Printing is a process for mass reproducing text and images using a master form or template. The earliest non-paper products involving printing include cylinder seals and objects such as the Cyrus Cylinder and the Cylinders of Nabonidus. The earliest known form of printing evolved from ink rubbings made on paper or cloth from texts on stone tablets, used during the sixth century. Printing by pressing an inked image onto paper appeared later that century. Later developments in printing technology include the movable type invented by Bi Sheng around 1040 AD and the printing press invented by Johannes Gutenberg in the 15th century. The technology of printing played a key role in the development of the Renaissance and the Scientific Revolution and laid the material basis for the modern knowledge-based economy and the spread of learning to the masses.

मुद्रण, अर्थात छपाई, म्हणजे कागदावर शाई वापरून मजकुराच्या व चित्रांच्या प्रती बनवण्याची क्रिया होय. मुद्रण हा सामान्यतः व्यावसायिक पद्धतीने मोठ्या प्रमाणावर चालवला जाणारा उद्योग असून प्रकाशन प्रक्रियेतील महत्त्वाचा टप्पा असतो.