Lithography

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Charles Marion
Russell's The Custer Fight (1903). Note the range of tones, fading
out towards the edges.

Part of the series on
the
History of
printing

Woodblock
printing

200

Movable
type

1040

Printing press

1454

Lithography

1796

Laser printing

1969

Thermal
printing

circa
1972

Lithography (from Greek λίθος
- lithos, 'stone' + γράφειν
- graphein, 'to write') is a method for printing using a stone (lithographic
limestone) or a metal plate with a completely smooth surface. Invented in 1796 by Bavarian author Alois Senefelder as a
low-cost method of publishing theatrical works,[1][2]
lithography can be used to print text or artwork onto
paper or another suitable material.

Contents

1 Introduction

2 The principle of
lithography

2.1 Lithography on
limestone

2.2 The modern lithographic
process

3 Microlithography and
nanolithography

4 Lithography as an artistic
medium

5 Gallery

6 See also

7 References

8 External links

[edit]
Introduction

Lithography has also been used for various filmography and other visual
things. Lithography originally used an image drawn in wax or other oily
substance applied to a lithographic stone as the medium to transfer ink to the
printed sheet. In modern times, the image is often made of polymer applied to a
flexible aluminum plate. The flat surface of the plate or stone is slightly
roughened, or etched, and divided into hydrophilic regions that
accept a film of water and thereby repel the greasy ink, and hydrophobic regions that
repel water and accept ink because the surface tension is higher on the greasier
image area which remains dry. The image may be printed directly from the stone
or plate (in which case it is reversed from the original image) or may be offset by transfer to a
flexible sheet, usually rubber, for transfer to the printed article.

This process is different from gravure or intaglio printing
where a plate is engraved, etched or stippled to make cavities to
contain the printing ink, and in woodblock printing
and letterpress where ink is
applied to the raised surfaces of letters or images.

Most books, indeed all types of high-volume text, are now printed using offset lithography,
the most common form of printing production. 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.

[edit]
The principle of
lithography

Lithography uses simple chemical processes to create an image. For instance,
the positive part of an image is a hydrophobic, or "water
hating" substance, while the negative image would be hydrophilic or "water
loving". Thus, when the plate is introduced to a compatible printing ink and
water mixture, the ink will adhere to the positive image and the water will
clean the negative image. This allows a flat print plate to be used, enabling
much longer and more detailed print runs than the older physical methods of
printing (e.g., intaglio
printing, Letterpress
printing).

Lithography was invented by Alois Senefelder 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, a solution of gum arabic in water was
applied, the gum sticking only to the non-oily surface. During printing, water
adhered to the gum arabic surfaces and avoided the oily parts, while the oily
ink used for printing did the opposite.

[edit]
Lithography on
limestone

Lithography stone and mirror-image print of a map
of Munich.

Lithography works because of the mutual repulsion of oil and water. The image
is drawn on the surface of the print plate with a fat or oil-based medium
(hydrophobic) such as a wax crayon, which may be pigmented to make the drawing
visible. A wide range of oil-based media is available, but the durability of the
image on the stone depends on the lipid content of the material
being used, and its ability to withstand water and acid. Following the drawing
of the image, an aqueous solution of gum arabic, weakly acidified
with nitric acid HNO3 is applied to the stone. The function of this
solution is to create a hydrophilic layer of calcium nitrate salt, Ca(NO3)2,
and gum arabic on all non-image surfaces. The gum solution penetrates into the
pores of the stone, completely surrounding the original image with a hydrophilic
layer that will not accept the printing ink. Using lithographic turpentine, the printer then
removes any excess of the greasy drawing material, but a hydrophobic molecular
film of it remains tightly bonded to the surface of the stone, rejecting the gum
arabic and water, but ready to accept the oily ink.[3]

When printing, the stone is kept wet with water. Naturally the water is
attracted to the layer of gum and salt created by the acid wash. Printing ink based on
drying oils such as linseed
oil and varnish loaded with pigment is then rolled over the
surface. The water repels the greasy ink but the hydrophobic areas left by the
original drawing material accept it. When the hydrophobic image is loaded with
ink, 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.

Senefelder had experimented in the early 19th century with multicolor
lithography; in his 1819 book, he predicted that the process would eventually be
perfected and used to reproduce paintings.[1]
Multi-color printing was introduced through a new process developed by Godefroy Engelmann
(France) in 1837 known as chromolithography.[1]
A separate stone was used for each color, and a print went through the press
separately for each stone. The main challenge was of course to keep the images
aligned (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.

[edit]
The modern
lithographic process

A 1902 lithograph map (original size 33×24
cm)

The earliest regular use of lithography for text was in countries using
Arabic, Turkish and similar scripts, where books, especially the Qur'an, were sometimes printed
by lithography in the 19th century, as the links between the characters require
compromises when movable
type is used which were considered inappropriate for sacred texts.

High-volume lithography is used today to produce posters, maps, books,
newspapers, and packaging—just about any smooth, mass-produced item with print
and graphics on it. Most books, indeed all types of high-volume text, are now
printed using offset
lithography.

In offset lithography,
which depends on photographic processes, flexible aluminum, polyester, mylar or
paper 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 ultraviolet 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)
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.

Lithography press for printing maps in
Munich

The plate is affixed to a cylinder on a printing press. Dampening rollers
apply water, which covers the blank portions of the plate but is repelled by the
emulsion of the image area. Ink, which is hydrophobic, is then applied by the
inking rollers, which 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 mirror
image and the paper would become too wet. Instead, the plate rolls against a
cylinder covered with a rubber blanket, which squeezes away the water,
picks up the ink and transfers it to the paper with uniform pressure. 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.[4]

Many innovations and technical refinements have been made in printing
processes and presses over the years, including the development of 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 instead of the old
method which is still used today on older presses (conventional dampening),
which are rollers covered in molleton (cloth) which absorbs the water. 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 or vario "
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 imagesetters 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 20th century eliminated film negatives altogether by exposing
printing plates directly from digital input, a process known as computer to plate
printing.

[edit]
Microlithography
and nanolithography

Main article: Photolithography

'City of Words', lithograph by Vito Acconci,
1999

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 microchips.
Photolithography is also commonly used in fabricating 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. Electron
beam lithography has the disadvantage of being much slower than
photolithography.

In addition to these commercially well-established techniques, a large number
of promising microlithographic and nanolithographic
technologies exist or are emerging, including nanoimprint
lithography, interference
lithography, X-ray
lithography, extreme
ultraviolet lithography, magnetolithography
and scanning
probe lithography. Some of these emerging techniques have been used
successfully in small-scale commercial and important research applications.
Surface-charge lithography, in fact PDMS can be directly patterned on polar
dielectric crystals via pyroelectric effect,[5]
Diffraction lithography.[6]

[edit]
Lithography as an
artistic medium

Smiling Spider by Odilon
Redon

During the first years of the 19th century, lithography made only a limited
impact on printmaking,
mainly because technical difficulties remained to be overcome. Germany was the
main center 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 center, 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 editions to maintain the price
had now been realized, and the medium become more accepted.

Self Portrait with Skeleton Arm (Lithograph) -
Edvard
Munch

In the 1890s color lithography became enormously popular with French artists,
Toulouse-Lautrec most
notably of all, and by 1900 the medium in both color and monotone was an
accepted part of printmaking, although France and the US have used it more than
other countries.

During the 20th century, a group of celebrated artists, including Calder, Chagall, Dufy, Léger, Matisse, Miró,
and Picasso, rediscovered the
largely unexplored art form of lithography thanks to the Mourlot Studios, also
known as Atelier Mourlot, a Parisian printshop founded in 1852 by the
Mourlot family. The Atelier Mourlot originally specialized in the printing of
wallpaper, but was transformed when the founder's grandson, Fernand Mourlot, invited
a number of 20th-century artists to explore the complexities of fine art
printing. Fernand encouraged the painters to work directly on lithographic
stones in order to create original artworks that could then be executed under
the direction of master printers in small editions. The combination of modern
artist and master printer gave rise to unique and visually striking lithographs,
which were used as posters to promote the artists' work.[7][8]

Grant Wood, George Bellows, Alphonse Mucha, Max Kahn, Pablo Picasso, Eleanor Coen, Jasper Johns, David Hockney, Susan Dorothea
White 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.[9]

[edit]
Gallery

"Washington's Residence, High Street, Philadelphia. 1830 lithograph by
William L. Breton.

An 1836 lithograph of Mexican women making tortillas by
Carl
Nebel.

An example of a 19th century lithograph depicting royal Afghan
soldiers of the Durrani
Empire in Afghanistan.

Sea anemones from Ernst Haeckel's Kunstformen der
Natur (Artforms of Nature) of 1904.

[edit]
See also

Block printing

Color printing

Etching

Flexography

History
of graphic design

Letterpress
printing

Lineography

Photochrom

Rotogravure

Seriolithograph

Stereolithography

Typography

Lithography using MeV ions - Proton Beam
Writing

[edit]
References

^ a
b
c
Meggs, Philip B. A History of Graphic Design. (1998) John Wiley & Sons,
Inc. p 146 ISBN
0-471-291-98-6

^
Carter, Rob, Ben Day, Philip Meggs. Typographic Design: Form and
Communication, Third Edition. (2002) John Wiley & Sons, Inc. p 11

^ A. B. Hoen, Discussion
of the Requisite Qualities of Lithographic Limestone, with Report on Tests of
the Lithographic Stone of Mitchell County, Iowa, Iowa Geological Survey Annual Report, 1902, Des Moines, 1903;
pages 339-352.

^ see
diagram at compassrose.com

^
Surface-charge lithography for direct pdms micro-patterning S. Grilli, V.
Vespini, P. Ferraro, Langmuir 24, 13262-13265 (2008). http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/la803046j

^ Flexible
coherent diffraction lithography by tunable phase arrays in lithium niobate
crystals M. Paturzo, S. Grilli, S. Mailis, G. Coppola, M. Iodice, M. GioffrÃ©
and P. Ferraro Optics Communications 281, 1950-1953 (2008). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.optcom.2007.12.056

^ History of 20th century lithography by Picasso, Matisse, Chagall,
Braque, Leger at Atelier Mourlot, French Institute Alliance Française

^ Mourlot,
Fernand. Twentieth Century Posters. Wellfleet Press: Secaucus, NJ, 1989

^ What is a Serilith?

[edit]
External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Lithography

Lithography and other printmaking definitions

Museum of Modern Art information on printing techniques and
examples of prints

The Invention of Lithography, Aloys Senefelder, (Eng. trans.
1911)(a searchable facsimile at the University of Georgia Libraries; DjVu and layered PDF format)

Theo De Smedt's website, author of "What's
lithography"

Extensive information on Honoré Daumier and his life and work,
including his entire output of lithographs

Digital work catalog to 4000 lithographs and 1000 wood
engravings

Detailed examination of the processes involved in the creation of
a typical scholarly lithographic illustration in the 19th century

Nederlands Steendrukmuseum

Delacroix's Faust lithographs at the Davison Art Center,
Wesleyan University

A brief historic overview of Lithography. University of
Delaware Library. Includes citations for 19th century books using early
lithographic illustrations.

Philadelphia
on Stone: The First Fifty Years of Commercial Lithography in Philadelphia.
Library Company of Philadelphia. Provides an historic overview of the
commercial trade in Philadelphia and links to a biographical dictionary of
over 500 Philadelphia lithographers and catalog of over 1300 lithographs
documenting Philadelphia.

Swiss Cities

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithography"

Categories: Lithography
| Austrian
inventions | Communication
design | Greek
loanwords | Graphic
design | Lithography
(microfabrication) | Planographic
printing | Printmaking

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