We provide digital polymer plate making at the highest standards with exceptional customer service.
At Concord Engraving we make various reliefs of letterpress polymer plates. We support new and established letterpress customers, helping bring their designs to life!
Letterpress Polymer Plates
We offer the following polymers reliefs:
Standard Relief
- Toyobo KF 95 – 67 shore hardness
- Jet CHFB 94 – 75 shore hardness
- Digital Jet 94 FL – 60 shore hardness
- Digital Toyobo KF 95 – 67 shore hardness
Deep Relief
- Toyobo KF 152- 65 shore hardness
- Jet 152SB – 80 shore hardness
- Toyobo KM152GR – 67 shore hardness
Our ESKO CDI Spark digital imager produces 7 mil, chemical free letterpress films. Using digital negatives allows us to hold the finest lines, producing the highest quality of analog polymer plates.
Digital Letterpress Polymer
We began producing digital letterpress polymer plates in 2014. Producing digital plates, proudly sets us apart from our competitors. Currently, digital plates are only available in Standard relief:
Jet 94 FL & Toyobo KF 95
Digital plates are imaged by laser ablating the carbon mask that is laminated to the top of the polymer. By eliminating the need for film, you are increasing your print quality and becoming more environmentally friendly!
Timing & Turnaround
Our team at Concord Engraving, will work diligently to meet your press schedule. We offer SAME DAY turnaround for FREE on press ready files received by 10:00 am EST. All polymer plates are backed with an adhesive and proofs are included for FREE!
All Letterpress Photopolymers are $0.50 a square inch, with a $10.00 minimum order.
Your art dimensions are rounded up to the nearest ¼” and then, ¼” is added to your art dimensions when calculating price.
Any order under 20 square inches bills at the minimum price of $10.00
5.35×7, rounds to 5.5×7, then bills at, 6×7.5.
We have active accounts with FedEx, UPS and USPS. We will ship anyway you prefer. Have your own shipping account number? We will use that too!
We find FedEx 2 day flat rate offers the best pricing and delivery for polymer plates. Files 11×14 and 9×12 or smaller, slide right into a flat rate envelope and off they go! Larger than flat rate? No problem. Just include a cut guideline with your file and we will trim your plates to fit flat rate at no cost to you!
File Requirements
Please check your designs closely prior to sending your art. We do NOT make design adjustments to your art. Make sure you send your file in exactly as you want to see it print. Max polymer plate size for all reliefs is 16×22.
Cliff Notes of file prep
Files need to be vector based EPS, AI or PDF files. Jpegs do not make good printing plates. Photoshop is good for images only. It is not recommended to use Photoshop to build text for your printing plates. Fonts need to be embedded in your file. Art should be attached at the size you want it outputted. Do not send your files in as a reverse/negative. We will apply the necessary mirroring in the RIP. Files should be 100% Black (K). When multiple colors are present in a file, it is a standard process to color separate those files. Files containing half tones will be screened at 133 LPI, unless otherwise specified when ordering plates. If you are using a hard copy for your art, please scan your work at a minimum of 600 DPI. No access to a scanner? Send your artwork to us. We scan for FREE! Crop marks are not necessary for plate making, but if you need them, feel free to include them!
Dots and Line Sizes
Standard Relief Plates: Line size 0.004″ thick or 0.25 point / Dot size 1.25 pt diameter
Deep Relief Plates: Line size 0.007″ thick or 0.35 point / Dot size 1.25 pt diameter
File submissions
Submitting files is easy! Depending on the needs of your project, you can submit files the following ways:
Use Our File Submissions Page
Setting Up Your Account and Billing
After you place your initial order, you will be contacted by Shelley to set up your account. We keep your credit card information securely on file and charge when your plates ship. After your credit card is charged, you will receive an electronic copy of your bill. All requests for quotes should be sent to shelleyotto@concordengraving.com
At this time, we do not accept PayPal as a payment.
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