Prehistory, origins and evolution Print Medium Prehistory, origins and evolution

PRINT MEDIUM Print media is one of the oldest and basic forms of mass communication. Print media includes newspapers, weeklies, fortnightlies, monthlies, magazines and other forms of printed materials. Print media has the advantage of making a longer impact on the minds of the reader, with more in-depth reporting and analysis. It has not lost its charms or relevance even after many new forms of media have arrived. It generally refers to newspapers, which collect, edit and print news reports and articles.

Pre-Historic Era

Cave paintings Cave paintings are paintings found on cave walls and ceilings, and especially refer to those of prehistoric origin. The earliest such art in Europe dates back to the Aurignacian period, approximately 40,000 years ago, and is found in the El Castillo cave in Cantabria, Spain.

Manuscripts A manuscript is any document written by hand, as opposed to being printed or reproduced in some other way. Before the arrival of printing, all documents and books were manuscripts. 

Invention of Paper Paper was invented by the ancient Chinese in the 2nd century BC during the Han Dynasty and spread slowly to the west via the Silk Road. The word "paper" is derived from papyrus, Ancient Greek for the Cyprus papyrus plant. Papyrus is a thick, paper-like material produced from the pith of the Cyprus papyrus plant which was used in ancient Egypt and other Mediterranean cultures for writing long before the making of paper in China

Early Papermaking in China

Evolution of Printing The earliest form of printing was woodblock printing, with existing examples from China dating to before 220 A.D. and Egypt to the fourth century. Later developments in printing include the movable type, first developed by Bi Sheng in China, and more efficient printing process for western languages with their more limited alphabets, developed by Johannes Gutenberg in the fifteenth century.

Block Printing Block printing is a technique for printing text, images or patterns used widely throughout East Asia both as a method of printing on textiles and later, under the influence of Buddhism, on paper. It originated in China in antiquity as a method of printing on textiles and later on paper. As a method of printing on cloth.

Woodblock printing

Woodblock

Movable-type printing Movable type is the system of printing and typography using movable pieces of metal type, made by casting from matrices struck by letter punches. Movable type allowed for much more flexible processes than hand copying or block printing. Around 1040, the first known movable type system was created in China by Bi Sheng out of porcelain

Movable-type printing

Gutenberg's  Era Johannes Gutenberg's work on his printing press began in approximately 1436. Compared to woodblock printing, movable type page setting and printing using a press was faster and more durable. The metal type pieces were sturdier and the lettering more uniform, leading to typography and fonts. The high quality and relatively low price of the Gutenberg Bible (1455) established the superiority of movable type for western languages, and printing presses rapidly spread across Europe, leading up to the Renaissance, and later all around the world. Today, practically all movable type printing ultimately derives from Gutenberg's innovations to movable type printing, which is often regarded as the most important invention of the second millennium.

Gutenberg - Printing Press - Metal Type

Flat-bed printing press A printing press is a mechanical device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a medium (such as paper or cloth), thereby transferring an image. Printing methods based on Gutenberg's printing press spread rapidly throughout first Europe and then the rest of the world, replacing most block printing and making it the sole progenitor of modern movable type printing. As a method of creating reproductions for mass consumption, The printing press has been superseded by the advent of offset printing.

Rotary printing press

Rotary printing press

Rotary printing press A rotary printing press is a printing press in which the images to be printed are curved around a cylinder. Printing can be done on large number of substrates, including paper, cardboard, and plastic. Today, there are three main types of rotary presses; offset, rotogravure, flexography. While the three types use cylinders to print, they vary in their method.

Intaglio Printing Technique Intaglio is a family of printmaking techniques in which the image is incised into a surface, known as the matrix or plate. Normally, copper or zinc plates are used as a surface.

Lithography  Invented by Bavarian author Aloys Senefelder in 1796,lithography is a method for printing on a smooth surface. Lithography is a printing process that uses chemical processes to create an image. For instance, the positive part of an image would be a hydrophobic chemical, while the negative image would be water. Thus, when the plate is introduced to a compatible ink and water mixture, the ink will adhere to the positive image and the water will clean the negative image. This allows for a relatively flat print plate which allows for much longer runs than the older physical methods of imaging.

Offset press Offset printing is a widely used printing technique where the inked image is transferred (or "offset") from a plate to a rubber blanket, then to the printing surface. When used in combination with the lithographic process, which is based on the repulsion of oil and water, the offset technique employs a flat image carrier on which the image to be printed obtains ink from ink rollers, while the non-printing area attracts a film of water, keeping the non-printing areas ink- free.

Offset Lithographic Process

Rotogravure Rotogravure (Roto or Gravure for short) is a type of intaglio printing process; that is, it involves engraving the image onto an image carrier. In gravure printing, the image is engraved onto a cylinder because, like offset printing and flexography, it uses a rotary printing press. Once a staple of newspaper photo features, the rotogravure process is still used for commercial printing of magazines, postcards, and corrugated (cardboard) product packaging.

Flexography Flexography (often abbreviated to flexo) is a form of printing process which utilizes a flexible relief plate. It is essentially a modern version of letterpress which can be used for printing on almost any type of substrate, including plastic, metallic films, cellophane, and paper. It is widely used for printing on the non-porous substrates required for various types of food packaging (it is also well suited for printing large areas of solid color.

Flexography

Assignment 1)Cave Painting images 2)Manuscripts images Each student should collect 3 samples of 1)Cave Painting images 2)Manuscripts images 3)Block Printing images 4)Movable Type Printed images 5)Offset/Flexography Printed images 6)Rotogravure printed images from online / Hard copy / both.

Assignment Students will be asked to explain its significance(of that particular Image) and appreciate the print in terms of Setting/printing perspective. Avoid Repetition of Images within your classmates. Submission to be done in CD and or hard copy Assignment should be submitted on 27/06/2013 befobefore 1.30pm. Thank you