How to Use This Calculator
This tool is designed for letterpress printers pricing their own jobs — not a customer-facing estimate. Work through the five sections:
- Job Details — enter the quantity you need to deliver, how many spoilage sheets make-ready typically uses, and whether the job is one-sided or two-sided.
- Colors & Plates — add one row per ink color. For each color, enter the make-ready time in minutes, the wash-up time in minutes, and the plate cost from your supplier (Boxcar Press, Lyme Bay Press, or your own platemaking setup).
- Press & Shop Rates — set your impressions-per-hour for the running phase, your hourly labor rate, and your hourly overhead rate (rent + utilities + press depreciation ÷ annual billable hours). Add time for design/prep and finishing.
- Paper / Stock — enter your per-sheet cost at the finished piece size, plus any other consumable materials.
- Markup & Quote — apply your desired profit margin and optional rush surcharge, then see the quoted total and price per piece.
The Pricing Formula
This calculator uses the standard cost-plus method, as described by Letterpress Commons and the estimating methodology in Philip K. Ruggles' Printing Estimating:
Total Sheets = (Qty × Sides) + (Spoilage × Colors × Sides)
Paper Cost = Total Sheets × Cost per Sheet
Run Time (per color) = Total Sheets ÷ Impressions per Hour
Total Press Hours = Σ[(Make-ready + Run Time + Wash-up) per color] + Design Time + Finishing Time
Labor Cost = Total Press Hours × Labor Rate
Overhead Cost = Total Press Hours × Overhead Rate
Plate Cost = Σ[Plate Cost per color]
Total Job Cost = Labor + Overhead + Paper + Plates + Other Materials + Shipping
Quoted Price = Total Job Cost × (1 + Markup%) × (1 + Rush%)
Price per Piece = Quoted Price ÷ Quantity
For two-sided jobs, each side is treated as an independent press pass with its own make-ready, run, and wash-up per color — because that is how a platen press actually works.
Calculating Your Hourly Overhead (BHR)
Your Budgeted Hourly Rate (BHR) is the foundation of accurate letterpress pricing. Add up all annual fixed costs — studio rent, electricity, insurance, press depreciation, maintenance — and divide by the number of productive press hours you expect to bill per year. A one-person studio with $24,000 in annual overhead billing 1,200 hours/year has a BHR of $20/hr for overhead alone, before labor.
Common Letterpress Pricing Mistakes
- Forgetting spoilage — make-ready consumes real sheets, especially with deep-impression work on thick cotton paper. Budget 25–75 sheets per color run.
- Under-estimating make-ready — complex artwork, difficult substrates (envelopes, kraft, heavily textured stock), and multiple color registrations all increase setup time significantly.
- Not charging per color per side — a 2-color, 2-sided job is four press passes. Each needs make-ready, run time, and wash-up.
- Ignoring plate reuse — if a client reorders the same artwork, you don't need new plates. Adjust: remove plate cost from reorder quotes, but keep full run/make-ready costs.
- Copying competitor prices without knowing your own costs — market rates vary by region and press type. A Windmill operator's rate is not the same as a hand-fed tabletop rate.
FAQ
- How do you calculate the cost of a letterpress job?
- Add together: (1) labor cost = total press hours × hourly labor rate; (2) overhead = total press hours × hourly overhead rate; (3) paper cost = (quantity + spoilage sheets) × cost per sheet; (4) plate cost = number of colors × plate cost each. Sum all four for your total job cost, then apply a markup percentage to get your quoted price.
- How long does make-ready take for a letterpress job?
- Make-ready (setting up impression, inking to consistency, registration) typically takes 30–90 minutes per color per form on a platen press. A single-color business card on a Heidelberg Windmill commonly needs 45–60 minutes, while a complex 3-color job can require 2–3 hours total. Use the defaults as a starting point and refine from your own shop records.
- What impressions per hour should I use for my press?
- A hand-fed platen press (Chandler & Price, tabletop) typically achieves 300–800 impressions per hour. A Heidelberg Windmill runs 2,000–3,500 iph in production. Use a conservative figure — around 500 iph for hand-fed work, 2,500 iph for a Windmill — to account for feeder checks and adjustments mid-run.
- How much do photopolymer plates cost?
- Plate cost depends on supplier and plate area. Boxcar Press charges approximately $35–$60 for a small plate (up to 50 sq in). Each ink color needs its own separate plate, so a 3-color job requires 3 plates. For reorders, plates are typically reused — remove plate cost from the quote if artwork hasn't changed.
- Should I add spoilage sheets to my paper cost?
- Yes. Every make-ready run consumes test sheets for impression and inking adjustment — typically 25–75 sheets per color run. Coarser or heavily textured papers may need more. Add a spoilage buffer to your paper order and include its cost in the job price so you're not absorbing it silently.
- What is a typical letterpress shop hourly rate?
- Rates vary widely. Community discussions on Briar Press and Letterpress Commons cite $65–$150/hr for a one-person studio, with commercial shops billing $150–$250/hr for Windmill time when full overhead is factored in. Calculate your own BHR from actual annual overhead ÷ billable hours, then add your desired labor wage on top.
Method: Cost-plus pricing model based on Budgeted Hourly Rate methodology (see Ruggles,
Printing Estimating;
Letterpress Commons). Results are estimates for guidance only — actual costs depend on your specific press, overhead, and supplier pricing. Not professional financial advice.