Editing Xerography (section)

==History==
Xerography was invented by American physicist [[Chester Carlson]], based significantly on contributions by [[Hungary|Hungarian]] physicist [[Pál Selényi]]. Carlson applied for and was awarded {{US patent|2297691}} on October 6, 1942.

Carlson's innovation combined [[Electrostatics|electrostatic]] printing with [[photography]], unlike the dry [[electrostatic]] [[printing]] process invented by [[Georg Christoph Lichtenberg]] in 1778.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Schiffer, Michael B. |author2=Hollenback, Kacy L. |author3=Bell, Carrie L. |year=2003|title=Draw the Lightning Down: Benjamin Franklin and Electrical Technology in the Age of Enlightenment|publisher=University of California Press |location=Berkeley |url=https://archive.org/details/drawlightningdow00mich |url-access=registration |quote=electrophorus volta. |isbn=0-520-23802-8 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/drawlightningdow00mich/page/242 242]–44}}</ref> Carlson's original process was cumbersome, requiring several manual processing steps with flat plates. 

In 1946, Carlson signed an agreement with [[Xerox|Haloid Photographic Company]]  to develop it as a commercial product. Before that year, Carlson had proposed his idea to more than a dozen companies, but none was interested. Haloid's president,  [[Joseph C. Wilson (entrepreneur)|Joseph C. Wilson]], saw the promise of Carlson's invention, and saw to it that Haloid diligently worked to produce a working commercial product. 

It was almost 18 years before a fully automated process was developed, the key breakthrough being the use of a [[Cylinder (geometry)|cylindrical]] drum coated with [[selenium]] instead of a flat plate. This resulted in the first commercial automatic copier, the [[Xerox 914]], being released by [[Xerox|Haloid/Xerox]] in 1960. 

Xerography is now used in most [[photocopying]] machines and in [[laser printer|laser]] and [[LED printer]]s.