Printmaking has been making a bit of a comeback in recent times, as it allows a contemporary artist the ability to achieve a traditional, embossed aesthetic. However, printing presses are expensive and extremely heavy, making them inaccessible to a lot of people. That’s why Martin Schneider is on a mission to make basic printmaking machinery available to everyone by designing a miniature, 3D-printed press.
The Open Press Project provides freely available plans for anyone with access to a 3D printer to print their own press. “Using an iterative process, I built 10 prototypes, printed more than 100 proofs, and used more than a kilometer of filament,” explains Schneider. “The final result is a portable printing press that costs only 5€ of material and can be printed by everyone with access to a 3D-printer.”
