border submissions to the APA, and we knew we had to have her on to walk us though this process! This episode covers Val's journey from printing classes to creating her own line of cast borders. We strongly encourage anyone who is interested in learning more about typecasting to look into classes, mentorship or even reaching out to us to see where and how you can learn more! Without active participants wanting to carry on the legacy, this keystone of print history will disappear! To support Val, and see all of her amazing work, you can visit her website www.bowerbox.com and follow her on instagram: @bowerbox!

Pricing and finances are two of the scariest parts of going into business. In the third edition of our Book Club series, we cover two amazing guides to setting yourself up for financial success. Books discussed: Graphic Artists Guild Handbook, 16th Edition: Pricing & Ethical Guidelines This textbookesque guide covers so much information regarding the professional life of a graphic designer. From contracts to pricing, this book provides real world examples and standards for it all! Profit First: Transform Your Business from a Cash-Eating Monster to a Money-Making Machine Everything you need to know about this book is in the title. Profit First will help set your business up for financial success by reframing the structure used to organize your money! LINKS Graphic Artists Guild Handbook, 16th Edition: Pricing & Ethical Guidelines https://amzn.to/46pn014 Profit First by Mike Michalowicz: https://amzn.to/46k1ETi on Amazon or Bookshop.org https://bookshop.org/p/books/la-ganancia-es-primero-transforma-tu-negocio-en-una-maquina-de-hacer-dinero-y-logra-una-rentabilidad-inmediata-profit-first-transforma-tu-negocio-mike-michalowicz/266082?ean=9780735214149 And if you’re interested in Honeybook (Moriah’s CRM): https://share.honeybook.com/moriah68753

If you want to keep your press in tip top shape, regular maintenance is key. But we know how daunting this could feel, especially if you're brand new to printing and just acquired your press friend. In this episode we cover some of the standard maintenance procedures you'll want to take part in. Full disclosure: this episode favors those of us operating platen presses. If you run a cylinder press or something with more parts, like a Heidelberg, there may be additional tasks you need to add to your own maintenance routine. Have some maintenance techniques you want to share with others? Come leave a comment on our post over at @hotoffthepresspod

For the second episode in this short series on Sculpted Embossing, we speak with Nick and Mac from JR Press in San Fransisco. JR Press is a family owned business that Nick's grandfather opened up in 1987. They have a hefty list of equipment and they've had the pleasure of working on some incredible projects. We pick up the sculpted embossing process from where we left off with the fabrication of the plates and talk all about setting up the prints, the most successful materials to use, and even some troubleshooting tactics that we can almost guarantee you haven't thought of. If you'd like to book a sculpted embossing (or any kind of print) project with JR Press, you can contact them via their email jrpress1@aol.com, or visit the contact form on their website: jrpress.co To see some of their great work give them a follow in Instagram: @jrpress.sf And to see the projects we discuss in this episode, make sure to check out our instagram over @hotoffthepresspod !!

In our second edition of the "Book Club" series, we discuss some of our favorite and most popular technical handbooks. These are books that can directly enhance your knowledge of printing and print history that can be applicable to growing your press skills. Books covered: Elementary Platen Presswork by Ralph W. Polk (buy here on ThriftBooks) Printing and the Allied Trades by R. Randolph Karch (buy here on AbeBooks) General Printing by Glen Cleeton, Charles Pitkin, and Raymond Cornwell (buy here on Amazon)

If you've been oogling the beautiful results from sculpted emboss while scrolling through Instagram, you're not alone! We have been so intrigued by the process that we decided to set out and do a 2 part series on this seriously impressive print method! In Part 1, we speak with Mark Schumacher from Metal Magic, the #1 place to source brass and copper dies! Mark walks us through the process of creating a sculpted plate from the order submission to shipping it out. This is an episode you surely do not want to miss! To start your next order with Metal Magic, you can visit the contact tab on their website: https://www.metalmagic.com/ To view the videos we discuss in the episode, you can click the following links: BRASS DIES COPPER DIES Follow the Hot Off the Press instagram account to see more content and updates from Metal Magic!

Ever since the great wedding surge of 2021, it seems like rush projects are the norm. How we handle those varies from company to company, but if you're just starting out and are curious on how other printers handle rush fees - this episode is for you! Prior to recording this episode, we polled our audience and the print community at large to gather some data. Immediately we spotted (3) common approaches to "rush fees" and we cover these, as well as some other thoughts and policies you might want to consider when establishing your pricing guidelines. Enjoy this episode? Want to hear more business related content? Shoot us an email with a topic you'd like to hear us cover! hello@hotoffthepresspodcast.com And don't forget to join in on the conversation over on Instagram! Just look for the post titled "Rush Fees"

In this episode we walk through the history of our favorite proof press manufacturer: Vandercook & Sons! Their story takes several twists and turns before it ends with a familiar name, in a completely different place. Want to follow along with some of the imagery we discuss? Here is a link to the very helpful timeline of all Vandercook presses, with details on each one! VANDERCOOK TIMELINE Other sources used were: Wikipedia An article by Fred Williams posted on the APA Website Briar Press for miscellaneous current listings of Vandys for sale

Your favorite letterpress podcast is starting a book club! We have been inspired, influenced and encouraged by the writings of many authors, and we know there are so many more to hear from! We'll occasionally be sprinkling in Book Club episodes so that we can share our favorite readings with you! In this episode we discuss two books: The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles by Steven Pressfield Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon We highly encourage purchasing these books from local book stores, or renting from a library (virtual library for your kindle can be found via the Libby App).

After a fellow printer sent us a very intriguing photo of an unexpected print result, we reached back out to Shelley & Max Otto from Concord Engraving to discuss screening plates, half tones, and what happens when you submit plate artwork at anything less than 100% opacity! We are so thrilled to have Shelley and Max rejoin us, and this episode is a must listen if you’re looking for a new technique to add to your skill set - especially if you want to gain more dimension, and more colors without doing too many press runs! Want to see some of the visuals we discuss during our chat with Shelley & Max? Hop on over to our instagram and check out the post with the title Screening & Screaming for Half Tones. To place an order with Concord Engraving, visit their website (www.concordengraving.com) or send an email directly to Shelley at ShelleyOtto@concordengraving.com Make sure to let her know we sent you!

We've all been there... Something is spelled wrong, the prints have a line running through them, the foil is subpar, or that color of envelope your client has been obsessing over is out of stock EVERYWHERE! No matter what the situation is, it SUCKS delivering bad news to a client. Our emotions will always want to get the best of us, so in this episode we break down a couple different types of bad news, and give advice on how to handle the situation in a calm and professional way. Loving a little bit of business talk mixed in with design and printing topics? Consider joining Stationery School to get lots of content related to building a stationery business. Courses cover how to handle client relationships, working with planners, creating pet illustrations.. and even a course on letterpress printing taught by your host - Jillian from Studio Soprano! Try out Stationery School for 30 days here Or save big and join for a whole year here Come follow Hot Off the Press on instagram! And if you have a topic you want to hear on the podcast, send us an email! Hello@hotoffthepresspodcast.com

We’ve talked a lot about platen presses on Hot Off the Press, but in this episode we are diving deep the history of Chandler & Price in particular. C&Ps, as they’re commonly known, are one of the most popular presses still around, and they're one of our faves! We found some visuals that you might enjoy to check out as we talk through the history of this iconic company: Super cool sales brochure Fun article Other sources used for this episode: Wikipedia George Gordon’s ‘Dream’ Press by Fred Williams on the APA site

Life has been FULL of great things, but we are back and ready to bring you more of the letterpress content you love! Tune in next week 7/24 for the start of Season 5 of Hot Off the Press!

For those of us printing on a platen press, large print areas can feel very daunting or even impossible! We both have gone from total failure to complete success when it comes to printing bigger patterns on our presses, so this episode is dedicated to all the tips and tricks we learned to get us there! This episode concludes our fourth season! We're looking forward to bringing you more letterpress content in the summer! Make sure to follow us on Instagram to stay up-to-date with all the latest HOTP happenings!

Sunny weather is here, which means markets and expos are starting to pick up! If you've never done a market before, it may seem intimidating on where to start, and you might even be wondering "will this be worth is?" In this episode we talk about how to discern your ROI (return on investment) and how to get yourself show-ready! Are you doing any markets in 2023? Promote them on Instagram and tag us so we can share and help support you!!

Learn Letterpress is an online course taught by Britt Rohr of Swell Press. Britt covers everything from how to design for letterpress, to how to mix inks, and of course... printing! She does an in-depth demonstration on 3 different types of presses (a platen, flatbed and a windmill!) and even covers smart business practices like how to get the most cuts from your parent sheets! This program is truly an all-in-one crash course in letterpress printing, so if you've been wanted to dip your toe in or advance your skills THIS is course that can help you do it! Learn Letterpress registration is open for a limited time only, and closes on 4/16. Register for the course NOW at this link HERE: REGISTER *Hot Off the Press is an affiliate of Learn Letterpress. By using our link you are helping to support the pod. Want to learn more about Britt and the course? Give Episode 17 from Season 1 a listen!

Nothing's more frustrating than feeling the minutes of an hour tick by while you stare at a blank art board begging for inspiration to hit. Creative ruts are no joke, no fun and can cost us a lot of time (which means they're costing us money!!). We've identified our #1 culprit for these creative ruts, and mapped some ways to get out of them! Tune in to hear some tips you can implement either today, this weekend, or in the near future to help refill your creative cup!! Come on over to instagram to join us in the convo about different ways of finding inspiration!

If you're selling a product, you've probably given a lot of thought about how to package it. From it's pretty retail packaging, to the box it ships in... it all serves a bigger purpose! Finding our *flow* with packing up the various types of orders we ship out took some time, and a lot of experimenting, so this episode was made specifically because we know our past selves would have died for it! Have a favorite packaging supply or style you want to share?? Send it in to hello@hotoffthepresspodcast.com or tag us in a story on Instagram! Show off your fine work and help inspire some newbies who are figuring out their next steps!

In this episode, we chat with James Tucker who, in 2013, founded the Aesthetic Union. James has an amazing background (including time spent on the presses at the infamous Hatch Printing!), and a love for exploring the art of printmaking beyond the surface of traditional techniques. He's also heavily inspired by the beauty in nature and landscapes. To hear more about mixing ink from soils, combining watercolor and letterpress, and a really exciting announcement for the Aesthetic Union, give this episode a listen! Follow and support The Aesthetic Union: www.theaestheticunion.com Instagram: @theaestheticunion Tik Tok: @theeastheticunion Follow James: @jameslewistucker

Sometimes being a one-woman shop feels really limiting when it comes to how much you can "earn." However, more often than not, there's a way to expand your earnings with assets you have already worked on, acquired or built.  While together in Minnesota, Jillian and Moriah sit down to brainstorm ways they can each leverage their own assets to create either passive income or additional offerings.  The goal was to not reinvent the wheel, but take a look around at the things we've done and ask ourselves "is this there more I can get out of this?"  We hope you enjoy a peek behind the curtain of how we're growing our businesses in real time, and hopefully this inspires you to take a look around and see if there are any opportunities to make a little more out of things you already own or do!  Have an idea you'd like to share? Come join in on the convo over on Instagram!