Letterpress Plates at 55¢ a Square Inch
A $12.50 minimum, so a single card is worth ordering. Files in by 10am EST ship the same day, free. Family run in Concord, New Hampshire since 1933.
Four Generations of the Otto Family, Since 1933
Concord Engraving is a family owned pre-press trade shop on Commercial Street in Concord, New Hampshire, making letterpress and flexographic photopolymer plates for printers across the country.
Floyd Otto Sr. opened Concord Photo Engraving in 1933, when negatives were made by taking actual photographs and every engraving was cut by hand. The second generation brought in flexography. The third brought in photopolymer. Max brought in digital platemaking and letterpress polymer, and runs the shop today with Shelley.
The name still says Photo Engraving on the door and on the business cards, which are letterpress printed from the shop's own plates. Ninety-three years in, the shop still takes single-card orders, which is what the $12.50 minimum is there to make worth placing.
What Your Plate Costs, Before You Ask
Most trade shops make you email for a quote and wait. Put the dimensions in and the number is on the screen. It is the same rate whether you order one plate or fifty.
- Rate
- $0.55 per square inch
- Minimum
- $12.50 per order
- Proofs
- Included, free
- Backing
- Adhesive, included
- Max plate
- 16 × 22 in
Your price
24 sq in × $0.55
Half the Going Rate, a Fraction of the Minimum
The trade average for letterpress polymer sits near $1.10 a square inch, and most shops will not open a job under 35 to 50 square inches. That math punishes exactly the work letterpress studios actually take on, which is short runs, single cards and one-off corrections.
Concord charges $0.55 with a $12.50 floor. A 3 by 4 inch plate costs $12.50 here because the minimum catches it. At a typical shop the same job either costs three times as much or gets turned away for being too small.
| Concord Engraving | Typical trade shop | |
|---|---|---|
| Per square inch | $0.55 | $1.00 to $1.10 |
| Minimum order | $12.50 | 35 to 50 sq in |
| Same-day turnaround | Free, files by 10am EST | Rush charge |
| Proofs | Included | Often billed |
Typical trade figures are indicative market rates, not a quote from any named competitor.
In by Ten, Out the Same Day
Press-ready files landing before 10:00am EST are imaged, exposed, processed and shipped that day, and it costs nothing extra. Most shops call that a rush and bill for it.
- Digital plates imaged on an ESKO CDI Spark, in-house since 2014
- Chemistry-free 7 mil film, so the finest lines hold
- Water-washed polymer, fully recyclable, solvents recycled on site
- FedEx, UPS and USPS accounts, or ship on your own account number
- Free trimming so oversized plates still fit a flat rate envelope
Work That Came Off These Plates
Every piece here was printed by a studio using plates made in Concord. The shop has supplied letterpress printers, stationers and card studios across the country for years.
The range is the point. Fine hairline rules and hand-lettered type on cotton stock, solid coverage across a coaster, tight registration on a multi-color run. Same rate, same turnaround, whichever it is.
Wedding and event stationers, card studios and small craft shops make up most of the letterpress side. A good many of them started with one plate to see whether the fine detail would hold.
See the work
From Your File to a Mounted Plate
Send the File
Vector EPS, AI or PDF, fonts embedded, at final size and 100% black. Email it to the art department.
Preflight and Proof
The art department checks the file for anything that will not print, and a proof comes back to you free.
Image and Process
The CDI Spark ablates the carbon mask, then the plate is exposed, water washed and dried.
Backed and Shipped
Plates go out backed with adhesive, trimmed to fit flat rate where it saves you money.
What Printers Say After the First Order
I only have one word: WOW. That is one of the cleanest, crispest plates I have ever received. Thank you for the wonderful work, friendly service, and lightning-quick turnaround. You have a customer for life.
Just a quick note to tell you how incredibly happy we have been with your plates. They arrived to us in super condition and they have printed beautifully. We are happy to have made the switch over to you.
You guys are the masters of my heart. I could never maintain the same kind of print business without you. I am literally staring at the 9 orders I have to print this week and it is all because of you guys getting me the perfect plates so quickly.
Questions Printers Ask Before the First Order
What does a letterpress plate actually cost?
Every letterpress photopolymer plate is $0.55 a square inch with a $12.50 minimum order. A 4 by 6 inch plate is 24 square inches, so $13.20. There is no setup fee and no per-order surcharge on top.
How fast can I get plates?
Press-ready files received by 10:00am EST go out the same day, and the same-day service is free rather than a rush charge. Shipping runs on FedEx, UPS and USPS accounts, and your own account number can be used instead.
What files do you need?
Vector EPS, AI or PDF, with fonts embedded and artwork at the size you want it printed. Build everything at 100% black. Do not send the file reversed, because the mirroring is applied in the RIP. JPEGs do not make good plates, and Photoshop is best kept to images rather than type.
What if I only have a printed copy of the artwork?
Scan it at 600 DPI or higher and send the file across. Without a scanner, post the artwork to the shop and it will be scanned free of charge.
Do proofs cost extra?
No. Proofs are included on every order, and all plates arrive backed with adhesive ready to mount.
How big can a plate be?
A single plate runs up to 16 by 22 inches in any relief. Artwork larger than a FedEx flat rate envelope can be trimmed to fit at no cost, as long as a cut guideline is included with the file.
Send a File and See What Comes Back
The first order sets up your account with Shelley. Card details stay on file and are only charged when the plates actually ship, with the invoice emailed after.