Typesetting

Linotype machine, Printing Press, typesetting, 1892 - 1970 CLassic Machinery

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• published: 11 Aug 2012
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Printing using an old press. Composing into forms for the lineotype The linotype machine ( /ˈlaɪnətaɪp/ lyn-ə-typ) is a "line casting" machine used in printing. Along with letterpress printing, linotype was the industry standard for newspapers, magazines and posters from the late 1800s to the 1960s and 70s, when it was largely replaced by offset lithography printing and computer typesetting. The name of the machine comes from the fact that it produces an entire line of metal type at once, hence a line-o'-type, a significant improvement over the previous industry standard, i.e., manual, letter-by-letter typesetting using a composing stick and drawers of letters. The Linotype machine operator enters text on a 90-character keyboard. The machine assembles matrices, which are molds for the letter forms, in a line. The assembled line is then cast as a single piece, called a slug, of type metal in a process known as "hot metal" typesetting. The matrices are then returned to the type magazine from which they came, to be reused later. This allows much faster typesetting and composition than original hand composition in which operators place down one pre-cast metal letter, punctuation mark or space at a time. The machine revolutionized typesetting and with it especially newspaper publishing, making it possible for a relatively small number of operators to set type for many pages on a daily basis. Before Mergenthaler's invention of the Linotype in 1884, no newspaper in the world had more than eight pages.[1]A printing press is a device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a print medium (such as paper or cloth), thereby transferring the ink. Typically used for texts, the invention and spread of the printing press are widely regarded as among the most influential events in the second millennium[1] revolutionizing the way people conceive and describe the world they live in, and ushering in the period of modernity.[2] See more here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linotype_machine See this machine at Dardanup Heritage Park http://www.dardanupheritagepark.com.au