Handcrafted Letterpress & Foil Printing in Minneapolis
GOOD LOOKIN' PAPERS, INKS, & FOILS
Here at Good Lookin' Print Company, we spend everyday surrounded by beautiful materials. From paper swatches to test rolls of foil, nothing beats having physical samples on hand to see, feel, and try out.
Below are some tools to aid in selecting materials for your project. We've listed our favorite papers, house ink colors (with matching Pantones) and our house foils. While options can seem nearly limitless, we are more than happy to help guide or offer suggestions to make sure your project is good lookin' after it's printed!
One of the most valuable tools you can have as a print designer is a physical set of these Pantone® formula guides. We print almost exclusively on uncoated paper stocks so the Solid Uncoated Pantone® books are well-loved at our studio, and used multiple times a day. It's a necessity for print color matching (on-screen colors aren't real) and is a great tool for selecting inks and colored paper coordinating (ie: you found the perfect color envelope and want to match inks).
PAPERS
Our inventory of 'house paper' is regularly rotating, as many projects use specific colors or weights of paper and we don't want folks to feel limited to only what we have on the shelf. We work closely with local and regional paper reps to source our paper for each project. Below are links to some of the paper swatch books that we have on hand and reference regularly. In our years of working with specialty print and design, these papers are our go-to choices.
Uncoated Paper Stocks:
Mixed Sample Packs/Sheets:
INKS
We work with Solid Uncoated Pantone® inks, mixed by hand for each project. The chart below is a visual representation* of our “house” inks. Have a specific color you need? We can mix custom colors! Please use a Pantone® Uncoated guide and provide us with the desired PMS. If you don’t have access to one, you can set up a time to peek at ours, or mail us a physical sample (like fabric or paper) of the color you’re looking for.
While we do our best to ensure precise matches, slight variations may occur due to the paper stock or how inks dry, particularly on textured or dark materials. Please also remember:
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Inks aren’t fully opaque. Expect a textured, “salty” appearance in large color areas.
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Consistency in density varies. Ink is applied manually, so some areas may be slightly lighter or darker across the print run.
*While this chart is as accurate as possible, due to variations in monitor/display color settings, on-screen appearance could look different than actual physical foil color.
HOT FOILS
We purchase hot foil from several suppliers, selected for their quality and performance. Kurz + Infinity are our favorites. The chart below is a visual representation* of our current ‘house’ foils. Metallic foils generally perform the best, but there are some gloss pigment foils that can be successful, depending on the artwork and substrate.
Have a specific color in mind? Although there are not an infinite amount options out there (especially for non-metallic colors), we can see about placing a special order. We have several physical swatch books we can review with you to select a special foil for your project.
*While this chart is as accurate as possible, due to variations in monitor/display color settings, on-screen appearance could look different than actual physical foil color.
