Printing – A Short History

Printing as a commercial venture started many years ago. Before we had mass marketing via the Internet or phone, mailing printed material was about the only way to get your message out there to your prospective customers. The oldest known printed document comes from Korea, and is dated to the year 751 - but it wasn't until Gutenberg developed the European version of the printing press in 1440 that commercial printing became a real option. Today's printers use much more sophisticated technology than that of antique movable type printing presses, and now digital printing presses that can run directly off of computer files are the norm. Offset printing (and digital offset printing) use printing plates and ink, and can be created directly from a digital file.