中國活字版印刷技術曾經對西方產生過極大的影響， 西方印刷術在十九世紀反向輸入中國也同樣產生了鉅大的衝擊。這個衝擊可分為兩個來源，其一是以機械取代人力操作的印刷技術， 其次是石版印刷技術的引進。後者與另一種複製技術一攝影一結合後稱為照相石版， 能夠“複製” 其他版種的效果，並依照比例改變複製的尺寸，這個優勢凌駕其他版種，而其主要的衝擊範圍是印刷圖像，包括畫報與中國書畫的複製。照相石版印刷技術的可能性與限制有相當大的重要性，因為它將迫使所有利用這種技術複製圖像者發揮其可能性，並尊重其限制。有些圖像因此是不適宜複製的，而對所有準備將以照相石版複製的畫，其造型手段都不能跨出單色的線與面的範圍。因此，西方繪畫的形式便藉著印刷技術逐步開始展開對中 國的影響。

While Chinese movable type printing technology once had a great influence on the West, Western printing technology had a similarly large reverse impact on China in the 19th century. The impact was of two kinds: one was the replacement of human labor through machinery, and the second was the introduction of lithography. When lithography and another reproducing technology, photography, combined to produce photolithography, the effects of other kinds of printing could be "copied." Furthermore, it could modify the dimensions of the copied work, an advantage that put it far ahead of other types of printing. Its greatest impact was in the area of printed images, including illustrated magazines and copies of Chinese paintings. The possibilities and limitations of photolithography were very important, because it forced those who worked with it to exercise the possibilities to their fullest extent and to respect its limitations. Because of this, some images were not suitable for copying, and the techniques of the people who were using photolithography to copy paintings could not go beyond one-color lines and surfaces. Consequently, the forms of Western paintings, through the technology of printing, gradually began to extend its influence on China.