Typographers who are apprehensive about the future of the conventionally-style letters which we call roman types may take some degree of comfort from the fact that most of the current crop of phototypesetting devices are producing the same types as the “hand comp” of an earlier era, albeit somewhat swifter, if not so skillful. The [...]

It is somewhat ironic that typesetting, last of the ancient craft skills of the printer to be automated, is now the first to lend itself to the various demands of the current models of Mr. Babbage’s calculating machine. And this notwithstanding the fact that typography has been notably served by printing historians of the century [...]

Growing field of photographic composition require specialized techniques Machine output and products made high-speed by computer “brains” Determining technicality for individual users requires careful survey Last month we discussed typesetting by photography, paying primary attention to its broad aspects rather than to specific features of the machine available. The printer is interested in photographic composition [...]

Many printers who adopted “wait-and-see” policy are changing attitudes Typesetting by photography is undeniably growing on ever-increasing scale Progressive printers need to investigate adaptations of hot metal setting The printer who attempts to keep up with current trends in composing machines will find that he is in danger of pulling away from procedures which he [...]

Reproduction of flourishes and degree of slope characterizing many desirable examples of calligraphy has both intrigued and plagued type designers, type founders, and hot-metal composing machine manufacturers for years. Decreased slope and reduction or elimination of kerns due to mechanical restriction left much to be desired. The advent of photocomposition freed the type designer from [...]

Postwar developments in the printing industry happened so many so varied that most printers find it difficult to keep up with the announcements of new equipment. The period from the introduction of typesetting machines up to 1941 was one of quiet but steady progress in the production of the printed word. There were no “revolutionary [...]

The problem of making corrections in photocomposed type, long considered an unwieldy and unsatisfactory process, may be eased considerably by a new method developed by William W. Davidson, Jr. On July 3, Patent No. 3,041,930 was issued to Mr. Davidson for an “apparatus and method for simplified photocomposition corrections.” This correction system is claimed to [...]