Printmaking Class RSVP Website: Plate Counts, a Press Slot, and an Ink Line

A printmaking class breaks when the shop inked plates for eight and twelve people are waiting on two presses, or when someone who said maybe arrives after the ink is rolled and expects a plate that was already assigned. Plates, the minutes each person gets at a press, and the ink line you agreed to are set before the first roll. The shop does not mix another slab of ink because a friend decided to come after the plate count closed. A maybe does not hold a press.

You can create a printmaking class RSVP that fills the press slots the shop will ink, records who can work in that ink, and stops when those slots are full.

Ask what the shop will actually ink

Call the shop before you send the link. Write down how many plates they will prep, the plate size, how many presses are in the room, how many minutes each person gets at a press, how many sheets of paper are torn per person, and how long the class runs. Those numbers are your cap. Do not guess from the length of the drying rack.

A station is one person and one plate, not one couple sharing a press and not one family splitting a sheet. Ask whether a student still needs their own plate, the age the shop will teach, and whether a second press with a different ink is a different list with a different cap. Pick one session and write it on the page. If you are doing both an oil-ink press and a water-based press, those are two lists. Do not mix them and sort people out when the slabs are already rolled.

Ask the price, whether an apron is included and closed shoes are required, and the last time you can cut the count without paying for plates the shop already bevelled. If they charge for a no-show after that time, print that rule on the page. A plate with a name taped on the back is not a spare for a walk-in.

Set a capacity limit on people who will print, not on everyone who was invited. When the last press slot is taken, the form should say the class is full. A friend who might come still needs a plate and a slot the shop is staffed to run. If the shop has already counted your group, they are not in this session.

The ink line is a yes or a no, not a vibe

Ask the shop what is on the slab: oil-based ink with solvent for cleanup, water-based ink only, or a choice between the two with a cap on each. Put that list on the page in plain words. Each person confirms they can work in that ink for the full class, or they pick the other press if one exists and still has a slot.

If the shop will not run a water-based press, say that. People who cannot be around the solvent the shop named should not take a slot. You do not need a diagnosis. You need a yes or a no before the ink is rolled. A preference the shop cannot print should not be on the form.

Standing at the press, and a slot that does not wait

Most presses are used standing up, for the minutes the shop assigned. Ask about access needs the room can actually meet: a press with a lower bed if they have one, a stool at the carving table, or a step-free way in. If every press means standing and the only door has a step, say that.

Collect an arrival window that matches the press slot, not a vague afternoon. The window might be 1:00 to 1:10 at the shop door. Write the clock time and what happens if someone is later than that: they lose the first slot, and the press does not sit idle while the shop waits. A slab that is already tacky does not get rolled again for one late car.

The moment the plate list is locked

The meeting point is the shop door the printer named, with the studio number if the building has more than one. Put the host's phone on the page for the person holding the group reservation. A screenshot of the invite is not a plate. The person at the press matches names to the count you sent before ink goes down.

If you allow a guest, that person needs their own plate line, their own ink-line answer, and their own arrival window. Track them as a separate yes. One form that hides an extra printer will blow the shop's cap and the paper already torn for that session. Say that on the page. Children count if the shop said they need their own plate. Write the age rule next to the question.

Tie your RSVP deadline to the shop's final count, the day they lock plates and tear paper. After that, a late yes is a call about a cancellation, not a promise of another press. If you want names ready when someone drops, keep them as standbys and tell them they do not have a plate until you write back. A maybe does not hold a press.

Export the list the morning you lock: attending or not, oil ink or water-based, party size, arrival window, access note the shop agreed to, and phone. A printmaking class RSVP is finished when every plate has a named person, the ink line matches a press the shop will actually run, and a late arrival knows whether they are printing or going home.