We can produce letterpress designs with full bleed (print to the edge); however, it is highly recommended to avoid full ink coverage on backgrounds. Letterpress Printing areas with large ink coverage may appear spotted or blotchy and you may receive a File Error about this from our Prepress team.
The reason for this limitation is due to the fact that letterpresss requires an immense amount of pressure and ink to create solid flat colors across large areas. The entire flood of color is printed in a single pass of impression. This amount of pressure can cause paper fibres to lift from the stock and cause the print to look mottled, flecked, or salty. Offset printing and digital printing are more capable for large ink coverage because these presses roll the ink onto the sheet evenly from one side to the other.
Letterpress looks best with minimalistic designs and is typically laid out with ample white space. If you prefer to fill the background with a full coverage of designs or backgrounds, please consider using a pattern instead of a single block of color.
You may request a Custom Print Quote and submit your files to see if they will be suitable for Letterpress.