General Information About Printing Presses
How Did Printing Presses Spread to the West?
Printing presses are machines or systems that reproduce images or shapes onto materials such as paper, leather, fabric, etc., using special methods, and most effectively enable the creation of multiple copies. The printing industry, which performs necessary processes with printing machines effectively, is generally a word of Arabic origin. It is frequently used to mean printing places, house printing tools, and the like. Its first uses began in the Far East. It was first established in China using woodcut techniques, and printing was carried out in Japan in the 8th century accordingly. It is said that the first attempt at printing by casting individual letters was made in China around 1040 by Lin using porcelain letters. Findings in the Dunhuang caves show that the Uyghurs, who adopted these from the Chinese, have been printing since approximately the 9th century. On the other hand, the craft originates from here, although it is unknown whether it came from China or was developed independently. In Egypt, general prints have been made on fabric using woodcut molds since the 4th century. The same technique began to be used for printing Arabic texts in Egypt around the 9th and 10th centuries.
What is Modern Printing and Where Did it Originate?
In Europe, fabric printing using woodcut systems originated from the Islamic world. It should be known that printing techniques began to develop significantly in the 15th century in the Netherlands, which was the hub of the printing industry in Europe. In these ancient times, alongside various forms of writing and woodblocks, individual letter printing experiments were first attempted in the city of Haarlem. This new invention began in Europe in ancient times and quickly spread throughout the world. Later, these techniques, known and named as letterpress printing, began to form the basis of modern printing machines and industry born from the industrial revolutions, and continued until the end of the 20th century. At the same time, it began to spread due to its high quality and quite affordable prices.
