printing
Sign in to saveupright=1.5|thumb|From top to bottom, left to right: cylinder seal of a scene, block used for [[woodblock printing, movable type, printing press, lithograph press, offset press used for modern lithographic printing, linotype machine for hot metal typesetting, digital printer, 3D printer in action.]]
AI overview
Printing is the process of transferring text, images, or designs onto surfaces like paper or other materials using various tools and machines. Throughout history, printing methods have evolved from simple hand-carved blocks to modern digital and 3D printers, making it possible to mass-produce written and visual content efficiently.
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Article
32 sectionsContents
- History
- Woodblock printing
- In East Asia
- In the Islamic World
- In Europe
- Movable-type printing
- The printing press
- Rotary printing press
- Printing capacity
- Conventional printing technology
- Crop marks
- Letterpress
- Offset
- Gravure
- Flexography
- Other printing techniques
- Impact of German movable type printing press
- Quantitative aspects
- Religious impact
- Social impact
- Educational impact
- The language of scholarship
- Curriculum
- Comparison of printing methods
- Digital printing
- 3D printing
- Notes
- References
- Major sources
- Further reading
- Early printers manuals
- External links
upright=1.5|thumb|From top to bottom, left to right: cylinder seal of a scene, block used for [[woodblock printing, movable type, printing press, lithograph press, offset press used for modern lithographic printing, linotype machine for hot metal typesetting, digital printer, 3D printer in action.]]
Printing is a process for mass reproducing text and images using a master form or template. The earliest non-paper products involving printing include cylinder seals and objects such as the Cyrus Cylinder and the Cylinders of Nabonidus. The earliest known form of printing evolved from ink rubbings made on paper or cloth from texts on stone tablets, used during the sixth century. Printing by pressing an inked image onto paper (using woodblock printing) appeared later that century. Later developments in printing technology include the movable type invented by Bi Sheng around 1040 and the printing press invented by Johannes Gutenberg in the 15th century. The technology of printing played a key role in the development of the Renaissance and the Scientific Revolution and laid the material basis for the modern knowledge-based economy and the spread of learning to the masses.