Information about Phototypesetting
Phototypesetting is a method of setting type, rendered obsolete with the popularity of the personal computer and desktop publishing software, that uses a photographic process to generate columns of type on a scroll of photographic paper. Typesetters used a machine called a phototypesetter, which would quickly project light through a film negative image of an individual character in a font, through a lens that would magnify or reduce the size of the character onto film, which would collect on a spool in a light-tight canister. The film would then be fed into a processor, a machine that would pull the film through two or three baths of chemicals, where it would emerge ready for paste up.
Compugraphic produced phototypesetting machines in the 1970s made it economically feasible for a number of small publications to set their own type professionally. One model, the Compugraphic Compuwriter, used a filmstrip wrapped around a drum that rotated at several hundred RPM. The filmstrip contained two fonts (a Roman and a Bold or a Roman and an Italic) in one point size. To get different sized fonts, the typesetter loaded a different font strip or used a 2x magnifying lens built into the machine which doubled the size of font. The CompuWriter II automated the lens switch and let the operator use multiple settings. Other manufacturers of photo compositing machines included Alphatype, Varityper and Mergenthaler.
In 1975, the Compuwriter IV, as well as the Compuwriter 88, a stripped down version, held two filmstrips, each holding four fonts. (Usually a Roman, Italic, Bold, and Bold Italic font). It also had a lens turret which had eight lenses giving different point sizes from the font, generally 8 or 12 sizes, depending on the model. The low-end offered sizes from 6 to 36 point, while the high-end models went to 72 point. The Compugraphic EditWriter series took the Compuwriter IV configuration and added floppy disk storage on an 8-inch, 320K disk. This allowed the typesetter to make changes and corrections without rekeying. A CRT screen let the user view typesetting codes and text.
Because early generations of phototypesetters couldn't change text size and font easily, many composing rooms and print shops had special machines designed to set display type or headlines. One such model was the PhotoTypositor, manufactured by Visual Graphics Corporation, which let the user position each letter visually and thus retain complete control over kerning. Compugraphic's model 7200 used the "strobe-through-a-filmstrip-through-a-lens" technology to expose letters and characters onto a thin strip of phototypesetting paper that was then developed by photo-processor.
Some later phototypesetters utilized a cathode ray tube to project the image of letters onto the photographic paper. This created a sharper image, added some flexibility in manipulating the type, and created the ability to offer a continuous range of point sizes by eliminating film media and lenses. The Compugraphic MCS (Modular Composition System) with the 8400 typesetter is an example of the CRT phototypesetter. This machine loaded digital fonts into memory from an 8-inch floppy. Additionally, the 8400 was able to set type in point sizes between 5 and 120 point in 1/2-point increments. It was extremely fast and was one of the first output systems (the other was also a Compugraphic machine, the 8600) that was able to output camera-ready output with a maximum width of 12 inches.
Early machines had no text storage capability; some machines only displayed 32 characters in uppercase on a small LED screen and spellchecking was not available.
Proofing typeset galleys was an important step after developing the photo paper. Corrections could be made by typesetting a word or line of type and by waxing the back of the galleys, and corrections could be cut out with an X-Acto knife and pasted on top of any mistakes.
Since most early phototypesetting machines could only create one column of type, long galleys of type were pasted onto layout boards in order to create a full page of text for magazines and newsletters. Paste-up artists played an important role in creating production art. Later phototypesetters had multiple column features that allowed the typesetter to save paste-up time.
Early electronic typesetting programs were designed to drive phototypesetters, most notably the Graphic Systems CAT phototypesetter that troff was designed to provide input for. Though such programs still exist, their output is no longer targeted at any specific form of hardware.
With the start of desktop publishing software, Trout Computing in California introduced VepSet, which allowed Xerox Ventura Publisher to be used as a front end and wrote a Compugraphic MCS disk with typesetting codes to reproduce the page layout.
Phototypesetting was later superseded by imagesetters and laser printers.
History
Phototypesetting (sometimes referred to as "cold type") dates back to the 1940s, but the technology became popular in the early 1970s when it replaced metal typesetting as offset lithography printing grew in popularity. A number of hot-metal equipment manufacturers (Mergenthaler Linotype, and the Monotype Corporation for example) began adapting their technology, while other companies like Alphatype and Varityper formed as a result of new printing technology demand. In Europe, the company of Berthold had no experience in developing hot-metal typesetting equipment, but being one of the largest German type foundries, they knew everything about type. Berthold successfully developed its Diatype (1960), Diatronic (1967), and ads (1977) machines, which led the European high-end typesetting market for decades.Compugraphic produced phototypesetting machines in the 1970s made it economically feasible for a number of small publications to set their own type professionally. One model, the Compugraphic Compuwriter, used a filmstrip wrapped around a drum that rotated at several hundred RPM. The filmstrip contained two fonts (a Roman and a Bold or a Roman and an Italic) in one point size. To get different sized fonts, the typesetter loaded a different font strip or used a 2x magnifying lens built into the machine which doubled the size of font. The CompuWriter II automated the lens switch and let the operator use multiple settings. Other manufacturers of photo compositing machines included Alphatype, Varityper and Mergenthaler.
In 1975, the Compuwriter IV, as well as the Compuwriter 88, a stripped down version, held two filmstrips, each holding four fonts. (Usually a Roman, Italic, Bold, and Bold Italic font). It also had a lens turret which had eight lenses giving different point sizes from the font, generally 8 or 12 sizes, depending on the model. The low-end offered sizes from 6 to 36 point, while the high-end models went to 72 point. The Compugraphic EditWriter series took the Compuwriter IV configuration and added floppy disk storage on an 8-inch, 320K disk. This allowed the typesetter to make changes and corrections without rekeying. A CRT screen let the user view typesetting codes and text.
Because early generations of phototypesetters couldn't change text size and font easily, many composing rooms and print shops had special machines designed to set display type or headlines. One such model was the PhotoTypositor, manufactured by Visual Graphics Corporation, which let the user position each letter visually and thus retain complete control over kerning. Compugraphic's model 7200 used the "strobe-through-a-filmstrip-through-a-lens" technology to expose letters and characters onto a thin strip of phototypesetting paper that was then developed by photo-processor.
Some later phototypesetters utilized a cathode ray tube to project the image of letters onto the photographic paper. This created a sharper image, added some flexibility in manipulating the type, and created the ability to offer a continuous range of point sizes by eliminating film media and lenses. The Compugraphic MCS (Modular Composition System) with the 8400 typesetter is an example of the CRT phototypesetter. This machine loaded digital fonts into memory from an 8-inch floppy. Additionally, the 8400 was able to set type in point sizes between 5 and 120 point in 1/2-point increments. It was extremely fast and was one of the first output systems (the other was also a Compugraphic machine, the 8600) that was able to output camera-ready output with a maximum width of 12 inches.
Early machines had no text storage capability; some machines only displayed 32 characters in uppercase on a small LED screen and spellchecking was not available.
Proofing typeset galleys was an important step after developing the photo paper. Corrections could be made by typesetting a word or line of type and by waxing the back of the galleys, and corrections could be cut out with an X-Acto knife and pasted on top of any mistakes.
Since most early phototypesetting machines could only create one column of type, long galleys of type were pasted onto layout boards in order to create a full page of text for magazines and newsletters. Paste-up artists played an important role in creating production art. Later phototypesetters had multiple column features that allowed the typesetter to save paste-up time.
Early electronic typesetting programs were designed to drive phototypesetters, most notably the Graphic Systems CAT phototypesetter that troff was designed to provide input for. Though such programs still exist, their output is no longer targeted at any specific form of hardware.
With the start of desktop publishing software, Trout Computing in California introduced VepSet, which allowed Xerox Ventura Publisher to be used as a front end and wrote a Compugraphic MCS disk with typesetting codes to reproduce the page layout.
Phototypesetting was later superseded by imagesetters and laser printers.
See also
- Atex, influential newspaper cold-type technology company.
External links
- Phototypositor
- "Typesetting and Paste-Up, 1970s Style"
- The Museum of Printing, North Andover, Massachusetts
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Typesetting involves the presentation of textual material in graphic form on paper or some other medium. Before the advent of desktop publishing, typesetting of printed material was produced in print shops by compositors working by hand, and later with machines.
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personal computer (PC) is a computer whose original sales price, size, and capabilities make it useful for individuals.
It is unknown who coined the phrase with the intent of a small affordable computing device but John W.
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It is unknown who coined the phrase with the intent of a small affordable computing device but John W.
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Desktop publishing (also known as DTP) combines a personal computer and page layout software to create publication documents on a computer for either large scale publishing or small scale local economical multifunction peripheral output and distribution.
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photograph (often shortened to photo) is an image created by light falling on a light-sensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic imager such as a CCD or a CMOS chip.
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Phototypesetting is a method of setting type, rendered obsolete with the popularity of the personal computer and desktop publishing software, that uses a photographic process to generate columns of type on a scroll of photographic paper.
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Light is electromagnetic radiation of a wavelength that is visible to the eye (visible light). In a scientific context, the word "light" is sometimes used to refer to the entire electromagnetic spectrum.
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negative may refer to three different things, although they are all related.
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A negative
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Until the advent of digital photographic processes, the sole meaning of photographic paper was paper coated with light-sensitive chemicals.
So-called photo papers of today are often specially coated papers for use in inkjet or laser printers to make digital prints .
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So-called photo papers of today are often specially coated papers for use in inkjet or laser printers to make digital prints .
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Paste up refers to a method of creating, or laying out, publication pages that predates the use of the now-standard computerized page design desktop publishing programs. Completed, or camera-ready, pages are known as mechanicals or mechanical art.
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Hot metal typesetting (also called hot lead typesetting or simply hot metal) is a term used to encompass a range of different 19th century technologies to create or compose text for use in the letterpress method of printing.
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Offset printing is a widely used printing technique where the inked image is transferred (or "offset") from a plate to a rubber blanket, then to the printing surface. When used in combination with the lithographic process, which is based on the repulsion of oil and water, the
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Linotype can refer to:
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- Mergenthaler Linotype Company
- Linotype machine
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Monotype Imaging, Inc is a typesetting and typeface design company (type foundry) responsible for many developments in printing technology — in particular the Monotype machine which was the first fully mechanical typesetter — and the design and production of typefaces
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Berthold is a name long associated with type design. H. Berthold AG was one of the largest and most successful type foundries in the world for most of the modern typographic era.
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Floppy Disk Drive
8 inch, 5 ¼ inch, and 3.5 inch drives
Date Invented: 1969 (8 inch), 1976 (5 ¼ inch), 1983 (3.5 inch)
Invented By: IBM team led by David Noble
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8 inch, 5 ¼ inch, and 3.5 inch drives
Date Invented: 1969 (8 inch), 1976 (5 ¼ inch), 1983 (3.5 inch)
Invented By: IBM team led by David Noble
Connects to:
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CRT may refer to:
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- C runtime library (subset of the C standard library), in computing
- Capillary refill time, in medicine
- Cathode ray tube, in electronics, a display device (such as those used in one type of television)
- .
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kerning, or less commonly, mortising (referring to the process of physically removing material from the cast character), is the process of adjusting letter spacing in a proportional font.
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1. Electron guns 2. Electron beams 3. Focusing coils 4. Deflection coils 5. Anode connection 6. Mask for separating beams for red, green, and blue part of displayed image 7.
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light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor diode that emits incoherent narrow-spectrum light when electrically biased in the forward direction of the p-n junction. This effect is a form of electroluminescence.
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galley proofs are preliminary versions of publications. They may be uncut and unbound, or in some cases electronic. They are normally created as part of the proofreading and copyediting processes, but can be used for promotional and review purposes also.
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X-Acto is a brand of tools owned by Elmer's Products, Inc. The company manufactures knives, saws, tweezers and many other small scale hand tools used for crafts, hobbies and other applications.
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troff is a document processing system developed by AT&T for the Unix operating system.
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History
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Ventura Publisher was the first popular desktop publishing package for IBM PC compatible computers running DOS. The software was originally developed by Ventura Software, a small company founded by John Meyer, Don Heiskel and Lee Jay Lorenzen.
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An imagesetter is an ultra-high resolution large-format computer output device. It exposes sheets of either photographic film or bromide paper to a laser light source. Once the film or paper is developed, a very high quality black and white image is revealed.
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laser printer is a common type of computer printer that rapidly produces high quality text and graphics on plain paper. Like photocopiers, laser printers employ a xerographic printing process but differ from analog photocopiers in that the image is produced by the direct scanning
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Atex is a software company providing solutions to the global media industry and helped pioneer the switch of newspaper and magazine publishing from "hot lead" to "cold type", and in the process developed networked machines with communication capability ("Atex messaging") credited
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Typography is the art and techniques of type design, modifying type glyphs, and arranging type. Type glyphs (characters) are created and modified using a variety of illustration techniques.
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page is one side of a leaf of paper. It can be used as a measurement of documenting or recording quantity ("that topic covers twelve pages").
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The page in typography
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