The Discovery of Lithography
The invention of photography in 1839 less than fifty years after lithography was first discovered, led initially to an uneasy rivalry between the two processes. However it soon became clear that if photographic images were to be reproduced and printed on an industrial scale, the development of photomechanical processes would be required not only in lithography, but also in a wide variety of intaglio and relief methods of printing as well.
The development of photoplates such as we know them today occurred towards the end of the nineteenth century, with the introduction of albumen-based photosensitive emulsions and the deep etch plate process that was used until the 1950s. The development of photopolymers and diazol resins during the 1960s however revolutionised the industry and helped to establish offset lithography as the principle method of printing.
In the last twenty years the impact of digital technology has been to transform the landscape of the whole industry with reverberations occurring right through printmaking and fine art collaboration. Already technology exists for direct imaging systems that will ultimately make even plate lithography redundant for commercial printing. Despite the apparent sophistication of these technological advances, it is worth noting however, that since its discovery in 1798, every single development that has occurred in lithography, including direct to-press technology, has relied in some way, upon the same principle of planographic printing first propounded by Senefelder over two hundred years ago.