How Paper came About

We use them every day to print memos/reports, write love notes, or simply scribble irrelevant ramblings, yet only a few of us know where paper really came from. How did paper come about and who introduced them to us?

Papermaking was believed to be invented by the Chinese in 105A.D. It was introduced by an official of the Imperial Court named Ts'ai Lun. He took a bark of a mulberry tree, broke it into pieces, and pounded it until it became a sheet. From them on, paper become widely used in China.

Ts'ai Lun

From China, the art of papermaking reached Japan and Korea in 610A.D. Most of the paper then were made from Gampi and mulberry bark. Later on it was found out that adding rags hemp and old fish nets to the pulp improves the quality of paper. After that, paper making and use spread to the rest of the world through the Silk Road.

The Chinese kept the secret of paper making to themselves for a long time to gain monopoly of the trade. However, when the T’ang army was defeated by the Ottoman Turks in 751A.D, the Arabs discovered paper making and put up the first paper industry in 793A.D in Baghdad. The paper industry remained with the Arabs for a long time as well. It wasn’t until the early 10^th century that the Egyptians learned about this craft. Later on, in 1100A.D, paper reached North Africa and in 1150A.D. it arrived in Spain. By the time 1453 came, Gutenberg was able to invent the printer press. In America, the first paper industry was built in 1690.  

Newspaper: The History Behind the News

Newspapers remain as primary source of information for people these days, despite the growing popularity of the Internet. It ranks third in a Pew Research survey conducted last 2010 following television and Internet.
But despite being a part of our daily life, little is known in the history of this material.  

 It all began 5 centuries ago. European merchants would hand out newsletters to people that contained information about the weather, wars, and other interesting stories. At the time, these newsletters were mostly written by hand. It wasn’t until the 1400s that the first newspaper was printed in Germany. It was created in the form of news pamphlets which often contained exaggerated contents.

America was way behind in newspaper creation. The first American newspaper called Publick Occurrences appeared in 1690 in Boston. However, printing of this newspaper was immediately restrained due to unauthorized publication. It remained forgotten since then until in 1845 when a copy of the newspaper was found in the British Library. 

In 1704, the Boston News-Letter was created and became the first successful newspaper in America. Later on, two new papers were introduced in Philadelphia and New York, and when the Revolutionary War started, there were already two dozen papers issued at all colonies.

 

During that time, printing newspapers was a long and arduous task. The invention of the printing press by Johann Gutenberg in 1450, however, changed that, and the printing task was shortened. Still, it remained laborious since rearrangement of the letters was required when a new page needed to be printed.   

Years later, in the early 1800s, the Gutenberg press was enhanced with the use of steam-powered press. This made the process more cost-efficient, thus, the term “penny press”. In 1884, the linotype press was introduced making the printing process much quicker. A decade or more later, computers were introduced that led to newspaper printing becoming much more advanced.

There may be a threat to publishing newspapers these days, but one truth shall remain: newspapers have helped shaped the printing and publication history.     

The Prepress Process

When you flip through a brochure or catalog, do you ever wonder how the material was produced? Have you ever thought of the process that the material went through? Between the design and printing, there is a meticulous process that happens before a brochure or catalog will become ink on paper. It’s a process that people don’t really know, but without it we will never get hold of printed materials.

Prepress is a process that a document must go through before final printing. It’s what happens from the moment design decisions are made to the final product—from the preparation of the texts, photos, and graphics to the printing press. The prepress process must take into consideration the process and limitations of traditional and digital prepress in order to create a successful design.

Most prepress works are done digitally these days. The introduction of the Apple IIGS in 1984 allowed graphic designers to create designs on a computer. Software (QuarkXPress for the layout, Adobe Photoshop for image manipulation and special effects, Extensis PreFlight for correction of design elements such as colors and fonts, etc.) were also introduced that helped them convert digital files into press ready files.  

With continuous improvement in technology, prepress houses can now create huge and complex files. The results are beautifully designed materials that look visually interesting to readers. In the years to come, the industry can expect to see more advances in digital prepresses, andompanies who want to stay competitive must learn to adapt to these advancements in order to stay at the forefront of technology.   

The Rich History of Ink

Ancient cultures around the world independently discovered and invented ink for writing or drawing. Mostly, the ink they developed was used to paint cave walls as a means of sending messages or recording important events. Today, we have more sophisticated inks that can be used in almost any kind of medium.

The past

Ink was discovered in Egypt and China in 2500 B.C. Back then, carbon particles called lampblack were used as colorant, and animal hair and feathers were used as brushes. These tools allowed ancient painters and writers to illustrate a wide range of subjects such as history, daily life and many others.

When the Renaissance period came, new tools such as wooden styluses and metalpoints were developed. These greatly enhanced the features afforded by ink, which encouraged scholars such as Leonardo da Vinci to use ink in their studies especially in figure drawings. Nicolas Poussin’s “Bacchanal” is a good example of an artwork that exemplifies the precision possible with ink drawings. During this era, other media were also used with ink to create drawings such as chalk, watercolor, and pencil. Ink also became one of the media used for block printing. A good example of this is Albrecht Durer’s “Apocalypse”, which features woodblock printing.   

   

Albrecht Dürer’s The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

For decades, ink has become an important element of creating meticulous sketches and compositions. It has helped advance literacy and promoted the language and arts.

The future

Personal computers and laptops have greatly revolutionized the development of ink. With the use of high powered printers, images and letters can now be transferred to paper anytime needed. Today, the ink industry is thriving despite predictions that the printing industry is coming to an end. At least for now, the future of the industry is secured as home printers still require ink for printing. 

The Blackletter History

The blackletter typeface (also called Old English, Gothic script, or Textura) is a script that was well used in Western Europe from the 12^th to the 17^th century. The Gutenberg Bible, the first book printed, used this typeface. Noticeable in the blackletter typeface is its dramatic thick and thin strokes and sometimes elaborate swirls. Major classifications of blackletter that are still used this time are Textura, Rotunda, Schwabacher, and Fraktur.

But because blackletter is difficult to read when printed, it became less popular in the 1500s. People and printers were using Roman and Italic faces as they were easier to read and print. Germany, though, continued to use blackletter until the 20^th century.

Printing Then and Now: Part V (The Industrial Age)

The 18^th and 19^th century was the dawn of the Industrial Revolution. During this era, sudden interest for literature increased which then led to increase in literacy. Books and pamphlets were mass produced, thus, reviving an old invention which previously received little interest—the Gutenberg press. Scholars need to publish findings and promote inventions, giving the old press a renewed interest.       

Next to reviving the Gutenberg press, changes in the printing industry brought about the introduction of steam presses. This somehow reduced the manpower needed for mass production. In 1810, Friedrich Koenig, a German printer, created the first flatbed press which is capable of printing 1,100 prints per hour. It was first used by the The Times London in 1814. 

Friedrich Koenig

Printing Then and Now: Part VI (The Technological Era)

The 20^th century brought a lot of innovations in the print industry. As technology improved, things have become better, quicker, and cheaper. Books, newspapers, and other color prints have become more accessible as they increase in number. The techniques developed in the 19^th century continued on to the 20^th century. But it wasn’t until 1960 when computer technology was introduced that notable innovations occurred.

The first laser printer was developed by Xerox in 1969, but it wasn’t until 1975 that the first commercial laser printer IBM model 1800 was introduced. This model was designed for commercial mass production. In 1981, the Xerox Star was released and designed for business use. In 1984, HP released the Laserjet 8ppm. Since then, several laser printers were introduced and have become much smaller and faster. As a result, costs have become much lower.








Xerox Star 8010