Full colour printing: A brief history

  • 2013-03-10
In this day and age, it’s very common to see professionally printed colourful posters, flyers, catalogues and other Print media. Yet this was not always the case, as the history of colour printing shows. The short but interesting journey of full-colour printing reflects not only a changing attitude to marketing styles and techniques, but also represents a shift in consumer attitude towards how a marketing campaign is executed. Most consumers will not give a bland looking black and white pamphlet the time of day, whereas they are more likely to respond to colourful media – a field in which Minuteman Press Secunda specialises in.

The days before technologically advanced printing equipment


Historically, the earliest way to add colour to paper prints was by hand colouring. Luckily, we have progressed from this painstaking art form.

Early colour printing involved laborious individual print runs for each colour before even one copy could be created. This form of colour printing was widely used across both Asia and Europe from as early as the 13th century according to the Chinese woodcuts. This time-consuming process was eventually replaced in Europe by chromolithography, which only required three print runs per image. These days, we have the technological advancements of Minuteman Press Secunda that can provide us with colour prints rapidly and at affordable prices.

Should you find yourself in need of full-colour printers then look no further than Minuteman Press in Secunda. Their services include the design and printing of catalogues, Business Cards, newsletters, brochures, booklets and Presentation Folders.  We’re here to help you with everything from design work and colour advice to bulk printing services.

Contact us to find out more about full colour printing services in Secunda.
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