Jim DeCrevel is left-handed, and that almost cost him his first job.

Back in the 1960s, a young Jim DeCrevel had applied for a position as a die maker at Hallmark Cards in Kansas City, Mo.

But there was a hitch. The electric drills used to make engravers plates were designed for right-hand use. Could a southpaw learn to use the drill?

The answer was yes, and DeCrevel’s career as an engraver was born.

Fast forward to 2007. DeCrevel is still using some of the same tools he did in the 1960s, only now he and his family run their own shop, DeCrevel Engraving, a business that has created thousands of Napa Valley wine labels over nearly 30 years here.

Behind Napa’s Wal-Mart, in an industrial office park, DeCrevel Inc. creates embossing and stamping dies. DeCrevel said about 90 percent of his work is for wineries, but the shop dabbles in any other work where the product requires a textured surface.

“We never know who’s going to walk in the door and what we’re going to do,” said DeCrevel.

When DeCrevel started his own business, he was still in Kansas City and the work was not that different from what he had done at Hallmark.

“We did wedding albums, yearbooks and greeting cards,” he said. In 1980, Jim and his wife Sara made the move to California.

“Once we moved to Napa, we found our niche.”

According to a 2005 wine industry study by consulting group MKF Research, wine label production, including the kind of work DeCrevel does, contributes $48 million a year toward the local economy.

Sitting in an office next to a workshop, DeCrevel points out decades’ worth of work. An embossed poster of Arnold Palmer, with gold-foil accents, hangs on one wall. Framed wine labels — for companies like Pride Mountain Vineyards, Merryvale Vineyards, Clos Pegase and Robert Mondavi Winery — as well as Superbowl tickets, candy boxes and cover boxes for video and DVD movies, are displayed on another.

Clients have included the White House — DeCrevel made the tickets to President Ronald Reagan’s first inauguration — and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Die hards

Embossing is hands-on work from start to finish. A die maker uses graver tools and air-powered grinders to hand-sculpt a die. Another employee uses a bath of chemicals to acid etch the brass embossing die. Even the computers have to be programmed by hand to set their automated work in motion.

The final result must be felt to be appreciated. Subtle curves and cuts bring dimension to a paper label or sticker. Compared to something embossed or etched, a plain label seems flat visually as well as artistically.

Another challenge in engraving is scale. Projects are minutely detailed, measured in thousandths of an inch. Plus, engravers have to see everything backwards.

“You get used to it,” said longtime DeCrevel employee Phil Altman.

But DeCrevel’s art is a dying one. Less than a dozen artists hand-sculpt embossing dies around the world. Fewer engravers are being trained, and computers have taken over much of the process, said DeCrevel.

An expert in his field, DeCrevel also teaches customers, printers and others about engraving and embossing procedures and methods. He’s created a package of handouts detailing the process, including recommended papers, embossing techniques and methods. Acting as a liaison between designer and printer is key, said DeCrevel.

On a recent afternoon at DeCrevel’s shop, his nine employees worked on a variety of projects in different stages. At one station, a ferric chloride bath etched fine detail into a brass die — a process similar to photo engraving.

In a small closet-like room, a computer program ran an automated engraving machine, incrementally shaving away material from a sheet of brass to create the embossing plate for a wine label, one precise pass at a time.

Another artisan drilled by hand at a block made of epoxy and fiberglass — making a kind of sandwich — for the other half of the die.

At a worn tabletop, DeCrevel creates some of his finest artwork. Wearing bug-eyed magnifying glasses, he uses tools called electric burrs or hand gravers to carve swooshes and swirls from copper plates.

“It’s a very precise process,” said DeCrevel.

These days DeCrevel, 70, works part-time while his son, Paul, runs the day-to-day business. He says he works 30 to 40 hours a week, down from the 50 or 60 hours he was used to. “I’m trying to phase out,” he said. “I still like to sculpt in brass. I just come in and pick and choose, and do some faces and things like that.”

This modest business owner prefers to give credit to his employees, instead of taking the spotlight himself.

Looking back at the work the company has produced, DeCrevel marvels.

“We can’t believe we did it all.”