We are six people, two presses, one folder, a finishing room with good light, and a coffee pot that has been running since 2012.
Claude Lambert grew up around ink. His grandfather ran a job shop on Madison Avenue that printed church bulletins, wedding invitations, and the occasional small-town newspaper. When the shop closed in 2009, Claude held onto the smaller of the two presses, a stack of paper samples, and a notebook of his grandfather's handwritten quotes for jobs going back to 1968.
Three years later, with a used digital press he bought at auction in Effingham and a small loan from First Mid Bank, he opened Granite Quill in the back of a friend's print shop on Niedringhaus Avenue. The first month brought four customers. The fourth month brought forty.
In 2017 we moved into the brick building on Butternut Lane. We added an offset press in 2019, a second one in 2022, and an inline addressing system in 2024. The coffee pot is the same one we started with.
There is no menu, no extension, no chatbot. If you call us during business hours, a person you can recognise from one visit will pick up and know your job.
Every quote breaks out paper, ink, finishing, postage, and labour separately. If the invoice does not match the quote, we will explain why before we send it.
Every job gets a printed proof you can hold, even small digital runs. Screens lie about colour and screens lie about scale.
If a deadline is tight, we will tell you on the first call. If we promise a date, we hit it — even if that means staying late on a Thursday.
Owner · Press operator
Founded Granite Quill in 2012. Spends most days on the offset press and most evenings on the loading dock.
Operations
Runs the shop floor and the schedule. Has never lost a mailing list.
Pre-press & design
Trained at Southern Illinois University. Quietly the reason your postcard looks the way it does.
Bindery & finishing
Folds, scores, and stitches with a steadiness the rest of us envy.
Mail services
Handles data, presort, and the daily run to the Bulk Mail Entry Unit in Saint Louis.
Accounts
Sends the invoices, answers the questions about the invoices, and bakes the Friday bread.
Our shop on Butternut Lane is about 4,200 square feet on one level. The press room is at the front, finishing is in the middle, and the mail room with the inserter is at the back next to the dock. Visitors are always welcome — you do not need an appointment, and there is usually fresh coffee.
If you are local and curious, swing by during business hours. Claude or Mara will show you around in about fifteen minutes and you can watch a press run if one is going.