Entry No. 41 — the Seattle file — filed under: hands-on
School of Visual Concepts (SVC) Letterpress
Partners in Print is a nonprofit community letterpress shop in Belltown, full of vintage Vandercook presses, lead and wood type, and ornaments. In a hands-on workshop you hand-set type, lock up the form, ink the press, and crank out your own posters, with no experience required. They also run a multi-week foundations course for people who have never printed, plus Friday Night Print Socials. It is ink-on-fingers, lever-pulling analog printing, not a digital simulation. (Spun off from the School of Visual Concepts, which handed its letterpress program to Partners in Print.)
The story
Before design software took over, Seattle’s graphic artists built layouts by hand using metal, wood, and sheer mechanical pressure. The letterpress program at the School of Visual Concepts was a long-time cornerstone of that local craft—famous for powering public print-offs like the annual Steamroller Smackdown at the South Lake Union Block Party—before the operation spun off to become Partners in Print, an independent nonprofit community shop.
Step into the shop and you are surrounded by cast-iron history: rows of vintage Vandercook proof presses, wooden type drawers, metal type galleys, and cabinets filled with historic ornaments. There are no digital shortcuts here. You pick actual lead and wood letters out of tiny cubbies, set your layout backward in a composing stick, lock the form into a chase with quoins, ink up the roller, and physically crank the press arm to bite ink deep into heavy paper.
What it's like
Show up for a workshop or a Friday Night Print Social and expect to leave with oil-based ink under your fingernails. The atmosphere is collaborative and intensely tactile as you collaborate or work solo to set type, ink the press, and pull your own handmade posters or card sets off a vintage press. The main thing to know before heading out is that this isn't an open walk-in museum—classes run on set dates, so you have to reserve a spot on their calendar in advance.
The move: Take the two-hour print workshop and collaborate on a poster or set of cards you hand-pull off a vintage press.
📍 Before you go Public workshops run on scheduled dates; check the calendar and register ahead.
- 📍 South Lake Union, Seattle
- 💸 $$
- ⚡ Up for anything
- 🌗 Indoors
Where: School of Visual Concepts, Seattle, WA
Hours: Added 2026-06-24 — confirm current hours before you go.
⚠ Seasonal or scheduled — always check before you go.
Pair it with
- Bathtub Gin & Co. — After setting lead type by hand, duck down the alley into this former 1920s boiler room for a post-workshop cocktail.
- Shorty's — Trade vintage Vandercook press cranks for vintage pinball flippers and Chicago hot dogs down the street in Belltown.
- Seattle Glassblowing Studio — Double down on hands-on analog arts by moving from heavy printing presses to hot molten glass shaping nearby.
Good to know
Do I need prior design or printing experience to take a workshop?
Not at all. The two-hour workshops and multi-week foundation courses are built explicitly for complete beginners who have never touched a letterpress form.
What kinds of events and classes do they run?
They host two-hour poster workshops, multi-week foundations courses covering traditional printing techniques, and casual Friday Night Print Socials.
Can I just drop in during open hours to print?
No. Public sessions and workshops run on specific scheduled dates, so you must check their online calendar and register beforehand.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: partnersinprint.org · seattlerestored.org · classbento.com · Wikipedia · vulcanrealestate.com
last checked: 2026-06-24