Woodblock Printing it´s believed to be the earliest form of printing and was first developed in

China in the 8th century. As the name suggestes, it envolves carving a desigh into a block of
wood. Once the wood is carved, the raised part is then inked and paper is placed on top. The
ink is then transferred by applying pressure to the back of the paper to create the image.

Still in the 8th century, movable type was created by Bi Sheng, in China. This particular
technique was used specifically for printing script. Before this invention, lettering had to be
written out in full, whereas this technique allowed individual letters to be configured and
placed together in any order.

The tiles or tablets used to create the print were first made from clay, before wood and metal
were introduced for better clarity and a more resiliente finish.

In 1400, Johann Gutenberg was responsible for the invention of the Printing Press, an
innovative method that built on techniques such as Movable Type but consolidated them into
one device that could be operated by hand. The effects of the first ever Printing Press were
huge. It rapidly increased the speed at which printed materials could be produced, which
meant the printed texts became widely available and no longer restricted to the wealthy.

The very first book to be mass produced was «The Gutenberg Bible» in 1455. The method used
to do so was Moveable Type and around 180 copies were printed.

Lithography was the next evolution of print media and this is a technique which is still
commonly used today. It revolves around the relationship between oil and water, which repel
each other. For example, in this picture we can see that the image is drawn onto limestone
with na oil-based médium such as a wax crayon. The stone is covered in a solution of Gum
Arabic, which ia a natural gum made from the sapo f na acacia tree. (1790)

Invented by Richard March Hoe, the Rotary Press was the natural sucessor of the Printing
Press. It worked by using cylinders which the images to be printed were curved around. This
was a lot faster than the first ever printing press and allowed for paper to be continuously fed
through the press. (1843)

Although it was developed almost 150 years ago, Offset Printing remains almost unchanged
today and is the most popular way of printing large runs. It works by transferring the ink from
a plate to a rubber blanket and then to the printing surface. It is commonly used to produce
large runs of magazines, posters and other large format prints. (1875)

Screen Printing was invented in China during tha Song Dinasty but it didn’t take off in Europe
until the early 1910s. The technique involves pushing ink through mesh stencil onto textiles or
paper. It’s often used for t-shirt printing.

Thanks to Inkjet Printing, direct contact with paper is no longer required. Ink can now be
applied by spraying it through jets! (1951)

Once the jets came into play, the printing field was wide open. Enter laser printing. This
advanced method produces high-quality images by passing a laser beam back and forth a
negatively charged cylinder within the printer. It then collects electrically charged powdered
ink to transfer the image to the paper. (1969)

In the Dawn of the digital age, printing got faster and more easily accessible to everyone.
Digital Printing made it possible to print straight from a digital file, and all from the Comfort of
our own home! (1991)
The 3D printing was first invented in the 1980s in Japan. In 1981, Hideo Kodama was
trying to find a way to develop a rapid prototyping system. He came up with a layer-by-
layer approach for manudacturing, using a photosensitive resin that was polymerized
by UV light. In the 90s, many companies and startups began popping up and
experimenting with the different additive manufacturing technologies. In 2006,
the first commercially available SLS printer was released. In the 2010s, the prices of
3D printers started to decline, making them available to the general public. Along with
the lowering prices, the quality and ease of printing also increased. 

It´s safe to say that the history of 3D printing is still being written.