Offset's Rough Road To Prominence

"I think during the 1980s, they realized that the press had to be an absolutely repeatable science," Newton explains. "So that's when they really started doing things that would automate the process of printing."

By 1985, computers were controlling processes that were formerly regulated by humans. Processes like ink distribution and monitoring, register adjust and plate reading were now fully automated. These changes not only made craftsmanship less necessary in operating a press, but they also helped streamline the printing process.