White Printing

Let’s talk about white printing, as it pertains to letterpress. I get asked a lot of I can print white ink, and its a yes and no answer. The thing is I don’t believe letterpress is best for most white ink printing, it’s just not what most people are wanting from a white ink. White letterpress ink will always come up transparent, showing the color of the paper below. Letterpress white on a black paper and you will get grey, on red and you will get pink. You won’t achieve a dense, bold white.

Here is an example of white ink letterpress printed:

See how the ink is transparent and the paper color comes through? Now this may be the look you want and thats fine! But it's good to know what results you will see with white ink.

Here’s a good example of what I believe is a good white print:

This is digitally printed white ink, not letterpress. The white is dense and you can’t see the paper below. Digitally printed white ink is the best option if you’re looking for white! We partner with a local printer to offer this method for darker color envelopes!

If you are looking for a white ink printed on a colored paper we recommend going the digital or foil route for your project!