<Dd> Apparently the most common for Far Eastern printing . Used for European woodcuts and block - books later in the 15th century, and very widely for cloth . The block is placed face side up on a table, with the paper or fabric on top . The back of the paper or fabric is rubbed with a "hard pad, a flat piece of wood, a burnisher, or a leather frotton". </Dd> <Dt> Printing in a press </Dt> <Dd> "Presses" only seem to have been used in Asia in relatively recent times . Simple weighted presses may have been used in Europe, but firm evidence is lacking . Later, printing - presses were used (from about 1480). A deceased Abbess of Mechelen in Flanders in 1465 had "unum instrumentum ad imprintendum scripturas et ymagines...cum 14 aliis lapideis printis" ("an instrument for printing texts and pictures...with 14 stones for printing") which is probably too early to be a Gutenberg - type printing press in that location . </Dd> <P> In addition, jia xie is a method for dyeing textiles (usually silk) using wood blocks invented in the 5th - 6th centuries in China . An upper and a lower block is made, with carved out compartments opening to the back, fitted with plugs . The cloth, usually folded a number of times, is inserted and clamped between the two blocks . By unplugging the different compartments and filling them with dyes of different colours, a multi-coloured pattern can be printed over quite a large area of folded cloth . The method is not strictly printing however, as the pattern is not caused by pressure against the block . </P>

When was the wooden block printing press invented