Letterpress Plates That Hold the Finest Line
Digital photopolymer imaged on an ESKO CDI Spark, water washed, backed with adhesive and out the door the same day. Every relief up to 16 by 22 inches.
What You Get on Every Order
Concord has made letterpress polymer for new and long-established printers for years, and the terms are the same whether it is your first plate or your five hundredth.
- Proofs included free, so you see the plate before it is made
- Adhesive backing on every plate, ready to mount straight to the base
- Same-day turnaround at no charge on press-ready files in by 10:00am EST
- Free scanning if your artwork only exists on paper
- Free trimming to fit a flat rate envelope, with a cut guideline in the file
- Water-washed and fully recyclable, with all solvents recycled on site
What It Costs, With No Quote Request
One rate, one minimum, no setup fee. Put your dimensions in and the price is on the screen.
Your price
24 sq in × $0.55
Relief, Material and Size
Digital Plates
Imaged by laser ablating the carbon mask laminated to the polymer, which removes film from the process entirely. Digital plates are currently made in standard relief.
- Relief
- Standard
- Imager
- ESKO CDI Spark
- Since
- 2014
Analog Plates
Made from digital negatives rather than the polymer being imaged directly, which is how the shop covers the reliefs outside the standard digital option.
- Relief
- Various
- Film
- 7 mil, chemistry free
- Wash
- Water
Plate Size
A single plate runs up to 16 by 22 inches in any relief. Larger artwork gets split across plates, worked out with you before anything is imaged.
- Maximum
- 16 × 22 in
- Backing
- Adhesive
- Screening
- 133 LPI default
Getting the File Right the First Time
Artwork is not adjusted at this end, so what you send is what gets made. Check it closely before it goes, and it will come back exactly as drawn.
- Vector EPS, AI or PDF. JPEGs do not make good plates
- Fonts embedded, and type built in the vector app rather than Photoshop
- Artwork placed at the size you want it printed
- Everything 100% black, and never sent as a reverse or negative
- Halftones screen at 133 LPI unless you specify otherwise on the order
- Hard-copy artwork scanned at 600 DPI or higher, or posted in for free scanning
Mirroring is applied in the RIP. Crop marks are optional.
Film and Raw Polymer, If You Plate Your Own
Plenty of studios make their own plates and only need the film. Concord images chemistry-free film on the same CDI Spark at $0.15 a square inch, with an inch added around the artwork for billing, so 5 by 5 inch art bills as 6 by 6.
Unexposed polymer is sold by the sheet or by the case, with a per-sheet discount on case quantities. A2 is the usual size, though other sizes and materials can be arranged. Shelley handles pricing on A1, A2, A3 and A4.
- Plates
- $0.55 per sq in
- Minimum
- $12.50 per order
- Film
- $0.15 per sq in
- Film billing
- Art size plus 1 in around
- Polymer
- By sheet or case
- Proofs
- Free
- Backing
- Adhesive, included
Send the File, Get the Plate
Files go to the art department and a proof comes back before anything is imaged. Your first order sets up an account with Shelley, and the card is only charged when the plates ship.