The introduction and development of modern printing techniques 1.2

Section 2 Introduction and Development of Lithography

Lithography is the process of printing using the printing plate (plano) on the same plane with the blank part of the graphic and text, beginning with the lithograph invented in 1796 by the Austrian Alois Senefelder, mainly including the lithograph. Printing, printing and offset printing three printing methods. Among them, lithographic printing and serigraphy printing, as well as the previously used stencil printing, are the direct contact between the printing plate and the substrate, so that the graphic on the printing plate is directly transferred to the printing substrate; direct printing; The first is to transfer the graphic on the plate to the rubber blanket to form a rubber plate, and then the rubber plate comes into contact with the substrate, and then the indirect printing of the graphic on the plate is transferred indirectly to the substrate. The invention of the indirect printing of a rubber plate (called the offset plate in the mainland) is a major reform of lithography, which is of great significance for the further development of lithographic printing and the development of the entire printing industry.

First, the introduction and development of lithography

Lithographic printing is based on slate as a plate material. The graphic and text are directly written on the slate with a fatty substance, or the image is indirectly transferred onto the lithograph by photographing, transferring paper, transferring ink, etc. The printing process technology. Among them, the former is called "painted stone" and the latter is called "falling stone". Painted stone and rockfall are two methods of making plates for lithography. Painted stone plate making process is simple and can only be used to print simple, line drawings, and is the initial application technology of lithography printing. Falling stone plate making process is complex, and it is a process technology developed on the basis of painted plate making. It is divided into color lithography and photolithography. It is a further developed lithography.

The time for lithography to be introduced to China was about the early 1930s. According to the "Chinese Library" (Chinese Repository) published in 1833, the magazine created by the American missionary Ruan Zhiwen recorded many historical facts before and after the Opium War. It is an important document for studying the history of modern Chinese printing. In the introduction, the British missionary Thomas Werthurst (1796-1857) used lithography to print Chinese books in Batavia (now Jakarta, Indonesia) between 1830-1831. Then he came to Macau and set up a printing office in Macao. In 1832, Mai Duisi established a lithographic printing institute in Guangzhou and used lithographic printing to print Chinese books in Guangzhou. In addition, Morrison, the first Christian Protestant missionary sent to China in Britain, recalling his 25 years of work, he mentioned China’s earliest lithographer Quyaon. He said: “I have used the method of printing to pass on the truth. Far and wide, Ya’ang has learned lithography.” The re-evaluation of the 18-year work of Mai Dusi’s establishment of the lithographic institute in Guangzhou and Morrison took place in 1832, and the Quya’s Society’s lithography has taken some time. From this, it can be concluded that the time for lithography to be introduced into China will not be later than 1832. American missionary Samuel Wells Williams said in 1833: "A lithograph was opened in Guangzhou in the previous quarter. We are pleased to know that it is successfully operating." This provides another documentary evidence. The "Chinese Library" published in 1834 reported that: "From May 1833 to May 1834, Guangzhou developed two lithographic institutes and published some booklets." Han Qi, Wang Yangzong, "The Inheritance and Rise and Fall of Lithography "Containing the Source and Addenda of Bookbinding," p. 359, Chinese Book Press, 1993. In 1834, Guangzhou, China, has provided yet another documentary evidence for not less than two lithographs.

1. The introduction and development of painted stone seals

In 1796, Sennerfeld invented the lithography technique. It was based on porous rock, good water absorption, fine texture, and water retention for a long time. It used a fatty substance to directly depict, write pictures and text, and then chemically etched. Printed lithographic printing on the finished lithograph (print plate). This early lithography was brought to China by Western missionaries before 1832 and began printing preaching brochures or other simple prints in China. The earliest Chinese books that were printed in lithographs were the "Historical Records of the East and the West" written by Mai Dusi in 1829. The earliest existing lithographic books and periodicals were Qing Shi Daoguang's “State News” (Figure 13-5) in September and October of the 18th year (1838). “National News” is a monthly Chinese edition edited and published by the British missionary Mai Dusi in Guangzhou. There are only two volumes in existence and it is in London, England.

In the first half of the 19th century, when the Chinese modelling and casting technology of lead type printing had not been well resolved, lithographic printing had obvious advantages over lead type printing. First, lithographic printing facilitated the printing of books of various sizes. Secondly, the missionary pamphlets that the missionaries are eager to print with very few words and pages are printed in a short time. Third, many and small missionary sites are not enough. The missionaries themselves can make plate printing; the fourth is to facilitate the printing of all kinds of texts, that is, not subject to language restrictions. These four advantages, especially the latter two, are spurred by the passionate missionary sentiments of Western missionaries, which necessitate large-scale printing of Chinese-medal booklets, and lead-type printing cannot meet this demand. Development and popularity, but this is not the case. There are two reasons: First, around 1840, the Qing government adopted strict restrictions on the missionary activities of Western missionaries in China. The missionaries printed secretaries and books were secretly conducted, and the lithography industry was completely in charge of teaching in the West. In the hands of the gentry; the second is that slate, ink and other raw materials used for lithography are imported, and material supply is difficult. In addition, at that time, Chinese people still used traditional engraving and movable type printing. Lithography and even lead printing have not attracted the interest and attention of Chinese nationals.

In 1842, after the signing of the first unequal treaties of the "Nanjing Treaty" in modern Chinese history, Shanghai became one of China's five foreign trade ports. In the following year, Mai Duisi came to Shanghai and opened a famous brand of modern printing history in Shanghai." The "Kai Hai Library" printed lithographs such as "Jesus Apocalypse" and "Matthew's Gospel". Pioneer of Shanghai Lithography.

In the second year of Qing Emperor Guangxu (1876), the lithograph and lead printing department of Tushanwan Printing Co., Ltd. in Shanghai Xujiahui began to use lithograph books. Special printing of Catholic missionary prints.

In the three years of Qing Emperor Guangxu (1877), the British businessman Meicha opened the "Dishishizhai Printing Bureau" in Shanghai and hired Qiu Ziang of the Qingshan Xujiahui Tushanwan Printing Office as a lithographer and purchased a hand-printing machine. "", "Kangxi Dictionary" (Figure 1 3-6) and other books. Yao Gonghe's “Gossip in Shanghai” said: “The first profit-making book of Wendian Shizhai is the “Kangxi Dictionary”. The first batch of printed 40,000 copies was sold out in months; the second batch of printed 60,000 copies was coinciding. The Imperial Examination will go to the north to test, and it will go out to Shanghai and buy 5 or 6 departments for personal use and for the needs of friends. It will not be months later." A dictionary sold hundreds of thousands of units between months. The history of Chinese publishing is unique. The Shizhai Printing Bureau has benefited a lot from this, and booksellers from all over the country have followed suit. The lithography industry in modern China has also developed rapidly.

2. The introduction and development of color lithography

Color lithography is based on slate as a plate material, color manuscript color, sub-version, overprint printing technology.

The process flow is: color manuscript â—† trace outline â—† red fill powder â—† falling rock â—† color separation depiction â—† flip plate â—† layout processing â—† printing.

The specific approach is: first apply cellophane (or adhesive tape) over a color document, and use a sharp pen to trace the image; fill in the traces of the cellophane in the traces with red powder, and then fill in the red powder. The cellophane is overlaid on the stone surface and pressed to make the red powder fall on the stone; then the color separation and the stone mapping are performed according to the outline and color of the manuscript; the various colored stone plates depicted are turned into printing plates; , Printed into a color picture "Arts and Crafts Monthly," Volume II, Number 7, Page 32.

Figure 13-5 The News of Various Countries Figure 13-6 Kangxi Dictionary

Color lithographs are different from painted lithographs. Color lithography uses a rockfall plate making method. Rockfall plate making is a process technique that first creates a graphic on a transfer material and then transfers the graphic on the transfer material to a stone surface by writing, drawing, and photographing. Both color lithography and photographic lithography use a drop-rock plate making method.

The falling stone in the falling stone plate has photographic adhesive falling stones, the falling stones in transfer ink on the transcribing paper, the falling stones in the transfer ink and transfer paper or paste paper, and the cellophane used to depict the graphic text. Rockfall and many other. The method is different, and the purpose is normalized. All the images and texts are transferred to the stone surface so that the next step can be made by printing chemical plates.

The color lithography plate making process, because it depends on the eyesight and experience of the plate making personnel to perform color separation, so the technical level requires high and the process is complicated. Its time of introduction to China was more than half a century later than monochromatic painted stone. He Shengzhuo wrote "The Thirty-Five Years of Printing in China": "Thirty years of Guangxu (1904), the Bureau of Civilizations began color lithographs, hired Japanese technicians, taught students, and began to have shades of color. Its printed pictures, color can In the thirty-one year of Guangxu (1905), the Commercial Press hired Japanese color lithographers and Taeman Taro, Hosokawa Hiroyuki, Okano, Matsuoka, and Yeh. Tian, ​​Wusong, Murata, and Toyotomi come to China to engage in color printing, and this is a good way to improve the quality of the paintings. The imitation of landscape paintings and other ancient paintings has the same color as the original. “The introduction and development of color lithographs is roughly the same.

3. The introduction and development of photo lithography

Photolithography is the product of platemaking photography applied to lithography. Invented in 1859 for John W. Osborne. Its craftsmanship was described in detail in Fu Yanya's "Shi Yin New Law" published in "Gezhi Compilation" in 1892: "If a stone print can be printed, it cannot be printed on the surface of the stone with the usual image. Ink paintings, or drafts printed on wood-based copper plates, are all made up of small and large dots, or thick and thin lines. The drafted drawings are attached to the flat plate, and the glass is often used as a counterfeit of the original. That is, the clear point of the glass surface is the dark part of the manuscript, and the dark part of the glass surface, not the light, is the white part of the manuscript.The film is placed in the frame of the sun, with the glue facing upwards, covered with medicinal paper, and dried as usual. After the sun finishes, dark places are set, and the rollers are deinked and washed into the water.No ink is washed at the light, and the ink is not sticking at the light, and the pattern is clear and the original is no different from the washed ones. Zinc plate surface, pressure, then the ink off, this is called the falling stone. As usual, set the stone in the printing frame, roller ink India."

Photographic lithography is divided into monochrome lithography and color photography lithography. among them:

Monochrome photolithography was introduced earlier. This method was used more often in early lithographic books in China.

The color photography lithograph, also known as "photocopying", was introduced into China by the American LEHenlinger in 1931. Because of its color separation for photography, the principle is similar to that of the three-color photographing screen. Color photography separation is used for lithography, and its plate making process and technology are more complex. Each stone is required to be printed. Once each stone is printed once, five colors and ten colors are required. Five, ten, five, and ten times are required. Overprinting. Various color pictures can be printed. In the lithography process, yes