A printing process can be defined as a mechanical way of reproducing images and text. This printing can be done on various materials, but the most common is paper in its various forms. The development of printing processes has been fundamental milestones in the development of societies, giving them the possibility of recording and disseminating their history, their art, their knowledge and, in conclusion, their culture. The oldest surviving printed text is the Diamond Sutra , a document found in Dunhuang Cave in China and containing the printing date: May 11, 868. However, it is possible that the printing of documents be earlier.
The printing process of that time generated a limited number of prints and was used almost exclusively for decorative elements. The components of the printing device were carved in wood, stone and metal, applying ink by rolling or by pressure on parchment or vellum. Instead, the books were copied by hand, mainly by members of religious orders.
Johannes Gutenberg invents the printing press in 1452. The first book to be printed was the 42-line Bible (this was the number of lines on each page), which played an important role in spreading Martin Luther’s conceptions of the Protestant Reformation. . The innovative device used movable type, a concept that remained a standard until the 20th century.
Listed below is a chronology of the development of the components required for printing mechanisms and the evolution of printing processes.
Period 618 to 906 . During the Tang dynasty that ruled China in this period, the first prints were made by depositing ink on carved blocks of wood. It can be considered that it is the first recorded printing process, by repeatedly transferring the same image to paper.
Year 868 . The Diamond Sutra is printed .
Year 1241 . Book printing using movable type begins in Korea.
Year 1300 . In China, impressions began to be made using wooden movable types.
Year 1309 . Paper manufacturing begins in Europe. It is not his own invention, however, since paper was made before in other cultures, such as China and Egypt.
Year 1338 . The first paper mill in France is inaugurated.
Year 1390 . The first paper mill in Germany opens.
Year 1392 . In Korea, foundries are built to produce bronze.
Year 1423 . The block printing technique is used in Europe to print books.
Year 1452 . Metal plates for printing are used for the first time in Europe, using the block printing or engraving technique. Johannes Gutenberg begins to print the 42-line Bible and movable type printing is used for the first time, the design of which he had been working on since 1436.
Year 1457 . Johann Fust and Peter Schoeffer, who had worked with Gutenberg, produced the first color print.
Year 1465 . Drypoint engraving is invented in Germany.
Year 1476 . William Caxton begins to use a Gutenberg printing press in England.
Year 1477 . Burin engraving is used for the first time for the illustration of the Flemish book Il Monte Sancto di Dio .
Year 1495 . The first paper mill in England opens.
Year 1501 . The type with italics is used for the first time.
Year 1550 . Wallpaper is introduced in Europe.
Year 1556 . The first monthly newspaper, Notizie Scritte, is published in Venice .
Year 1605 . The first weekly is published in Antwerp, Belgium.
Year 1611 . The King James Bible, one of the most iconic English translations of the Christian holy book, is published.
Year 1645 . The Post-och Inrikes Tidningar begins to be published in Sweden , a publication that continues today and is the oldest newspaper in the world that is still published.
Year 1660 . A method of engraving on copper or steel plates by polishing or scratching a surface is invented in Germany: half-tone or mezzo-tinta engraving .
Year 1691 . The first paper mill opens in the North American colonies.
Year 1702 . The German Jakob Le Blon invents multicolor engraving. The first newspaper in English is published: The Daily Courant .
Year 1725 . William Ged invents in Scotland the stereotype printing method, printing using matrices printed on metal plates.
Year 1800 . Iron printing presses are invented.
Year 1819 . David Napier invents the rotary printing press.
Year 1829 . Louis Braille invents relief printing.
Year 1831 . William Lloyd Garrison first publishes the famous abolitionist newspaper The Liberator .
Year 1838 . Electroplating is invented and used to generate printing plates.
Year 1841 . The typesetting machine is invented.
Year 1846 . Richard Hoe invents the cylinder press, which can print 8,000 sheets per hour.
Year 1863 . William Bullock invents the web-fed rotary typeface.
Year 1865 . The web offset press can print on both sides of the paper at the same time.
Year 1886 . Ottmar Mergenthaler invents the linotype typesetting machine.
Year 1870 . Paper production technology changes and is made from wood pulp.
Year 1878 . Karl Klic invents rotogravure printing.
Year 1890 . The mimiograph is invented.
Year 1891 . Technology evolves and printers can print and fold 90,000 four-page sheets per hour. Diazotyping is invented, in which photographs are printed on cloth.
Year 1892 . Four-color rotary printing press is invented.
Year 1904 . Offset lithography becomes common and the first comic is published.
Year 1907 . Commercial screen printing is invented.
Year 1947 . Photocomposition is developed.
Year 1967 . Newspapers use digital production processes and begin to use computers.
Year 1971 . The use of offset printing presses becomes common.
Year 2010 . Digital printing becomes the new norm.
Sources
- History of printing . Accessed October 2021.
- Saunders, Gil, Miles, Rosie. Prints Now: Directions and Definitions Victoria and Albert Museum, 2006.
