Letterpress printing
Letterpress printing is a traditional printing technique where ink is applied to a raised surface and then pressed onto a substrate, such as paper. Known also as relief printing or typographic printing, it holds the distinction of being the oldest method of printing, with roots tracing back to ancient civilizations in Mesopotamia and China. The technique was famously refined by Johannes Gutenberg in the 15th century, who introduced movable type, allowing for the efficient production of printed materials, including books and newspapers. Prior to this innovation, books were laboriously handwritten and were accessible mainly to the wealthy and religious leaders.
The process involves typesetting, where individual blocks represent letters and symbols, which can be rearranged and reused, making it a more flexible option compared to earlier block printing methods. Letterpress printing played a significant role in democratizing access to literature, contributing to the rise of the newspaper industry, and fostering literacy among the middle and lower classes. Although digital printing has largely overshadowed letterpress in the modern publishing landscape, the technique remains valued for its craftsmanship, and is still employed by small printing businesses to create limited-edition books, posters, and specialty items. Modern letterpress methods have evolved, incorporating rotary and platen presses for greater efficiency while retaining the unique tactile quality that characterizes traditional letterpress prints.
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Letterpress printing
Letterpress printing is a printing method in which ink is applied to a raised surface and then printed directly to the substrate, which may be paper or other material. It is also known as relief printing or typographic printing. Letterpress is the oldest traditional method of printing and has been used to print books, newspapers, and other products.
Letterpress printing is famously known as the technique used by Johannes Gutenberg, who created the first movable type printing press during the fifteenth century and made mass production of printed materials possible. Its history is even longer, however, and examples of relief printing have been found on clay tablets and ancient textiles.
A common example of letterpress printing is a manual typewriter, which has keys that move type bars with raised, reversed characters. The type bars strike an inked ribbon and leave an image on the paper. Another example is a rubber stamp and ink pad.
Brief History
Letterpress printing was used in ancient Mesopotamia, China, and other parts of the world. Before the invention of paper in China in 105 C.E., designs and messages were printed on clay, animal skins, fabrics, and other materials.
Block printing is the earliest form of letterpress printing and has been used for centuries to decorate textiles. Block printing generally uses blocks of wood or other material. The areas that are not to be printed are carved away, leaving the raised surface, or relief. Ink is applied to the relief, and the block is then pressed to the desired substrate. This method was also used in Japan and Korea in the eighth century to print religious materials for Buddhists and Taoists, using both wood and metal blocks. One of the earliest known books in existence is The Diamond Sutra, a Buddhist text block printed in China in 868 C.E.
Block printing allows printers to produce quantities of an image or document, but has limitations. Carving the block is time-consuming, and mistakes cannot be corrected. Once the block has been prepared, the image is established and is not easily changed.
A Chinese peasant, Bi Sheng, created the first movable type during the early eleventh century. Movable type is a method that uses a number of individual blocks that contain one reversed character, such as a letter or punctuation mark. The blocks are placed in a holder or slot to create the words and sentences, and may easily be replaced or moved. The raised characters are inked and paper is pressed onto them. Bi Sheng created characters using clay, which enabled him to print thousands of copies of a document. He faced a significant obstacle, as the Chinese language at the time required the use of hundreds of characters. Creating all of the characters was time-consuming work. His method was not widely adopted.
A Chinese government official, Wang Chen, was apparently unaware of Sheng's method and created movable characters of wood during the fourteenth century. His method was later refined, and Chinese printers used metal type to print books and paper money. Water-based inks were commonly used.
Metal movable type was also used in Korea around the same time. Jikji, a two-volume book of Buddhist sayings printed by a Korean monk, is the oldest known book printed using metal type. As was the problem in China, however, Korean and other Asian languages used hundreds or thousands of characters, which made creating and setting movable type a laborious process.
Languages in Europe presented less of an obstacle. When Gutenberg created his printing press in Germany during the 1440s, he needed just a few dozen characters—uppercase and lowercase letters, punctuation marks, etc. Movable type was more quickly created and set. He used metals to create his movable blocks of letters and symbols.
Gutenberg's choice of ink was an improvement over the water-based inks used in Asia. He used linseed oil and soot. He also mechanized the transfer of ink from the type to the paper by adapting screw mechanisms such as those used in wine presses and linen presses. This allowed him to efficiently ink the blocks, press the paper to the type, and move on to the next page, enabling mass production of books. Among his first publications, Gutenberg printed the "Poem of the Last Judgment" and "Calendar for 1448." In 1450, he began printing bibles.
Overview
Prior to the development of the printing press, books were produced by hand. Each letter had to be handwritten, page by page. Books were rare and valuable, and available only to the leaders of the church and the very wealthy. As the fifteenth century progressed, more and more printing presses were in use in countries across Europe. As printed material became more available, the middle classes were able to obtain books. This access eventually spread reading material further, and slowly enabled the lower classes to learn to read. The Bible became widely available and popular across Europe.
Letterpress printing gave rise to the birth of the newspaper industry. The first newspaper was developed by German printer Johann Carolus, who in the early seventeenth century handwrote the news of the day for subscribers in Strasbourg (modern France). He charged his wealthy customers a large amount of money, and he paid a number of correspondents to relay the information to him. Carolus purchased a print shop in 1604, and in 1605 began mass printing his newspapers. He realized that he could print many more copies, charge less, and see a greater profit than he had realized from his small customer base and handwritten reports.
While printing presses were operated by hand for several centuries, the Industrial Revolution changed the industry. Presses could operate even more quickly and churn out many more pages a day. Publishing flourished through the twentieth century.
In the twenty-first century, books have increasingly been published in digital format, and other printing methods such as lithographic and flexographic presses have become common. Although it is more time-consuming, letterpress printing remains in use, however. Small printing companies produce limited-edition print books. Many posters, business cards, greeting cards, and invitations are printed using the letterpress method.
Modern letterpress printing presses include web-fed rotary presses and platen presses. Web-fed rotary presses are commonly used to print newspapers. They print both sides of the paper at the same time, usually in groups of four pages. The image-carrying plates are curved and usually made of stereotype, electrotype, or molded plastic or rubber. Platen presses have two flat surfaces: the bed and the platen. The platen is the smooth bed for the substrate. The press opens and closes like a clam shell as the substrate is inserted and printed.
Bibliography
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