The center was founded in 1998 by Chloe Eudaly, owner of Reading Frenzy and Show & Tell Press, and Rebecca Gilbert, worker-owner at Stumptown Printers.

[10] The organization operated on Portland's west side for its first fifteen years,[11] above the Reading Frenzy at 921 Southwest Oak Street,[12][13] near Powell's Books.

[11] IPRC faced a 300 percent rent increase when the April 2017 lease expired,[11][15] causing the center to relocate to its current location in the Gardeners and Ranchers building.

[16] Nicole Georges worked for IPRC for fourteen years, initially as an outreach coordinator and later as the center's first comic book instructor.

[21] IPRC has organized the Letterpress Print Fair; in 2019, the center hosted an Open House as part of Design Week Portland.