What is Blind Letterpress or Debossing? – Peterkin Help Centre

1PMS + digital Blind and almond v2.jpg — Digital CMYK colour printing with 1PMS Letterpress. On the left the impression is coloured with Pantone ink. On the right, the design is left without colour - Blind Letterpress.

As well as offering letterpress printing coloured with Pantone inks, we can also blind deboss leaving an impression in your chosen card stock without ink.

Blind Letterpress is usually combined with other print methods, like digital printing or Hot Foil Press.

1PMS blind v colour june 26 Mother Earth.jpg — Blind Letterpress may not be as legible as you'd like - on this textured stock, the design is much more subtle without ink.

1PMS + digital Blind bookmark.jpg — Blind Letterpress may not be as legible as you'd like - on this textured stock, the design is much more subtle without ink.

Design Tips

Keep in mind that no ink means that there's less contrast and your design may appear subtle and not a legible as you'd like.
Patterns, floral details, and bold typefaces suit Blind Letterpress.
Blind deboss works best on 500gsm + stocks (double thick), as it allows for a deeper impression.
Consider carefully the areas of your design to be blind letterpressed – we don’t recommend it for any important text details of a design as it can be quite difficult to read without the definition that coloured ink provides.
We get the best impression on softer stocks like Gmund Colors Cotton.
We recommend using lighter card colours as the shadows help legibility.

Please note that Blind Letterpress (Deboss) is considered an ink colour for pricing purposes.

Related articles:

What is Letterpress Printing and how is it done?

Samples to buy: The Letterpress Pack

What's the difference between 1, 2 and 3 PMS colour letterpress?