Typewriter Talk / What kind of paper are you using?

**Posted by SoucekFan** 11-5-2016 19:04:41

Uwe wrote:
I just looked at some fantastic vintage hotel letterhead on eBay and it would be fun to go that route, but it's a little too pricey for me.

I browse the vintage letterhead on eBay, look for a good scan, copy it, and touch it up in Photoshop. It looks really nice printed out on nice cotton paper. I use the ivory colored paper to give it an extra vintage look. Here is an example:

**Posted by Uwe** 11-5-2016 19:16:54

SoucekFan wrote:
It looks really nice printed out on nice cotton paper. I use the ivory colored paper to give it an extra vintage look.

That's funny! Since my previous post that's exactly what I ended up trying. It was a quick and dirty test without any photo editing and just using regular paper, so it didn't look all that great - or rather, it didn't look original - so your idea of using ivory paper is a good one and I'll have to give that a try. In the past I have made my own 'vintage' stock by dipping white, general purpose paper into a solution of water and coffee grinds. The results weren't that bad, but it needed a little tweaking. Paper aside, I think to complete the effect you need to use a different colour ribbon like blue, or at the very least type through a carbon so that the edges of the typeface are softened.

**Posted by JanetLand** 12-5-2016 12:44:31

Yeah, some of the letterhead on ebay is indeed pricey, but eventually a lot will come along that is reasonably priced, and that's when you pounce.

**Posted by Ampelmann** 23-5-2016 15:45:19

Uwe wrote:
JanetLand wrote:
hotel letterhead off ebay.
Now that's interesting. It must confuse the heck out of those receiving your letters!

I just looked at some fantastic vintage hotel letterhead on eBay and it would be fun to go that route, but it's a little too pricey for me.

Has anyone considered making their own letterhead? I messed around in MS Publisher awhile back and made some letterhead that suggested I was aboard old ocean liners - I'm sure you could transpose just about any design and then run a few copies off for personal use. The possibilities would be endless.

**Posted by SoucekFan** 23-5-2016 17:42:01

Ampelmann wrote:
Has anyone considered making their own letterhead? I messed around in MS Publisher awhile back and made some letterhead that suggested I was aboard old ocean liners - I'm sure you could transpose just about any design and then run a few copies off for personal use. The possibilities would be endless.

I have. Although, not from scratch. I started off with a scan of vintage letterhead as a design, and then replaced the photo and the text with my own picture and info using Photoshop. I filtered the picture to add the same amount of graininess as the one on the original, and found almost the same font style for the text, and sized and arranged it in the same manner as the original.

**Posted by Spazmelda** 16-6-2016 09:15:23

I make my own stationery. I have this cotton linen paper that I really like (Neenah Classic Linen Writing Paper). It is lightweight and has the classic linen texture. It takes laser printing very well. For my stationery I usually will use some drawing I have made (either hand drawn and scanned, or drawn on the computer) and print it onto the paper. Sometimes I download old typewriter logos and incorporate them.

SourceK- do you have your scanned letterheads uploaded anywhere?

**Posted by Spazmelda** 16-6-2016 09:26:15

Oh, and I will do up matching envelopes as well. I print them on the same paper, then cut them out with my Cricut.

**Posted by telekinetic typewriter** 16-6-2016 10:16:28

I was making my own stationery out of stamps at one point; I just found that, so maybe next time I sign in, I will have taken a couple of pictures. I also did scans of things I watercolor painted.

**Posted by SoucekFan** 16-6-2016 11:55:36

Spazmelda wrote:
SourceK- do you have your scanned letterheads uploaded anywhere?

I don't have currently have them uploaded anywhere. They are all on my computer in Photoshop format. I could convert them to a more shareable format and upload them somewhere. They might not be as perfect, but they would still be fun. On a few of them brightness/contrast is a bit off, because I had to overcompensate for my crappy printer at the time. I will see if they look okay in JPEG and maybe upload some and post the links.

**Posted by SoucekFan** 16-6-2016 12:29:52

I just converted 10 of them into large JPEGs and uploaded them as an album to imgur. Hopefully they came out okay. Here is the link:
http://imgur.com/a/GcLqs

This upload contains the following letterhead's:
American Arithmometer Co
American Telegraph Typewriter
Antiseptine
Bosswekk Dairies
Gillette
Holt Power and Light
Horlick's
Liquid Carbonic Acid Company
McArthur Motor Co
Mosely Folding Bathtub Co