Starting in the early 1960s, access to simple printing technology underwent massive change. At the forefront of this change was the increased availability and affordability of the mimeograph and other independent publishing-- offset printing and the letterpress. The combination of these technologies gave anyone the means to become a publisher.

With regard to the distribution of these magazines, there were two primary means through which people could gain access. First, some magazines, such as Umbra, had mailing lists to which dedicated readers could subscribe, thus limiting the number of available copies to only subscribers. The second means of distribution was aided by the increase in independent bookstores which were willing to stock books and magazines published by both major publishers and these independent publishers which were established in the mimeo revolution. Groups affected by the mimeo revolution were located across the United States and even in Canada. The more prominent ones were the black mountain poets in North Carolina, poets of the Beat Generation, the New York School, and members of the San Francisco Renaissance.

To begin using the mimeograph, a stencil must first be made. Typically a typewriter was used to make a stencil or a stylus. Both of these instruments would cut through the wax coating on the stencil so that ink could pass through these areas onto the paper. The ink drum contains a reservoir in the middle that. Using an additional lever, the user can control how much ink would be absorbed in the ink pad. The stencil is placed onto the ink pad using hook structure that hold it in place. The user would turn a crank and feed paper between a roller and the bottom of the ink drum. As the paper went through, the drum would rotate and transfer what was on the stencil to the paper. The stencil could be used to make roughly one-hundred copies and was far more efficient than going to a printing company. The whole process requires much less effort and time than finding a printing company and gave a more immediate way to produce copies. As the technology progressed typewriters were replaced by thermal duplicating process; an infrared method similar to that used by early photocopiers. The thermal duplicating would allow quicker copying of stencils for use on the mimeograph.

With creating the stencil for the mimeograph there are various procedures which the stencil-creator needed to be aware of to create a high-quality stencil. Unlike other printing technologies, the quality-control is fully with the individual creating the stencil and operating the machine. While printing pictures and printing in color were not the easiest procedures for the mimeograph, new technologies were created to allow for these processes. To print a photo, an automatic stencil-maker was created which could transfer the various shades of gray onto the stencil to create the black and white images. To print in color, the process was more time consuming, but if different areas were blocked out depending on the color they needed to be printed in, an additional ink pad could be added to the machine with the colored ink.

"We were using the same mimeograph machine in 1963. He to print 'C' Magazine and I to print Fuck You/A Magazine of the Arts, and that's how we met."

—Ed Sanders on his friendship with Ted Berrigan

The mimeograph was extremely important to the 20th century. The mimeograph granted the ability to customize a paper and reproduce it at one's convenience. The accessibility of printing from an office or even at home allowed many people to create quick copies for jobs, schools, or, in the case of the New York School, magazines. The revolution of efficient and accessible printing gave people the chance to publish and distribute poetry amongst the New York School community.

As E. Haven Hawley writes in "Revaluing Mimeographs as Historical Sources" (2014), "Mimeograph captured the imagination of potential self-publishers. Advertised as simple in design and operation, the equipment proved accessible to nonprofessional printers. Writers, activists, and other amateurs learned printing skills or gained access to friendly machine owners through the widespread presence of these machines in offices around the country. The skills to run a machine were readily gained through programs run by the A.B. Dick Company or training on the job."

Although frequently used in offices, the mimeograph also provided an inexpensive means for independent publishers, organizations, and local companies to share their information with a wider audience. Also utilizing the advantages of these technologies were those in resistance movements who wanted to share their ideology without being tied down by the size or cost of a printing device. The mimeograph also allowed for connections between individuals of shared interest to be established. Science fiction fans used the mimeograph to produce ‘fanzines’ which were magazines specifically on certain subjects within science fiction. Yet, the mimeograph when compared to other printing technologies did not consistently deliver the finest product so it was more likely to be used by smaller institutions. In a text from 1977, the offset-type machine is put forth as delivering a higher quality product, and for institutions which would produce a large number of copies, the offset type machine would actually be more cost effective for the institution.