The Stationers Guild

Only a few printing techniques can match the caliber of an engraved wedding invitation. While engraving was typically utilized to print wedding stationery, baby announcements and business cards for your parent’s and grandparent’s generations, present day printing processes are much more efficient but don’t have the level of quality and vigor of engraving.

Lately, the leading stationery retail stores throughout the United States report that wedding couples are now rediscovering the innate beauty of engraving. Despite its higher cost, engraved wedding invitations bring back the heritage and elegance of times past.

As the industry has chosen cheaper and much more productive forms of printing, many engraving firms have closed down and the craft of engraving is perilously near disappearing. While the resilient Heidelberg presses still exist in abundance, the production of metal engraving dies from submerging light-sensitive copper plates in to a tub of acid is far beyond the financial abilities and knowledge of many autonomous printers.

With its “true” colors and exceptional 3D print quality, engraved invitations are experiencing a renaissance among engaged couples who treasure a well-designed wedding invitation. Among the key firms which provide different types of printing methods, Crane & Co. and William Arthur provide the best printing and design options.

If the engraved invitation is beyond your budget, go for printing in thermograph inks. Applying thermograph inks mimics engraving by imprinting a resin-based composite on the paper to make the raised surface you find in engraving. Thermograph inks tend to be shinier unless the printer provides a matte finish, but printing using this method will provide great cost savings.

Like all fine stationery, engraved invitations should be seen in person to appreciate paper and print quality. Colors are opaque and richer, particularly if evaluated side-by-side with other types of printing. In all probability, you can find knowledgeable stationers in cities across the United States who can deliver assistance in helping to craft wonderful wedding invitations.

Richard W. May, a founding member of the Stationers Guild, writes frequently about NYC wedding invitations and wedding invitation trends across the United States.

Few printing methods can compare with the caliber of an engraved wedding invitation. Although engraving was historically utilized create wedding invitations, baby announcements and business cards in your parent’s and grandparent’s generations, today’s printing methods are more productive but lack the high quality and vigor of engraving.

Most recently, the leading stationery retailers across the US report that wedding couples are now rediscovering the inherent attractiveness of engraving. Notwithstanding its higher price, engraved invitations bring back the traditions and elegance times past.

As the printing industry has moved to more cost-effective and more efficient types of printing, quite a few engraving firms have shut down and the craft of engraving is quite near vanishing. Although the resilient Heidelberg presses still exist in abundance, the creation of engraving dies from submerging light-sensitive copper plates into a bath of acid is beyond the financial abilities and expertise of the many private printers.

With its opaque colors and distinctive raised print resolution, engraved wedding invitations are experiencing a renaissance among the bridal couples who cherish a well-designed invitation. Among the key firms which provide different types of printing options, Crane & Co. and William Arthur give the very best design and printing choices.

If an engraved invitation is beyond your budget, opt for printing in thermograph inks. Utilizing thermograph inks simulates engraving by stamping a resin-based blend on the paper to form the raised surface which you find in engraving. Thermograph inks tend to be more shiny unless the printer provides a matte finish, but printing with this particular technique will provide great savings.

Like most fine stationery, engraved invitations should be seen in person to appreciate paper and print quality. Ink colors are opaque and richer, particularly if compared side-by-side along with other forms of printing. In all likelihood, you can find knowledgeable stationers in neighborhoods throughout the United States who are able to provide assistance in helping to craft wonderful wedding invitations.

Richard W. May, a founding member of the Stationers Guild, writes frequently about NYC wedding invitations and wedding invitation trends across the United States.

Several years ago, my wife and I had the opportunity to tour Crane & Co.’s impressive printing and paper manufacturing plants in western Massachusetts.  Crane’s facilities are spread throughout a number of plants and buildings in and around Dalton and North Adams in the Berkshires along the Appalachian Trail.  The rich traditions of this 200 year-old company are literally everywhere.  While most towns have a Main Street, Dalton has Crane Avenue.  For a delightful two hours of American history and fascinating insights into the art of making paper, we certainly recommend a visit to Crane’s Museum of Papermaking.

One of the more interesting aspects of our visit was seeing how engraving dies are made and watching Crane’s skilled craftsmen hand-feed paper through the printing press.  Together with letterpress, engraving is one of the oldest and most traditional forms of printing.  It is often used for wedding invitations, baby announcements and for both business and social stationery.  The raising printing, opaque colors and bruising on the back of the paper are signs that the paper has been engraved.

In this excellent video, Peter Hopkins, who writes the Crane Insider Blog, describes the process of engraving in exceptional detail.  Short of visiting the plant, Peter’s video illustrates the care, craftmanship and labor-intensive process of creating fine engraved papers.

To see the rich colors and beautiful samples of Crane’s engraved papers, contact a Guild member store in your neighborhood for more information.

Richard May
Founding Member

Earlier this summer, I attended the Concours d’Elégance classic automobile exhibition in Greenwich, Connecticut. I was invited by Kenro Industries who were introducing their Bentley Continental Limited Edition of fine writing instruments by Tibaldi. This remarkable Bentley Series of fountain pens, roller balls, ball point pens and mechanical pencils were available in the five Bentley colors: Silver Tempest, Silverlake, Dark Sapphire, Cumbrian Green and Beluga.

As the owner of Thérèse Saint Clair, I have long been fascinated by writing instruments and fine papers. Reflecting on this exceptional exhibit of vintage automobiles and pens, I was struck with the thought that our lives as stationers would be a lot simpler if we only had to deal with the five Bentley colors. Upon consideration, I realized that color is only part of the equation and that paper stock and the printing process will have a considerable bearing on one’s wedding invitation, social stationery or business card.

To illustrate this point in more detail, I decided to run a simple experiment by comparing the outcome of using the identical ink color on the same paper stock but using two different printing processes: engraving and thermography. Found below is a comparison of the “Thérèse Saint Clair” logo printed on identical custom paper stock (Saint Clair salmon) using the same “green” ink, but using a different printing method:

Engraved Logo

Thermography Logo

Please note that these images have been scanned at a resolution rate of 1200 dpi and then configured to internet resolution standards of 72 dpi. While monitor and printer resolutions vary from monitor to monitor and printer to printer, there is an unmistakable difference between the two images. You might ask yourself, “How is this possible?” The simple answer is that printing processes are so different that even using the same inks and paper stock, the printing process transforms the surrounding environment. In an online world, I would hate to be ordering an online wedding invitation where I was convinced that the color green was “Engraved Logo” and get an invitation where the color green was actually “Thermography Logo.”

The only constructive way to truly see how your color of choice will appear on an invitation or stationery is to consult a color palette with your local stationer. There are situations where thermography is often the printing process of choice, but it is next to impossible to determine this without “seeing” real color samples in person. Approximation using an online printer may appear to be more convenient, but unless you can actually feel the paper and “see” the color and printing differences in broad daylight, you could well be disappointed with the outcome of your social or business stationery or wedding invitation. We recommend that you consult a Guild Member store in your neighborhood for more information on what printing process works best for your circumstances.