Lithography made it possible to quickly reproduce images in a way that retained the shape of the original image. This was a major improvement over the other printing technique that existed at the time, relief printing. Small-time art dealers could use it to reproduce and sell prints of major works. It was popular for this purpose in 18th-century Bavaria, Germany.
Lithography was also much quicker and more automatic than relief printing, because the image did not have to be traced by the printer. Because lithography could produce images much more quickly than other methods could, it was of interest to musicians, who often needed more than one copy of sheet music. For example, a conductor could order 50 copies of a lithograph of Beethoven's 5th from a printer, and have those 50 copies distributed to his orchestra within a few days. In fact, musical reproductions were the first commercial use for lithography.
Lithography can be used to print text onto paper. This was one of the earliest uses for lithography; musicians who ordered sheet music from a lithographer would occasionally order lyrics, and these could be done by lithograph as well. Although lithography never gained major popularity in newspaper and book printing, it nevertheless retained some popularity with individuals needing copies of written materials for personal use.
In late 18th century Germany, lithography helped create paper game materials, especially playing cards. Although the printing press was popular for printing many paper products, it did not have the ability to reproduce shapes other than basic numbers and letters (at least not in the 18th century). Lithography could be used to print detailed, ornate and recognizable images for use in playing cards. This helped quickly to identify the playing cards by suit.