The easiest way to explain letterpress is by thinking of wooden or metal blocks that you could use to make imprints.  Ink is then rolled over the impression part of the block and the paper is pressed on to the block where the imprint lies and the ink on the block is then transfered to the paper.  Depending on the quality of paper you use you can achieve a more vibrant and sharp result.  Although letterpress still exists it is not as widely used in the printing industry today.  However certain art forms still utilize this printing method today to produce special edition books and limited edition art work.

Letterpress - Printing from type is known as relief printing. The image that is to print is raised higher than the surrounding area. Ink is then applied to this image. The inked surface is brought in contact with paper and is pressed against the paper to make an impression. The image is then reinked and impressed against a new sheet of paper and so on. Letterpress can be printed on three types of presses-platen. cylinder and rotary.

Most Letterpress printers have platen type presses. Paper is fed into them by hand or automatically. Some Letterpress printers can also have cylinder presses as well as platen presses. The cylinder press can do a better job since printing is done only on that part of the cylinder which is impressing the paper against the inked type. This tangent impression gives a smooth, uniform printed image and can be much better controlled than platen type printing which smashes into the type form in one overall impression. Cylinder press printing is also a faster process providing more impressions per hour.

Printing by rotary offers the advantage of high speed and is best suited for long press runs of hundreds of thousands or more copies. The rotary principle is similar to the cylinder method except the image form is made into a curved plate which fits around a cylinder. This inked plate is pressed onto paper fed from a continuous roll against an impression cylinder. Some of the most beautiful printing in the world is done by this method.