Abstract Visual communication design and printmaking art are two independent art disciplines, but they have many similarities in graphic design, color matching and other aspects. This paper demonstrates the extraction of printmaking features using the improved LBP algorithm. The method of color histogram and color space is used to complete the color extraction of the image, and the texture features of the image are described by combining signal processing and statistical analysis. The LBP algorithm is used to locate the center pixel of the image to form a binary bit string, and the pattern value is obtained by multiplying each binary bit by the corresponding weight and summing up. The efficiency of image texture acquisition is enhanced by adding neighborhood gradient multiscale to the LBP algorithm. To obtain printmaking art elements and propose a direction for integration with visual communication design, image feature extraction is applied to printmaking art element extraction. The performance of texture classification for images has been significantly improved by the improved LBP algorithm, as shown in the results. On the Outextc10 texture dataset, DLBP5 achieves the highest classification accuracy of 92.19% by extracting colors, textures and shapes in printmaking and applying the features with elements of printmaking to visual communication design. Under the direction of integrating printmaking art style elements with visual communication design, users selected {unique, packaging design}, {vivid, branding design}, and {sharp, advertisement design} with higher satisfaction gradients, with ratings of 4.62, 4.17, and 4.36, respectively, which are all greater than 4.