Imagine you live hundreds of years ago, when the local grandees commanded the respect of their yeomen and huge estates and looming castles dotted the European landscape. Whenever a notable event was to be announced to other lords and ladies, such as a wedding, a tournament, or a birth, it would have been out of the ordinary to announce it via a mass-produced printed card.

Even though Gutenberg's printing press was revolutionizing the world, for some things only the formality of a personally written note would do. The aristocracy would consider it tacky to announce big news with anything less than a personally delivered, hand printed note.

By the end of the 19th century, things were different. Few but the well-to-do could afford to send mechanically produced announcements and invitations. If you wanted to prove your wealth, you ordered machine printed cards and baby announcements. So while the tradition of sending announcements has held sway through the centuries, the preferred methods have evolved. Today, you can have the best of the past practices combined. Letterpress printing combines the crisp, clean relief printing method of the past with rich papers and an extensive choice of type faces, artwork, and embellishments.

Whether you want to create something very traditional or whimsical, letterpress creates a handsome card that stands out from ordinary printing processes. The impression left on the printing surface takes on a definite 3-D appearance not replicable by other printing methods. Though today's letterpress establishments often use computers to create the design and a photographic process to make the photopolymer plate, many craftsmen still feed the paper into the press one sheet at a time, as has been done since the 1400s!

There are not many who practice this labor-intensive print style in the 21st century. If you take the time to find one, however, you will really be pleased by the personal guidance and elegant results. Especially for baby announcements, letterpress cards are a distinguished way to distribute the most precious news of a lifetime.