This technique keeps the paper dry and allows high speed fully automated operation. Offset printing or 'offset lithography' is an elaboration of lithography in which the ink is transferred from the plate to the paper by means of a rubber plate or cylinder, rather than by direct contact of the two. The printing plates, whether stone or metal, can be created by a photographic process, a method that may be referred to as 'photolithography' (although the term usually refers to a vaguely similar microelectronics manufacturing process). In modern commercial lithography, the image is transferred or created as a patterned polymer coating applied to a flexible plastic or metal plate. This traditional technique is still used for fine art printmaking. The ink would finally be transferred to a blank paper sheet, producing a printed page. An oil-based ink was then applied, and would stick only to the original drawing. The water only adhered to the gum-treated parts, making them even more oil-repellant. For printing, the stone was first moistened. The stone was then treated with a mixture of weak acid and gum arabic ('etch') that made the parts of the stone's surface that were not protected by the grease more hydrophilic (water attracting). Originally, the image to be printed was drawn with a greasy substance, such as oil, fat, or wax onto the surface of a smooth and flat limestone plate. Sea anemones from Ernst Haeckel's Kunstformen der Natur ( Artforms of Nature), 1904

Dream scene fine art lithograph