Lithography

Lithography is a planographic printing process in which oil-based ink adheres to image areas and is repelled by water-wet nonimage areas. The image is transferred from a flat prepared surface to paper or another substrate.

Grease and water: Grease and water are immiscible substances that separate into distinct phases rather than mixing. Lithographic image areas attract greasy ink while dampened nonimage areas repel it.
Alois Senefelder: Alois Senefelder was a German playwright and inventor who developed lithography in the late eighteenth century. His experiments established the process and its early printing methods.
Lithographic poster: A lithographic poster is a poster printed from a lithographic stone or plate. Color lithography enabled vivid, repeatable posters for public display.
Relief printing: Relief printing transfers ink from raised image areas while recessed areas remain unprinted. Unlike lithography, it separates image and blank areas by surface height.
Lithographic limestone: Lithographic limestone is a fine-grained, calcium-carbonate rock used as a printing surface. Its even texture holds a detailed drawing and accepts chemical preparation.
Bavarian limestone: Bavarian limestone is a fine-grained stone quarried in southern Germany, especially around Solnhofen. Senefelder used this smooth, dense stone as an effective lithographic surface.
Chromolithography: Chromolithography is color lithography using separate prepared surfaces for different inks. It allowed printers to build multicolor images through successive impressions.
Intaglio: Intaglio is a printing process in which ink is held in incised lines or recesses. Its image is recessed into the plate rather than chemically distinguished on a flat surface.
Gum arabic: Gum arabic is a water-soluble polysaccharide exuded by certain acacia trees. In stone lithography, it helps make untreated areas receptive to water and resistant to ink.
Autography: Autography is a printing method in which an image is drawn on special paper and transferred to a printing surface. It let lithographers transfer drawings without drawing directly on a stone.

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