Frequently Asked Questions

  1. About Us & Getting Started

  • Both. We design and print under one roof. If you already have a designer, we work with your files. If you don't, we can design for you from scratch. A lot of people assume we only handle the printing side — we don't.

  • No. A rough idea, a reference image you saved, or a mood board is enough. The clearer your brief, the faster things move — but we're used to starting from "I want something like this but not exactly this."

  • Send us your artwork or brief via email or WhatsApp. If you're still figuring things out, book a studio visit. We'll show you samples, let you feel different papers and print finishes in person, and help you work out what makes sense for your project and budget.

  • Yes — and we recommend it, especially if you're still deciding on paper or finish. We don't do drop-in visits; we schedule them so we can give you proper time and attention. Visits are Monday to Friday, at 11am or 2pm. Sessions usually run 45 minutes to an hour, though they often go longer when there's a lot to explore. Book via WhatsApp or email.

  • Anything that helps communicate what you're after — saved photos, a Pinterest board, a sample you like, or something you don't like but can explain why. If you have nothing yet, come anyway. We'll show you past work, let you feel different paper and print combinations, and go from there.

  • A guided tour of the studio covering our letterpress, foil, and embossing machines, followed by a hands-on printing session. Book through the Cultural Pass portal or contact us directly for upcoming dates.

  • 50 Genting Lane, #07-02 Cideco Industrial Complex, Singapore 349558. WhatsApp us at +65 6974 3472 or email hello@thegentlemenspress.com.

  • Yes — locally and internationally. Shipping cost and timeframe are confirmed at the time of order. Foil and embossed work is packed carefully to prevent scuffing.

2. Pricing

  • We don't, because every job is different. The cost depends on what technique you choose, how many colours, what paper, how many pieces, and what finishing. Share your brief with us and we'll come back with a quote specific to your job.

  • Three things go into the cost: making the plates (a fixed cost per colour or finish, the same whether you print 50 or 500 copies), running the press (charged per layer and per quantity), and paper and finishing. Because the plate cost is fixed, the more you print, the more that cost spreads — going from 50 to 100 to 200 pieces brings the per-piece price down noticeably. The more colours and finishes a design has, the higher the upfront cost, which is why we often recommend higher quantities for more complex jobs.

  • The range is genuinely wide. A simple one-colour invitation for a small run is a very different number from a two-colour letterpress plus foil suite for two hundred guests. As a rough sense of scale: straightforward single-colour work starts from a few hundred dollars for a small run. Add more colours, foil, double-sided printing, or special finishing and that grows — complex suites can reach into the thousands. Share your brief and we'll quote it specifically.

  • We offer three design tiers:

    - Essential — Clean, minimal layouts. Typography-led, no illustrations or decorative motifs. For clients who want something refined and simple.

    - Signature — More considered layouts with added design elements: monograms, motifs, or subtle embellishments. More personalised than Essential, short of full illustration.

    - Luxe — Fully bespoke illustration. Florals, venue sketches, maps, portraits, or richly detailed custom artwork drawn specifically for your project.

    Each tier has a base fee for the first piece (usually the main card), with a lower fee for each additional piece in the same suite — reply card, menu, envelope, and so on. All tiers include two rounds of revisions; additional revision time is charged hourly. Design fees range from the low hundreds to under a thousand for the base piece, depending on tier. Drop us a message and we'll point you in the right direction.

  • 50 pieces for invitations, cards, and general collateral. 100 pieces for name cards, and 100 per unique name when ordering for multiple people. Smaller quantities are possible but the per-piece cost rises — the plate and setup cost stays the same regardless of how many you print.

  • Full payment before production begins. For orders above SGD 1,000, we can arrange 50% upfront and the remaining 50% on collection.

3. Letterpress Printing

  • Think of it like a very precise, firm stamp — except instead of soft rubber, it's a rigid plate pressed hard into the paper by a machine. That firmness is the key: it's what drives the plate into the paper's surface and creates the physical indent (called a deboss) that you can feel with your fingertip. Soft techniques like lino printing transfer ink but don't create that depth. Letterpress does both — ink and impression, in one press. Digital printing sits flat on the surface and can't replicate it. Every print comes out slightly different, which is part of what people love about it.

  • Your artwork is separated by colour and printed onto a clear film, one layer per colour. That film is laid on top of a light-sensitive printing plate and exposed to UV light. Where the UV hits, the material hardens into a raised surface. Where the film blocked the light, the material stays soft and rinses away — leaving a raised relief of your design. That raised surface is what gets inked and pressed into your paper. One plate per colour in your design.

  • Each colour requires its own plate and its own full pass through the machine — the machine is cleaned, a new plate is fitted, the paper is precisely re-aligned, and the full print run happens again from scratch. A two-colour design is effectively two separate jobs run one after another. If we can consolidate elements into fewer colours without changing the look, we'll suggest it.

  • We measure paper weight in gsm (grams per square metre) — the higher the number, the thicker and heavier the paper. We recommend starting from 300gsm for most letterpress work, and we go up to 900gsm and above. Thicker paper takes a better impression — there's more material to compress, so the indent is more pronounced. That said, don't let the numbers limit you. We've done letterpress on thinner paper too — come explore with us. We can also print on textured, handmade, cotton, and seed papers.

  • Yes, and that's normal. When a plate presses into the paper, the fibres compress. Under good light you'll often see a faint ghost of the impression on the reverse. We control press pressure to keep it minimal, but it's inherent to the technique and part of the character of letterpress. On thicker paper it's less visible. If you want a completely clean reverse, we can bond a second sheet to the back — let us know at briefing.

  • Letterpress ink is semi-transparent — think of it like a wash of colour rather than a coat of paint. Light ink on dark paper tends to disappear. If you need white or light text on a dark or coloured card, hot foil is the better route — foil is fully opaque and shows clearly on any background.

  • Yes. We adjust pressure carefully on the second pass to prevent the first side's impression from showing through. Thicker stock (400gsm and above) handles double-sided work best. Let us know at briefing so we can plan accordingly.

  • Not the way digital printing can. Letterpress prints one flat, solid colour at a time — it can't reproduce the tonal range of a photograph or a gradient. If your design has both photographic elements and text you want to feel tactile, we'll usually recommend printing the photo part digitally and adding a letterpress or foil layer on top. It's a common combination and gives you the best of both.

4. Hot Foil Stamping

  • A heated metal plate presses against a roll of foil, transferring it onto the paper in one clean, sharp impression. The result is fully opaque — it shows clearly on any paper colour, including black and deep-toned stocks. Anything shiny and metallic in our work is foil.

  • Metallic foil is reflective and mirror-like — gold, silver, rose gold, copper, bronze. Pigment foil is flat and opaque in colour — it's used when you want a solid non-metallic colour on dark paper that regular ink can't cover. Pigment foil can look slightly inconsistent on large flat areas; it works best on smaller elements like text and logos.

  • Yes — and this is how we prefer to do it. We use a specially made plate with two levels: one carries the foil, the other creates the raised impression beneath it. Both happen in a single press, so the foil sits exactly where the impression is with no risk of misalignment. Some printers run these as two separate passes, which always introduces some level of shift. We don't work that way.

5. Embossing & Die Cutting

  • Embossing creates a raised or sunken area in the paper — no ink, no foil, just the paper shaped by pressure. Two matched dies (a mould and a counter-mould) are pressed through the paper from both sides. The result is a three-dimensional effect that catches light and shadow. The reverse side will show the inverse of the impression — this is expected and part of the look. If you want a clean reverse, we can bond a second sheet over it.

  • Standard embossing is flat — the impression goes either up or down. 3D sculpted embossing uses a contoured die with curves and gradients, so the impression has actual depth and dimension — like a bas-relief on a coin or a medal. It requires a more complex die and a high-pressure machine. The results are striking. Ask to see samples in the studio.

  • Up to 350gsm gives the best results. Above that, the paper starts to resist the die and the impression won't form properly. Think of it like pressing a pattern into clay — if the clay is too stiff, the detail won't transfer.

  • Die cutting uses a board fitted with precision-bent steel blades to cut the paper into any shape — rounded corners, arch-top invitations, hexagons, custom silhouettes. The die is made once to your shape and can be reused for future reprints. We also keep a library of common shapes on hand, so you can use those without paying for a new die.

6. Finishing Options

  • The print technique is only part of the picture. Finishing is often where the character comes from. Options we offer include:

    - Edge painting — the edge of a thick card is hand-painted in a solid colour. Invisible when the card sits flat; visible as a fine stripe of colour when held side-on. A quiet detail that people notice when they pick the card up.

    - Deckle edge — instead of a clean cut, the paper has a torn, uneven edge that gives a handmade, organic quality. Works particularly well with cotton and fine art papers.

    - Duplex — two sheets of paper bonded face-to-face to create a single, thicker card. Used to increase weight, hide the back of an emboss, or combine two paper colours in one piece.

    - Envelope liner — a printed or patterned insert fitted inside the envelope, visible when the flap is opened. Can be illustrated, patterned, or a flat colour.

    - Wax seal — a decorative wax seal pressed onto the envelope flap with a custom stamp — an initial, monogram, or motif.

    - Belly band — a band or wrap that holds the invitation suite together. Can be plain, printed, or foil-stamped.

    All are quoted per project. Ask to see samples in the studio.

  • The cut edges of the card are painted by hand in a solid colour — visible as a fine band when you look at the card side-on, invisible when it's lying flat. It works best on thick stock, especially duplexed cards where the bonded edge gives a generous surface to paint on. Available in most colours; metallics are also possible. It's a finishing detail that only reveals itself when someone picks the card up — which is exactly the point.

7. Paper & Stock

  • We work primarily with uncoated paper — paper without a shiny or glossy coating. Uncoated stock is our preference because it best showcases the natural fibre and texture of quality paper, and holds letterpress ink and impressions better than coated surfaces.

    Our regular stocks by category:

    - Cotton papers — Crane's Lettra and Gmund Cotton. Both have a high cotton content, giving a soft, luxurious feel that takes letterpress impression beautifully.

    - Coloured papers — GF Smith Colorplan, Keaykolour, Curious, and Gmund Colour. Each brand brings its own character across a wide range of colours, textures, and weights.

    - Classic whites and naturals — Maple papers by RJ Paper (made in Singapore) and Conqueror (a long-established British fine paper).

    The full range is wider than any list — swatches are in the studio and the best way to choose is to see and feel them in person.

  • We recommend 300gsm and above for most letterpress and foil work, and go up to 900gsm and beyond. For digital: up to 300gsm. For embossing: up to 350gsm for best results. Don't let the numbers limit you — come explore with us.

  • Yes. Cotton stock is a premium material and is priced accordingly. We'll include it in your quote when it's specified.

  • Yes, with a conversation first. Bring a sample or the spec sheet so we can check it's compatible with your chosen technique. Some papers are too thin, too smooth, or too porous to take letterpress ink well — we'll tell you honestly before you commit. Allow 20–30% more sheets than your final quantity to cover setup and any misprints. We return whatever we don't use.

  • Yes — letterpress and handmade paper work well together, and the combination can look beautiful. We don't stock handmade paper ourselves; most clients source their own and bring it to us. A few things to know: handmade paper varies naturally in thickness and texture from sheet to sheet, so there will be some variation in impression depth across the print run. This is part of its character. One important note: handmade paper is only compatible with letterpress. Digital, giclée, and offset printing require a smooth, consistent surface that handmade paper can't reliably provide.

8. Digital Printing

  • When you need full-colour photos or complex artwork, small quantities with no minimum, a quick turnaround, or when different copies need different information (like name cards with different names on each). Also the right call when the tactile impression isn't essential to the piece.

  • 300gsm — that's the upper limit for our digital press. For anything heavier, letterpress or foil is the right route.

  • Yes, but with an extra step. Standard digital printing uses semi-transparent inks that won't show on dark paper. We solve this by printing a solid white layer underneath first — think of it like applying a primer before painting — and then printing the full-colour artwork on top. Not every digital printer offers this; ours does.

  • Digital printing uses a four-colour process (mixing cyan, magenta, yellow, and black dots) to approximate your design colours. Exact Pantone or brand colours may shift slightly — blues can go a little purple, neons lose some punch. If your colours need to be precise, convert your file to CMYK before sending, or ask us for a single test print before we run the full quantity.

  • Yes — and this is one of our favourite approaches. Digital handles photography and full-colour artwork well, but it sits flat on the paper. Adding letterpress, foil, embossing, or a die cut brings in dimension and tactility that digital alone can't achieve. A common combination: digital for the image, foil or letterpress for the name or key text.

9. Giclée Printing

  • Giclée (pronounced zhee-clay) is high-quality inkjet printing using archival inks — rated to last 100 years or more without fading. It's the method used for fine art reproduction and photography editions. The difference from home printing is in the machine: our giclée partner uses a professional printer with 12 to 13 different ink channels compared to 4 in a typical home printer, giving a much wider colour range and smoother gradations. It's the right choice for art prints and anything where colour accuracy and longevity matter.

  • Giclée inks are water-based and need to absorb into the paper surface to bond properly. This means it works best on papers made for inkjet — fine art cotton rag, baryta (a fine art photo paper with a luster surface), or coated matte and gloss papers. It won't work on heavily textured or handmade papers without a specialist coating, unlike letterpress which handles those surfaces well.

10. Silk Screen & Risograph

  • Silk screen printing pushes ink through a fine mesh stencil directly onto the paper. Each colour needs its own screen. The ink sits thickly on the surface and can achieve very vivid, fully opaque results — including screen-printed gold, which has a softer, more handcrafted look than metallic foil.

  • Risograph prints by burning your design onto a thin master sheet, which wraps around an ink-filled drum inside the machine. Ink passes through the master onto the paper below. The result has a slightly uneven, powdery quality and can produce very vivid neon colours. It's popular for zines, artist books, and indie publishing where that handmade quality is part of the appeal. We don't run risograph in-house but can refer you to a local specialist. Ask us for a contact.

11. File Setup

  • For letterpress, foil, embossing, and die cutting: we need scalable design files — Adobe Illustrator (.ai), EPS, or a properly exported PDF. All text should be converted to paths, and all images should be embedded. For digital and giclée printing, high-resolution raster files (.tiff, .png, or .jpeg) also work. When in doubt, send the .ai file.

  • Set any photos or images to 300 dpi at your actual print size. Vector artwork (logos, text, line illustrations) doesn't have a resolution issue and always prints sharply regardless of size.

  • For digital, giclée, and offset printing: use CMYK. For letterpress and foil: each colour in your design needs to be set up as its own separate layer, using a single solid colour per layer. Don't send a letterpress file set up in CMYK — the colours won't separate correctly for plate-making. If you're not sure, send us the file and we'll take a look.

  • Include 3mm of bleed on all sides, and keep anything important (text, logos) at least 3–5mm away from the trim edge. For die cut shapes, mark the cut line clearly as its own layer.

  • Put each colour or finish on its own separate named layer — for example: "Red Ink," "Gold Foil," "Emboss Area," "Cut Line." This tells us exactly what to make a plate for. If layers are merged or unlabelled, we'll need to come back to you before we can start.

  • For digital printing, yes — set your artboard to actual print dimensions in centimetres or inches, turn on bleed, and export as a high-resolution PDF at 300 dpi. For letterpress or foil, Canva doesn't support the layer structure and colour separation we need for plate-making — those jobs need to be prepared in Adobe Illustrator.

12. Turnaround & Studio

  • Typically 2–3 weeks from the point your artwork is approved and payment is confirmed. If you're working to a tighter deadline, let us know upfront — we'll tell you honestly whether we can fit it in. For jobs that genuinely need weekend production, a rush fee of 30–50% applies.

  • Once the job is on the press, we send you a photo of the proof before the full run. Phone cameras automatically adjust colour and every device displays it differently, so the photo is a reliable guide to layout and impression but not a precise colour reference. We need your confirmation quickly — the machine is held while we wait, the ink begins to dry, and it affects the production queue.

  • For digital printing, yes — a sample can be arranged at a cost. For letterpress and foil, there's no such thing as a free test print. Even a single sample requires a plate to be made and the machine to be set up — the cost is the same as any other run. The best way to get a feel for the results before committing is to come into the studio and look at examples from past jobs.

13. Something Different?

  • Reach out anyway. We're a highly explorative studio and a lot of what we do doesn't fit neatly into a list. If you have an idea — or even a half-formed one — we'd rather have a conversation than have you assume it's not possible.

    Some of the less conventional things we've done recently: paper marbling, gold leafing, NFC chip tagging (so your card can tap-to-connect to a phone), and UV printing. These aren't things every studio does, and they're not always easy or cheap — but they're the kind of projects we enjoy working out.

    Your imagination is the main limit. Budget is the other one, and we'll always be honest with you about both.

Not sure where to start?

We’ve Got You.Print can feel like a maze — paper types, finishes, techniques… we get it. Whether you’ve got a clear idea or just a Pinterest mood board, we’re here to help you figure it out.

Tell us what you’re thinking (even if it’s fuzzy), share with us what you are comfortable sharing and we’ll guide you through the rest — no pressure, no jargon, just friendly print advice.