The History of Printing

Since the beginning of printing things have changed a lot, of course the type of printing used can depend entirely on the material being printed on, however when you look back at the progression of printing technologies in history it is amazing to see what has been achieved.

The very first printing methods date back to thousands of year ago, starting with block printing. Although it is impossible to pinpoint exactly when these methods were first use but this is the simple technique by which the print design is carved onto a material (traditionally wood), which is then covered in dye and then pressed onto the material that you want to print on.

Next came movable type which is the system of printing that uses movable pieces to reproduce elements of a document, most commonly letters, punctuation and symbols. As these pieces were made of metal this was much more durable than block printing and was also quicker. This process first appeared around the 11^th Century with the first metal movable type coming around 13^th Century.

The 15^th Century saw the arrival of the printing press, this process involved applying pressure on the material on which you wish to print, which rests on a movable type which is covered in ink. It is said that the printing press is one of the most influential inventions, and changed the face of printing.

Next came lithography in the 18^th Century, this process was based on the discovery that oil and water do not mix; it involved an image being drawn with oil, wax or fat onto a flat surface (lithographic stone), the non image areas were left blank and then when the surface was moistened these non-image areas retained the moisture. Then when an oil-based ink was applied to the surface, the ink would stick only to the image and would be repelled by the moistened areas. This would then be pressed onto the printing material and the image would be transferred.

Following on from this was chromolithography, which was a development of lithography which involved several colours. It involved the use of multiple lithographic stones, one for each colour.

The 19^th Century saw the arrival on the rotary printing press, this allowed printing to be done on continuous rolls of material. It involved the images being carved around a cylinder which the material to be printed on is then fed through.

Later on in the 19^th Century came offset printing, this is a commonly used printing process in which an inked image is offset from a plate onto a rubber blanket, then from the rubber blanket onto the printing surface.

The early 20^th Century saw screen printing make an appearance, this process uses a stencil of an image on a mesh screen, a roller is used to pull ink over the stencil which transfers through the mesh and onto the printing surface; a different mesh stencil is used for each separate colour.

Flexographic printing arrived around a similar time; this is mostly used for packaging (so labels, tape, bags, boxes etc) and is also known as flexo. This technique involves the creation of a mirrored master of the required image as a 3D relief on a rubber material; a controlled amount of ink is deposited on the surface of the printing plate using an anilox roll which in turn transfers the image onto to the printing surface.

Inkjet printing which is the most commonly used type of printer came in the Fifties, it works by propelling droplets of ink onto the printing surface.

The laser printer arrived in 1969, this is a digital printing process that produces high quality prints at a fast pace. This process involves a laser beam projecting an image of what is to be printed onto an electrically charged rotating drum which is coated in photoconductors, photoconductivity leads to charge leaking away from the areas which are exposed to the laser; ink particles are then electrostatically picked up by the drums charged areas (those that have not been exposed to the laser). The image is then printed onto the paper by the drum and the ink is fused to the paper by heat.

These last two printing techniques are digital printing methods; digital printing is fast and economical and is now the most common form of printing.

It is clear to see how much printing technologies have progressed over the years, from carvings on wooden blocks to laser beams...whatever will be next?!