Our editors have cooperated with the author, revised the content, checked for mistakes, designed the book's cover, and recruited reviewers. How does the book make its way from the author's computer to the printer to the binder to your bookshelf? We visited Mackays Printers in Chatham to learn this.
Humans have been readers for aeons. Ancient Egyptians utilised papyrus as a writing surface by crushing the plant's stems into thin sheets. Additionally, scrolls were created by attaching papyrus sheets together. At some time, humanity abandoned scrolls in favour of books with pages formed from folded or torn papyrus sheets.
Before we continue, let's take a step back and discuss the beginnings of web offset lithography. It was created in the late 18th century on the basis that oil and water oppose one other by nature. The text is photographed and then transferred to printing plates consisting of paper, metal, or plastic. The combination of oil-based ink and water is then rolled onto the printing plates. Oil and water do not mix, thus the non-image regions of the plate will not absorb the oil-based ink. From a plate, an inked image is transferred to a rubber blanket cylinder, which is then used to transfer the image to the substrate.
Text was transcribed by hand onto each page of the initial volumes, which were produced individually. That would need a tremendous amount of time. A few pages could only be duplicated each day. Because producing a book was arduous and time-consuming, only monks and intellectuals had access to them.
The metal printing plates for the book must be created prior to the printing process. On each plate, the book's text is seared into rubber.
Instead of being digitally laser-etched onto a plate, the text was initially composed of individual pieces of metal type that were assembled page by page. This needed much skill and patience. Modern printing technology has enabled the inexpensive mass production of books, which has tremendously benefited the dissemination of literature and the arts.
On a recent visit to the printer, we were shown an artefact from the early nineteenth century: a Washington Hand Press (shown below). The operator of this press would fill a frame with ink before inserting type into it. The paper was then pressed against the structure. Consider the photo's handle; it exists for a purpose. To press the paper down on the machine, a strong individual was required to raise and lower the handle.
The reel stand of the printing press accepts a roll of paper. Each book's paper, which varies in kind, weight, hue, and width, is selected and supplied by the publisher. With the aid of the reel stand, paper rolls are unwound into printing lines.
At the "in-feed" station, paper is fed into the machine and passes over a succession of rollers. The primary function of the in-feed station is to operate the reel stand, which draws paper from the running reel at the same rate as the running press. It keeps the paper flat and prevents it from bending as it goes through.
Now, it is possible to print thousands of copies in a couple of days. The printing presses are located in colossal buildings. The Crawfordsville facility has the size of 1,700 football fields. Day and night shifts are used to keep the printing equipment operating continuously.
The two photos below provide a reasonable impression of the size of these cutting-edge printing equipment.
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