Letterpress printer
Amy Constable, owner and operator of Saint Gertrude, Melbourne’s first commercial letterpress and specialty print studio, talks us through the ABCS of manual printing
Amy, what is a letterpress?
For about 500 years all printing was done using a letterpress. It was done by taking tiny pieces of metal type, laying them out in a frame, putting the frame in a machine, popping in paper, inking the letters and then stamping the paper. Then you’d do it all again for the next page. I don’t use metal type now though, I use a photosensitive plastic plate.
Why did you become a letterpress printer?
I was in advertising and it was going through a tumultuous time – crossing over from printbased communication to digital. I’d never worked in digital – it terrified me. I’m a real paper person and I couldn’t wrap my head around how digital could work for me. I made the decision that if print was dying, I’d rather be part of the scene trying to drag it into the 21st century.
How did you learn to use a letterpress?
I buried myself in the garage with a printing press and some Youtube videos and used my logic. It took a lot longer to master than if I’d been able to do one of the one-day courses that I now run. I tell people in my courses that ‘what I’m teaching you today took me 18 months to come up with on my own’.
Where did you get your first press?
It was on Gumtree as part of a deceased estate. It’s about 800 kilos worth of iron, so I had to get a crane to move it. It was in this corrugated iron shed with chickens running around it, but it was in beautiful condition. It’s from 1895, and you’d think that it’d been made yesterday it runs so smoothly. I call him Gordon.
Is it physically demanding?
Very. I didn’t do any prenatal exercises with any of my children – I just pedalled my printing press. I’m on my feet the whole day, either pedalling something or cutting. I come home pretty stinky. It’s much grottier than the finished product would lead you to believe. There’s dirty, broken fingernails, ink and grease. introduction Letterpress, Little Gold Studios, 13 Little Gold St, Brunswick 3056. www.saintgertrude.com.au. 10am-4pm. $250. Sat Jun 4.