Evolution of printing

The printing of documents and books has evolved tremendously since it was first invented and has a long history of milestones to become as we know it today.

From manuscripts to digital printing

Before the invention of printing, all documents and books were called manuscripts – they were written by hand and therefore, created one by one. As you may have guessed, this method had its own obvious flaws, including the high possibility of human error and the fact that it was a very time-consuming task.

Time went by and the process evolved from manual to… well, wood… Woodblocks are considered one of the first printing techniques. Essentially, text and images were carved into the surface of a block of wood which was then inked and pressed against the paper. With this method, for the first time, the production of books became quicker and more efficient.

Although this technique was already a breakthrough, the invention of movable types revolutionised the printing process. Dated 1040, it was originally invented in China, by an alchemist named Bi Sheng. It is the process of setting up types of printing on a letterpress machine. Each type was made of wood or metal and cut individually, offering the flexibility of movement for re-use on different pages and publications. This allowed the quick production of lengthy documents and books.

Later, in 1436, Johannes Gutenberg developed a European movable type printing technology that is considered the first printing press. The introduction of cost efficient production on a large scale allowed the press industry to start its profitable path.

From this point, printing continued to evolve. Techniques like letterpress, phototypesetting, offset, flexography, all the way to digital, prove how this industry has progressed.

Importance of the printing evolution

Printing has affected so many aspects of our lives. Unfortunately, we can’t highlight all the benefits of the evolution of the printing process, but we can’t fail to mention its extremely important role in literacy and revolution of communication. The quick mass-production of books and publications, such as newspapers, allowed the dissemination of knowledge in a scale, just as large as its production.

Printing technology at Hatch

Hatch is committed to offering nothing less than outstanding quality, that’s why we only use state-of-the-art technology and machinery.

Did you know…

•   - We can print over 25,000 business cards per minute
•   - When printing your flyers, our light curing system dries the sheets as they are printed, that’s why we can ship them to you so quickly.
•   - As part of our environmentally-friendly commitment, we save energy by using carbon neutral press. What’s more… we offer recycled paper stocks and we recycle 100% of our paper and card materials.
•   - Our software seamlessly integrates our website to our printing machines, making the whole process smooth. Your order can start to be printed in less than 3 minutes from when you place it online.
•   - Over 70% of our printing process is automated, meaning our clever machines do most of the product handling. This reduces the risk of work accident – it’s our way of looking after our employees.

In a nutshell, you couldn’t be in better hands than with Hatch. Check out our products and order yours today.