What did designers use to print/methods of printing in the 1920s before computers were introduced?

Could use some web pages which give quite a lot of info on this, need to research some methods of printing in the 1920's

What did designers use to print/methods of printing in the 1920s before computers were introduced?
Ever hear of the printing press. It was invented in the 15th century. iThe first book printed was the Bible. Not a whole changed from then to the 1920's. just different forms of type etc. The used blocks. If you wanted a picture or a cartoon etc instead of type you created a block with the reversed image. Most of these were engravings. check block printing, and engravings. you'll get a better picture. Also check your local newspaper. they will have examples of old blocks still around.
Reply:Are you talking about graphics or text type? In the 1920's most homes did not have a lot of books, periodicals, etc. If you visited a home you might find just a Bible, a Sears Cataloge and one or two more books. The newspapers were printing pictures from photographs and drawings. Comic books were 'dime novels' that were short stories as it was just more expensive to print graphics. Color was starting in some mags but it was again, expensive. By 1920, black and white drawings were the most predominate in most publications.





I hope this helps but if you told us what type of printing you are talking about (text or graphics) we could focus on a straight forward answer.
Reply:Linotype machine


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Linotype machine Model 6, built in 1965 (Deutsches Museum), with major components labeled


Linotype machine Model 6, built in 1965 (Deutsches Museum), with major components labeled


Type slug - Print side


Type slug - Print side


Type slug, side view


Type slug, side view





The Linotype machine (pronounced "Line-O-Type" ['laɪnəˌtaɪp]) is a "line casting" machine used in printing. The Linotype machine operator enters text on a 90-character keyboard. The machine assembles "matrices", which are molds for the letter forms, into a line. The assembled line is then cast as a single piece, called a "slug", of type metal. The matrices are then returned to the type magazine from which they came.





The name of the machine comes from the fact that it produces an entire line of metal type at once - hence a 'line o' type'. This allows much faster typesetting and composition than the original hand composition developed by Gutenberg, in which operators place down one pre-cast metal letter, punctuation mark or space at a time. The machine revolutionized newspaper publishing, making it possible for a relatively small number of operators to set type for many pages on a daily basis.
Reply:Look up Linotype.
Reply:In the 1920s there were three primary processes for printing large quantities – letterpress, screen printing and lithography. Letterpress is a relief process using raised surfaces, these raised surfaces could be created in a number of ways, setting movable type letter by letter, line by line to create a page in a metal forme; mechanical options existed like the Monotype, Linotype and the Ludlow machines which speeded the process of setting type; images could also be included in the form of engravings or photographically reproduced images using halftones (the dot structure that can be seen with magnification). Lithography (the most widely used process now) use the hydrophobic qualities of oil (ink) and water and in the 1920s would have been drawn with a greasy crayon on large flat stones. Screen printing, which was in its infancy, is the process now mainly used to print on t-shirts but is also cheap and quick (because it was quicker than drawing on lithography stones) using stencils to mask areas, ink is forced through a fine mesh its main benefit is that it is now possible to print on virtually anything included contoured surfaces – screens have a shorter lifespan than the other two.