Barclay = Printed on Tin

Rubel = Printed on Paper

HISTORY OF OFFSET LITHOGRAPHY

- lithography was created as an inexpensive method of reproducing artwork
- “lithograph” means “an image from stone” or “printed from stone”
- 1st rotary offset lithographic printing press was created in England, patented in 1875 by Robert Barclay
- End of the 19th century: photography became popular, and many lithographic firms went out of business
- 1901: Ira Washington Rubel of New Jersey discovered printing from the rubber roller instead of the
metal, the printed page was clearer and sharper
- 1903: Potter Press Printing Company in NY produced a press
- 1907: Rubel offset press was used in SF
- The Harris Automatic Press Company created a similar press around the same time
https://www.slideshare.net/CicilSandra/offset-printing

- origins in England around 1875

- lithographic stone flat bed press designed for metal decorating (printing on metal)
o intermediate cylinder, covered w/a specially treated cardboard, transferred the printed image
from litho stone to the sheet metal
o about 5 years later, the cardboard covering was changed to rubber
- 1st use of the offset process : Ira Rubel, paper manufacturer from Nutley, NJ
o he produced sulphite bond, then lithographically converted it into bank deposit slips
o 1904 or 1905: Rubel discovered the use of the offset press
o Rubel used a flat bed stone machine w/ rubber covered impression cylinder
o whenever feeder person missed feeding a sheet, the stone printed the image to the rubber
covered impression cylinder
o impression thus had an image on both sides: direct litho in front and image transferred from the
rubber at the back
o Rubel noticed the image produced on the back of the sheet was sharper and clearer than the
direct litho image
o d/t the rubber being soft was able to press the image onto the paper better than the stone
o design a press which printed every image from the plate to the blanket and then to the paper
- Rubel and A.B. Sherwood, lithographer, joined forces and made 12 offset machines but his
experimentation ended when Rubel died in 1908
- Charles Harris of the Harris Automatic Press Company: designed an offset press around a rotary
letterpress machine
o needed a metal plate so that it could be bent around a cylinder
o metal plate situated on top of the machine, where both ink and water rollers could touch the
plate
o machine was still handfed but automatic feeders would be added to the machine
http://sites.tech.uh.edu/digitalmedia/materials/3350/History_of_Litho.pdf

Lithographic offset press, Rubel

 - sheet-fed rotary, offset press built in 1903 by Iraa Rubel
- this model was operated in Rubel’s plant in NY in 1904
https://www.si.edu/es/object/nmah_882246
http://www.historyofinformation.com/image.php?id=2140

Ira Rubel Invents the 1st Offset Press 1903-1904

- Between 1903 and 1904 paper manufacturer Ira Washington Rubel of Nutley, New
Jersey developed the first commercial lithographic offset system , or offset press , for
printing on paper.
- "The inspiration was an accident. While operating his lithographic press he [Rubel]
noticed that if he failed to insert paper the stone plate would transfer its image onto the
rubber impression cylinder. When he then placed paper into the machine it would have
the image on two sides, one from the stone plate and one from the rubber impression
cylinder. To Rubel’s amazement, the image from the rubber impression cylinder was
much clearer; the soft rubber was able to give a sharper look than the hard stone litho
plate. Soon he created a machinethat repeated this original “error”. This process was
also noted by two brothers, Charles and Albert Harris, at about the same time. They
produced an offset press for the Harris Automatic Press Company not long after Rubel
created his press"
http://www.historyofinformation.com/detail.php?entryid=666

Brothers Charles and Albert Harris independently observed this process at about the same time and developed an offset printing press
for the Harris Automatic Press Company soon after.

Harris designed his offset printing press around a rotary letterpress machine. It used a metal plate bent around a cylinder at the top of
the machine that pressed against ink and water rollers. A blanket cylinder was positioned directly below, and in contact with, the plate
cylinder. The impression cylinder below pressed the paper to the blanket in order to transfer the image to the sheet (see diagram).
While this basic process is still used today, refinements include two-sided printing and web feeding (using rolls of paper rather than
sheets).

- 1950s: offset printing became the most popular form of commercial printing
http://www.griso-chemie.com/en/service/geschichte-offsetdruck/

Late 18th century: lithography was created as an inexpensive way to reproduce artwork & theatrical texts
1790: 1st patent for the rotary printing press was developed = uses a cylinder to transfer desired image to the
printing surface
1843: Richard March Hoe created rotary drum printing
1875: Robert Barclay patented 1st rotary offset lithographic printing press = machine, printed on tin, combined
technologies of mid 19th century transfer printing technology and Hoe’s 1843 rotary printing press
1901: while working w/ Barclay’s printing press, Ira Rubel accidentally discovered that a rubber roller produces
a clearer and sharper image
- previously, the press had a metal cylinder wrapped in cardboard that printed the image directly on
metal
- the rubber roller was used only to move the item being printed upon through the press
1903: Potter Press Printing Company in NY created a printing press that employed Rubel’s new design
1907: Rubel’s offset printing press was being used in SF
https://www.aptpressdirect.com/blog/history-offset-printing-press

History of Lithography
Lithography was initially created to be an inexpensive method of reproducing artwork. This printing process was
limited to use on flat, porous surfaces because the printing plates were produced from limestone. In fact, the word
“lithograph” historically means “an image from stone” or “printed from stone”. Tin cans were popular packaging
materials in the 19th century, but transfer technologies were required before the lithographic process could be used
to print on the tin.
The first rotary offset lithographic printing press was created in England and patented in 1875 by Robert
Barclay.This development combined mid-19th century transfer printing technologies and Richard March Hoe’s 1843
rotary printing press—a press that used a metal cylinder instead of a flat stone. The offset cylinder was covered with
specially treated cardboard that transferred the printed image from the stone to the surface of the metal. Later, the
cardboard covering of the offset cylinder was changed to rubber, which is still the most commonly used material.
As the 19th century closed and photography became popular, many lithographic firms went out of
business.Photoengraving, a process that used halftone technology instead of illustration, became the primary
aesthetic of the era. Many printers, including Ira Washington Rubel of New Jersey, were using the low-cost
lithograph process to produce copies of photographs and books. Rubel discovered in 1901—by forgetting to load a
sheet—that when printing from the rubber roller, instead of the metal, the printed page was clearer and sharper.
After further refinement, the Potter Press printing Company in New York produced a press in 1903.[4] By 1907 the
Rubel offset press was in use in San Francisco.
The Harris Automatic Press Company also created a similar press around the same time. Charles and Albert Harris
modeled their press “on a rotary letter press machine”.Newspaper publisher Staley T. McBrayer invented the
Vanguard web offset press for newspaper printing, which he unveiled in 1954 in Fort Worth, Texas.

https://www.saawariyainternational.com/offset-printing-process/

Sources:

https://www.revolvy.com/page/Rotary-printing-press

https://www.revolvy.com/page/Richard-March-Hoe

https://www.aptpressdirect.com/blog/history-offset-printing-press

https://www.brighthub.com/multimedia/publishing/articles/106466.aspx

http://offsetpressman.blogspot.com/2011/09/short-history-of-offset-printing.html

Pictures:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ab/Richard_March_Hoe_-_Brady-Handy.jpg/397px-
Richard_March_Hoe_-_Brady-Handy.jpg

https://multimediaman.blog/2012/11/14/ira-w-rubel-1860-1908/

https://www.si.edu/es/object/nmah_882246