Two people, a platen press, and a lot of paper.

Harbor Line is run by a printer and a paper buyer who met over a shared studio wall. We have been in the same corner of a Ballard boat shed since the winter of 2016.

How it started

The Heidelberg came from a job shop in Tacoma that closed when the owner retired. It had been sitting under a tarp for four years, and the two of us spent a February rebuilding the roller trucks and re-wiring the motor before pulling the first sheet. That first sheet is pinned above the ink shelf, badly registered, and we have not moved it since.

The Vandercook arrived later, in the back of a borrowed pickup, from a letterpress class that was closing its teaching studio. It is the press we use for proofs and for anything larger than a card.

What we are good at

• Small runs of one or two colours 50–600 pieces
• Deep impression on cotton stock 300–600 gsm
• Type set from our own cases metal and wood
• Reprints that match the first run we keep the plates

What we turn down

We do not print anything with a stock logo, anything for a campaign with a deadline measured in hours, or anything that needs to look like it came off a laser printer. Foil and edge painting we send to a shop in Georgetown; we say so up front rather than quietly farming it out.

The press does not care how big your launch is. It cares whether the packing is right.

The studio

The shed is unheated except for a small stove, which means winter jobs are scheduled around the temperature of the ink. There is a kettle, a long bench, and a rack of type cases labelled in fading pencil. Visitors are welcome to look at proofs; we ask that you write first so the bench is clear.