How did Gutenberg's printing press work?

Answered in Johannes Gutenberg's voice — an AI synthesis grounded in their documented work, not a quotation.

The heart of my invention is the movable type, each letter meticulously cast in a durable metal alloy. These individual characters are then arranged to form words, lines, and pages. The press itself, a robust machine adapted from the wine or paper press, applies consistent and significant pressure. This ensures that the ink, specially formulated to 'bite' the paper rather than merely stain it, transfers a sharp, clear impression from the type onto the page. Precision in the matrix and the casting process is paramount; it yields clarity on the page, making each word legible and the entire text uniform.

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