Letterpress is also used for imprinting business cards and forms. In the process the image area is actually raised above the rest of the plate, so the image makes a physical impression on the paper. Early lithographers etched images onto flat stone. These images would accept ink, while the porous stone accepted water. When ink was applied, it stayed on the greasy image area and avoided the rest of the stone.
Modern lithography uses the same concept but adds one important element.
In modern presses, the image is transferred from the printing plate to a rubber blanket and then to the paper. Hence the name offset. Although there are many different kinds, sizes, and qualities of offset presses, the basic configuration remains the same. When the printing plate is exposed, an ink-receptive coating is activated at the image area. On the press, the plate is dampened, first by water rollers, then by ink rollers.