The history of printing

Predictions of the paperless office, it has been said, are as common as predictions of the paperless toilet. But today, the volumes of printed paper continue to rise. People love to print, and they love to copy. There is an assurance that the printed page gives people what a digital readout does not provide - a tactile versus a visual perception.

Printing has been around almost as long as man, evolving in parallel around the world, in India, China, Greece, Egypt and everywhere where early civilisations arose. It can be said that printing has been around for more than 5 000 years, from the days when round cylinder seals were used to roll an impress onto a clay tablet in Mesopotamia. In Europe and India, cloth was used for printing, pre-dating the use of paper or papyrus.

Woodblocks were the most commonly used form of printing, typically onto fabric, especially for devout texts. Stencils were also used extensively, around the world, typically to make playing cards.

Monks used to write the Bible by hand, a fact which meant the Bible was not widely read, and people were by and large ignorant, which suited the Church just fine. This is one of the reasons the period is referred to as the Dark Ages.

Johannes Gutenberg's invention of movable type in Mainz, Germany, in 1439, is widely viewed as the most important invention of the second millennium, as it allowed the creation of printing as it is known today, and the broad dissemination of books. Within a decade, the industry of printing had begun. The Gutenberg Bible dramatically reduced the price and increased the quality of the Scriptures, ushering in the Renaissance. Within a year, Gutenberg was producing coloured prints.

Printing presses soared in popularity, first in Europe and then around the world, and led to the spread of knowledge, from Germany to Mexico City.

The staffing of a print shop then was much as it was until 1976, with a master printer assisted by an apprentice, journeyman, compositor and pressman. It was in 1976 that the process of printing was computerised, forever changing the world of print.

In South Africa, the Cape Times was the first to go this route, using the proprietary Atex system. In England, then prime minister Margaret Thatcher forced the computerisation of press in an epic battle with the unions at Wapping.

Printing techniques evolved rapidly: rotary printing, intaglio, lithography, chromolithography, offset press, screen printing, flexography, and then the photocopier. Chester Carlson invented the process of xerography in 1938, and patented it in 1942. He was turned down by 20 companies, including IBM and General Electric, as no one saw the need for an electric copying machine.

Thus, Xerox was born, and the term "Xerox it" became part of the business lexicon.

Then came the laser printer, in 1969, based on a modified photocopier, but Xerox did not take it to market, and it fell to IBM to produce the first commercial laser printer in 1976, the 3800, many of which are still in use. It was enormous, occupying an entire room, and the first one for connecting to a PC was Xerox's Star 8010 in 1981, which cost the equivalent, today, of R170 000.

The HP LaserJet popularised the laser printer, and Apple's LaserWriter ushered in the era of desktop publishing, used in conjunction with an Apple Mac and Aldus PageMaker.

Innovations came quickly: the dot matrix printer, in 1970, one of the most widely used forms of printing as it is so economical, with machines that last for decades. Then the inkjet printer arrived on the scene, which works by propelling tiny droplets of liquid ink onto paper.

One of the most profound developments was the digital press, in 1993, which revolutionised the process of printing, reducing cost, footprint and eliminating many of the chemicals involved in traditional printing. It introduced an era of mass customisation, or variable data printing, which allowed each image to be different, a key element in customer relationship management.

The next major innovation was Xerox's solid ink, which reduced the cost of colour printing and increased its quality, eliminating the need for cartridges and toner drums, and cutting waste by 90%.

Then came the multifunction printer, or MFP, which combines print, copy, scan and fax in one unit, making it a highly effective and popular machine, often for individual users, but also in offices, where one networked MFP can serve the purposes of an entire office.

Companies concerned about the proliferation of devices in offices turned next to managed print services, which further reduces costs and enhances efficiency, with one supplier managing the entire print fleet.

The evolution of printing has not ended, of that we can be certain, and the next decade will see ever more innovation.

My next Industry Insight will look at the trends in print, from traditional to cloud to managed print services.