The Broadside Behind the Broadside

The thing I love most about this broadside is that while it looks like something pulled from a Boston print shop in 1770, part of the process is unmistakably modern. Back then, an engraver would etch an illustration directly into copper or wood by hand. For our poster, we created a digital drawing of an 18th century common press, then used a modern 3D printing process to create the image plate itself. Different century, same idea: carve an image into relief so it can be inked and pressed into paper.

3d printed plate and test print

The actual printing process, though, is still wonderfully old-fashioned. First we lock up and print the type, just as printers would have done with a colonial broadside. Then the form comes apart, the image plate is mounted separately, inked in a contrasting color, and the sheet runs through the press a second time. That second pass is what gives the press illustration its own texture and presence on the page. You can even see little imperfections and pressure variations from the press itself, which is exactly the charm of letterpress printing.

Finished Letterpress Broadside

So in a strange way, this poster became a collaboration between centuries. A digital illustration turned into a physical relief plate, hand inked and pressed using techniques that would have been instantly familiar to printers in Revolutionary Boston. Same process. Same smell of ink. Just with a 3D printer standing in for the engraver’s burin.