When Was Printing Press Invented? Discover Its History

Look around yourself and you’ll find not one, not two but many printed items from things as simple as a t-shirt to things that help the world to run like currency notes. So, now you must have understood the importance of printing. But printing has also revolutionised many industries to make them better like marketing and education. Printing introduced print advertisements and helped to print books and notebooks.

But how did printing come into existence or when was the printing press invented? Let’s have a look at the history of the printing press and how much revolution has been done in the domain of printing.

When Was the First Printing Press Invented?

You may think that the printing press is a very new invention but that’s not true. The first printing was invented back in the 1400s. Yes, around 1440, the first printing press was invented. But, where was the printing press invented and who invented printer? Well, it was invented in Germany by a goldsmith named Johannes Gutenberg. However, it took a few more years to make the printing press technology perfect to be used for commercial purposes.

But this is the story of the printing press which started the printing revolution. If we try to date back printing techniques, there is no certain date for that. Some Chinese texts like The Diamond Sutra are known to be the first printed text by humans. Now, what about the working of the printing press? How did the printing press work?

How Did the Printing Press Work?

The working of the Gutenberg press may seem simple today as we have a lot more complex and efficient ways to print. But, at that time, it was not very easy to think of such a machine.

The concept was simple, to put paper on letters with ink and press it to get the print. But let’s get into the details of how it works. The main body of the press contained a 2d rectangular matrix in which the metal letters were put. The letters are arranged to make sentences and paragraphs. Once done, the ink is put on these letters with the help of two circular cushion-like things. After that, the paper is spread on the matrix and slid under the screw press. Now, the screw press is moved down to press the paper against the letters and print comes on the paper.

In this process, an oil-based ink was used. Today, there are more effective and efficient ways to print not only on paper but on different materials. For instance, construction hoardings are printed on various materials to make advertisement boards to be put on ongoing construction sites.

An example of printing on different materials can be dibond sign printing, where the print is done on an aluminium board. These are part of large format printing, which has multiple benefits, including advertising and enhanced brand recognition. To learn more about the benefits of large format printing, especially in the construction industry, check out our blog on The Benefits Of Large Format Printing For The Construction Industry.

When Was the First 3D Printer Invented?

Let’s now talk about another very recent printing technology, yes the 3D printing technology. But why are we talking about 3D printing? Well, the printing press indeed has developed a lot and we have better printers with which we can do things like dibond sign printing. But the method of printing is almost the same.

But with 3D printing, the technique has changed making it something a lot different from printing presses. Well, 1984 was the year when the 3D printer was invented. Shocked, right?

So, Chuck Hull, an engineer, invented the 3D printer for the first time and it was revolutionary. Why? Because when printing was invented, printing went commercial but, with 3D printing, today anyone can print 3D things with the help of 3D models. Yes, if you want a very particular piece of plastic for your project, you can do it with a 3D Printer.

But, was it a revolutionary invention? Yes, because it helped in very important things like rapid prototyping of new inventions at a very low cost. If you compare it to techniques like injection moulding, it is very expensive because you can’t procure an injection moulding setup for your prototyping. And this is just one application of 3D Printer, in reality, it has brought many other benefits. There are some fun applications like chocolate 3D printing and some very revolutionary ones like 3D printed houses which are made out of cement.

So, isn’t it worth knowing how a 3D printer works? Let’s find out before we wrap up the blog.

How Does a 3D Printer Work?

Not going into the software side of 3D printing technology, let’s have a bird’s eye view of the 3D printer’s working.

A 3D printer has a deck or platform on which the Printing is done. Now, there’s a mechanism which can move on all three axes namely, X, Y, and Z. This mechanism has a nozzle assembly through which the plastic wire is melted and the mechanism prints the input layer by layer. The mechanism is calibrated so that the material hardens and takes the desired shape.

Printing the Final Words

To sum up, the printing press should be put on the list of inventions which helped the human race to develop unimaginably. Yes, the same list that also has inventions like fire and money. And there’s no doubt that even 3D printing was invented because we knew printing. Not only 3D printing, but humans were smart enough to use printing in domains like marketing, news, education and many more. Otherwise, who would have thought that you could advertise your construction company with construction hoarding?