Lithography
18426
224658011
2008-07-09T21:08:04Z
Mrcolj
143325
moving "offset" higher in the article, to emphasize that Lithography IS "Printing"
[[Image:Litography negative stone and positive paper.jpg|thumb|350px|Lithography stone and mirror-image print of a map of Munich.]]
'''Lithography''' is a method for [[printing]] using a plate or stone with a completely smooth surface. Most books, indeed all types of high-volume text, are now printed using [[offset lithography]], the most common form of printing production. By contrast with [[intaglio (printmaking)|intaglio printing]] which uses a plate that has been engraved ([[engraving]]), etched ([[etching]]) or stippled ([[mezzotint]]) to produce cavities to contain the printing ink, lithography simply uses [[oil]] or [[fat]] and [[gum arabic]] to divide the smooth surface into [[hydrophobic]] regions which accept the ink, and [[hydrophilic]] regions which reject it and become the background. Invented by Bavarian author [[Alois Senefelder]] in 1796,<ref name="meggspage146">Meggs, Philip B. A History of Graphic Design. (1998) John Wiley & Sons, Inc. p 146 ISBN 0-471-291-98-6</ref><ref name="carterpage11">Carter, Rob, Ben Day, Philip Meggs. Typographic Design: Form and Communication, Third Edition. (2002) John Wiley & Sons, Inc. p 11</ref> it can be used to print text or artwork onto paper or another suitable material. The word "lithography" also refers to [[photolithography]], a [[microfabrication]] technique used to make [[integrated circuits]] and [[microelectromechanical systems]], although those techniques have more in common with [[etching]] than with lithography.
== Printing ==
===The principle===
[[Image:Afghan royal soldiers of the Durrani Empire.jpg|thumb|180px|An example of a 19th century lithograph depicting royal [[Afghan]] soldiers of the [[Durrani Empire]] in [[Afghanistan]].]]
[[Image:Gubernie zachodnie krolestwo polskie 1902.jpg|thumb|180px|A 1902 lithograph map (original size 33×24 cm).]]
[[Image:Haeckel Actiniae.jpg|thumb|180px|Sea anemones from [[Ernst Haeckel]]'s ''[[Kunstformen der Natur]]'' (''Artforms of Nature'') of 1904.]]
[[Image:Litography press with map of Moosburg 02.jpg|thumb|180px|Lithography press for printing maps in Munich.]]
Lithography uses chemical processes to create an image. For instance, the positive part of an image would be a [[hydrophobic]] chemical, while the negative image would be water. Thus, when the plate is introduced to a compatible ink and water mixture, the ink will adhere to the positive image and the water will clean the negative image. This allows for a relatively flat print plate which allows for much longer runs than the older physical methods of imaging (e.g., [[embossing]] or engraving).
===The early process===
Lithography was invented by Alois Senefelder - Czech - in [[Bohemia]] in [[1796]]. In the early days of lithography, a smooth piece of [[limestone]] was used (hence the name "lithography"—"lithos" (λιθος) is the ancient Greek word for stone). After the oil-based image was put on the surface [[gum arabic]], a water soluble solution, was then applied, sticking only to the non-oily surface and sealing it. During printing, water adhered to the gum arabic surfaces and avoided the oily parts, while the oily ink used for printing did the opposite.
===The chemical process===
Lithography works because of the repulsion of oil and water. The image is drawn on the surface of the print plate with an oil-based medium (hydrophobic). The range of oil-based mediums is endless, but the dexterity of the image relies on the [[lipid]] content of the material being used--its ability to withstand water and acid. Following the placement of the image is the application of an acid [[emulsify|emulsified]] with [[gum arabic]]. The function of this emulsion is to create a salt layer directly around the image area. The salt layer seeps into the pores of the stone, completely enveloping the original image. This process is called etching.
Using lithographic turpentine, the printer then removes the greasy drawing material, leaving only the salt layer; it is this salt layer which holds the skeleton of the image's original form.
When printing, the stone or plate is kept wet with water. Naturally the water is attracted to the layer of salt created by the acid wash. Ink that bears a high lipid content is then rolled over the surface. The water repels the grease in the ink and the only place for it to go is the cavity left by the original drawing material. When the cavity is sufficiently full, the stone and paper are run through a press which applies even pressure over the surface, transferring the ink to the paper and off the stone.
===Refinements===
Senefelder had experimented in the early 1800s with multicolor lithography; in his 1819 book, he predicted that the process would eventually be perfected and used to reproduce paintings.<ref name="meggspage146"/> Multi-color printing was introduced through a new process developed by [[Godefroy Engelmann]] ([[France]]) in 1837 known as [[Chromolithography]].<ref name="meggspage146"/> A separate stone was used for each colour, and a print went through the press separately for each stone. The main challenge was of course to keep the images aligned (''[[Printing registration|in register]]''). This method lent itself to images consisting of large areas of flat color, and led to the characteristic poster designs of this period.
===The modern process===
Modern high-volume lithography is used to produce posters, maps, books, newspapers, and packaging—just about any smooth, mass-produced item with print on it. Most books, indeed all types of high-volume text, are now printed using [[offset lithography]].
In fact the earliest regular use of lithography for text was in countries using Arabic, Turkish and similar scripts, where books, especially the [[Qu'ran]], were sometimes printed by [[lithography]] in the nineteenth century, as the links between the characters require compromises when [[movable type]] is used which were considered inappropriate for sacred texts.<ref> [http://www.answering-islam.org/Books/Zwemer/Translations/index.htm Qu'ran translations]</ref>
In offset lithography, which depends on photographic processes, flexible aluminum or plastic printing plates are used in place of stone tablets. Modern printing plates have a brushed or roughened texture and are covered with a photosensitive [[emulsion]]. A photographic negative of the desired image is placed in contact with the emulsion and the plate is exposed to light. After development, the emulsion shows a reverse of the negative image, which is thus a duplicate of the original (positive) image. The image on the plate emulsion can also be created through direct laser imaging in a CTP ([[Computer to plate|Computer-To-Plate]]) device called a platesetter. The positive image is the emulsion that remains after imaging. For many years, chemicals have been used to remove the non-image emulsion, but now plates are available that do not require chemical processing.
The plate is affixed to a drum on a printing press. Rollers apply water, which covers the blank portions of the plate but is repelled by the emulsion of the image area. Ink, applied by other rollers, is repelled by the water and only adheres to the emulsion of the image area--such as the type and photographs on a newspaper page.
If this image were directly transferred to paper, it would create a positive image, but the paper would become too wet. Instead, the plate rolls against a drum covered with a rubber ''blanket'', which squeezes away the water and picks up the ink. The paper rolls across the blanket drum and the image is transferred to the paper. Because the image is first transferred, or ''offset'' to the rubber drum, this reproduction method is known as ''offset lithography'' or ''[[offset printing]]''.
Many innovations and technical refinements have been made in printing processes and presses over the years, including the development of [[Printing press|presses]] with multiple units (each containing one printing plate) that can print multi-color images in one pass on both sides of the sheet, and presses that accommodate continuous rolls (''webs'') of paper, known as web presses. Another innovation was the continuous dampening system first introduced by Dahlgren. This increased control over the water flow to the plate and allowed for better ink and water balance. Current dampening systems include a "delta effect" which slows the roller in contact with the plate, thus creating a sweeping movement over the ink image to clean impurities known as "hickies".
The advent of [[desktop publishing]] made it possible for type and images to be manipulated easily on personal computers for eventual printing on desktop or commercial presses. The development of digital [[imagesetter]]s enabled print shops to produce negatives for platemaking directly from digital input, skipping the intermediate step of photographing an actual page layout. The development of the digital [[platesetter]] in the late twentieth century eliminated film negatives altogether by exposing printing plates directly from digital input, a process known as [[computer to plate]] printing.
== Microlithography and nanolithography ==
{{main|Photolithography}}
Microlithography and [[nanolithography]] refer specifically to lithographic patterning methods capable of structuring material on a fine scale. Typically features smaller than 10 [[micrometers]] are considered microlithographic, and features smaller than 100 [[nanometers]] are considered nanolithographic. [[Photolithography]] is one of these methods, often applied to [[semiconductor]] manufacturing of [[integrated circuit|microchips]]. Photolithography is also commonly used in fabricating [[Microelectromechanical systems|MEMS]] devices. Photolithography generally uses a pre-fabricated photomask or reticle as a master from which the final pattern is derived.
Although photolithographic technology is the most commercially advanced form of nanolithography, other techniques are also used. Some, for example [[electron beam lithography]], are capable of much higher patterning resolution (sometime as small as a few nanometers). [[Electron beam lithography]] is also commercially important, primarily for its use in the manufacture of photomasks. [[Electron beam lithography]] as it is usually practiced is a form of [[maskless lithography]], in that no mask is required to generate the final pattern. Instead the final pattern is created directly from a digital representation on a computer, by controlling an electron beam as it scans across a [[resist]]-coated substrate.
In addition to these commercially well-established techniques, a large number of promising microlithographic and [[nanolithography|nanolithographic]] technologies exist or are emerging, including [[nanoimprint lithography]], [[interference lithography]], [[X-ray lithography]], [[extreme ultraviolet lithography]], and [[scanning probe lithography]]. Some of these emerging techniques have been used successfully in small-scale commercial and important research applications.
==As an artistic medium==
[[Image:Redon smiling-spider.jpg|thumb|left|''Smiling Spider'' by [[Odilon Redon]]]]
During the first years of the nineteenth century, lithography made only a limited impact on [[printmaking]], mainly because technical difficulties remained to be overcome. Germany was the main centre of production during this period. Godefroy Engelmann, who moved his press from [[Mulhouse]] to Paris in 1816, largely succeeded in resolving the technical problems, and in the 1820s lithography was taken up by artists such as [[Delacroix]] and [[Géricault]]. London also became a centre, and some of Géricault's prints were in fact produced there. [[Goya]] in Bordeaux produced his last series of prints in lithography - ''The Bulls of Bordeaux'' of [[1828]]. By the mid-century the initial enthusiasm had somewhat died down in both countries, although lithography continued to gain ground in commercial applications, which included the great prints of [[Daumier]], published in newspapers. [[Rodolphe Bresdin]] and [[Jean-Francois Millet]] also continued to practice the medium in France, and [[Adolf Menzel]] in Germany.
In 1862 the publisher Cadart tried to launch a portfolio of lithographs by various artists which flopped, but included several superb prints by [[Manet]]. The revival began in the 1870s, especially in France with artists such as [[Odilon Redon]], [[Henri Fantin-Latour]] and [[Degas]] producing much of their work in this way. The need for strictly limited [[edition]]s to maintain the price had now been realized, and the medium become more accepted.
In the 1890s colour lithography became enormously popular with French artists, [[Toulouse-Lautrec]] most notably of all, and by 1900 the medium in both colour and monotone was an accepted part of printmaking, although France and the US have used it more than other countries. [[George Bellows]], [[Alphonse Mucha]], [[Pablo Picasso]], [[Jasper Johns]], [[David Hockney]] and [[Robert Rauschenberg]] are a few of the artists who have produced most of their prints in the medium. [[M.C. Escher]] is considered a master in lithography, and many of his prints were created using this process. More than other printmaking techniques, printmakers in lithography still largely depend on access to a good printer, and the development of the medium has been greatly influenced by when and where these have been established. See the [[List of Printmakers]] for more practitioners.
As a special form of lithography, the ''Serilith'' process is sometimes used. Serilith are mixed media original prints created in a process where an artist uses the [[lithograph]] and [[serigraph]] process. The separations for both processes are hand drawn by the artist. The serilith technique is used primarily to create fine art limited print editions.<ref>[http://countrysideart.com/serigraphy.htm What is a Serilith?]</ref>
==References==
{{History of printing}}
<references/>
==See also==
* [[Photochrom]]
* [[Printmaking]]
* [[Letterpress printing]]
* [[Block printing]]
* [[Flexography]]
* [[Etching (disambiguation)]]
* [[Color printing]]
* [[Lineography]]
* [[Rotogravure]]
* [[Typography]]
==External links==
{{commonscat|Lithography}}
*[http://www.westin.nu Åke Westins Ateljé, Swedish lithography artist]
*[http://www.moma.org/exhibitions/2001/whatisaprint/flash.html Museum of Modern Art information on printing techniques and examples of prints]
*[http://fax.libs.uga.edu/NE2420xS475/ The Invention of Lithography], Aloys Senefelder, (Eng. trans. 1911)''(a searchable facsimile at the University of Georgia Libraries; [[DjVu]] and [http://fax.libs.uga.edu/NE2420xS475/1f/invention_of_lithography.pdf layered PDF] format)''
*[http://www.theodesmedt.be Theo De Smedt's website, author of ''"What's lithography"'']
* [http://www.daumier.org Extensive information on Honoré Daumier and his life and work, including his entire output of lithographs]
* [http://daumier-register.org Digital work catalog to 4000 lithographs and 1000 wood engravings]
* [http://www.she-philosopher.com/gallery/IAfE1888_1of3.html Detailed examination of the processes involved in the creation of a typical scholarly lithographic illustration in the 19th century]
* [http://www.steendrukmuseum.nl Nederlands Steendrukmuseum]
*[http://www.wesleyan.edu/dac/coll/grps/dela/faust_01-10.html Delacroix's ''Faust'' lithographs at the Davison Art Center, Wesleyan University]
[[Category:Printing]]
[[Category:Printmaking]]
[[Category:Communication design]]
[[Category:Graphic design]]
[[Category:Lithography (microfabrication)]]
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