In the 1400s, the labor-intensive process of letterpress printing launched the mass production of the written word. It was how books and newspapers were made.

Now, there are more efficient ways to print words on paper. But in using computers and electric laser printers, something is lost, said Ezma Hanschka, a local letterpress artist and teacher.

“You never get the beauty as you do with handmade set and type,” Hanschka said. “It creates beauty in a page.”

“In our throwaway, paperback, quick-fix society, we’ve lost the appreciation for a beautiful page or a beautiful book,” she said.

Hanschka and Pat Clark, owner of printmaking studio Atelier 6000, are trying to revive appreciation for that beauty by offering introductory classes on the art of letterpress (See “If you go”).

Letterpress refers to the “relief” printing of text or images using a press on which a reversed, raised surface is inked then pressed onto paper. The result is a positive, right-reading image. The pressure from the press makes an indentation on the paper, adding texture to the words. Hanschka calls it a “kiss of ink” on the paper — it doesn’t have to been a deep indentation to be satisfying, she said.

Since it’s more of an art than a means of mass communication, those involved with letterpress often prefer quality, substantive, handmade papers, she said.

“The more electronic we’ve become, the more we need … to come back to the basics,” Hanschka said.

A letterpress printing renaissance is in full swing, said Hanschka. The method is being used more frequently to create letterheads, limited-edition artists’ books, cards, business cards, etc.

The resurgence started on the East Coast some 20 years ago but has more recently worked its way west, she said.

Her home business, Night Owl Press, which she started in 1991, has been selling a lot of “functional stuff” lately, such as wedding invitations and greeting cards. She also produces limited edition books and frameable posters.

Some of her finest accomplishments are handmade, hand-bound fold-out books. One she produced with a photographer friend. Called “Seasons of Mt. Jefferson,” its pages of handmade paper frame photos of the mountain and letterpressed bold and italic fonts spell out lyrics to a song about the seasons on Mount Jefferson.

Another book of hers, “Famous Planes,” folds out spirally, a puzzling feat of engineering. Its pages are covered in real flight charts, or printed shadowy images and silhouettes of airplanes.

Such books sell for hundreds of dollars, and that only covers her costs because the projects are so time consuming, she said. But she loves making them.

Hanschka, born and raised in Spokane, Wash., said her fascination with letterpress equipment began during her childhood, when she joyfully explored a roll-top desk belonging to an elderly neighbor. It was filled with compartments and cubbyholes full of writing tools. She loved the organizational system. Now she’s amassed her own collection of cabinets and tools to organize and handle. Letterpress requires tons — literally — of furniture and equipment, industrial looking presses and metal tools.

But the now-63-year-old didn’t pursue a life in art or craft until her career in teaching was winding down. Hanschka earned a degree in early childhood education from Washington State University and then a master’s in education at Western Oregon University in Monmouth. Living with her first husband and raising two now-grown children in the Willamette Valley, she spent most of her working years teaching, mostly preschool children.

In 1987 she married her current husband. They lived near the Oregon College of Art and Craft in Portland, where she took calligraphy classes. While walking around the school, she also discovered the equipment rooms where students studied letterpress, and she was soon taking those classes, along with bookmaking and printmaking. She completed another degree in 1995.

In 1998 she and her husband retired to Sunriver, where her home studio is located.

She started teaching at Atelier 6000 a year ago when it opened, but she has not produced much press work recently. She spent last summer moving her 88-year-old mother into a retirement home in Spokane. Last winter she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, and immediately underwent major surgery. She’s still enduring follow-up tests, but she looks rosy-cheeked and healthy and says she feels good.

Her husband has been recently diagnosed with cancer too, and they’re traveling to Portland weekly for his treatment. When that ends, she said she plans to have a more flexible schedule and spend more time on her art.

If you go

What: Ezma Hanschka’s letterpress classes at Atelier 6000

When: 4:30 to 8:30 p.m. April 16 and 30; 4:30 to 8:30 p.m. June 11 and 25

Where: Atelier 6000

Cost: $55, plus $25 studio fee

Contact: Atelier 6000, 541-728-8527 or www.atelier6000.com; or Night Owl Press, 541-593-9407, ehanschka@mac.com

Learn more in a weekend workshop from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. May 16-17. Workshop includes a letterpress art talk with slides from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. May 15.