movable type

Movable type is a printing technology that uses individual characters or symbols cast in metal, which can be arranged and rearranged to create different pages of text. Instead of making an entire page at once, printers assemble the characters into words and sentences, then arrange these into a printing press. Once printed, the characters can be disassembled and reused for other pages or books. This method greatly improved the efficiency and accessibility of printing, enabling mass production of books and dissemination of knowledge. Movable type was a key innovation behind the spread of printed materials in the 15th century.