Crane & Co. Engraving Dies
Blogger and Crane & Co. historian Peter Hopkins posted an interesting article on his “discovery” of several thousand old engraving dies at Crane’s printing facility in North Adams, MA. Accompanied by Gayle Driggers, Crane & Co.’s Product Manager for Personalized Stationery, Peter uncovered some stunning steel dies from times past. Samples of some these beautiful designs may be found on his blog.
While most dies are now etched on copper, engraving continues to be a popular and elegant form of printing. Skilled artisans at Crane & Co. have years of experience in creating dies from their own proprietary designs or entirely new dies from artwork supplied by their clients. Sheila May of Therese Saint Clair remarks “that Crane has produced some stunning dies based on ink drawings of stately homes, the recreation of family crests from old papers and even four-color plates for golf stationery. Since each color requires a separate die and press run, it is quite remarkable to see these skilled craftsmen operate the presses to achieve the close-registration required in most multiple color print jobs.”
The opaque color of the ink, raised printing and the slight bruising on the back of the paper is a sign that your stationery or invitation has been engraved.
Sheila May
Therese Saint Clair