Prelo Prints

Prelo Prints is a project born from the love for letterpress and all forms of early print, its techniques and history.

Historical works printed on a reproduction 1400’s wooden hand press.

30/08/2026

🪵🔪 Sharp tools make better cuts.

A little sharpening and stropping before (and during) a cutting session makes all the difference. Take care of your tools, and they’ll take care of your woodcuts. 😎

25/08/2026

Why don’t I tint my woodblocks?

One step you’ll often see in relief printmaking is completely missing from my process.

I don’t tint my blocks. And there’s no secret technique behind it: I simply don’t see the need. This Apocalypse block I’m currently working on is a good example. The uncut surface of the cherry wood is naturally darker, while the areas I’ve already cut are lighter. That gives me plenty of contrast to see exactly what I’m doing.

Sure, tinting the block in a vibrant red paint would make the contrast bigger, but unlike linoleum, wood (or, some kinds of wood) already gives you a pretty useful contrast between the cut and uncut surfaces. I just choose to skip that part of the process. :)

20/08/2026

Cutting the head of a severed crowned dragon in this Apocalypse block book woodblock (pun not intended!).

The audio is from ‘The Noble Lyfe & Natures of Man, of Bestes, Serpentys, Fowles & Fisshes yt be Moste Knowen’, by Laurence Andrew, ca. 1521.

A little glimpse into the making of a block inspired by the imagery of early printed books, one cut at a time.

15/08/2026

My favourite kind of torture: feathers. 🪶
WIP on the Apocalypse block · St. Michael is finally done (those feathers seemed endless!), and I’m finally ready to move on to either the dragon or the next block of text: ‘protectus ê ille draco magnus serpens…’

The entire figure was cut with the new knife, plus three gouges: the smallest V (L 12/1), and two small U’s (L 11/0.5 and L 11/1).

Dragon next, or text first? What would you choose?

13/08/2026

🪵What kind of wood would a European printmaker have reached for 500 years ago?

When we look at a 15th-century woodblock print, we often think about the image. But what about the woodblock itself? What kind of wood did the cutter choose, and why?

(Slide 8: Image of the “Bois Protat” (1370-1420) is © Bibliothèque nationale de France.)

09/08/2026

We live in a digital world shaped by screens, automation, and ever more AI “creations”, where things can be produced, altered, and replicated almost instantly. Now more than ever, making something slowly and deliberately by hand feels increasingly necessary.

⏳ Would you spend 100 hours making something that takes 10 seconds to look at?

07/08/2026

More than 80 hours of cutting, distilled into just a few seconds.

Just a small glimpse of the cutting process behind the Biblia Pauperum block I completed earlier this year for the Gutenberg Museum.

The project took a total of 100 hours to complete, with more than 80 hours spent cutting the cherrywood block by hand. This is just a brief look at one small section of what became a remarkably intricate piece.

05/08/2026

Before a single cut could be made, the original image had to be digitally restored.

Working from the 15th-century Biblia Pauperum at the Gutenberg Museum, I reconstructed faded details and missing sections to create an accurate working drawing for the new woodblock.

This was the first step in a 100-hour commission for the museum's permanent exhibition.

01/08/2026

After months of only being able to show you parts of it, I can finally share the whole thing.

This is my reproduction of the Annunciation block from the Biblia Pauperum (Pauper’s Bible), a block book from the second half of the 15th century, commissioned by the Gutenberg Museum in Mainz.

The block took 100 hours of work, including 82 hours of cutting over 61 days, from the first cut to the final detail.

And now, after months in my workshop, it has travelled to Mainz, where it’s presented alongside the original block book in the museum’s Schatzkammer.

I’ve been waiting a long time to show you this one. Here it is. :) And if you’re as fascinated by this as I am, follow along as I share more behind-the-scenes looks of this and other print projects.

Address

74 High Street
Glastonbury
BA6 9DZ

Website

https://preloprints.com/

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