Xylography

It was used around the 8th century in Asia as a method for early printing and eventually became the groundwork for typography. It was a method of printmaking that used woodcuts and woodblocks as a form of relief. It’s been used for texts and images to publish books. "The earliest examples of Chinese woodblock printing, or xylography, are from about the eighth century, during the Tang Dynasty (618-907)...From China, printing technology spread throughout Asia, with particularly important innovations in Japan and Korea" (Robinson 76-77). “The technique allows for the creation of multi-colored prints by using multiple blocks, one for each color, and involves inking the carved surfaces before pressing them onto paper or another medium” (Mercadal para. 2).

Woodblock Printing Steps

The process of xylography is similar to other processes used in the publishing industry, including lithography, but wood is used rather than steel or metal to create the tablet used for printing. The original text is transferred to wooden blocks by using relief cuts. The block is inked up to print on the paper before the paper is left out to dry. Once all the pages are printed, the book is binded together.