Different Methods Used For Printing Books In China

Printing technology was born and nurtured in China long before it became popular in the rest of the world

. Though the country later lost its preeminent position in the discipline, it has now more or less recaptured its former position by technological advancement and its people's dedication to work. Offset printing, which was introduced in 1875, was the most popular method used in book printing China facilities, just as in the case of most countries across the globe. Offset printing was in use in the last quarter of the 19th century as well as through most of the 20th century for printing books in China. When it was introduced, offset printing was a great improvement from the rotary printing press, which was introduced in 1843 and had been in use for printing till then. Offset printing is still used for large scale printing of books and works out cheaper than all other printing methods. The only drawback of offset printing is that it is comparatively time consuming than modern printing methods like digital printing.

Digital printing, which allows data to be printed directly from a digital base, is a big time saver and is fast gaining popularity in printing books in China. When the cost of printing of a single page is calculated, digital printing is more expensive than offset printing. However, digital printing has many other advantages. Printing is in itself easy when it comes to digital printing, and this saves labor costs. It is also very fast, and because the book can be digitally stored, digital printing allows the printer to print on demand, and thus avoid wasting copies. Another advantage of digital printing is that data and format can be continuously modified.

There is also another form of printing called letterpress printing, which has been in use from the 15th century. It is said that Gutenberg bible is the first book printed in a letterpress printer, in which printing is done by inking movable type and pressing them against the paper. There is also the opinion that those printing China books have used this method before Gutenberg, but no Chinese book of the 15th century printed in this way has survived.

Letterpress printing is a modification of woodblock printing which had been used for printing books in China as early as the 7th century. Early letterpress printers were foot-operated and did not require power. Letterpress printing is still used for printing expensive limited edition books not meant for large scale distribution or selling. Laser printing, which is a form of digital printing, is one of the more modern forms of printing. It was introduced in 1969 by Gary Starkweather, and printing companies started using it by 1976. Early machines were large, but every subsequent model has been smaller and sleeker than its predecessor.

Offset printing is still used for high volume printing books in China because offset printing works out to be very cheap so far as a customer needs a large number of copies. For fewer copies, printing companies recommend digital printing.

by: Sunil Punjabi

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