Electrostatography

(Russian, elektrografiia), a term encompassing (in Soviet classification) various electrical and magnetic methods for reproducing colored images on various materials. It usually refers to electrophotography, xerography or electrographic copying, magnetography (ferrography), and similar processes.

Electrostatographic methods used in the printing industry to produce images are noted for the relative simplicity of the operation of preparing printing plates; however, as yet they are inferior to conventional printing methods with respect to speed and productivity of the printing process and to the quality of reproduction. As a result, their application is restricted to reproduction of a few copies from an original and to preparing small-format offset printing plates for quick duplication of documents in relatively small quantities.