Newspaper and periodical publishers embraced the offset lithographic method.
Alois Senefelder, a Bavarian author who was seeking to create an affordable method of publishing, invented lithography in 1796. Lithography uses the tendency of oil and water to repel one another to create images and type on paper surfaces. Since its inception, the lithographic process has been incorporated into various artistic and commercial practices such as filmmaking and newspaper publishing. Traditionally, lithography is most closely associated with printing and publication.
Early Lithography
Lithography was originally devised as an inexpensive alternative to movable-type printing. The first attempts at lithographic printing used a single ink. As the process developed, printers in Europe and the United States began experimenting with multiple-color printing. Lithography was initially used to print simple images and text.
Chromolithography
As the lithographic process evolved, increasingly complex designs and color palettes could be transferred to paper stock. Godefroy Engelmann introduced the chromolithographic process in 1837. Through the use of individual printing stones or metal plates dedicated to the transfer of a single color, elaborate images could be produced. As this process was more expensive than the basic lithographic technique, it was used primarily for large-scale works and gifts.
Quantity Production
Arabic speaking countries were among the first to utilize lithography for bulk printing. Religious texts such as the Quran could not be properly printed with movable typesetting due to the linked nature of letters in the Arabic alphabet. The lithographic process solved this problem for printers in the East. In 1903, Ira Washington Rubel developed the offset lithographic technique that became the standard printing method for newspapers and periodicals.
Art Work
Beginning in the 1820s, artists attempted to incorporate the lithographic process into their works. Towards the end of the 19th century, the increasing affordability of chromolithography allowed many visual artists to produce colored prints. Celebrated artists who utilized these techniques include Pablo Picasso, M.C. Escher and Jasper Johns.
