Traditional publishing

Traditional publishing is the process of production and dissemination of literature, music or information - the activity of making information available for the general public.

Techniques

There are several types of different traditional publishing techniques. One technique is called etching; the definition of etching is a print produced by the process of etching. Etching is an ancient print making technique; the paper receives the ink from the incised lines and not from the surface of the plate. The technique was made by the German artist Daniel Hopfer. Etching – along with engraving, mezzotint and aquatint is one of the intaglio methods of fine art printing. As the technique is relative simple etching quickly rivalled engraving as a printmaking medium. Its main advantage over engraving was that little knowledge of metalworking was required and could be practiced by anyone trained in drawing. The first dated etching is from 1513 by the Swiss artist Urs Graf. Also Albrecht Durer was also making etchings about the same time. Another noted innovator was the French printer Jacques Callot who made significant improvements in etching technique. To begin with, he invented the echoppe, a type of needle with a slanted oval tip, which enabled etchers to produce a gradually rising line. Next, he designed an improved formula for the waxy ground used on the copper plate. This improvement resulted in deeper lines being made by the acid and also minimized the risk of the ground being eaten into in the wrong areas. Callot also experimented heavily with the stopping out technique. This involved allowing the acid to eat slightly into the whole plate, before covering it in ground and re-soaking it in acid. A process, which facilitated the creation of, shaded areas. Callot's improvements were publicised in his manual of etching, and spread throughout England, Holland, Germany and Italy.

In Spain, Francisco de Goya was one of the world's most powerful printmakers. He was the undoubted leader of the romantic art movement. In 1799, he produced a series of 80 etchings commenting on a range of human behaviour.

Technology

Letterpress printing is a technique of relief printing using a printing press, a process by which many copies are produced by repeated direct impression of an inked, raised surface against sheets or a continuous roll of paper. Letterpress printing was the normal form of printing text from its invention by Johannes Gutenberg in the mid-15th century until the 19th century and remained in wide use for books and other uses until the second half of the 20th century. Letterpress printing remained the primary way to print and distribute information until the 20th century, when offset printing was developed, which largely replaced its role in printing books and newspapers. All forms of data collection were affected by the invention of letterpress printing, as were many careers such as teachers, preachers, surgeons and artist-engineers. More recently, letterpress printing has seen a revival in an artisanal form.

Printing

Inkjet printing is a type of computer printing that remakes a digital image by forcing droplets of ink onto paper, plastic, or other substrates. Inkjet printers are the most normally used type of printer, and range from small inexpensive consumer models to expensive professional machines. The concept of inkjet printing began in the 20th century, and the technology was first greatly developed in the early 1950s. Starting in the late 1970s inkjet printers that could reproduce digital images generated by computers were developed, mainly by Epson, Hewlett-Packard (HP), and Canon. In the worldwide consumer market, four manufacturers account for the majority of inkjet printer sales: Canon, HP, Epson, and Lexmark, a 1991 spin-off from IBM.

The advantages of digital publishing compared to traditional printing are Digital publishing can give a range of content across different devices such as tablets and smartphones. A few examples of traditional printing are Etching, Linocut, Woodcut, Screen printing, Lithography, Gravure and Flexography compared to digital publishing these methods are a lot more time consuming as it has to be done by hand whereas digital publishing can be done on a computer. Another advantage is that more people are going online and using smartphones/tablets which means they spend more time looking at the news and reading books online than going and buying a newspaper, magazine and books etc. A few examples of digital publishing are e-magazines, e-newspapers, adverts, DVD covers, Training materials, promotional material, flyers, e-books and leaflets. For example if you were to use an e-book, the advantages of this would be that it can be purchased instantly instead of going to a book store and buying a book, you can take it on the go with you and it’s easy to put away as you can just put your smartphone or tablet in your bag/pocket, can offer free samples of books, magazines to lure more customers into using e-books and lower production costs. The disadvantages of an e-book are, that it is harder to loan friends as you won't want to give them your smartphone/tablet and a change of reading experience as many authors don't want their books being turned into an e-book as it changes the experience of reading the book. Overall I think that digital publishing is better than traditional publishing as it’s a lot more modern and many more people use digital publishing.