Lithography definitions and example sentences on Wordnik

View all »
Definitions (5)

American Heritage Dictionary (1)

noun A printing process in which the image to be printed is rendered on a flat surface, as on sheet zinc or aluminum, and treated to retain ink while the nonimage areas are treated to repel ink.

Century Dictionary (1)

The art of making a picture, design, or writing upon stone in such a manner that ink-impressions can be taken from the work, and of producing such impressions by a process analogous to ordinary printing. Lithography was invented by Aloys Senefelder of Munich, about 1796. A special kind of stone is used, called lithographic stone. (See lithographic.) The design may be put upon the stone by direct drawing, by transfer from paper or from another stone, by engraving, or by-transfer from a photograph. In the first process the stone is prepared by grinding to give it a grained or slightly roughened surface, on which the design is drawn with a lithographic crayon precisely as it is to appear in print, but reversed; or the surface is smoothed, and the design is made with pen or brush in lithographic ink. When the drawing is finished, the stone is etched with dilute nitric acid, and then flooded with a solution of gum arabic in water, or it is flooded with nitric-acid and gum-arabic solutions combined. The acid decomposes the soap of the crayon or ink, and leaves the marked surface of the stone in a chemical condition that fits it to absorb fatty inks. The gum-water, on the other hand, covers with an adherent film all those parts of the surface of the stone which have been left untouched by the crayon or ink. The stone is then passed on to the printer, who “washes out” the picture with turpentine, after which the image appears faintly defined in white. To print from it, an inking-roller is now passed over the stone. The wet gummed surface resists the ink and remains clean, while the design takes up the ink and readily gives it back to paper under pressure in the press. The second or autographic process is by transfer. The design, picture, map, or writing is made on prepared paper with the proper ink, dampened, laid face downward on a heated stone and pulled through the press, when the ink leaves the paper and adheres to the stone. The after-treatment is the same as in the first process. Transfers are also made from stone to stone in like manner, to save from wear the original drawing on the first stone. The third process is allied to copperplate engraving. A smooth stone is prepared with gum-water, its face is colored with lampblack or other pigment, and the picture is scratched through the gum with a steel needle. When it is finished the stone is oiled, and the oil is absorbed wherever the surface of the stone has been laid bare by the needle. The incised design is thus made fit to take up fatty inks, which are resisted by the gummed surface so long as it is kept damp. The fourth process is that of transferring a photograph to the stone, and is called photolithography (which see). These four processes are modified and combined in a great variety of ways, yet in all, with the exception of photolithography, the method is essentially that invented by Senefelder.

GNU Webster's 1913 (1)

WordNet (2)

Elsewhere on the web

View all »
Examples (50)

Red sandstone does not lend itself to lithography, and it seemed unfortunate that Mr Potter, who evidently experienced great difficulty in drawing upon anything, should have chosen so unsympathetic a medium. — Death of a Ghost - Margery Allingham - Campion 06
Litho forges by lithography, a printing process using stone developed two centuries ago by Aloys Senefelder, a mediocre playwright wanting to facsimile his plays on the cheap. — Paid and Loving Eyes - Lovejoy - Jonathan Gash
In this latest move toward enabling critical infrastructure for EUV lithography, a team of engineers from AGC has been assigned to Sematech's EUV Mask Blank Development Center at CNSE's Albany NanoTech with the goal of reducing defect levels to the 0.003 defects / cm² at the printable defect size, which is required for manufacturing success. — EE Times-Asia
Brewer Science is a leading-edge materials supplier to the electronics industry and provides solutions for lithography, advanced packaging, MEMS, nanotechnology, optoelectronics and compound semiconductor applications. — Aktuellste Pressemeldungen der PresseBox
Manufacturing methods include lithography, a process similar to that used in making computer chips, which uses light waves or electrons to etch a pattern from a semiconductor material, such as selenium.

More examples »

lithography

View all »
Definitions (5)

American Heritage Dictionary (1)

Century Dictionary (1)

GNU Webster's 1913 (1)

WordNet (2)

Elsewhere on the web

View all »
Examples (50)

Tags

Stats

stop updating
On Twitter

Photos from

Add a related word »
Related

Used in the Same Context

Etymologies (1)

Century Dictionary (1)

Pronunciations
Record your own »

Charts

Recently looked up

Recent Favorites

Recent Pronunciations

lithography

View all » Definitions (5)

American Heritage Dictionary (1)

Century Dictionary (1)

GNU Webster's 1913 (1)

WordNet (2)

Elsewhere on the web

View all » Examples (50)

Tags

Stats

stop updating On Twitter

Photos from

Add a related word » Related

Used in the Same Context

Etymologies (1)

Century Dictionary (1)

Pronunciations Record your own »

Charts

Recently looked up

Recent Favorites

Recent Pronunciations

View all »
Definitions (5)

View all »
Examples (50)

stop updating
On Twitter

Add a related word »
Related

Pronunciations
Record your own »