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Encyclopedia > Letterpress

Letterpress printing is the oldest printing technique, in which a raised surface is inked and then pressed against a smooth substance to obtain an image in reverse. The folder of newspaper web offset printing press Printing is an industrial process for reproducing copies of texts and images, typically with ink on paper using a printing press. ... An ink is a liquid containing various pigments and/or dyes used for colouring a surface to render an image or text. ...


Early Chinese wood-blocks used characters or images carved in relief, and this form of image printing was known in Europe in the 13th century. In the 1400s, Johann Gutenberg (among others) is credited with the invention of printing from individually-cast, reusable letters (moveable type) set together in a forme (frame). He used a wooden press where the type surface was inked and paper laid carefully on top by hand, then slid under a padded surface and pressure applied from above by a huge threaded screw. Later metal presses used a knuckle and lever arrangement instead of the screw, but the principle was the same. A woodcut is a method of printing in which an image is carved into the surface of a piece of wood, with the printing parts remaining level with the surface while the non-printing parts are removed, typically with chisels. ... World map showing location of Europe A satellite composite image of Europe Europe is geologically and geographically a peninsula, forming the westernmost part of Eurasia. ... (12th century - 13th century - 14th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 13th century was that century which lasted from 1201 to 1300. ... Events Henry IV quells baron rebellion and executes The Earls of Kent, Huntingdon and Salisbury for their attempt to have Richard II of England restored as King Jean Froissart writes the Chronicles Medici family becomes powerful in Florence, Italy Births Owen Tudor, seventh generation descedant of Rhys ap Gruffydd (approximate... Johannes Gensfleisch zur Laden zum Gutenberg (circa 1398 – February 3, 1468), a German metal-worker and inventor, achieved fame for his contributions to the technology of printing during about the 1450s, including a type metal alloy and oil-based inks, a mould for casting type accurately, and a new kind...

A letterpress

With the advent of industrial mechanisation, the inking was carried out by rollers which would pass over the face of the type and move out of the way onto a separate ink-bed where they would pick up a fresh film of ink for the following sheet. Meanwhile a sheet of paper was slid against a hinged platen (see image) which was then rapidly pressed onto the type and swung back again to have the sheet removed and the next sheet inserted (during which operation the now freshly-inked rollers would run over the type again). In a fully-automated 20th century press, the paper was fed and removed by vacuum sucker grips. The Industrial Revolution is the name given to the massive social, economic and technological change in 18th century and 19th century Great Britain. ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999 in the...


Rotary presses were used for high-speed work. In the oscillating press, the forme slid under a drum around which each sheet of paper got wrapped for the impression, sliding back under the inking rollers while the paper was removed and a new sheet inserted. In a newspaper press, a papier-mâché mixture (flong) was used to make a mould of the entire forme of type, then dried and bent, and a curved metal plate cast against it. The plates were clipped to a rotating drum, and could thus print against a continuous reel of paper at the enormously high speeds required for overnight newspaper production. A rotary printing press is a printing press in which the impressions are curved around a wheel so that the printing can be done on long continuous rolls of paper, cardboard, plastic, or a large number of other substrates. ...


As computerised typesetting and imaging replaced cast metal types, letterpress began to die out, as photographic imaging onto smooth flexible plates (lithography) became more economical (see Offset printing). A small amount of high-quality art and hobby metal letterpress printing remains -- fine letterpress work is crisper than offset litho because a microscopic border of ink is squashed out around each letter, giving greater visual definition. There is however still a large amount of flexographic printing, which uses rubber plates to print on curved or awkward surfaces, and a lesser amount of relief printing from huge wooden letters for lower-quality poster work. Typesetting involves the presentation of textual material in an aesthetic form on paper or some other media. ... Lithography is a method for printing on a smooth surface, as well as a method of manufacturing semiconductor and MEMS devices. ... The Offset Printing process Offset printing is a widely used printing technique where the inked image is transferred (or offset) first to a rubber blanket, then to the printing surface. ... Flexography, normally abbreviated to flexo, is a method of printing most commonly used for packaging. ... A relief print is an image created by the printmaking process of applying ink to a raised image on a plate or board and printing the resulting image onto paper. ...


  Results from FactBites:
 
Letterpress printing - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (760 words)
Letterpress printing is the oldest printing technique, in which a raised surface is inked and then pressed against a smooth substance to obtain an image in reverse.
There is also still a large amount of flexographic printing, a similar process, which uses rubber plates to print on curved or awkward surfaces, and a lesser amount of relief printing from huge wooden letters for lower-quality poster work.
For instance, since most letterpress equipment prints only one color at a time (unlike presses for offset printing which often use four-color process printing), designs are best limited to one or two colors.
Printing Process Descriptions: Environment and Printing: The Printers' National Environmental Assistance Center: PNEAC: ... (693 words)
Letterpress is the oldest method of printing with equipment and images printed by the "relief" type printing plates where the image or printing areas are raised above the non-printing areas.
The use of letterpresses is on the decline being replaced with faster and more efficient printing presses such as the offset lithographic press or the flexographic press.
In traditional letterpress work, letters were assembled into copy, explanatory cuts were placed nearby, line drawings were etched or engraved into plates, and all these were placed (composed) on a flat marble stone, within a rigid frame (chase) spaced artistically with blocks (furniture) tightened up (locked-up) with toothed angular blocks (quoins).
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