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Frequently Asked Questions
Of all the great inventions in the world, the invention of the printing press by German inventor Johaness Gutenberg around 1436 AD is one of the best ever. Before this invention, books were handwritten, naturally they were available in very less numbers. The advent of the printing press meant that books would be available to more number of people. Over the centuries it has become an invaluable device for spreading news and knowledge all across the world.
A printing press is a device which is used for printing images and text on paper or other materials such as newsprint. The printing press has revolutionized the way in which book, newspaper and other printed materials are produced and reach out to the public far and wide. The device has come a long way from Gutenberg’s printing press to the state of the art digital press which is used today.
A printing press works by transferring ink from a printing plate to paper or such material. The printing plate is made of metal and has the text or images which are to be printed. Ink is applied to this plate and then the plate is pressed against the paper. This leaves a printed image on the paper. Such a printing press produces thousands of copies of a single page in a short period of time, which makes it an efficient way of producing printed materials.
Printers are devices which can produce printed materials from digital files directly. One can find many types of printers like 3D printers, inkjet printers and laser printers.
Printers are used for scanning and copying, and are used for both offices or at homes. They normally have 3 main functions, which are print, scan and copy. One can store their documents in a digital form with such technology. They are also used for getting the printout of documents like to prepare projects in schools and colleges.
From a professional aspect, the printing process includes three main types, offset litho printing, digital printing and screen printing.
A printer is classified as an impact printer and a non impact printer. Impact printers means when the print medium is physically struck. Most of the impact printers are dot matrix printers, wherein there are many pins on the print head which emerges to form a character. Non-impact printers create the print without any direct contact between the printing device and the paper. Laser printers, inkjet printers, LED printer, dye sublimation printer and thermal printers are its examples.