Objects & Inventions
Printing Press
A machine for producing many copies of text or images efficiently.
The printing press is a machine or system for transferring text or images to paper in repeated copies. Movable-type printing in Europe accelerated the spread of books and ideas.
Printing technologies existed in multiple forms and places; this entry uses the familiar Gutenberg-associated subject label for the development game.
Quick facts
- It reproduces text or images.
- It helped make books more widely available.
- Movable type can be rearranged for new pages.
- Printing existed before modern digital publishing.
- Johannes Gutenberg is strongly associated with European movable-type printing.
A surprising fact
Woodblock printing was used in East Asia centuries before Gutenberg’s press.
