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Frank Romano’s History of Printing in 15 Minutes

By Adam Dewitz on July 17th, 2008

At drupa Frank Romano gave WhatTheyThink a video on the history of printing he created with his students a few years back. In the video, Frank walks you through major milestones in the history of printing. From Johann Gutenberg to papyrus to important contributors in the development of type to Ben Franklin to Mergenthaler to Frederic Ives.

Update Some have asked how the video was made. Here’s what Frank had to say:

For the video, the paintings were digitally photographed. I was video taped in front of a green screen and then the recording was digitized.

Using Adobe After Effects, vector outlines were created so I could be behind or wherever.

We had to watch the sound (there is a cable up my pants leg), the size ratio of me to the painting image, and where I had to look or point.

And now you know…the rest of the story.

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  1. 2 Responses to “Frank Romano’s History of Printing in 15 Minutes”

  2. By Hal Kohn on Jul 17, 2008 | Reply

    Thank you for a very innovative and informative presentation. It was truly educational and entertaining at the same time, and had my attention all the way.

  3. By Greg on Jul 18, 2008 | Reply

    Frank,
    Thank you for making this video available. It is a shame the rest of the pioneers in your video are not as well known as Johann. The video is a must for those in middle school to understand the history of communication. Nice work.