The History Of The Print Industry

By Beth Williamson

Types: -Etching -Linocut -Screen Print -Woodcut -Lithography

Printing By Hand:

Etching is when you use strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in the metal.

Etching:

Linocut is where a design is cut into a linoleum surface with a sharp knife, V-shaped chisel or gouge, with the raised areas representing a reversal (mirror image) of the parts to show printed. The linoleum sheet is inked with a roller and then impressed onto paper or fabric.

Linocut

Screen Printing is when you force ink or metal on to (a surface) through a prepared screen of fine material so as to create a picture or pattern.

Screen Print

Woodcut, occasionally known as xylography, is a relief printing artistic technique in printmaking where an image is carved into the surface of a block of wood, with the printing parts remaining level with the surface while the non-printing parts are removed, typically with gouges.

Woodcut

Lithography is a method of printing originally based on the principle that oil and water do not mix.

Lithography originally used an image drawn with oil, fat, or wax onto the surface of a smooth, level lithographic limestone plate.

In modern lithography, the image is made of a polymer coating applied to a flexible aluminium plate.

Lithography

Types: Letterpress Gravure Screen Process

Mechanical Printing:

Letterpress printing is a technique of relief printing using a printing press. A worker composes and locks movable type into the bed of a press, inks it, and presses paper against it to transfer the ink from the type which creates an impression on the paper.

Letterpress

Gravure is where an image is applied to a printing substrate by use of a metal plate mounted on a cylinder. Gravure uses a depressed or sunken surface for the image they want. The image to be reproduced is etched into the metal plate, sometimes with the use of a laser . The metal plate is bathed in ink and then wiped clean before application to the substrate.

Gravure

Traditionally the process was called screen printing or silkscreen printing (so they are basically the same thing!) So it’s exactly what I explained in the ‘Screen Printing’ section.

Screen Process

Types: Photocopying Laser Printing Inkjet Desktop Publishing

Digital Printing:

A photocopier (also known as a copier or copy machine) is a machine that makes paper copies of documents and other visual images quickly and cheaply.

Photocopying

Laser printing is an electrostatic digital printing process that rapidly produces high quality text and graphics by passing a laser beam over a charged drum to define a differentially charged image. The drum then selectively collects charged toner and transfers the image to paper, which is then heated to permanently fix the image.

Laser Printing

Inkjet printing is a type of computer printing that creates a digital image by propelling droplets of ink onto paper, plastic, or other substrates. Inkjet printers are the most commonly used type of printer, and range from small inexpensive consumer models to very large professional machines that can cost tens of thousands of pounds, or more.

Inkjet

Desktop publishing is the creation of documents using page layout skills on a personal computer. This allows individuals, businesses, and other organizations to self-publish a wide range of printed matter. When used well, desktop publishing allows the user to produce a wide variety of materials, from menus to magazines and books, without the expense of commercial printing.

Desktop Publishing