LetterMPress Moves From Kickstarter to App Store
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As we recently reported, there are now over 100,000 apps available in the App Store, and that number grows each day, yet LetterMPress stands apart from the thousands of other developer offerings. The app is a virtual letter press meant to replicate the beautiful, but often time consuming and inaccessible letterpress process.
From choosing type and setting up “furniture,” to inking and printing, the app recreates the entire printing process as a digital experience. The see some examples of what the app can do, check out the Flickr group that LetterMPress devotees have already formed to show off their work.
Thanks to their successful Kickstarter drive, the project’s creators secured a collection of authentic wood type and vintage “cuts,” which were aquired by a collector from type foundries and print shops that closed in the ’70s and ’80s.
Actually learning how to use the app requires a significant time commitment for anyone who is new to letterpress. To find the tutorial press the “?” and then choose “Help.” There is a Quick Start guide to offer basic instructions for using the app, along with much more detailed information about how to work type, furniture, paper, ink, and more.
Even with these instructions, it still required a lot of patience to get a print to work. Unlike many apps available today, LetterMPress still asks a lot of its user. Each piece of type needs to be secured. Type and furniture sized need to be changed with care, by hand.
LetterMPress helps the process because the app is supportive of the user while he is creating. It is easy to stop and take a break without losing work. It is easy to try a print again without resources, since everything is digital.
LetterMPress is a welcome alternative to a world where we have grown accustomed to having perfectly executed digital images handed to us in a matter of seconds.
LetterMPress is available for download in the App Store for $5.99.
What I liked: LetterMPress is peerless in its attempt to bring letterpress to the masses. The developers put great care and thought into all stages of the app. Even though it is a simulation of a real letterpress, the app stays true to the creative spirit of the original, while it wildly increases accessibility.
What I didn’t like: Actually creating a print was not easy. I have a new respect for all of the artists who have shared their prints online.
To buy or not to buy: LetterMPress does not reward the casual user, so expect to commit more time to learning this app than to most available apps. Conversely, the app offers anyone who has ever had an inkling to try letterpress a chance to create an end product inspired by the original.
- App Name: LetterMPress
- Version Reviewed: 1.0.1
- Category: Entertainment
- Developer: mPressinteractive, LLC
- Price: $5.99
- Score:
