The Chinese invented block printing, in which a printer carved words or letters on a wooden block, inked the block, and then used it to print on paper. Around 1045, Bi Sheng invented movable type, or a separate piece of type for each character in the language. The Chinese writing system contains thousands of different characters, so most Chinese printers found moveable type impractical. However, the method would prove practical for Europeans because their languages have a very small number of letters in their alphabets.

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Gutenberg Improves the Printing Process: During the 13th century, block printed items reached Europe from China. European printers began to use block printing to create whole pages to bind into books. However, This process was to slow to satisfy the Renaissance demand for knowledge, information, and books.

Around 1440, Johann Gutenberg, a craftsman from Mainz, Germany, Developed a printing press that incorporated a number of technologies in a new way. The process, Gutenberg made it possible to produce books quickly and cheaply. Using this improved process, Gutenberg printed a complete Bible, the Gutenberg Bible, in about 1455. It was the first full-sized book printed with movable type.

The printing press enabled a printer to produce hundreds of copies of a single work. For the first time, books were cheap enough that many people could buy them. At first printers produced mainly religious works. Soon they began to provide books on other subjects such as travel guides and medical manuals.