AI can’t touch these skilled trade jobs. If only enough humans would fill them.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. LATHAM, N.Y.—Master engravers have etched the custom designs and lettering on Crane Stationery since the days of Paul Revere—who, according to company lore, was one of its first customers. Today, with just a dozen left and at least one set to retire this year, these tradespeople are disappearing.

Artificial intelligence and automation aren’t the reason. It is because it is so hard to entice humans to learn the highly skilled precision craft. “If you have a desire to print, saddle up—you have a job at Crane," says Robert Buhler, chief executive of the more than 200-year-old company.

The company cut off holiday sales two weeks early this past season because it didn’t have enough engravers to fill orders. Just over 300 trained engravers, or presspeople, work in the U.S. today, according to the International Engraved Graphics Association.

Buhler says some of the most skilled work at Crane. The length and intensity of the training have a lot to do with the vanishing craft. Crane engravers like 33-year-old Spencer Goodrow etch fine lines into copper plates.

The margin of error is less than the width of a strand of hair. They stand for as many as eight hours a day in front of an antique press, printing custom cards, invitations and stationery. Only half make it through the training: People either quit or their work isn’t up to the company’s standard.

Apprentices can spend at least one year working with a single color before they can move on to more complex designs. “You’re gonna get mad," Goodrow tells trainees about working with the printing presses. Some of the machines, he says, “are older than grandfathers." Pay is another challenge.