Printing has been around in one form or another for hundreds of years. Check out how it’s evolved below:

Printers Past To Present

Wood block printing was a revolutionary breakthrough in China around the year 990. This printing method consisted of carving images and book pages from blocks of wood. Since only one page or image could be produced at a time, the process was painstakingly slow.

In 1040, the Chinese discovered moveable-type. This allowed for easier printing of characters or letters for books. This system would eventually find its way to a very intriguing man in Europe about 400 years later.

Printing Press

Moveable Type

Johannes Gutenberg took the idea of the moveable-type and went a large step further when he developed the printing press. Using a matrix, which is basically a mold for casting the alphabet in sequences, he created a system that would allow for mass production of prints, books, and papers and would eventually lead to our modern printing system.

Rotary Press

The rotary press was a step forward that allowed for printing on a larger number of media, including paper, cardboard, and plastic. The rotary method made it possible to print on a continuous roll that of which was fed sheet by sheet. This was sometimes called web pressing. Created by Richard March Hoe in 1843, this method set the stage for printing types that we still use today. Offset printing is still a widely used form of rotary type press and is also used for most of the printed images we see today.

Photocopying

The photocopier using xerography technology came about around 1959 and took off in offices around the world. This process allowed for multiple copies to be made of an original printed document in just seconds.

The process uses a combination of electrostatic charges on a light sensitive photoreceptor that then attracts and transfers toner particles onto paper. Then heat and pressure will complete the tone and you have your copy shooting out the other end. This method would soon meet its digital match and begin to decline partially due to the paperless office movement.

Dot Matrix Printing

These computer printers are still some of the favorites of today because of their ability to create different fonts and graphics. Created in 1970 with similar technology to a typewriter, dot matrix printing it is an impact method, where the print head runs back and forth on the page and strikes an ink-soaked cloth ribbon against the paper, only in this case, speed is a great factor.

Each dot is produced by a tiny metal rod, also called a “wire” or “pin” that is driven forward by electromagnetic force to create the letters on a page. With this method, the single vertical line of dot making pieces will actually print one line at a time, as compared to a typewriter where one letter is all that can be produced at a time.

Digital Printing

Inkjet Printers

The inkjet era swept the industry during the late 1970s with machines that sold very inexpensively to households as well as to companies where professional models cost tens of thousands of dollars. Though the actual concept itself dates back to the mid 19th century it wasn’t until the early 1950s when it was more embellished upon. There were only a select few manufacturers and they had the market in their palms in the 70s but the model was soon to be outdone.

The technology was simple and produced even better results than the impact printing methods that preceded it and it was faster. With this method, the ink is sprayed in very fine droplet form onto the paper and then air dried. The downside to this method is the cost – when the ink runs out, so does the printing. The ink comes in cartridges and it’s extremely pricy. This one downfall would spawn extra research related to Xeroxing that would lead printing into an entire new realm of possibility.

Laser Printers

The laser printer was actually technology developed through modifications of the xerographic copier. In 1971 the first laser printer was made by Xerox but it wasn’t until 1981 when the Xerox Star 8010 was released to the public for use with an individual computer. This completely revolutionized the way printing was done in business but it wouldn’t be until personal computers became more widely used when the mass marketed HP LaserJet was released in 1984 and quickly found itself in almost every business in America in some form or another.

The process of laser printing is a very fast and high quality text producing method that uses a laser beam that scans directly across the printer’s photoreceptor. The benefits over ink or toner beyond the cost, is that it doesn’t run out and there is no possibility of ink dripping or smudging. Laser printers have taken over the work place. You can see what Dell has to offer here.

3D Printing

Ah, the finale. What would life be like without 3D printing? Personally, I have yet to see 3D printing in person, but the concept is completely fascinating. This type of printing has broken bounds related to many different industries and fields including engineering, architecture, industrial design, aerospace, footwear, dental and medical industries, and the list goes on.

Basically, the machine reads a design that has already been created and while using a series of cross sections designed in a CAD program it layers a liquid powder or sheet material to build or “print” the model. With the detail that is put into a process like this, it can take up to several hours or even days to complete in some situations. But the finished product is almost an exact replica of what is to be.

Printing has come a long way since the early centuries and hasn’t found a stopping point yet. It will be interesting to see what there might be room for after 3D printing or if there really is another step to be taken aside from perfecting the art.

What printer do you use and how does it handle the jobs needed done?

Author Bio: is enthusiastic about start-ups along with consumer and small business technology. As a Dell employee he stays up-to-date on products and solutions for both small and large businesses. In his spare time he can’t resist taking apart his latest gadget and forgetting how to put it back together.