Printing is a process for reproducing text and image, 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.
History
Woodblock printing
Woodblock printing is a technique for printing text, images or patterns that was used widely throughout
East Asia. It originated in
China in antiquity as a method of printing on
textiles and later on
paper. As a method of printing on cloth, the earliest surviving examples from
China date to before 220, and from
Egypt to the 4th century.
In East Asia
"Selected Teachings of Buddhist Sages and Son Masters", the earliest known book printed with movable metal type, 1377. Bibliothèque Nationale de Paris.
By AD 593, the first printing press was invented in China, and the first printed newspaper,
Kaiyuan Za Bao, was available in Beijing in AD 713. It was a woodblock printing. And the Tianemmen scrolls, the earliest known complete woodblock printed book with illustrations, was printed in China in AD 868; it did not supersede the use of block printing.
In Middle East
Woodblock printing on cloth appeared in
Egypt by the 4th century, though it is not clear if the Egyptian printing of cloth was learned from China or developed separately. Block printing, called
tarsh in
Arabic was developed in
Arabic Egypt during the 9th-10th centuries, mostly for prayers and
amulets. There is some evidence to suggest that the print blocks were made from a variety of different materials besides wood, including
metals such as
tin,
lead and
cast iron, as well as
stone,
glass and
clay. However, the techniques employed are uncertain and they appear to have had very little influence outside of the
Muslim world. Though Europe adopted woodblock printing from the Muslim world, initially for fabric, the technique of metal block printing remained unknown in Europe. Block printing later went out of use in Islamic
Central Asia after movable type printing was introduced from China.
In Europe
Block printing first came to Christian Europe as a method for printing on cloth, where it was common by 1300. Images printed on cloth for religious purposes could be quite large and elaborate, and when
paper became relatively easily available, around 1400, the medium transferred very quickly to small
woodcut religious images and
playing cards printed on paper. These
prints were produced in very large numbers from about 1425 onwards.
Around the mid-century,
block-books, woodcut books with both text and images, usually carved in the same block, emerged as a cheaper alternative to manuscripts and books printed with
movable type. These were all short heavily illustrated works, the bestsellers of the day, repeated in many different block-book versions: the
Ars moriendi and the
Biblia pauperum were the most common. There is still some controversy among scholars as to whether their introduction preceded or, the majority view, followed the introduction of
movable type, with the range of estimated dates being between about 1440 and 1460.
Movable type printing
A case of cast metal type pieces and typeset matter in a composing stick.
is the system of
printing and
typography using movable pieces of metal type, made by casting from
matrices struck by
letterpunches.
Movable type allowed for much more flexible processes than hand copying or block printing.
Around 1040, the first known movable type system was created in China by
Bi Sheng out of
porcelain. Sheng used clay type, which broke easily, but
Wang Zhen later carved a more durable type from wood by 1298 AD, and developed a complex system of revolving tables and number-association with written Chinese characters that made typesetting and printing more efficient. However, the main method in use there remained woodblock printing.
Around
1450,
Johannes Gutenberg introduced what is regarded as an independent invention of movable type in Europe (see
printing press), along with innovations in casting the type based on a matrix and
hand mould. Gutenberg was the first to create his type pieces from an alloy of
lead,
tin and
antimony – the same components still used today.
Johannes Gutenberg's work on the
printing press began in approximately
1436 when he partnered with Andreas Dritzehen — a man he had previously instructed in gem-cutting—and Andreas Heilmann, owner of a paper mill.
[Meggs, Philip B. A History of Graphic Design. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 1998. (pp 58–69)] It was not until a
1439 lawsuit against Gutenberg that official record exists; witnesses testimony discussed type, an inventory of metals (including lead) and his type mold.
Compared to
woodblock printing, movable type page setting was quicker and more durable. The metal type pieces were more durable and the lettering was more uniform, leading to typography and
fonts. The high quality and relatively low price of the
Gutenberg Bible (1455) established the superiority of movable type, and
printing presses rapidly spread across Europe, leading up to the
Renaissance, and later
all around the world. Today, practically all movable type printing ultimately derives from Gutenberg's movable type printing, which is often regarded as the most important invention of the second millennium.
Rotary printing press
The
rotary printing press was invented by
Richard March Hoe in 1847. It uses impressions curved around a cylinder to print on long continuous rolls of
paper or other substrates. Rotary drum printing was later significantly improved by
William Bullock.
Modern printing technology
The
folder of newspaper web offset printing press.
Across the world, over 45 trillion pages (2005 figure) are printed annually.
["" Patrick Scaglia, August 30, 2007.] In 2006 there were approximately 30,700 printing companies in the United States, accounting for $112 billion, according to the
2006 U.S. Industry & Market Outlook by . Print jobs that move through the Internet made up 12.5% of the total U.S. printing market last year, according to research firm InfoTrend/CAP Ventures.
Offset press
Offset printing is a widely used
printing technique where the inked image is transferred (or "offset") from a plate to a rubber blanket, then to the printing surface. When used in combination with the
lithographic process, which is based on the repulsion of oil and water, the offset technique employs a flat (planographic) image carrier on which the image to be printed obtains
ink from ink rollers, while the non-printing area attracts a film of water, keeping the non-printing areas ink-free.
Currently, most
books and
newspapers are printed using the technique of offset lithography. Other common techniques include:
- inkjet used typically to print a small number of books or packaging, and also to print a variety of materials from high quality papers simulate offset printing, to floor tiles; Inkjet is also used to apply mailing addresses to direct mail pieces.
- laser printing mainly used in offices and for transactional printing (bills, bank documents). Laser printing is commonly used by direct mail companies to create variable data letters or coupons, for example.
- pad printing popular for its unique ability to print on complex 3-dimensional surfaces.
Gravure
Gravure printing is an
intaglio printing technique, where the image to be printed is made up of small depressions in the surface of the printing plate. The cells are filled with ink and the excess is scraped off the surface with a doctor blade, then a rubber-covered roller presses paper onto the surface of the plate and into contact with the ink in the cells. The printing plates are usually made from copper and may be produced by digital engraving or
laser etching.
Gravure printing is used for long, high-quality print runs such as magazines, mail-order catalogues, packaging, and printing onto fabric and wallpaper. It is also used for printing postage stamps and decorative plastic laminates, such as kitchen worktops.
Impact of the invention of printing
Religious impact
Samuel Hartlib, who was exiled in
Britain and enthusiastic about social and cultural reforms, wrote in 1641 that "the art of printing will so spread knowledge that the common people, knowing their own rights and liberties, will not be governed by way of oppression".
[Ref: Briggs, Asa and Burke, Peter (2002) A Social History of the Media: from Gutenberg to the Internet, Polity, Cambridge, pp.15-23, 61-73.] For both churchmen and governments, it was concerning that print allowed readers, eventually including those from all classes of society, to study religious texts and politically sensitive issues by themselves, instead of thinking mediated by the religious and political authorities.
It took a long long time for print to penetrate
Russia and the
Orthodox Christian world, a region (including modern
Serbia,
Romania and
Bulgaria) where reading ability was largely restricted to the clergy. In 1564, a
White Russian brought a press to
Moscow, and soon after that his workshop was destroyed by a mob.
In the
Muslim world, printing, especially in Arabic or Turkish was strongly opposed throughout the early modern period (printing in
Hebrew was sometimes permitted). Indeed, the Muslim countries have been regarded as a barrier to the passage of printing from China to the West. According to an imperial ambassador to
Istanbul in the middle of the sixteenth century, it was a sin for the
Turks to print religious books. In 1515, Sultan
Selim I issued a decree under which the practice of printing would be punishable by death. At the end of the century, Sultan
Murad III permitted the sale of non-religious printed books in
Arabic characters, yet the majority were imported from
Italy.
Jews were banned from German printing
guilds; as a result Hebrew printing sprang up in
Italy, beginning in 1470 in
Rome, then spreading to other towns. Local rulers had the authority to grant or revoke licenses to publish Hebrew books.
[ "", Edward Rothstein, New York Times, February 11, 2009]It was thought that the introduction of the printing medium 'would strengthen religion and enhance the power of monarchs.'
[Meyrowitz: "Mediating Communication: What Happens?" in "Questioning the Media", p. 41.] The majority of books were of religious nature with the church and crown regulating the content. The consequences of printing wrong material were extreme. Meyrowitz
used the example of William Carter who, in 1584, printed a pro-Catholic pamphlet in Protestant-dominated England. The consequence of his action was hanging.
The widespread distribution of the Bible 'had a revolutionary impact, because it decreased the power of the Catholic Church as the prime possessor and interpretor of God's word.'
Social impact
Print gave a broader range of readers access to knowledge and enabled later generations to build on the intellectual achievements of earlier ones. Print, according to
Acton in his lecture On the Study of History (1895), gave "assurance that the work of the
Renaissance would last, that what was written would be accessible to all, that such an occultation of knowledge and ideas as had depressed the
Middle Ages would never recur, that not an idea would be lost".
Print was instrumental in changing the nature of reading within society.
Elizabeth Eisenstein identifies two long term effects of the invention of printing. She claims that print created a sustained and uniform reference for knowledge as well as allowing for comparison between incompatible views. (Eisenstein in Briggs and Burke, 2002: p21)
Asa Briggs and
Peter Burke identify five kinds of reading that developed in relation to the introduction of print:
- Critical reading: due to the fact that texts finally became accessible to the general population, critical reading emerged because people were given the option to form their own opinions on texts.
- Dangerous Reading: reading was seen as a dangerous pursuit because it was considered rebellious and unsociable. This was especially in the case of women because reading could stir up dangerous emotions like love. There was also the concern that if women could read, they could read love notes.
- Creative reading: Printing allowed people to read texts and interpret them creatively, often in very different ways than the author intended.
- Extensive Reading: Print allowed for a wide range of texts to become available, thus, previous methods of intensive reading of texts from start to finish, began to change. With texts being readily available, people began reading on particular topics or chapters, allowing for much more extensive reading on a wider range of topics.
- Private reading: This is linked to the rise of individualism. Before print, reading was often a group event, where one person would read to a group of people. With print, literacy rose as did availability of texts, thus reading became a solitary pursuit.
"While the invention of printing has been discussed conventionally in terms of its value for spreading ideas, it’s even greater contribution is its furthering of the long-developing shift in the relationship between space and discourse".
The proliferation of media that Ong is discussing in relation to the introduction of the printing press, to the death of an oral culture and that this new culture had more of an emphasis on the visual rather than in an auditory medium. As such the printing press gave birth to a more accessible and widely available source of knowledge in the sense that it broke down the boundaries between the possessors of knowledge and the masses. The narrative or discourse now existed in what would become indirectly through time, the
global village.
The invention of printing also changed the occupational structure of European cities.
Printers emerged as a new group of artisans for whom literacy was essential, although the much more labour-intensive occupation of the
scribe naturally declined. Proof-correcting arose as a new occupation, while a rise in the amount of
booksellers and
librarians naturally followed the explosion in the numbers of books.
Environmental impact
Digital printing
Digital printing accounts for approximately 9% of the 45 trillion pages printed annually (2005 figure) around the world.
Printing at home or in an
office or engineering environment is subdivided into:
- small format (up to ledger size paper sheets), as used in business offices and libraries
- wide format (up to 3' or 914mm wide rolls of paper), as used in drafting and design establishments.
Some of the more common printing technologies are:
- daisy wheel—where pre-formed characters are applied individually.
- dot-matrix—which produces arbitrary patterns of dots with an array of printing studs.
- line printing—where pre-formed characters are applied to the paper by lines.
- heat transfer—like early fax machines or modern receipt printers that apply heat to special paper, which turns black to form the printed image.
- inkjet—including bubble-jet—where ink is sprayed onto the paper to create the desired image.
- xerography—where toner is attracted to a charged image and then developed.
- laser—a type of xerography where the charged image is written pixel by pixel by a laser.
- solid ink printer—where cubes of ink are melted to make ink or liquid toner.
Vendors typically stress the total cost to operate the equipment, involving complex calculations that include all cost factors involved in the operation as well as the capital equipment costs, amortization, etc. For the most part, toner systems beat inkjet in the long run, whereas inkjets are less expensive in the initial purchase price.
Professional
digital printing (using
toner) primarily uses an electrical charge to transfer toner or liquid ink to the substrate it is printed on. Digital print quality has steadily improved from early color and black & white copiers to sophisticated colour digital presses like the Xerox iGen3, the Kodak Nexpress, the HP
Indigo Digital Press series and the InfoPrint 5000. The iGen3 and Nexpress use toner particles and the Indigo uses liquid ink. The InfoPrint 5000 is a full-color, continuous forms inkjet drop-on-demand printing system. All handle variable data and rival offset in quality. Digital offset presses are also called direct imaging presses, although these presses can receive computer files and automatically turn them into print-ready plates, they cannot insert variable data.
Small press and fanzines generally use
digital printing. Prior to the introduction of cheap photocopying the use of machines such as the
spirit duplicator,
hectograph, and
mimeograph was common.
See also
