Printing is a process for reproducing text and images, typically with ink on paper using a printing press. It is often carried out as a large-scale industrial process, and is an essential part of publishing and transaction printing.
History
The earliest form of printing was woodblock printing, with existing examples from China dating to before 220 A.D.[1] and Egypt to the fourth century. Later developments in printing include the movable type, first developed by Bi Sheng in China,[2] and the printing press, a more efficient printing process for western languages with their more limited alphabets, developed by Johannes Gutenberg in the fifteenth century.[3]
Modern printing technology
By 2005, over 45 trillion pages were printed annually around the world.[4] In 2006 there were approximately 30,700 printing companies in the United States, accounting for $112 billion, according to the 2006 U.S. Industry & Market Outlook by Barnes Reports.[5] Print jobs that move through the Internet made up 12.5% of the total U.S. printing market last year, according to research firm InfoTrend/CAP Ventures.
References
- ↑ Shelagh Vainker in Anne Farrer (ed), "Caves of the Thousand Buddhas", 1990, British Museum publications, ISBN 0-7141-1447-2
- ↑ Great Chinese Inventions. Minnesota-china.com. Retrieved on July 29, 2010.
- ↑ Rees, Fran. Johannes Gutenberg: Inventor of the Printing Press
- ↑ "When 2% Leads to a Major Industry Shift" Patrick Scaglia, August 30, 2007.
- ↑ 2006 U.S. Industry & Market Outlook, National Edition, Barnes Reports. 2005.
