Invention Timeline

Background Printing is the process of making multiple copies of an image. The image may be a picture, letters or numbers, or any combination of pictures and text. Anything that can be drawn can be printed. The invention of printing really began with the invention of paper, in China, in the year 105 AD. Once the Chinese had paper, they began to duplicate images on paper by carving the reverse of the image into a block of wood, applying ink and then pressing the paper onto the block. By the 10th century the Chinese were printing paper money for use by Chinese citizens. In 1041, individual Chinese characters were being carved in clay and assembled on wood blocks as a way of printing whole scrolls of Chinese text. These movable characters did not make a big impression on Chinese communication though — the Chinese language uses an average of 5000 characters, a lot to keep track of and move around!