All about Printing in 90 seconds or less!

Posted 14th September 2015

A lot has changed in the industry since Swallowtail Print first starting printing over 200 years ago. The technology that we use has changed beyond all recognition, with exciting innovations and inventions constantly improving and altering the way we work.

Swallowtail Print has always used the most up to date pieces of equipment and processes – even when state of the art meant doing everything by hand. We therefore have a unique experience of the industry and its evolution, putting us in the perfect position to take a quick look back at our exciting profession and how it’s changed over the years.

Early printing

One of the earliest forms of printing was woodblock printing. Text would be carved into wooden blocks, with ink used to leave prints on material and paper. The earliest known woodblock print was found in China and dates from 220AD. Widely used throughout Asia, the technique did not reach Europe until the 15th century.

The printing press to the industrial revolution

Around the year 1040, the world’s first known moveable type system was created in China. Made out of porcelain, the system allowed different pages to be printed comparatively quickly and easily.

In 1439, Johannes Gutenberg of Mainz, developed a European moveable type printing press, kick starting the European age of printing and changing the industry forever.

Though there were various improvements made to the flat bed printing press over the years, it wasn’t significantly altered until Richard March Hoe invented the rotary drum in 1843. Allowing larger quantities to be printed quickly, the rotary drum enabled fast, bulk printing for the first time.

As well as the printing press, the industry also saw the invention of lithography (1796), chromolithography, or colour printing, (1875) and offset printing (1870s) all of which influenced the industry significantly.

The 20th Century

The 20th century was a time of huge change for the printing industry with a rapid succession of innovations altering the way that we worked for good. There was a shift from letterpress printing to sheetfed and web offset printing.

The advances in computer technology lead to major changes in the way artwork was created. Desktop publishing (DTP) replaced the more traditional way of creating artwork by cutting and pasting typesetting on to artboards. Later this led to changes in the way lithographic plates were made. Printers no longer needed to output to photographic film before making plates. Printing plates could be created directly from computers – this was known as (CTP) computer-to-plate.

Today sheetfed offset lithography is still one of the most widely used printing process for magazines, leaflets, brochures, catalogues, stationery and books. However, it has now been joined by a new ‘printer on the block’; digital printing. The invention of photocopiers (1938), inkjet printers (1951) and then laser printing (1969) has, in recent years, heralded the development of digital printing presses. These have many advantages over much larger printing presses, allowing for shorter runs with quick turnaround times. However, this new breed of printer is not seen as a replacement but as supplement, further enhancing the services, we as a print supplier, can offer.

The future of printing

As our quick look at the history of printing has shown, our industry doesn’t like to sit still for long. Improvements to digital printing means that the future of is incredibly exciting, allowing greater flexibility, shorter print runs and personalised printing.

By keeping up with these improvements Swallowtail Print can ensure that we provide our customers with the highest levels of quality and service, so why not give us a call today to find out more?