My name is Karolina and I am the owner and creative force behind impressus, a small letterpress studio located in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

My fascination with letterpress printing began in 2013 while planning my wedding. During my search for a perfect wedding invitation, I stumbled upon numerous examples of letterpress printed ones. The beauty and elegance of letterpress was so captivating that all I started thinking about was learning how to print myself. I ended up making our wedding invitations using beautiful handmade papers, and although they were not letterpress printed, my love of letterpress only grew stronger since that first encounter.

I took a letterpress workshop in March 2014 and the hands-on experience ignited an even brighter spark. And in June 2014 I acquired the stunning Golding Pearl Improved No.11. The Golding presses were manufactured in Boston in the early 1900s and it is an honour to have such beautiful antique (and in perfect working condition!) in my studio.

The beauty of letterpress is in the meticulousness of the printing process and the uniqueness of the final product. From hand-setting the type and hand-mixing the inks, to cutting paper into desirable sizes and hand-feeding each sheet of paper into the press, and then onto scoring each individual card or packaging each individual order, letterpress printing is a labour of love. And it shows.