History

Times Printing has a long and rich history in Humboldt County.  A fourth generation, family owned and operated business, the company has enjoyed serving the region since 1854.       

Before being renamed Times Printing in 1939, the company was known as the Times Publishing Company.  Originally the print shop for the area's first newspaper, the Humboldt Times, Times Publishing Company printed the newspaper and other jobs such as books, business cards and letterhead.  In 1946 Arthur Smith bought Times Printing, thus cutting its ties to the Humboldt Times and becoming an independent company.

During his time in the printing industry Arthur saw every kind of power applied to press operation including hand and foot powered levers, water power delivered by overhead pulleys, steam power, and eventually electric motor power.  He even, on occasion, manufactured ink from basic raw materials.  

In 1955 Arthur sold the business to his son-in-law and daughter, Charles and Gladys Strope.  It was during Charles' time in the printing industry that small duplicator presses were developed.  These presses were less expensive than letterpresses and operators could be trained to use them in much less time than the 6 year apprenticeship required to train traditional press operators and typographers.  In 1985 Charles retired and completed the transition of ownership and management of Times Printing to his son, Lane Strope and Lane's wife, Susan. More recently Lane passed leadership of the company to his son, Seth Strope, a fourth generation owner.  

In 1998 Times Printing purchased a Heidelberg Quickmaster DI (direct image) press, a revolutionary four-color waterless offset press. Unlike the one and two-color presses of the time, all four colors of ink were laid down on the press sheet with only one pass through the press to make full color images.  This technology greatly added to the quality and speed at which color printing could be completed. The DI printed using vegetable based inks on recycled paper, and there was no need for the traditional hazardous chemicals used for processing film and metal plates.

In 2008 digital printing started to contribute as a serious part of our workflow. Before that there were too many quality, speed, and media limitations. Digital printing allows us to do jobs faster as the ink does not have to dry and less setup is needed.  This also creates less waste and gives us the ability to do low quantity print runs efficiently. Through the purchase of variable data printing software, we added the capability of making each printed sheet of paper unique. Our early adoption of digital printing allowed us to continue to thrive at a time when many printing companies across the United States were going out of business. 

Our digital printing workflow also gave us the ability to offer automated mailing services. It was at this point that we became a full-service print shop and mail house. Client mailing lists are checked for duplicates, and addresses that have changed within the last year are updated. Addresses and barcodes are printed directly onto the printed pieces, eliminating the need for address labels. Services such as gluing, tabbing, inserting and folding are also offered. Client orders are presorted and delivered to the post office.     

Times Printing has grown in part to our 2011 merger with Artcraft Printers followed by the purchases of Eureka Printing in 2012 and Printing Expressions in 2016.  The owners of those companies were all looking to retire and did not want to close their businesses. Merging with Artcraft Printers and purchasing Eureka Printing and Printing Expressions allowed us to minimize any interruption in service for their clients and keep the history of both companies alive.             

The success and longevity of Times Printing is due in part to the high standards we set for ourselves, but more importantly, it is due to the support and patronage of the local business community. Please feel free to come by to see samples of our work or to discuss your print project. Our staff is very knowledgeable and can offer assistance and suggestions for whatever project you have in mind. Our office is located at 106 T Street in Eureka, California, and is open Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., excluding major holidays.