An old engraving of an industrial lithographic (litho) printing press of the 1800s. It is from a Victorian mechanical engineering book of the 1880s. Mainly used to print newspapers, this machine was belt driven, and its bed moved backwards and forwards with wheels running on rails. Lithographic printing allows a flat printing plate to be used, enabling much longer and more detailed print runs than the older methods such as letterpress printing.
An old engraving of an industrial lithographic (litho) printing press of the 1800s. It is from a Victorian mechanical engineering book of the 1880s. Mainly used to print newspapers, this machine was belt driven, and its bed moved backwards and forwards with wheels running on rails. Lithography uses simple chemical processes to create an image. The positive part of printing plate is a water-repelling (‘hydrophobic’) substance, while the negative image is water-retaining (‘hydrophilic’). When the plate is introduced to a printing ink and water mixture, the ink adheres to the positive image and water cleans the negative image. This allows a flat printing plate to be used, enabling much longer and more detailed print runs than the older methods such as letterpress printing.
Size: 3780px × 2144px
Location: UK
Photo credit: © M&N / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: 1800s, 19th, belt, black, british, century, cylinder, drawing, drive, drum, engineering, equipment, fed, historical, illustration, industrial, ink, large, litho, lithographic, machine, machinery, maker, manufacturer, mechanical, newspaper, nineteenth, paper, plate, press, print, printer, printing, production, revolution, revolving, rotary, rotating, sheet, uk, victorian, white
