|
Printing is the process of reproducing something, such as images or text, usually with ink on paper. Since the invention of printing sometime in the 4th century, there have been astronomical advances in the technology used to print. The earliest methods of printing including woodblock printing, moveable type printing, and printing presses. These days it is more common to see printing done with computers, photocopiers, and offset presses.
Woodblock printing was widely used in Asia throughout the 4th century, and is earliest known form of printing. A block of wood was carved or sanded, leaving the text or image to be printed slightly raised. The block was then covered with ink and pressed firmly and evenly onto the surface of the item being printed on. Moveable type printing was very advanced compared to the process of woodblock printing, and was also much quicker and more durable. Moveable pieces of metal, which were created in a mold, were used to print more uniformly than the woodblock method. Johannes Gutenberg is credited with being the first person to use moveable type print, and he also created the printing press around 1436. The printing press was one of the greatest inventions in printing, and is a mechanical device which applied pressure to an inked surface to transfer an image onto paper or cloth. The printing press led to the greater availability of printed materials such as books, which in turn led to a rise in literacy. In the hundreds of years that printing presses were used, the design changed little, and was used up until the invention of offset printing.
Offset printing was developed in the early 1900's and is still widely used today. Offset printing is a technique in which an inked image is transferred from a plate, to a rubber blanket, then to the surface of the material being printed on. Most offset printing has now become computerized and is the most common type of commercial printing due to its quality and efficiency. People that are not looking for a commercial print job tend to use their personal computers and printers to fulfill their needs. There are a number of different printers that can be hooked up to your computer for your personal print jobs. There are a few common types of printers, such as ink jet, laser, and dot matrix.
Ink jet printers work by spraying drops of ink onto paper. Ink jet printers produce good quality prints, and are fast, but the ink tends to smear once it is printed on the paper. Laser printers, on the other hand, work like a photocopier. With laser printers powdered or solid ink is heated up and a roller transfers the ink to the paper. Laser printing is probably the fastest, highest quality way to print from home. Dot matrix printers are another type of printer that you commonly see in people's homes, however they are the slowest and produce the lowest quality work of any personal printer. Depending on the type of printer that is being used, there are a number of different printer inks that are available such as inkjet cartridges and laser toner. Your printer should come with instructions on the type of printer ink that is compatible.
Since the invention of printing thousands of years ago, there have been huge advances made in the technology of printing. Unlike the past, it is now possible to fulfill all your printing needs with your own personal printer, and while printer ink can be rather expensive, the price of printer's themselves are decreasing. It is possible to get printer ink at a number of online stores for a much cheaper price than you might normally pay.
|