typesetting machine

typesetting machine

      basic element in modern letterpress printing. The problem of mechanizing typesetting was solved in the 19th century by devising machines that could cast type from matrices, or molds. The first to be successful was that of Ottmar Mergenthaler (Mergenthaler, Ottmar), German-born American inventor, which cast thin slugs of a molten, fast-cooling alloy from brass matrices of characters activated by a typewriter-like keyboard; each slug represented a column line of type. The slug could be used either directly for printing or for producing a matrix of a page to be printed; after use it could be melted for reuse. Mergenthaler's Linotype (q.v.) machine was patented in 1884; in 1885 another American inventor, Tolbert Lanston, perfected the Monotype (q.v.), a machine in which type is cast in individual letters. Both machines were made possible by the development of machine tools, specifically, the mechanical punch cutter. A third process, the Intertype (q.v.), developed later, also sets type by the line. Linotype and Intertype are economically advantageous in newspaper and in most book and magazine printing. Monotype is used if tighter or more irregular spacing is needed, as in catalogs; it is also used for some book and magazine work. All modern machines have great flexibility in respect to line widths, type fonts, and type sizes.

      All three typesetting machines have been adapted for photocomposition (q.v.) and for teletypesetting, by which a perforated tape, encoded by impulses received over a telephone wire, activates the typesetting keys. A significant development of the 1960s was the use of computers (computer) to prepare tapes and to drive and control typesetting and photocomposition at very high speeds (see computerized typesetting). Another development was the introduction of a family of printing machines that represented a combination of typewriter and composing machine; these could be operated by typists without the technical training required for typesetting machines.

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • typesetting machine — Synonyms and related words: Composaline, Diatype, Elrod, Fotomatic, Fotosetter, Fototronic, Intertype, Linotype, Monotype, Photon, Zip, cold type typesetting, composing, composing stick, composition, computerized typesetting, dummy, furniture,… …   Moby Thesaurus

  • typesetting machine — noun a printer that sets textual material in type • Hypernyms: ↑printer, ↑printing machine • Hyponyms: ↑Linotype, ↑Linotype machine, ↑monotype • Part Meronyms: ↑keyboard …   Useful english dictionary

  • typesetting machine — printer, machine that arranges type before the printing process …   English contemporary dictionary

  • Typesetting machine — Наборная машина; Печатный станок …   Краткий толковый словарь по полиграфии

  • Machine à composer (imprimerie) — Machine de William Church En imprimerie, une machine à composer est une machine qui assemble les caractères en plomb destinés à imprimer un texte, en se substituant à la composition manuelle traditionnelle. Certaines de ces machines peuvent… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Machine-readable dictionary — ( MRD ) is a dictionary stored as machine (computer) data instead of being printed on paper. It is an electronic dictionary and lexical database.A machine readable dictionary is a dictionary in an electronic form that can be loaded in a database… …   Wikipedia

  • Hot-metal typesetting machine — Отливная наборная машина, машина для «горячего» набора …   Краткий толковый словарь по полиграфии

  • Intertype composing [typesetting] machine — Строкоотливная наборная машина «Интертип» …   Краткий толковый словарь по полиграфии

  • Typesetting — Text formatting redirects here. For other uses, see Formatted text. Movable type on a composing stick on a type case …   Wikipedia

  • machine — n. 1) to operate, run, work a machine 2) to shut down a machine 3) an adding; answering; calculating; composing, linotype, typesetting; copy, copying, duplicating; earth moving; heart lung; milking; milling; money access (AE); sanding; sewing;… …   Combinatory dictionary

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”