Blind Embossing With a 3D Printed Press

Difficulty: easy

Materials needed:

. juice box, cardboard, various materials
. thick paper
. scissors or scalpel

Blind embossing doesn’t need ink or special tools. The idea is to cut shapes out of cardboard or use some string or other found objects and make an imprint of their texture. There is something very fun and unique about a subtle shape embossed in a piece of paper.

1. Cutting

The main work of printing blind embossings is cutting shapes. This can be done by using a saw to cut your shape out of metal plates or just use a scalpel or scissors to cut shapes out of cardboard. The thicker they are, the deeper the embossing.

Cut Out Pieces of Cardboard Using A Scalpel

2. Straight to Printing!

We don’t need any ink for this one, so you don’t need to worry about accidentally inking up your press. Just put your stencil under a piece of nice thick paper and roll it through the press. You might want to try holding your paper under water for a few seconds, this might increase the quality of the embossing. Not every paper will work for this, some might tear, so experiment with different thicknesses of paper and cardboard.

Put Thick Paper on Top of Plate

3D Printed Printing Press in Action

Lifting the Finished Embossing Print from the Press Bed

A 3D printed plate can also be used for blind embossing!

Image of a 3D Printed Plate and the Resulting Embossing

You can find more techniques and helpful information in our free ebook!

Also, we'd love to see your prints, please feel free to share them on social media with #openpressproject and tag us @openpressproject! Happy printing!