Independent concept by CofeeUI · not the official website · not affiliated with The Letterpress Collective
Letterpress printshop · Bristol’s Old City
Words have
weight.
The Letterpress Collective sets wood and metal type by hand for letterpress commissions, collaborations and one-day workshops — and takes a small press out on its Printing Bike.
- What
- Hand-set letterpress printing and workshops
- Where
- Centrespace, 6 Leonard Lane, Bristol BS1 1EA
- When
- No opening hours published — check workshop dates and email before you travel
01 / Hand-setting
Set it backwards.
Print it forwards.
Every letter in a letterpress shop is a small block of wood or metal — a sort — with its face cast in reverse. The printer picks each sort from the type case, sets the line in a composing stick, then ink and pressure turn it the right way round.
- 01 Each sort sits in its compartment of the case.
- 02 The printer picks the letters, one at a time.
- 03 They go into the stick — reading backwards, on purpose.
- 04 Ink and pressure pull a proof the right way round.
02 / What they do
Four ways in.
From a first go at hand-setting to a printed piece made for you, this is what the printshop lists on its own website.
-
Workshops
One-day hand-setting and letterpress workshops. Dates, prices and places are listed on the official website.
Workshop details (opens in a new tab) -
Commissions
Letterpress commissions printed from hand-set type. Ask the studio what is possible for your project.
Ask about a commission -
Collaborations
The collective also takes on collaborations. Get in touch with an idea and start the conversation.
Suggest a collaboration -
The Printing Bike
A bike that carries a small Adana press, taking letterpress out of the studio and into the world.
Meet the Printing Bike
03 / Set a line
Set your own line.
Type up to 16 characters and they go into the forme the way the printer sees them: backwards. Choose an ink, pull a proof, and your line follows you down the page. It’s a digital illustration — nothing is saved, booked or sent.
Letters, numbers, spaces and punctuation all work. Press Enter or the button to pull a proof.
Ready. Your proof is a digital illustration.
Turn on JavaScript to set your own line here. The finished proof below shows the idea.
HELLO BRISTOL
Want to set it for real?
Hello, I’d like to ask about your next hand-setting workshop. I’d love to try setting the words “HELLO BRISTOL”.
The email button opens your own email app with a draft you can edit. Nothing is sent from this page.
04 / The Printing Bike
The press has wheels.
The collective’s Printing Bike carries a small Adana press, so letterpress can leave the studio and turn up out in the world.
Illustration of a bike with a press and your proof — not the real Printing Bike.
05 / On the record
Who sets the type.
- Who
- The Letterpress Collective, an independent letterpress printshop in Bristol.
- Studio
- The Department of Small Works at Centrespace, 6 Leonard Lane, BS1 1EA. The address matches the business’s Google Maps listing.
- Materials
- Wood and metal type, set by hand.
- On the road
- The Printing Bike, carrying a small Adana press.
- Sources
- Official website (opens in a new tab), workshops page (opens in a new tab) and Printing Bike page (opens in a new tab), checked 30 October 2026.
06 / Visit
Find the printshop.
The Department of Small Works
Centrespace, 6 Leonard Lane
Bristol BS1 1EA
- Hours
- Not published. Workshops run on the dates listed on the official website — email before you travel.
- Area
- Leonard Lane, in Bristol’s Old City
07 / Your proof
Now set it for real.
Your proof says “HELLO BRISTOL” in Prussian blue. At a workshop you pick every sort from the case yourself.