Printing on Balck, Ink color, Pantone® matching, transparency, opacity, metallic inks

Pantone colors are used to specify ink color. However the Pantone standard is designed for offset lithography, not for letterpress. We use the Pantone formula mixing book as a reference and a guide, and we take every available step to match the swatch specified. HOWEVER, we are not responsible for slight variations from the swatch book in the final printed piece! See our Trade-Terms for specific disclaimers.

In particular, since each mix is done by eye, different jobs will inevitably be noticeably distinct in color. It's the same as buying paint for your kitchen! If you'll need more, buy plenty to begin with!

Since Pantone inks are transparent, printing on off-white or colored stock will inevitably affect the color of the final impression.

Opaque inks may be specified for printing on black or other colored stock but no guarantees of any kind are provided.

With any relief printing process, the ink layer is very very thin (since otherwise, it squeezes out of the impression and looks horrible!) The brilliance of the color comes 99% (well, a lot, anyway) from reflection of light off the paper, returning back through the ink. So with a colored stock, not even black, the impression will always be subtle, with very little brilliance. This effect can be used with very beautiful results, subtle, rather mottled colors, overlaying each other in larger type and block matter. For small text and fine line, we don't find it very successful.

Although the inks are "opaque" there's simply not enough pigment in the ink layer!

There is also hot-stamp film and foil, which is done on a letterpress. We currently out-source hot-stamping, although it seems that every other request we get lately is for printing on black stock ;-) For large jobs, any Pantone color may be specified for hot-stamping, and for metallics (see below) it is the only option which provides a true 'specular reflection'.

Film-stamping has the advantage of being perfectly opaque, but the disadvantage of looking high-tech (plastic) and rather impersonal, also the color choices are limited in small quantities.

Actual metallic inks tend to be  problematic, since they depend on the gloss of the surface behind them to become reflective. Since our fine paper stocks are 'high-touch', ie, soft 100% cotton or rag fiber, we avoid metallics. The other option "metallic film hot-stamping" is also rather garish against the fine papers we prefer. Hot-stamping is similar to what you might find on a book cover.
We are happy to quote hot-stamping as part of your project.

Having said that, we've recently been impressed by the quality of a new silver metallic ink on dark stocks. This ink is extremely opaque, and on dark stock has a brilliance impossible to achieve with standard opaque inks. On lighter stocks it simply seems gray...