Printing press development history

The invention and development of the printing press play an important role in the spread of human civilization and culture.

In 1439, Gutenberg, Germany, produced a wooden letterpress printing press. Although this vertical spiral hand-panel printing press has a simple structure, it has been used for 300 years; in 1812, the German Koenig was made the first Taiwan Yuan flat letterpress printing press; Hoy in the United States invented the rotary printing press in 1847; in 1900, made a six-color rotary printing press; in 1904, Rubel in the United States invented the offset printing press.

Before the 1950s, the traditional letterpress printing process occupied a dominant position in the printing industry, and the development of printing presses was dominated by letterpress printing machines. However, the lead alloy relief printing process has the disadvantages of high labor intensity, long production cycle and environmental pollution. Beginning in the 1960s, offset offset printing processes with short cycle times and high productivity began to rise and develop, and lead alloy relief printing was gradually replaced by offset offset printing. Soft relief printing, stencil printing, electrostatic printing, inkjet printing, etc., have also developed in packaging printing and advertising printing.