Espalier in Black and Ivory (RZ3227), a surface print, from Bronze Age by Ronald Redding Designs, $69.99 per single roll; ronaldreddingdesigns.com
or 1-800-220-6730.

Also available in Slate Blue and Gold (RZ3225), Brown and Metallic Taupe (RZ3226); and Camel and Metallic Bronze (RZ3228).

York’s 1898 surface print press has been operating consistently since York’s founding in 1895.

Invented in the 1840s, surface printing is the oldest form of machine printing and creates a hand printed effect.

America’s oldest and largest wallpaper manufacturer, York is the world’s only company to own and operate all five types of wallpaper printing: Surface, gravure, rotary screen, flexo-graphic and digital.

The designs on York’s laser-engraved rollers are first drawn
on paper.

An individual roller is made for each color. York’s surface presses can print designs up to 12 colors.

With truly expert eyes, Color Mixer Dave Cassel creates a color swatch for a multi-colored wallpaper design. No computers are used in the color mixing or swatching process.

York’s Color Mixers must pass the Munsell Color Vision test with flying colors.

Dave will then compare his swatch to a sample of the first run of wallpaper.

Due to the high cost of this labor-intensive printing process, York’s color mixers must match colors in less than three trials.

The very first time York prints any design, a sample is saved and retained for the life of the pattern.

This “first run” sample ensures that York always mixes color against the same standard.

Craftsman Dave Bubb checks his hand-mixed color match against the original “first run” sample of Espalier from Ronald Redding Designs.

Color craftsmen preview every pattern with York’s design staff to hone their eye for York’s product and emerging color trends.

Surface print presses are the least mechanized and most labor-intensive of all wallpaper print methods.

A Craftsman and an Apprentice run machines that demand constant attention to ensure color consistency (Apprentices are eligible for Craftsman work after a 3-year apprenticeship).

As many as 12 colors are applied “wet on wet” -- and the inks dry slowly. This unique process produces an unmistakably soft, painterly look and feel.

“I’m learning new things every day,” says Luke Mathison, a Craftsman printer who coaxes century-old presses to run innovative new papers and inks to create wallpapers of unprecedented beauty.