Printing. The term may ring a bell with a lot of people, but that is it. Even though it plays a considerable role in education, just a few of us know more about it. In fact, it is a manufacturing industry referred to as printing industry. However, this is just a general and partial explanation. What does the term printing industry really mean? What is its history?
Information – the keystone of printing industry
People are consumers of printing industry. We come across products of printing industry on a daily basis. They include illustrations, photographs, and typography. As letters are the essential material for typography, they may change the content and define the appearance of the printing piece. It reflects the character and the style of each period. For this reason, it is important the history of culture as well as for the history of printing industry.
Processing and spreading the information is the basis of the communication and the main task of printing industry. The industry is linked to the dynamic development of the society thanks to printing technologies. These are considered the first mass-media system. Due to letterpress printing invented in the 15th century, text information has been accessible to a larger number of people, which enabled development of natural sciences, machinery, industry, national and social awareness.
How did it all start?
Copying out books by hand was difficult and time consuming. For obvious reasons, new ways how to make this job easier were searched for. People were interested in copying and recreating the same text or picture long before the invention of the letterpress printing. It was in China as early as in the sixth century. The reproduction of picture patterns was conducted by using paint-coated wooden boards. It was based on raised lettering.
‘A simple copying method’ came into existence. In the 14th century, it developed into printing forms called wood carving and wood engraving. They are the first reproduction techniques. However, they could only be used to print a particular page from a book, which did not make the process of text reproduction any shorter. Revolutionary changes did not happen until the type casting and hand setting of text forms were invented by a German inventor Johannes Gensfleisch von Guttenberg. His first printed texts were Indulgences and The Bible.
Did you know that…?
Gutenberg’s printing workshop was under strict control. His apprentices who were clever and experienced started to spread printing throughout Europe. At the end of the 15th century, printing was established in more than 250 towns across Europe. One of the main challenges for the new industry was distribution, which led to organizing trade fairs, the most important of which is Frankfurt Book Fair. It has been held up to now. It is the biggest book festival with 300,000 visitors – book lovers, publishers, booksellers. All of them can be referred to as clients of printing industry.
There were other inventors and typographers who contributed to the development of printing. Another printing technique, called lithography, was invented by Alois Senefelder. In this technique, letters are not raised. Karel Klíč is known for inventing gravure printing, which is still used with colourful and high-cost publications and covers. Tolbert Lanston invented Monotype – a casting machine. Claude Garamond, John Baskerville, Giambattista Bodoni are well-known typographers in the history of printing.
One may come across a fact that the inventor of letterpress printing was Dutch Laurens Janszoon Coster who dealt with moveable type at the same time as Gutenberg. But the historians attribute the invention to Gutenberg who was voted the ‘Man of the Millennium’ by the magazine Times in 2000. He got ahead of Shakespeare, Columbus, Luther, or Galileo.
Printing in the past and at present
In the history, printing was considered a production industry, whereas at present it offers various additional services. It does not only include the massive copying of texts and images or print itself. It is preceded by a pre-production ‘client-phase,’ in which the structure of the printed product is formed. What does it mean?
Text and picture patterns are processed and edited as well as a layout is created. Of course, there may be other technical requirements referring to the final visual appearance of the product. Although the original task of printing is to publish information in press print, at present it also deals with electronic data preparation for print media.
From scriptor through typographer to a printing product
The word ‘polygraph’ is derived from a Greek word poly – meaning a lot and graphein – meaning to write. Printing deals with duplication of text and picture templates and it is responsible for spreading the information by means of press media. The invention of a letterpress printing caused that the writers who copied out the books by hand were replaced by typesetters, creators of writing and later by typographers. In the past, the book was bound up first and then the text was written. At present it is done vice versa. And what is more, the printed product is a collective work of the author, editor, graphic designer, bookbinder, and shipper.
Did you know that?
Printing industry contributes to the overall industrial production with 1 – 12 percent. The highest printing press consumption per capita per year is in North America. Ninety three percent of overall printing production is concentrated in North America, Central Europe as well as Asia. The USA, Germany, Great Britain, and Japan are top-ranked countries on the market.
Modernization of printing
Development of printing has been observed especially in the form of press media, which is connected with a preprint preparation. Data defining the page format, the way of placing the elements of the informational content, document extent, its richness of colour, these are the basis for the technical processing and a changeover to a digital workflow. Thanks to the digital workflow, more than a half of commissions for the printed products are delivered to the printing house in a digital form.
Put simply, if a customer, an agency, or a publishing house wants to distribute a particular material, the printing industry is not expected just to reproduce the original, but to offer consulting services, graphic design, creation of multimedia products. Despite the increasing pressure of digital media, the future of the printing industry is optimistic. The number of services offered is on the increase and conditions for new professions are being created.
