Printing methods

Object: model of a rapid press
Model of a successful product: rapid press by Friedrich Koenig and Andreas Friedrich Bauer, London 1811/1812 (replica from 1973)
Deutsches Buch- und Schriftmuseum der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek Leipzig, Fotografie: Michael Setzpfandt

Printing methods

The A-Z of industrialisation

Thanks to a regeneration process, we were able (...) to transfer print – if I am not mistaken under constant heating in a solution of barium salts – even for centuries-old typeface, and our method, which we had given the nice name “anastatic printing”, thus enjoyed a great deal of attention in England...

Werner von Siemens, Lebenserinnerungen, 1892

Printing methods are a collective term for technical processes (Technology) used to duplicate publishing products (Publisher) such as books, journals (Journal) and newspapers (Newspaper) by reproducing texts (Script) and images (Illustration). New printing methods are subject to patent protection (Copyright) in the beginning and often require new types of print media (Paper).

The history of printing methods is the story of constant innovations. The famous daily newspaper The Times was printed for the first time on the rapid press by Friedrich Koenig and Andreas Friedrich Bauer in London on 29 November 1814. The event was celebrated in a leader.