Essdee Lino Printing Deals: Compare Sale Prices & Find the Best Discount UK

Plenty of art brands have a good origin story, but Essdee’s is one of the most British you’ll find. During the Second World War, a commercial art studio in Sheffield couldn’t get hold of scraperboard, which had previously come from an Austrian manufacturer. Scraperboard was in demand for newspaper illustration, so the studio’s owner, Stanley Dickson, set about making his own. He named it Essdee, after his initials, S.D., and founded a company to keep producing it. More than 75 years later, Essdee scraperboard is still made in the UK. The brand is now run by Educational Art & Craft Supplies, a multi-generational family business based in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, which proudly flies the flag for British manufacturing and uses local suppliers wherever it can.

While scraperboard is where it all began, these days most people know Essdee for lino printing, and it’s one of the best-loved printmaking brands in the UK. Relief printing has seen a real boom in recent years, with more and more artists discovering the satisfaction of carving a block, rolling on ink and pulling a print. Essdee makes almost everything you need to do it.

The range starts with the printing blocks. Traditional lino is the classic choice, giving crisp lines and a lovely carving feel, and it’s available mounted on wood for easier handling. Softcut is Essdee’s softer, easy-to-carve alternative, which is much kinder on the hands and ideal for begginers, children and anyone who finds traditional lino hard work. MasterCut and PrintFoam add more options, from smooth professional-quality carving to simple foam blocks that are perfect for young children, since you can draw into them with a pencil rather than cutting.

Next come the tools. Essdee lino cutter sets give you a handle with interchangeable blades in different profiles for fine lines, broad clearing and everything in between. The brand also makes a safety handguard, which is a sensible buy for beginners and for classrooms, because lino cutters are sharp and slips do happen. For inking, there’s a full range of rollers, from standard and soft rubber rollers through to professional rollers, sponge rollers and fabric ink rollers, so you can match the roller to the job.

Then there are the inks. Essdee block printing inks come in standard colours plus metallic, pearlescent and fluorescent finishes, and there are specialist fabric inks for printing onto tote bags, T-shirts and other textiles. Fabric printing kits put everything you need in one box, which makes them a great gift. And of course, the original Essdee scraperboard is still going strong, along with scraperboard tools and coloured foil boards. Scraperboard is a fascinating medium in its own right: you scratch away a dark surface to reveal the white or colour underneath, creating detailed images that look like engravings.

If you’re just starting out, an Essdee lino printing starter kit is the easiest way in. Kits typically include blocks, a cutter set, ink and a roller, so you can try printmaking without working out what to buy piece by piece. Once you’re hooked, as most people are, you can build up your kit with better cutters, more colours and bigger blocks.

In sixteen years in the art supplies industry, including nearly a decade running digital marketing at ARTdiscount, I’ve watched lino printing grow from a niche craft into one of the most popular hobbies in UK art. Within our community of 36,000 UK artists at Discount Art Supplies, printmaking deals always get a great response, and Essdee is one of the names that comes up most when people ask what to buy to get started. It’s also a brand people search for on our site.

Getting the best deal on Essdee comes down to a few things. First, compare prices before you buy. Starter kits and cutter sets in particular can vary noticeably between retailers, and our comparison above checks Cass Art, Jackson’s, Amazon and others in real time. Second, think about kits versus individual items. A kit is great value when you’re starting out, but once you know what you like, buying individual blocks, inks and blades lets you get exactly what you need. Third, buy blocks and inks in larger quantities if you print a lot, as bigger packs usually work out cheaper per print. And finally, watch for sales. UK retailers regularly discount printmaking supplies, especially around Christmas, when Essdee kits are popular gifts, and in seasonal sales.

A few questions come up again and again. Is Softcut better than traditional lino for beginners? For most beginners, yes. It’s much softer and easier to carve, though some artists prefer the crisp lines of traditional lino once they’re more experienced. Is lino printing safe for children? With the right supervision and tools, yes. Softcut or PrintFoam and a safety handguard make it much safer, and PrintFoam can be used without any blades at all. What ink should you use for lino printing? Water-based block printing inks are the easiest for beginners, as they clean up with water, while fabric inks are needed if you want prints that survive washing. And what is scraperboard used for? It’s used for detailed illustrations that look like engravings, made by scratching through a dark surface layer.

Essdee has been making British art materials for more than 75 years, and it’s still one of the best places to start with printmaking. Looking for an Essdee sale, discount or discount code? Check the price comparisons above, updated in real time, and you’ll always know you’re getting the best current UK price.