# Printing Press — `printing-press@1.0.1`

A hand press inks its type, slides in a sheet, presses it with the platen and slides the printed page out. Loops perfectly.

A hand press, printing a sheet every loop. An inked roller rolls across the forme of metal type, a blank sheet is lifted from the pile on the left and slid onto the bed, the iron platen comes down on a turning screw and presses the sheet against the type, rises, and the printed sheet is slid out onto the pile on the right. Choose the wood (oak, walnut or pine), the ink (black, red, blue or sepia), the seed that sets the lines of type, the backdrop colour and whether the camera sways.

- Kind: object; status: published; digest sha256:7967d504fd386149bc1ee92c0b01b6cacd39a00007b06450db5a5fccb0dbe875
- Role: Object (3D, three.js): a craft-and-history showpiece for publishing, books and heritage content.
- Implementation: three; entry `src/printing-press.js`
- Files: https://aipixelwizard.com/registry/printing-press/1.0.1/<path> (`LICENSE`, `asset.json`, `demo.js`, `index.html`, `src/printing-press.js`)
- Manifest JSON: https://aipixelwizard.com/api/v1/visuals/printing-press/versions/1.0.1
- Runnable demo: https://aipixelwizard.com/registry/printing-press/1.0.1/index.html (open over http; it imports sibling packages by relative path)
- Dependencies (exact): `three@0.185.1` (source) — Renderer, geometry and shader materials.; `chrome-material@1.1.0` (demo) — Studio environment light, backdrop and contact shadow.; `apw-runtime@1.0.0` (demo) — Demo harness.

## Exports
- `createPrintingPress({ wood?, ink?, seed? }) => { group, setProgress(progress), dispose() }` — The press with its piles of paper, about 16 wide, resting on y = 0; needs an environment map.
- `INKS: { black, red, blue, sepia }` — Ink colours.

## Parameters
- `wood` (select one of oak | walnut | pine, default "oak") — Wood
- `ink` (select one of black | red | blue | sepia, default "black") — Ink
- `seed` (integer 1–999, default 14) — Seed
- `background` (color, default "#2a241e") — Backdrop
- `orbit` (boolean, default true) — Camera sway

## Composition
- Inputs: Time within the loop; the wood, ink, seed, backdrop and camera sway.
- Outputs: A full frame rendered in 3D with a studio environment.
- Coordinates: The bed (5.4 × 3.8) is at the centre at y = 1; the platen travels between y = 3.4 and 1.9; the blank pile is at x = −6.1 and the printed pile at x = +6.1.
- Lighting: A warm key light with a shadow map, a shadow-catching floor and the studio environment.
- Timing: setProgress(progress) places the roller, sheet and platen; frames render in any order.
- Works with: chrome-material, orbit-camera, kinetic-title, number-reveal
- The printed page is drawn once on a canvas from the same lines of type as the forme.

## Output and loop
- 1080×1080, 30 fps, 12 s, procedural
- Seamless loop: yes — The roller inks, the sheet moves in, is pressed and moves out in fixed windows of the loop; the piles on both sides look the same at the first and last frames, and the camera sway is a sine of the loop, so the last frame meets the first.
- Verified 2026-10-08 in Chrome 154.0.8037.97 headless on Linux 7.0.0-38-generic (x64), Node 22.14.0 (WebGL 2 via SwiftShader (software)); deterministic: yes; loop check: Frame 0 vs end state (progress 1): mean |Δ| 0.0000, max |Δ| 0 of 255.

## Use it
New project: Create a WebGLRenderer with a studio environment and a shadow-casting light, add createPrintingPress().group and call press.setProgress(progress) each frame.

Existing project: Copy src/printing-press.js; add the group to your scene with an environment map.

Reuse ideas:
- Publishing title: Oak, black ink.
- Warm heritage: Walnut, red ink.
- Soft: Pine, blue ink.

## Limitations
- The type is abstract blocks, not readable letters.
- The piles do not grow or shrink; the new sheet blends into the pile.

## License
MIT. Copyright (c) 2026 AI Pixel Wizard. Released under the MIT License. See LICENSE in this folder.

Provenance: Adapted from the owner's threejs-sketches/objects-scenes/printing-press (MIT) and rebuilt for AI Pixel Wizard in October 2026 as an original studio object: a timber-frame hand press with a forme of instanced type, an inking roller, a screw platen and a sheet that is fed, printed and delivered in fixed windows on an exact loop.