​With the birth of Gutenberg’s printing press, illustration was the next to appear. 

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Artists were taking their skilled drawings and handing them over to engravers to begin to transform them into printable works. (Roberts 18-19).  Etching and engraving has been an artwork medium for some time now.  Etching and engraving included taking a piece of metal and carving an image or text into it to print with.  Many artists were employed during this time to just create these etchings and engravings.  A couple of masters of etching and engraving of this time include Martin Schongauer, Albrecht Dürer, and Lucas van Leiden. (“Engraving”). This could be compared with the early forms for the printing press. 

We can credit the first illustrated book by printing press to Albrecht Pfister.  Der Ackermann aus Böhmen [The Farmer of Bohemia] was published ca.1461 by Pfister. By the close of the 15th century, Pfister had the process of printing books well under his belt. “Ambitious publications such as the Nuremberg Chronicle (a 1493 history of the world) have page layouts as elaborate as any modern magazine” (“The History of Visual Communication”).