Plant prints have been made for hundreds of years. The most practical use was in the identification of plants used for medicine before photography and the ability to reproduce illustrations in books. Early biologists used plant prints when they encountered new types of plants as they explored new far away habitats all over the world.

Leonardo DiVinci claimed he was the first person to make a two color print and illustrated the process with a sage leaf example in an early manuscript book he wrote about 1500.

Benjamin Franklin used plant prints on currency he printed in American colonial times to prevent counterfeiting.