The transition from writing to printing began with the invention of the printing machine in Europe and later in Croatia, as a new revolutionary technology crucial for the production and distribution of books and for the development of culture. The aim of this paper is to present the history of printing in Zadar, while the purpose is to gain insight into the circumstances that influenced the development of printing in Zadar as well as the impact of books and printing on social conditions in Zadar. For better understanding it started in the beginning with the development of printing and later book selling in Europe, then the development of activities was closely monitored from the time of the „glagolic first print“ until the croatian national revival printing reached its peak. After the fall of the Venetian Republic, Zadar became the main printing and political center of Dalmatia, but also the cause of political and economic disputes. Regarding the printers we can say that the most prominent is Antonio Luigi Battara, who was of great importance at that time for Zadar, but also for Croatia. The paper also presents printing houses that operated in the middle of the 19th century, standing out with newspapers such as Narodni list and Zora Dalmatinska.