PRiNTiNG iS A MECHANiCAL METHOD iNTENDED TO REPRODUCE TEXTS

AND iMAGES ON PAPER, VELLUM, CLOTH OR OTHER MATERiAL. IN iTS

CLASSiC FORM, iT CONSiSTS OF APPLYiNG AN iNK, GENERALLY OiLY, ON
SOME METAL PiECES (TYPES) TO TRANSFER OR ENGRAVE iT BY
PRESSURE. ALTHOUGH iT BEGAN AS AN ARTiSANAL METHOD, iTS
iMPLEMENTATiON iN THE MiD-15TH CENTURY BROUGHT WiTH iT A
GiGANTiC CULTURAL REVOLUTiON.MORE MODERNLY, THE EVOLUTiON
OF VARiOUS TECHNOLOGiES HAS GiVEN RiSE TO DiFFERENT PRiNTiNG
AND REPRODUCTiON METHODS, SUCH AS FLEXOGRAPHY, SCREEN
PRiNTiNG, iNTAGLiO, HiGH ENGRAViNG, ELECTROLYTiC PHOTOGRAPHY,
PHOTOLiTHOGRAPHY, LiTHOGRAPHY, OFFSET PRiNTiNG, XEROGRAPHY.
AND DiGiTAL METHODS.

THE ROMANS ALREADY HAD SEALS THAT PRiNTED TEXTS OR iMAGES ON

CLAY OBJECTS AROUND THE YEAR 440 BC. C. AND 430 BC. C.BETWEEN
1041 AND 1048, Bi SHENG iNVENTED iN CHiNA—WHERE A TYPE OF RiCE
PAPER ALREADY EXiSTED—THE FiRST PRiNTiNG SYSTEM OF MOVABLE
TYPE, WHiCH USED COMPLEX PiECES OF PORCELAiN ON WHiCH CHiNESE
CHARACTERS WERE CARVED. THiS WAS A VERY LABORiOUS PROCEDURE
DUE TO THE iMMENSE NUMBER OF CHARACTERS OR LETTERS iN CHiNESE
WRiTiNG. LATER, iN 1234, iN PRESENT-DAY KOREA, CRAFTSMEN DURiNG
THE KORYO DYNASTY, AWARE OF CHiNESE ADVANCES WiTH MOVABLE
TYPE, CREATED A SET OF METAL MOVABLE TYPE, WHiCH ANTiCiPATED
THE MODERN PRiNTiNG PRESS, BUT WAS RARELY USED.2BEFORE THE
APPEARANCE OF THE PRiNTiNG PRESS, BOOKS WERE DiSTRiBUTED
EXCLUSiVELY THROUGH HANDWRiTTEN COPiES, MADE BY COPYiSTS,
MANY OF WHOM WERE MONKS OR FRiARS DEDiCATED ENTiRELY TO
PRAYER AND MANUAL COPYiNG OF BOOKS, COMMiSSiONED BY THE
CLERGY OR KiNGS THEMSELVES. AND NOBLE. ILLUSTRATiONS AND
CAPiTAL LETTERS WERE DECORATiVE AND ARTiSTiC PRODUCTS THAT
WERE GENERALLY MADE BY ARTiSANS OTHER THAN THE COPYiST. FOR
THiS REASON, THE PRODUCTiON OF A MANUSCRiPT BOOK WAS A
PROCESS THAT COULD LAST YEARS, SiNCE EACH ONE HAD TO GO
THROUGH THE HANDS OF COPYiSTS, iLLUSTRATORS AND BiNDERS. AND
ALL THiS, TO PRODUCE A SiNGLE AND SiMPLE COPY.THE MOST DiRECT
ANTECEDENT OF THE MODERN PRiNTiNG PRESS iS WOODCUT, WHiCH
DURiNG THE MiDDLE AGES WAS USED iN EUROPE TO PUBLiSH
ADVERTiSiNG OR POLiTiCAL PAMPHLETS, LABELS AND SHORT-SHEET
WORKS. WOODCUT REQUiRES MANUALLY CARViNG THE TEXT OR iMAGE
iN HOLLOW ON A WOODEN TABLET, WHiCH iS A LABORiOUS CRAFT.
THEN THE TABLET WAS SOAKED iN BLACK, BLUE OR RED iNK (ONLY
THOSE COLORS EXiSTED), iT WAS APPLiED TO THE PAPER AND THE iNK
WAS FiXED WiTH A ROLLER. THE WEAR AND TEAR OF THE WOOD WAS
CONSiDERABLE, SO MANY COPiES COULD NOT BE MADE WiTH THE SAME
MOLD.
PREViOUS TECHNiQUESA SET OF TECHNiQUES WAS NECESSARY SO THAT
THE PRiNTiNG PRESS COULD BE CREATED AND FUNCTiON iN THE WAY
THAT GUTENBERG DEViSED iT. ONLY WHEN THESE PRODUCTiON
PROCESSES REACHED THEiR MATURiTY, THE PRiNTiNG PRESS WAS ABLE
TO USE THEM. FOR EXAMPLE, WiTHOUT THE LARGE-SCALE
PRODUCTiON OF PAPER, THE PRiNTiNG PRESS MADE NO SENSE, AS THE
USE OF PARCHMENT WAS TOO EXPENSiVE. GUTENBERG'S CRUCiAL
CONTRiBUTiON WAS TO UNiTE THESE DiVERSE ELEMENTS, PROViDE NEW
ONES AND COMBiNE EVERYTHiNG iNTO A COMPLETE, FUNCTiONAL,
SiMPLE AND ECONOMiCAL SYSTEM.AMONG THESE TECHNiQUES OR
PRODUCTiON PROCESSES WE HAVE: PAPER MANUFACTURiNG, THE
DEVELOPMENT OF iNKS, METAL ALLOYS, PRESSES FOR AGRiCULTURAL
USE AND PRiNTiNG ON WOODEN BLOCKS (OR XYLOGRAPHY).
4PAPERTHE ARABS HAD LEARNED AND USED THE CHiNESE ART OF
PAPERMAKiNG, DEVELOPED iT WiDELY iN THE MUSLiM WORLD, AND
BROUGHT iT TO SPAiN AND SOUTHERN ITALY.5 MEDiEVAL PAPER
MAKERS iN EUROPE MECHANiZED THEiR PRODUCTiON, USiNG WATER-
POWERED FACTORiES, THE FiRST CERTAiN EViDENCE OF WHiCH iS FROM
1282.6 THiS ALLOWED A MASSiVE EXPANSiON OF PRODUCTiON AND
REPLACED THE COMPLiCATED CRAFTSMANSHiP CHARACTERiSTiC OF
CHiNESE AND MUSLiM PAPERMAKiNG. PAPER-MAKiNG CENTERS BEGAN
TO MULTiPLY AT THE END OF THE 13TH CENTURY iN ITALY, REDUCiNG THE
PRiCE OF PAPER TO ONE-SiXTH OF PARCHMENT AND THEN FALLiNG
FURTHER.
THE iNKIN EUROPE AT THE END OF THE 13TH CENTURY, iNKS WERE
PRODUCED FOR WRiTiNG OR DYEiNG FABRiCS, BUT THEY WERE WATER-
BASED AND THEREFORE TOO LiQUiD TO PRiNT. WOODCUT, WiTH
WOODEN MOLDS, USED MORE ADAPTABLE iNKS, BUT NOT THE TYPE
THAT METAL REQUiRES.METALSAT THE TiME THERE WAS ALSO THE
KNOWLEDGE TO MAKE A WiDE RANGE OF METAL ALLOYS WiTH
DiFFERENT USES AND GUTENBERG KNEW THEM, SiNCE HE WAS A
GOLDSMiTH.THE PRESSTHE DiFFERENT TYPES OF SCREW PRESSES,
WHiCH ALLOW DiRECT PRESSURE TO BE APPLiED ON A FiXED PLANE,
WERE ALREADY KNOWN iN GUTENBERG'S TiME AND WERE USED FOR A
WiDE RANGE OF TASKS.8 CREATED AROUND THE 1ST CENTURY AD. C.,
THE ROMANS NORMALLY USED THEM iN AGRiCULTURAL PRODUCTiON,
TO PRESS GRAPES AND MAKE WiNE; OR OLiVES AND MAKE OiL.9 IT iS
POSSiBLE THAT GUTENBERG WAS ALSO iNSPiRED BY THOSE PRESSES,
WHiCH HAD SPREAD THROUGHOUT GERMANY SiNCE THE END OF THE
14TH CENTURY, AND WHiCH WORKED WiTH THE SAME MECHANiCAL
PRiNCiPLES.THE MOVABLE TYPESTHiS CONCEPT ALREADY EXiSTED iN
EUROPE BEFORE THE 15TH CENTURY. SPORADiC EViDENCE iNDiCATES
THAT THE TYPOGRAPHiC PRiNCiPLE, THAT iS, THE iDEA OF CREATiNG
TEXT BY REUSiNG iNDiViDUAL CHARACTERS, WAS KNOWN, AS iT HAD
BEEN APPEARiNG SiNCE THE 12TH CENTURY AND POSSiBLY EARLiER (THE
OLDEST KNOWN APPLiCATiON DATES BACK TO THE PHAiSTOS DiSK). .
KNOWN EXAMPLES RANGE FROM MOVABLE TYPE PRiNTiNG iN CHiNA
DURiNG THE SONG DYNASTY, THROUGH KOREA DURiNG THE GORYEO
DYNASTY, WHERE METAL MOVABLE TYPE PRiNTiNG TECHNOLOGY WAS
DEVELOPED iN 1234,10 TO GERMANY, ENGLAND AND ITALY
HOWEVER, THE VARiOUS TECHNiQUES USED (PRiNTiNG, PERFORATiON
AND ASSEMBLY OF iNDiViDUAL LETTERS) DiD NOT HAVE THE
REFiNEMENT AND EFFiCiENCY NECESSARY TO PRiNT LARGE QUANTiTiES
OF TEXT WiTH GOOD QUALiTY. TSUEN-HSUiN AND NEEDHAM, AS WELL
AS BRiGGS AND BURKE, SUGGEST THAT MOVABLE TYPE PRiNTiNG iN
CHiNA AND KOREA WAS RARELY EMPLOYED.THE CODEXANOTHER
FAVORABLE FACTOR FOR THE PRiNTiNG PRESS WAS THE CODEX
FORMAT, WHiCH BOOKS HAD ALREADY ADOPTED iN ROMAN TiMES.12
CONSiDERED THE MOST iMPORTANT ADVANCE iN THE HiSTORY OF THE
BOOK BEFORE THE PRiNTiNG PRESS, AT THE BEGiNNiNG OF THE MiDDLE
AGES (AROUND 500 AD) THE CODEX HAD COMPLETELY REPLACED THE
OLD FORMAT iN WHiCH JOiNED PiECES OF PARCHMENT OR PAPYRUS
WERE WRiTTEN ON AND THEN ROLLED AND UNROLLED FOR READiNG.
THE CODEX iS A COLLECTiON OF SHEETS OF ANY MATERiAL (PAPER,
PARCHMENT OR PAPYRUS) WiTH ONE OR MORE FOLDS, JOiNED AT THE
BACK OR SPiNE, AND GENERALLY PROTECTED BY COVERS.13 THE CODEX
HAS CONSiDERABLE PRACTiCAL ADVANTAGES OVER THE SCROLL
FORMAT : IT iS MORE CONVENiENT TO READ (TURNiNG PAGES), MORE
COMPACT, LESS EXPENSiVE, AND BOTH THE FRONT AND BACK OF THE
SHEET CAN BE USED FOR WRiTiNG OR PRiNTiNG, UNLiKE THE ROLL.SiX
GUTENBERG'S WORKTHE PRiNTiNG PRESS HAD NUMEROUS
ANTECEDENTS, iN THE DiFFERENT SEALS AND iNSCRiPTiONS iNVENTED
BY ANCiENT CULTURES TO MANAGE THEiR BUREAUCRACY OR
REPRODUCE CEREMONiAL iLLUSTRATiONS. THE CHiNESE, FOR EXAMPLE,
WHO HAD MANUFACTURED RiCE PAPER, iNVENTED A PORCELAiN
SYSTEM iN THE 11TH CENTURY THAT ALLOWED THEiR CHARACTERS TO BE
REPRODUCED FROM PORCELAiN MOLDS. BUT THE MODERN PRiNTiNG
PRESS AS SUCH EMERGED iN MORE OR LESS 1440 AT THE HANDS OF
JOHANNES GUTENBERG14. BASED ON THESE TECHNiQUES AND
PRODUCTiON PROCESSES, GUTENBERG SET OUT TO CREATE A MACHiNE
THAT WAS CAPABLE OF MAKiNG SEVERAL COPiES OF A BOOK (SUCH AS
THE BiBLE) AT THE SAME TiME iN LESS THAN HALF THE TiME iT TOOK TO
COPY ONE iN THE FASTEST WAY. THE COPYiSTS AND THAT THESE DiD
NOT DiFFER iN ANY WAY FROM THE MANUSCRiPTS. HERE YOU CAN SEE
WHAT A PERFECTiONiST GUTENBERG WAS, WHO BEGAN HiS CHALLENGE
WiTHOUT BEiNG AWARE OF WHAT HiS iNVENTiON WAS GOiNG TO
REPRESENT FOR THE FUTURE OF HUMANiTY. CREATiNG MOVABLE
TYPETHE FiRST CHALLENGE WAS TO CREATE iNDiViDUAL LETTERS THAT
COULD BE USED SEPARATELY TO PRiNT TEXT: THiS iS MOVABLE
TYPE.GUTENBERG STARTED BY MAKiNG iRON PUNCHES ON WHiCH HE
MANUALLY CARVED A LETTER WiTH THE DESiGN AND FONT HE WANTED.
TO PRiNT A BOOK, HE NEEDED TO MAKE ABOUT 270 PUNCHES, EACH
WiTH A DiFFERENT LETTER, NUMBER OR SiGN; OR THE SAME SPELLiNG,
BUT iN DiFFERENT SiZES.
LATER, WiTH A MALLET, HE HiT THE PUNCH AGAiNST A SOFT METAL,
SUCH AS COPPER, CREATiNG THE SO-CALLED MATRiX, WHiCH HAS THE
LOW-RELiEF AND iNVERTED iMAGE OF THE LETTER. THE MATRiX
ALLOWED HUNDREDS OF “A”S OR “AS” TO BE MANUFACTURED, ALL
iDENTiCAL TO EACH OTHER; AND AS MANY TiMES AS NECESSARY. A SET
OF PUNCHES ALLOWED THE CREATiON OF MANY MATRiCES, WHiCH iN
TURN COULD MANUFACTURE HUNDREDS OR THOUSANDS OF MOVABLE
TYPES.15NEXT, GUTENBERG PLACED THE ALREADY MiNTED MATRiX AT
THE END OF A HARD METAL MOLD, WHERE HE POURED A MOLTEN METAL
ALLOY, WHiCH ALLOWED HiM TO CREATE A METAL BAR AT THE END OF
WHiCH WAS THE LETTER THAT WOULD BE USED FOR PRiNTiNG: MOVABLE
TYPE.
GUTENBERG NOW HAD TO CREATE AN ALLOY OF METALS THAT WOULD
ALLOW HiM TO CAST MOVABLE TYPE QUiCKLY AND CHEAPLY. AFTER
MUCH TRiAL AND ERROR, HE MANAGED TO COME UP WiTH AN ALLOY
BASED ON LEAD, TiN AND ANTiMONY, WHiCH iS SO WELL SUiTED TO
PRiNTiNG PURPOSES THAT iT iS STiLL USED TODAY.16 THE ADVANTAGES
OF THiS ALLOY ARE TWOFOLD: ITS COMPONENTS ARE ABUNDANT AND
CHEAP; AND THEY MELT AT LOW TEMPERATURES, ABOUT 285 DEGREES
CELSiUS.17MASS PRODUCTiON OF MOVABLE TYPE WAS ACHiEVED BY
GUTENBERG'S TWO KEY iNVENTiONS: THE METAL ALLOY AND THE DiE-
SETTiNG MOLD. BEFORE HiM NOTHiNG SiMiLAR EXiSTED.
YOU ONLY HAVE TO iMAGiNE HOW MANY LETTERS "A" OR "D" iT MAY
TAKE TO PRiNT AN ENTiRE PAGE OF ANY BOOK, TO UNDERSTAND THE
ENORMOUS NUMBER OF MOVABLE TYPE REQUiRED FOR A PRiNTiNG
PRESS TO BE OPERATiONAL. THE LATiN ALPHABET HAS A GREAT
ADVANTAGE iN THiS PROCESS BECAUSE, UNLiKE THE CHiNESE
iDEOGRAPHiC WRiTiNG SYSTEM, iT ALLOWS ANY TEXT TO BE
REPRESENTED WiTH A THEORETiCAL MiNiMUM OF ONLY ABOUT THREE
DOZEN DiFFERENT SiGNS.19 "GUTENBERG'S iNVENTiON TOOK FULL
ADVANTAGE OF THE DEGREE OF ABSTRACTiON iN THE REPRESENTATiON
OF THE FORMS OF LANGUAGE OFFERED BY THE ALPHABET AND THE
WESTERN FORMS OF WRiTiNG THAT WERE CURRENT iN THE 15TH
CENTURY".20THE GALLERYTO MAKE A PAGE, THE TEXT MUST BE
WRiTTEN, LETTER BY LETTER WiTH MOVABLE TYPE, PLACiNG THEM iN A
TYPE OF WOODEN BOX, GENERALLY CALLED A GALLEY. THE iDEA iS
THAT THE LETTERS REMAiN MOTiONLESS, UNTiL AFTER THE SHEETS HAVE
BEEN PRiNTED. YOU HAVE TO CONSiDER HOW DiFFiCULT iT iS TO WRiTE
WiTH THE TYPES, SiNCE THEY HAVE THE LETTERS iNVERTED, OR UPSiDE
DOWN; LiKE THOSE OF TYPEWRiTERS, BASED ON THE SAME PRiNCiPLE.
THiS ENTiRE MECHANiSM MUST HAVE BEEN CREATED FROM SCRATCH BY
GUTENBERG, SiNCE iT DiD NOT EXiST BEFORE. THE iNKSGUTENBERG
ALSO CREATED A SPECiFiC TYPE OF iNK FOR PRiNTiNG. AFTER MUCH
EXPERiMENTATiON, HE MANAGED TO OVERCOME THE DiFFiCULTiES
CAUSED BY TRADiTiONAL WATER-BASED iNKS, WHiCH, WHEN WETTiNG
THE PAPER, TEAR iT OR PREVENT PRiNTiNG ON BOTH SiDES OF EACH
SHEET. HE FOUND THE FORMULA FOR AN OiL-BASED iNK SUiTABLE FOR
HiGH-QUALiTY PRiNTiNG WiTH METAL TYPE.21THE PRESS
ONCE THE MOVABLE TYPES WiTH WHiCH TO PRiNT ARE MADE, PRESSURE
MUST BE APPLiED SO THAT THE iNK ENGRAVES THE TEXT ON THE
SHEETS. GUTENBERG FASHiONED AN OLD GRAPE PRESS TO CARRY OUT
THE PRiNTiNG PROCESS. AS PRiNTiNG iMPOSED VERY DiFFERENT
DEMANDS ON THE SCREW PRESS THAN WHEN PRESSiNG GRAPES OR
OLiVES, GUTENBERG ADAPTED iT SO THAT THE PRESSURE FORCE
EXERTED BY THE PLATEN ON THE PAPER WAS APPLiED UNiFORMLY AND
WiTH ELASTiCiTY, SO AS NOT TO BREAK OR OVER iNKiNG THE PAPER.
TO SPEED UP THE PRiNTiNG PROCESS, HE iNTRODUCED A MOVABLE
TABLE, WiTH A FLAT SURFACE ON WHiCH SHEETS COULD BE CHANGED
QUiCKLY.VER DETALLESENViAR COMENTARiOSPANELES
LATERALESHiSTORiALGUARDADOCONTRiBUiRLÍMiTE DE 5.000
CARACTERES. UTiLiZA LAS FLECHAS PARA SEGUiR
TRADUCiENDO.HECHO