For a brief history of lithography (a form of planographic printing), see: Why the Roots of Color Printing Are in Limestone. Thanks and a hat-tip to Jay Korman.
Printing
New Print Technologies Help Art Books Survive in a Digital World
Printed art books, often with special cover coatings, embossing and extravagant illustrations, deliver a sense of tactile immediacy.
Although the Typemaniac lives in front of a computer, he still loves buying, owning and reading real books. Thanks to Tony Zak, a member of our Northern Bureau, we now learn that art books are flourishing as meatworld objets d’art. Very cool!
Source: New Print Technologies Help Art Books Survive in a Digital World – The New York Times