From letterpress to offset printing (1901–1950)
Along with the technical progress, the awareness of the social role of typography was gradually growing, not only in its aesthetic but also functional aspects. As early as 1905, in the Congress Kingdom, the school textbook regulations set the maximum number of fifteen letters in one square centimeter of text. The foundries of Idźkowski, Jeżyński, Koziański and Konat were operating in Warsaw at the time. In 1914, the first linotypes started to be used in Kraków and since then typesetting mechanization gradually progressed. Linotypes and monotypes were widely used for the so-called hot composition. In typography before World War I and the interwar period, several artistic trends are visible that were characteristic of those years: with the magazine "Chimera", the so-called Polish decorative art, avant-garde of constructivism and futurism, and Art Deco. In 1927, printing was officially included in the industry category. After World War II, the state-owned company Odlewnia Czcionek (Type Foundry) was established on the basis of the Idźkowski i S-ka company, which received the surviving matrices and types from other Warsaw foundries.
