Lithography 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, lithography can be used to print text or artwork onto
paper or another suitable material.

Introduction
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 micro fabrication technique used to make integrated circuits and
microelectromechanical systems, although those techniques have more in common with etching
than with lithography.

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.

Lithography on limestone

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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 1800s 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 colour, 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.

The modern lithographic process

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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
nineteenth 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.

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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. http://www.compassrose.com/static/Offset.jpg

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 twentieth century eliminated film negatives

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altogether by exposing printing plates directly from digital input, a process known as computer
to plate printing.

Microlithography and nanolithography

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, Diffraction lithography.

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.

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Stereo lithography

A stereolithography machine

Part of the series on the

History of printing

Woodblock printing 200

Movable type 1040

Printing press 1454

Lithography 1796

Laser printing 1969

Stereo lithography (SL) is an additive manufacturing technology for producing models,

prototypes, patterns, and in some cases, production parts.

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Technology description
Stereolithography is an additive manufacturing process using a vat of liquid UV-curable
photopolymer "resin" and a UV laser to build parts a layer at a time. On each layer, the laser
beam traces a part cross-section pattern on the surface of the liquid resin. Exposure to the UV
laser light cures, or, solidifies the pattern traced on the resin and adheres it to the layer below.

After a pattern has been traced, the SLA's elevator platform descends by a single layer thickness,
typically 0.05 mm to 0.15 mm (0.002" to 0.006"). Then, a resin-filled blade sweeps across the
part cross section, re-coating it with fresh material. On this new liquid surface, the subsequent
layer pattern is traced, adhering to the previous layer. A complete 3-D part is formed by this
process. After building, parts are cleaned of excess resin by immersion in a chemical bath and
then cured in a UV oven.

Stereolithography requires the use of support structures to attach the part to the elevator platform
and to prevent certain geometry from not only deflecting due to gravity, but to also accurately
hold the 2-D cross sections in place such that they resist lateral pressure from the re-coater blade.
Supports are generated automatically during the preparation of 3-D CAD models for use on the
stereolithography machine, although they may be manipulated manually. Supports must be
removed from the finished product manually; this is not true for all rapid prototyping
technologies.

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Advantages and disadvantages
Stereolithography has many common names such as: 3D printing, optical fabrication, photo-
solidification, solid free-form fabrication, and solid imaging. One of the appealing aspects about
SL is that a functional part can be created within one day which becomes useful when working in
a “time is money” environment. The length of time it takes to produce any one part depends on
the size and complexity of the project and can take anywhere from a few hours to more than a
day. Most SL machines can produce parts with a maximum size of 20” x 20” x 24”. Prototypes
made by SL can be very beneficial as they are strong enough to be machined and can be used as
master patterns for injection molding, thermoforming, blow molding, and also in various metal
casting processes. Although there are almost no limitations when it comes to the shapes of the
parts that can be created the process is not by any means inexpensive. The photo-curable resin
can cost anywhere from $300 to $800 per gallon. An SL machine can cost from about $100,000
to more than $500,000.

History

The first working stereolithography system, invented by Chuck Hull. Photo circa 1986.

The term “stereolithography” was coined in 1986 by Charles (Chuck) W. Hull. Stereo
lithography was defined as a method and apparatus for making solid objects by successively
“printing” thin layers of the ultraviolet curable material one on top of the other. Hull described a
concentrated beam of ultraviolet light focused onto the surface of a vat filled with liquid
photopolymer. The light beam draws the object onto the surface of the liquid layer by layer,

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causing polymerization or crosslinking to give a solid. Because of the complexity of the process,
it must be computer-controlled. The first company aiming to generalize and commercialize the
procedure was founded immediately alongside the invention.

More recently, attempts have been made at constructing mathematical models of the
stereolithography process, and designing algorithms that will automatically determine whether or
not a proposed object may be constructed by this process.