A Letterpress Workshop at the Center for Book Arts

The Center for Book Arts has kept the crafts of the printed book alive in New York since 1974, in a third-floor studio on West 27th Street full of presses, type cases and binding tools. Its Hands-On Introduction to Letterpress is the easiest way in: a single four-hour workshop in which an instructor walks you through setting your own name in metal type, running the presses and trying several printing techniques, and you leave with multiple prints of your design plus a pre-set CBA colophon.

The one-day workshop costs $165 as of October 2026, all materials included, and is open to all levels; the center pitches it to friends and to couples looking for a creative date. Sessions are offered each term and class sizes are small, so register early; the center lists new terms on its workshop shop. If it takes, the five-week Letterpress I course goes deeper on the Vandercook proof presses. Wear closed-toe shoes and clothes you do not mind inking; aprons are provided. Look in on the gallery shows on the way out.