Timeline of Print Technologies
This is a timeline representing the key events associated with the invention of printing paper and movable type in chronological order. The events have been separated into where they took place, the east (Asia) or the west (Europe). This was created with my partner Skylar Keith using information from Cramsie's book The Story of Graphic Design and images from various sources on the internet.
Copper Engravings
Copper engravings were created in Germany around 1448 by Plantin and involved scratching lines with a sharp metal tool onto a sheet of copperplate, filling the engraving with a waxy ink by rubbing it onto the surface, and wiping the excess ink off of the copper plate. Then a sheet of damp paper was placed on top of the plate and they were both sent through the a special press which forced the paper into the engraved lines. With this method the ink tended to sit on top of the paper leaving a dark raised imprint. This method of printing became popular because it offers a great deal of detail however it was only used in luxury publications because the images could not be printed at the same time as the type.
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Woodcuts
Woodcuts were created in 1460 by Albers Pfizer in Bamberg and was popularized by Johan Zainer in 1473 because he made the text and image look uniform and have equal amounts of visual weight. Woodcuts were still popular when copper engraving came around because they were cheeper and allowed more images per book and were originally popular to add images to book. They were made by cutting down parts of the block which would be negative space then inked and printed onto a sheet of paper.
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Wood Engravings
Wood engravings are made by cutting down parts of the block which would be negative space. This differs from woodcuts because they used a much harder wood and cut on the end grain rather than on the side grain. When carving they would often use engraving tools like the ones used form copper engravings. This was popularized during the 19th century by Thomas Bewick because he discovered how to get more variation in the tone of the ink. In 1829 Niépce and Daguerre worked together to make wood engravings a process to print photographs. By the 1860s it had become possible to fix photographic images onto woodblocks coated with a light-sensitive substance.
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Stereotypes
Stereotypes were invented by Firmin Didot in the end of the 18th century. Stereotypes plates are made by casting them as sheets of metal from moulds made from plaster of paris. The mold contains a precise impression of the form. The form could be a wood clock, type set as a block, or a mix of the two. This was popularized because it kept the original form safe and was possible to print many copies by making multiples identical plates.
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Steam Powered Presses
The steam powered press was invented in 1814 by The Times newspaper in secret in order to get ahead of its rivals. The press was similar to Gutenberg's in some small ways but would have been mostly unrecognizable to him. The man powered screw had been replaces with steam power and in some cases even electricity powered rollers. This press became popular because it was much faster than its predecessors and the paper was kept on a roll rather than cut into sheet to enhance the speed even more.
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Lithography
Lithography was discovered by accident by Alois Senfelder in Germany some time between 1796 and 1799. It is done by writing wax, reverse because the image will be mirrored when printed, onto a limestone which is then wet with water and rolled with a greasy ink. The ink is attracted the wax and not the water so an image can be printed by placing paper onto the stone and rubbing it. This method was popular for printing specific things like sheet music, maps, cartoons, and others but was less popular for copying images.
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Chromolithography
Chromolithography was invented in the second half of the 19th century by a german printer but popularized by the British Owen Jones. Printed in the same way as lithography with wax being put onto a stone and then covered with water and ink that stuck to the wax and not the water. Each color was printed separately and placed very carefully so that it did not overlap with another color. This method became popular because was so vivid and beautiful compared to books of the past though it was a very expensive and lengthy process so it was only used to its full extent in luxury books.
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