Sign Up Login
Submit Online

Your Cart

Free standard delivery on orders over £30 in the UK

Your cart is empty

Printing - Then and Now

Ever wondered how they used to print books? We thought it was quite exciting, so we decided we would share it.

20 December, 2016

Ever wondered how they used to print books? We thought it was quite exciting, so we decided we would share it.

So to start let’s head back to around 3000 BC!

Woodblock printing is the earliest form of printing dating back to the Mesopotamian civilization around 3000 BC. The wood block is prepared as a relief pattern which means that the areas that are not to be printed are cut away with either a knife a chisel or even sandpaper. This leaves the characters/images to show in black. The printing would of course be in reverse which made it harder to print text. The art of carving wood has a technical term called xylography but this term is rarely used in the English language.

Digital printing is what we use nowadays. This method of printing is from a digital based image that is directly sourced to a variety of media. Digital printing normally refers to professional printing, where digital sources are printed using large format and high volume laser or inkjet printers. Digital printing can be costly, however, this is usually offset by the avoidance of having to pay for the manufacturing of printing plates. This type of printing also means that it is on-demand and has a shorter turnaround time.

Well, we certainly learned something and we hope you did too!