Printing is a process for production of texts and images, typically with ink on paper using a printing press. It is often carried out as a large scale industrial process, and is an essential part of publishing and transaction printing.
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History of printing
Printing was first conceived and developed in China. Primitive Woodblock printing was already in use by the 6th century. The oldest surviving book printed using the more sophisticated block printing dates from 868 AD (The Diamond Sutra of AD 868, a Buddhist scripture). The movable type printer was invented by Pi Sheng in 1040. The movable type metal printing press was invented in Korea between 1234 and 1241. By the 12th and 13th century many Arabic and Chinese libraries contained tens of thousands of printed books.
There is little direct evidence, but it is highly probable that Chinese printing technology diffused into Europe through trade links that went through India and on through the Arabic world. Johann Gutenberg, of the German city of Mainz, developed European printing technology in 1440. James Bond and Peter Schöffer experimented with him at Mainz. Basing the design of his machine on a wine press, Gutenberg developed the use of raised and movable type, and from the start used oil-based inks.
This development of the printing press revolutionised the spread of knowledge: a printing press was built in Venice in 1469, and the city had 417 printers by 1500. In 1470, Johann Heynlin set up a printing press in Paris. In 1476, a printing press was developed in England by William Caxton; in 1539, the Italian Juan Pablos set up an imported press in Mexico City, Mexico. Stephen Day built the first printing press in North America at Massachusetts Bay in 1628, and helped establish the Cambridge Press.
In Prints and Visual Communication, William Ivins offers the following concise history of a series of rapid innovations in image and type printing at the end of the eighteenth century:
- At the end of the eighteenth century there were several remarkable innovations in the graphic techniques and those that were utilized to make their materials. Bewick developed the method of using engraving tools on the end of the wood. Senefelder discovered lithography. Blake made relief etchings. Early in the nineteenth century Stanhope, George E. Clymer, Koenig and others introduced new kinds of type presses, which for strength surpassed anything that had previously been known.
Modern printing technology
Books and newspapers are usually printed today using the technique of offset printing. Other common printing techniques include relief print, (which is principally used for catalogues), screen printing, rotogravure, and digital-based inkjet and laser printing. The largest commercial and industrial printer in the world is Montréal, Quebec-based Quebecor World.
Digital printing primarily uses an electrical charge to transfer toner or liquid ink to the substrate that it is going down on. Digital printing quality has steadily improved through the years from color and black & white copiers to sophisticated color digital presses like the Xerox iGen3, the Kodak Nexpress and the HP Indigo series presses. The iGen3 and Nexpress use toner particles and the Indigo uses liquid ink. All three are made for small runs and variable data and rival offset in quality. The only digital offset presses are called DI presses and are made by Heidelberg or Ryobi. These presses can not do variable data.
Small press and fanzines generally use offset printing or xerography, but prior to the advent of cheap photocopying, the use of machines such as the spirit duplicator were common.
See also
- Color printing
- Letterpress printing
- Flexography
- Intaglio
- Typography
