Some interesting Facts about Printing

It's often assumed that printing was first invented when the invention of the printing press arose. Interestingly enough, that isn't the case. Printing was first conceived and developed in China. The oldest known Chinese surviving printed work is a woodblock-printed Buddhist scripture of Wu Zetian period (684~705 A.D.); discovered in China in 1906. It's now stored in a calligraphy museum in Tokyo, Japan. Printing is considered one of the Four Great Inventions of ancient China!

Johann Gutenberg, of the German city of Mainz, developed European printing technology in 1440. Johann Fust and Peter Schöffer experimented with him in Mainz. Basing the design of his machine on a wine-press, Gutenberg developed the use of raised and movable type, and from the start used oil-based inks.

Before the internet came along, the Printing Press was the single greatest invention. With it came information to the masses.

The technology has changed a great deal. Graphic designers have taken over where compositors and typesetters left off. There was a common joke in the industry about strippers - Film Strippers that is. With the onset of Digital Printing, your artwork now often goes directly from the computer to the press with no steps in between.

Image quality and clarity, colour vibrance and sharpness have all improved vastly in the last 50 years and I'm sure will continue to improve.