litho

Litho, short for lithography, is a planographic printing process based on the principle that grease and water repel each other. In traditional lithography, an image is drawn with a greasy substance on a smooth surface such as limestone; the surface is then treated so that the non-image areas hold water and resist ink, while the greasy image areas attract oil-based ink. The inked image is transferred directly to paper in hand-drawn works, or through a press for mass production.

Lithography was invented in 1796 by Alois Senefelder in Bavaria as a cheaper method for reproducing text and drawings. Early lithography used polished limestone; later, metal plates enabled faster production and reuse. In the 20th century, offset lithography was developed, in which the image is first transferred from a plate to a rubber blanket and then to the paper, allowing higher speed, durability, and the use of lesser expensive papers.

Common forms include stone lithography, valued by artists for its ability to render subtle tonalities; and offset lithography, the dominant method in commercial printing such as newspapers, magazines, books, and packaging. Lithography also continues to be used in fine art printmaking, where artists create limited editions with careful control of textures and surfaces.

In modern practice, lithography encompasses traditional hand-drawn methods alongside computerized prepress workflows and computer-to-plate systems, integrating with a range of papers, inks, and substrates. Overall, lithography remains a versatile, widely used family of printing processes that blends artistic expression with scalable production.