{"id":4832,"date":"2012-12-12T16:28:32","date_gmt":"2012-12-12T16:28:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.posterimage.it\/?page_id=4832"},"modified":"2021-06-17T09:22:19","modified_gmt":"2021-06-17T09:22:19","slug":"how-posters-were-made","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.posterimage.it\/en\/how-posters-were-made\/","title":{"rendered":"How posters were made"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lithography<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0is a method for\u00a0printing\u00a0using a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a completely smooth surface. Invented in 1796 by\u00a0German\u00a0author and actor\u00a0Alois Senefelder\u00a0as a cheap method of publishing theatrical works,\u00a0lithography can be used to print text or\u00a0artwork\u00a0onto paper or other suitable material.<\/p>\n

Lithography originally used an image drawn (etched) into a coating of wax or an oily substance applied to a plate of lithographic stone as the medium to transferink\u00a0to a blank\u00a0paper\u00a0sheet, and so produce a\u00a0printed page. In modern lithography, the image is made of a\u00a0polymer\u00a0coating applied to a flexible aluminum plate. To print an image lithographically, the flat surface of the stone plate is roughened slightly\u2014etched\u2014and divided into\u00a0hydrophilic\u00a0regions that accept a film of water, and thereby repel the greasy ink; and\u00a0hydrophobic\u00a0regions that repel water and accept ink because the\u00a0surface tension\u00a0is greater on the greasy image area, which remains dry. The image can be printed directly from the plate (the orientation of the image is reversed), or it can be\u00a0offset, by transferring the image onto a flexible sheet (rubber) for printing and publication.<\/p>\n

As a printing technology, lithography is different from\u00a0intaglio printing\u00a0(gravure), wherein a plate is either\u00a0engraved,\u00a0etched, or\u00a0stippled\u00a0to score cavities to contain the printing ink; and\u00a0woodblock printing, and\u00a0letterpress\u00a0printing, wherein ink is applied to the raised surfaces of letters or images. Most types of books of high-volume text are printed with\u00a0offset lithography, the most common form of printing technology. The word\u00a0lithography<\/em>\u00a0also denotes\u00a0photolithography, amicrofabrication\u00a0technique used in the microelectronics industry to make\u00a0integrated circuits\u00a0and\u00a0microelectromechanical systems.<\/p>\n

The principle of lithography<\/strong>
\nLithography uses simple chemical processes to create an image. For instance, the positive part of an image is a water-repelling (“hydrophobic”) substance, while the negative image would be water-retaining (“hydrophilic”). Thus, when the plate is introduced to a compatible printing ink and water mixture, the ink will adhere to the positive image and the water will clean the negative image. This allows a flat print plate to be used, enabling much longer and more detailed print runs than the older physical methods of printing (e.g.,\u00a0intaglio printing,\u00a0letterpress printing).<\/p>\n

Lithography was invented by\u00a0Alois Senefelder\u00a0in\u00a0Bohemia\u00a0in 1796. In the early days of lithography, a smooth piece of\u00a0limestone\u00a0was used (hence the name “lithography”: “lithos” (\u03bb\u03b9\u03b8\u03bf\u03c2) is the ancient Greek word for stone). After the oil-based image was put on the surface, a solution of\u00a0gum arabic\u00a0in water was applied, the gum sticking only to the non-oily surface. During printing, water adhered to the gum arabic surfaces and avoided the oily parts, while the oily ink used for printing did the opposite.<\/p>\n

Offset printing<\/strong>\u00a0is a commonly used\u00a0printing\u00a0technique in which the\u00a0inked\u00a0image is transferred (or “offset”) from a plate to a rubber blanket, then to the printing surface. When used in combination with the\u00a0lithographic\u00a0process, which is based on the repulsion of\u00a0oil\u00a0and\u00a0water, the offset technique employs a flat (planographic) image carrier on which the image to be printed obtains ink from ink rollers, while the non-printing area attracts a water-based film (called “fountain solution”), keeping the non-printing areas ink-free.<\/p>\n

Development of the offset press came in two versions: In 1875 by\u00a0Robert Barclay\u00a0of\u00a0England\u00a0for printing on tin, and in 1903 by Ira Washington Rubel of the\u00a0United States\u00a0for printing on paper.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lithography\u00a0\u00a0is a method for\u00a0printing\u00a0using a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a completely smooth surface. Invented in 1796 by\u00a0German\u00a0author and actor\u00a0Alois Senefelder\u00a0as a cheap method of publishing theatrical works,\u00a0lithography can be used to print text or\u00a0artwork\u00a0onto paper or other suitable material. Lithography originally used an image drawn (etched) into a coating of wax […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-4832","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nHow posters were made Offset printing Lithography<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Lithography\u00a0\u00a0is a method for\u00a0printing\u00a0using a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a completely smooth surface.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.posterimage.it\/en\/how-posters-were-made\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How posters were made Offset printing Lithography\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Lithography\u00a0\u00a0is a method for\u00a0printing\u00a0using a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a completely smooth surface.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.posterimage.it\/en\/how-posters-were-made\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"L'Image Gallery\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-06-17T09:22:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.posterimage.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Vetrine_novembre_2019_crodo.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"729\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.posterimage.it\/en\/how-posters-were-made\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.posterimage.it\/en\/how-posters-were-made\/\",\"name\":\"How posters were made Offset printing Lithography\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.posterimage.it\/en\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-12-12T16:28:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-06-17T09:22:19+00:00\",\"description\":\"Lithography\u00a0\u00a0is a method for\u00a0printing\u00a0using a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a completely smooth surface.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.posterimage.it\/en\/how-posters-were-made\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.posterimage.it\/en\/how-posters-were-made\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.posterimage.it\/en\/how-posters-were-made\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.posterimage.it\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How posters were made\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.posterimage.it\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.posterimage.it\/en\/\",\"name\":\"L'Image Gallery\",\"description\":\"Original Posters of the XXth Century | Tel. 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