Printing - Mechanical Composition, Slugcasting, Typesetters

printing

Table of Contents

Introduction
History of printing
- Origins in China
  - Invention of movable type (11th century)
  - Transmission of paper to Europe (12th century)
- The invention of printing
  - Xylography
  - Metallographic printing (1430?)
  - The invention of typography—Gutenberg (1450?)
  - The Gutenberg press
- Improvements after Gutenberg
  - The metal press (1795)
  - Stereotypy and stereography (late 18th century)
  - Koenig’s mechanical press (early 19th century)
  - Attempts to mechanize composition (mid-19th century)
  - Typecasting compositors (1880s)
- 19th-century innovations
  - Reproduction of illustrations
  - Lithography: Senefelder (1796)
  - Photosensitivity: Niepce (1820s)
  - Gravure and rotogravure (1890s)
- The 20th century
  - Discovery of offset (early 20th century)
  - Dry offset (1920)
  - Colour printing
  - Automation of composition (after 1929)
  - Programmed composition (1950s)
  - Photocomposition
    - First generation of phototypesetters: mechanical
    - Second generation of phototypesetters: functional
    - Third generation of phototypesetters: electronic
  - Toward direct impression
  - Serigraphy and collotype: a renaissance
  - Three-dimensional printing (1960s)
  - Office printing
Modern printing techniques
- Composition and typesetting
  - Mechanical composition and typesetting
    - Letterpress composition by hand
    - Semimechanized composition
    - Mechanical composition: slugcasting typesetters
    - Typesetter casting aligned characters
    - Automatic composition (perforated tape)
    - Programmed composition (prepared by computer)
    - Cold type
  - Phototypesetting
    - Manual phototypesetters
    - Automatic phototypesetting
    - Functional phototypesetters
    - Electronic phototypesetters
  - Makeup of letterpress copy
    - Mounting composition on film
    - Conversion systems
- Printing (press operation)
  - Colour printing
  - Letterpress printing
    - Platen presses
    - Cylinder presses
    - Rotary presses
    - Preparing stereotypes and plates
    - Scope of letterpress
  - Rotogravure
    - Preparing rotogravure cylinders
    - Scope of rotogravure
  - Offset
    - Offset plate making
    - Scope of offset
  - Other printing processes
    - Letterset
    - Serigraphy (screen printing)
    - Collotype
    - Flexography
    - Electrostatic printing
  - Printing inks

References & Edit History Related Topics

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The Linotype and Intertype slugcasting typesetters produce lines of letterpress composition in a single operation, starting with the assembling of the movable matrices. The letter matrices are thin, brass 19 × 32-millimetre (0.7 × 1.3-inch) plates, with two ears and a system of 14 notches arranged in a V on the upper surface and two heels in their lower part. The letter is engraved in intaglio on the face surface; usually two copies of the same letter are superimposed (duplex matrices)—one normal, or roman, the other a variant, either italic (sloping design) or boldface (stronger design). Thus, their thickness varies ...(100 of 26569 words)

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