Letterpress · 32pt cotton
Letterpress Business Cards on 32pt Cotton
Letterpress plates cost the same whether you print 100 or 400. Below is the honest math on why 200 is where the craft pays off, plus what the technique can and can't do on cotton stock — from the people who proof every plate.
Pricing — 32pt cotton, letterpress
Every spec on this page is priced by a person. Get a price
How letterpress pricing works
Here's the math nobody explains: letterpress needs a separate physical plate for every color, on every side. A 2/1 card — two colors on the front, one on the back — means three plates, and those plates cost the same whether you print a short run or a long one. On a short run most of the price is setup; on a longer run the same plates work harder and the per-card price drops. The craft doesn't get cheaper, but the plates get better value.
What you're actually buying: your design is cast into a plate, and that plate is pressed into 32pt cotton hard enough to leave a sculpted impression. Cotton is soft and thick — about a credit card doubled — so the ink settles deep and you can feel every line under your thumb. That's the whole point of letterpress. It's not a look; it's a feel.
The honest constraints before you fall in love: letterpress inks are slightly translucent, so they sing on white and light stocks and shift darker on colored paper — fine when it's intentional, disappointing when it's not. Big solid flood areas can print a little blotchy on cotton; letterpress loves line work, type, and texture more than heavy coverage. And gradients aren't a thing — every color is one hand-mixed Pantone, printed flat. Design in spot colors and it'll be gorgeous.
Ways to scale it: drop to 1/1 (one color each side) and you save a plate. Go up to 48pt triple-thick if you want drama — some people find it a bit much, which is exactly why the right people love it. And keep the plates on file; reprints skip the setup cost entirely.
Every order is proofed by a person before anything touches paper.
Common questions
- Why does letterpress get cheaper per card in bigger runs?
- Letterpress needs a separate physical plate for every color, on every side, and the plate cost is the same whether you print a short run or a long one. On a short run the setup dominates the per-card price; on a longer run the plates work harder and the per-card price drops. Past a few hundred cards the returns flatten.
- Can I print full-color photographs with letterpress?
- No. Letterpress prints one hand-mixed Pantone color per plate, in flat solid areas — no gradients, no CMYK photos. Design in spot colors and the result is gorgeous; try to force photographic art through letterpress and it fights you.
- Why cotton and why 32pt?
- Cotton is soft and thick — the fibers accept a deep impression that you can feel with your thumb. At 32pt (about a credit card doubled) the stock is heavy enough to hold a bold deboss without the back showing through. That physical feel is the whole point of letterpress.
- Do I have to pay for the plates again on reorders?
- No. We keep the plates on file. Reorders skip the setup and you pay only for the press run, which is why the price-per-card falls sharply on any repeat.
The next step
Not sure this is the exact spec you want?
Upload your logo and the Studio lays it out on real papers and finishes. It's a design exploration, not a proof: a person checks your final file before anything prints.
Want a deeper bite? 48pt is our standard letterpress stock: custom letterpress business cards.