Final period of traditional printing methods (1951–1985)
The peak period of Gutenberg-initiated letterpress printing technology and its almost complete supersession by offset printing. Typesetting machines (linotype, monotype) were becoming a relic of the past, type foundries were going downhill. Phototyping techniques were gradually developed, in which texts were created on photosensitive materials, ready for the preparation of offset printing plates. Next generations of phototypesetting machines were created: from primitive ones, in which the letter carriers were negative photomatrices, to electronically controlled photocomposers with bitmap computer types. The qualitative and quantitative avalanche development of mass information, started in the interwar period, continued. The printed word competed for the reader's attention with other media, and reading speed and comprehension became an important part of the communication process. Typography, understood as the ability to use typefaces and designing prints, is taught at universities in many countries, including Poland.
