Letterpress printing
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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- The printing process in which ink is applied to the top surface of a raised image area, which is then pressed against paper to transfer the image.
- printing directly from type, in distinction from printing from plates.
- a machine used for such printing.
Letterpress printing is a term for the relief printing of text and image using a press with a "type-high bed" printing press and movable type, in which a reversed, raised surface is inked and then pressed into a sheet of paper to obtain a positive right-reading image. It was the normal form of printing text from its invention by Johannes Gutenberg in the mid-15th century until the 19th century and remained in wide use for books and other uses until the second half of the 20th century. In addition to the direct impression of inked movable type onto paper or another receptive surface, the term Letterpress can also refer to the direct impression of inked printmaking blocks such as photo-etched zinc "cuts" (plates), linoleum blocks, wood engravings, etc., using such a press.
In the 21st century, commercial Letterpress has been revived by the use of 'water-wash' photopolymer plates which are adhered to a near-type-high base to produce a relief printing surface typically from digitally-rendered art and typography.
