Dependable Letterpress creates quality fine printing & custom work with our vintage presses and attentive craftsmanship. Our craftspeople skillfully bring your project to life with a thoughtful approach and passion for paper. We create designs completely from scratch starting with a concept or printing from your press-ready files. We love collaborating with clients to put their imagination to paper. Our doors in San Francisco’s Dogpatch are open for personalized and professional consultations to make your next project unique and memorable.

Business cards, invitations, stationery, art, wine labels, books, or whatever your one-of-a-kind project, Dependable Letterpress will make it shine. Since 2002, we have worked with a growing host of the best print designers in San Francisco and beyond.

Visit our shop in the Dogpatch to see our process first-hand. If you’re not in the Bay Area, we’re happy to correspond from afar.

Our People

Meet our team of amazing artisans. Dependable Letterpress is the authentic and capable shop it is thanks to the talent of the craftspeople who work here. We’re all so proud of the work we do and the team that makes it happen.

JOEL BENSON

Joel discovered the satisfaction of putting ink to paper in 1987 at a book arts class at UC Santa Cruz, and felt he’d finally found his calling. An apprenticeship with the Yolla Bolly Press followed, and later a job with Julie Holcomb Printers in San Francisco, introduced him to Heidelberg presses and the practice of production printing.

Joel Benson started Dependable Letterpress in 2002 in his basement in San Francisco’s Mission District. In 2004, the shop graduated to a workspace in the Dogpatch on the Bay side of Potrero Hill. These days, we are still happy at home in the Dogpatch filling a much larger space.

Owner

joel@dependableletterpress.com

LIZ MEROLLA

Liz makes sure all the pieces for your project fit together and will suggest ways to make it even more amazing than you imagined. She’s a trained press operator and has an instinct for organization that helps her keep all the moving parts going around the shop. There isn’t a job in here that she doesn’t touch! Her philosophy is all about using the presses’ limitations to an advantage and really knows her way around paper goods.

Production Manager

liz@dependableletterpress.com

THO TRAN

Tho has worked in letterpress shops since 1997 and has given his printing expertise to Dependable Letterpress since 2010.

Press Operator

 

DYLAN DOCKSTADER

Press Operator

 

LOGAN KROEBER

Logan Kroeber studied printing and music at New College of California. When he’s not in the shop he can be found recording and playing shows with his bands The Dodos and Eternal Drag.

Press Operator

 

 

 

NICOLE BAKER

Nicole loves all things paper. With 10 years of experience customizing invitations, announcements, event details, social stationery, logos, illustrations & more, she excels at crafting truly personal and unique designs. She especially loves weddings & can’t wait to hear all about yours! Book a consultation to visit our San Francisco shop and see our beautiful paper & designs in person!

Design & Marketing

nicole@dependableletterpress.com

 

PRESSES

A close up of the Dials on a Heidelberg Press at Dependable Letterpress in Dogpatch, San Francisco, CA

Heidelberg Windmill

Heidelberg Cylinder

Nebrolo Cylinder