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TYPOGRAPHIC TECHNICAL SERIES FOR APPRENTICES--PART II. No. 16
TYPESETTING
A PRIMER OF INFORMATION ABOUT
WORKING AT THE CASE, JUSTIFYING,
SPACING, CORRECTING, MAKING-UP,
AND OTHER OPERATIONS EMPLOYED
IN SETTING TYPE BY HAND
BY
A. A. STEWART
PUBLISHED BY THE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
UNITED TYPOTHETAE OF AMERICA
1919
COPYRIGHT, 1919
UNITED TYPOTHETAE OF AMERICA
CHICAGO, ILL.
Composition and electrotypes contributed by
The Frank D. Jacobs Company
Philadelphia
PREFACE
There is a prevalent notion that setting type by hand is not now
as important a part of the printer's vocation as it was years ago.
Ingenious composing machines now perform so much of the work of putting
into printable shape the literature of the world that it is often
assumed the hand compositor's occupation is fast disappearing and
does not offer much inducement for an ambitious young man to follow
seriously. This is a mistaken notion entertained only by those who have
a limited conception of printing craftsmanship and its possibilities
for the exercise of individual skill.
It is true that the greater part of the composition for ordinary
printing is now done by machines, just as in other lines of industry
machines are relieving human hands of the drudgery in large-scale
production by multiplying products through mechanical operations. But
that the work of the hand compositor is any less important now than
it ever has been is far from the fact. Behind the great volume of
machine work, and absolutely essential for any effective use of machine
product, there is greater need than ever before of the hand-work and
head-work of trained compositors.
One of the great defects of machine composition is its lack of
intelligent, trained craftsmanship in typography. Too often it is
the work of machine-thinking operators rather than of intelligent
compositors trained to use the machine to increase their product and
make it of better effect and worth.
Training in hand composition should be a prerequisite for machine
keyboard operation. In no other way can the niceties of typography be
so thoroughly or conveniently learned as with composing stick and type
case.
While hand composition is the particular kind of work the author had
in mind when writing the following pages, many of the instructions
and suggestions given apply directly to machine-set matter. Expertness
and correctness are now demanded of all workmen; correct composition
is required from the machine operator even more insistently than from
the hand compositor, since the work of the former cannot be so readily
rectified.
The first and second volumes of this series, "Type" and "Compositor's
Tools," dealing more fully with the tools and materials used, should be
read in connection with this volume.
CONTENTS
PAGE
INTRODUCTORY 7
PRELIMINARY SUGGESTIONS 8
LEARNING THE CASE 10
UNITS FOR MEASURING 14
SPACES AND QUADS 15
A SIMPLE SPACING TABLE 17
HAIR SPACES AND JUSTIFIERS 20
LEADS AND SLUGS 21
SETTING THE COMPOSING STICK 21
USE OF THE COMPOSING RULE 24
SETTING TYPE 25
JUSTIFYING THE LINES 27
EMPTYING THE STICK 28
TYING UP THE PAGE 31
TAKING PROOFS 34
MAKING CORRECTIONS 37
IMPORTANCE OF UNIFORM SPACING 42
RULES FOR SPACING 43
SPACING OF ITALIC 48
SPACING CAPITAL LETTERS 49
WIDE SPACING 51
PARAGRAPH AND OTHER INDENTIONS 52
SETTING POETRY 55
HEADINGS 58
INITIAL LETTERS 59
MAKING UP PAGES 61
WASHING TYPE 67
DISTRIBUTING 69
SUPPLEMENTARY READING 74
REVIEW QUESTIONS 75
GLOSSARY 85
TYPESETTING
_Introductory_
The best and most useful printing is that which has been done by
typography; and the best typography has been, and still is, that
done by type, hand-set and prepared for the press by well-trained
compositors. Good typesetting must be the product of an educated,
intelligent mind as well as a skillful hand. It calls for close
attention to practical details. It demands the exercise of literary
and artistic sense which perceives the requirements of legibility and
coherence in thought and the orderly arrangement of words and lines
necessary to make the printed page of the greatest usefulness.
A composition of movable types has many advantages over other methods
of preparing forms for printing. It offers the readiest means for
securing a page of correct reading matter. The mechanical operations
are relatively simple. No other process will produce so good a printing
surface as quickly or as inexpensively as the typographic method.
Serious faults of the original copy, in spelling, use of points, words,
phrases, in paragraphing, in spacing of lines, in arrangement of
headings, and other errors can be readily corrected in type. The page
can be made longer by leading, or shorter by taking out leads.
Any of these changes can be made with the utmost freedom, in a manner
that is not practicable in any other branch of the graphic arts. The
engraved plate, whether produced by mechanical or by chemical means,
when once made, can be changed only in minor details. What is cut must
stay; any considerable variation from the first impression can be made
only by great skill and by slow processes.
Typography is peculiarly the vehicle for printing literature quickly
and effectively. Considering the great influence it can wield, nothing
could be simpler than the tools it employs. An intelligent boy of
fifteen years, after a little practice, can set type and print it
with a press, and the product will be as acceptable as that done by a
workman of long experience.
Yet typesetting is not an occupation easily mastered. To find profit
and satisfaction in the work an apprentice must acquire a broad
knowledge of language and literature and develop an interest in
subjects relating to art and design. Although the mechanics of his work
are given the chief consideration in the following pages, he should
remember that his principal working material is Language and his real
tools are alphabets and words.
_Preliminary Suggestions_
There are several habits which the young compositor should begin
to acquire at the outset if he hopes to make his work agreeable
and successful. The mention of these may seem like an unnecessary
repetition of trite injunctions, but in work of the kind upon which he
is engaged their practice is particularly important. The compositor's
work is one of many details, and careless habits quickly lead to
unprofitable results and disappointment. The chief of the good habits
may be enumerated as:
1. The habit of silence while at work. A chattering person in the
composing room is a nuisance.
2. The habit of keeping materials cleared up. A confusion of articles
on the workstand will greatly retard his work. Keep items of the same
kind grouped together as much as possible.
3. The habit of picking up at once type and other articles dropped on
the floor. A type stepped on is spoiled.
4. The habit of not putting anything in the mouth with soiled hands.
Always wash the hands before eating.
5. The habit of standing on both feet and not leaning over the
workstand.
6. The habit of dressing so as to be comfortable and reasonably clean.
[Illustration: FIG. 1 Standing at the case]
A compositor should stand comfortably on both feet in front of his
case, just a little to the left of the center, and the case should be
adjusted to allow free motion of his right arm over the front of the
case. This will enable him to shift his weight from one foot to the
other occasionally as he reaches from one side of the case to the
other. This habit is one that will have to be learned with some effort,
but it will mean much to his health and comfort.
The coat should be removed before beginning work, and the shirt sleeves
should be rolled high enough to avoid interfering with the work on
the galley. A work apron or a loose-fitting coat with short sleeves
is advised in order to protect the front of the usual clothing and
to provide an extra pocket for small articles like tying-up strings,
composing rules, etc. The pocket should not, however, be a depository
for types, leads, or brass rules that are usable; these articles should
be distributed where they belong.
_Learning the Case_
There are thirty and more different styles of type cases shown in the
catalogs of dealers in printers' supplies, and some of these styles
are made in different sizes. This variety may seem bewildering to the
beginner who sees the case plans and realizes that a compositor must
become familiar with the location of the hundreds of characters in the
many boxes of the various cases.
Many of the case plans shown, however, are not in common use, some
of them never appearing in the average composing room. A number of
them are for special material and their box arrangement is readily
understood when one becomes familiar with composing room work. All
unusual cases are (or should be) marked clearly, with labels on
individual boxes if necessary, showing the name or shape of the
character in each box.
The cases used for ordinary hand composition are commonly laid out
according to one of two plans: capital case and lower case. Some cases
are a combination of both these plans. When the apprentice becomes
thoroughly familiar with these two plans and their minor variations
he will have little difficulty, if he is observing and careful, in
understanding the arrangement of any other special cases which he may
have to use occasionally.
The plan of the common capital case is a simple alphabetical order of
the letters, with the exception of J and U. The capital case is divided
into two sections, each having seven boxes across and seven boxes
in vertical line--forty-nine in each half of the case. Of the seven
horizontal rows, only the lower four rows are used for the letters, the
upper boxes being used for miscellaneous characters; or in some cases
left vacant. This arrangement brings the letters AHPX in a vertical
line, then BIQY, and so on, as shown in the diagram.[1]
[Footnote 1: NOTE. When the early printers made their case plans I and
J, and also the V and U, were treated as variants of the same symbols
and no special boxes were provided for them in the capital case. Later,
when the J and U were used to express distinctive sounds they were
added to the case in the twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth places, which
explains why they are out of the usual alphabetical order. The young
compositor is advised to read further information about the history
of these letters under their special heads in any of the unabridged
general dictionaries, such as the Standard, Century, Webster's, etc.]
[Illustration: FIG. 2 (_a_) The capital case]
[Illustration: FIG. 2 (_b_) The lower case]
In the lower-case plan there is an irregular arrangement of the
alphabet and a difference in the size of the boxes. Some letters are
used much more frequently than others, and the extra quantities of
these types need larger boxes. These boxes are placed in the case near
the compositor's hand, while the types less frequently used are kept in
boxes farther away.
The pair of upper and lower cases, for many years in use as the
standard cases for book composition and for large roman fonts, is
being abandoned to a great extent. The increasing use of machines for
book and periodical composition during the past few years is gradually
eliminating the double cases which were necessary for large quantities
of type when type was set solely by hand-work. Type cases in pairs are
still generally used, however, and in many composing rooms they hold
the chief working fonts of large as well as small sizes of type. A
thorough familiarity with the box plans of the upper and lower cases
should be the first acquirement of every apprentice.
[Illustration: FIG. 3 The California job case]
The style of case now commonly used in America is that known as the
California job case, which has boxes for alphabets of both capitals and
small letters and for figures, points, spaces, quads, and a few other
indispensable characters like &, $, dashes, etc. This style of case is
popular because it provides in a convenient single tray enough boxes
for a complete font of types needed to compose English sentences.
The "lay of the case" may sometimes be learned in a few hours by an
alert boy; sometimes the learning may be a matter of days or even
weeks, according to the opportunity and the quickness of the learner.
It is a good test of the young compositor's mental quality to note the
quickness and accuracy with which he learns this preliminary task. It
may be safely predicted that the boy who works around a composing room
for months doing odd jobs, even if he is not given special permission
to set type, and fails to learn something of the case plan, through
lack of interest or initiative on his part, will not prove an alert,
intelligent compositor later on.
Some foremen instruct the beginner to go to an old case with a
composing stick and hunt for the letters until, by picking and
fumbling, he manages to find those he needs for his first stickful.
Another practice is to place types of a large size in the corners of
the boxes of the principal letters as guides to the unfamiliar small
types. Methods of this kind are slipshod and uncertain; there is sure
to be an imperfect knowledge of the contents of the case, for a time at
least, and consequent mixing of the types.
The best method of learning the case is to draw a plan of it. This can
be done by a study of the case itself before beginning to set type.
Let the apprentice first copy the plan of the boxes without trying to
memorize the letters in them. When the outline of the boxes is complete
the letters can then be marked in place. Another way is to make a copy
on a large scale from a print such as shown on page 11. When this is
done the apprentice should ask the advice of his foreman or somebody
familiar with the cases in his particular room, to be sure that his
plan corresponds with the cases he will use. Not all cases are laid
exactly alike, even if they appear to be the same at first glance.
Many fonts have peculiar characters, or there may be in the case types
not ordinarily belonging to the font, which are kept in some spare
boxes, or for some reason changes may be desirable in the positions
of the regular characters. In this, as in other matters, a safe rule
for the apprentice will be: When in doubt, ask somebody who knows. It
will always be wiser to proceed carefully at first and know that one is
right than to work along in an uncertain, helter-skelter fashion.
The drawing of plans of the different styles of cases in the room is
not only a good way to learn the cases accurately but is also a good
exercise in the use of pencil and type-measure; it is a simple problem
in mechanical drawing which the young compositor should practice, in
preparation for more advanced "layout" work which he may do later.
_Units for Measuring_
The unit of measurement for types, leads, rules, and other small items
used in composing a page is the _point_, approximately 1/72 of an inch,
shown by the thickness of this mark:| The most used type bodies are
those of 6-point and others graduated by one point up to 12-point.
The amount of type in a page is measured in ems of the size of type
used. An _em_ is a square of the body [Illustration: example of an em
square], and varies in size with each size of type. Thus, an 8-point em
is 8 points deep and 8 points wide; a 12-point em is 12 points deep and
12 points wide. The common method of measuring the quantity of type on
a page is by using the em as the unit, the number of ems in the line
being multiplied by the number of lines on the page. The term em is
applied in many ways to type; the em dash is one cast on a square body,
the em fraction is a fraction cast on a square body, and so with type
borders and other characters.
Before the adoption of the point system type sizes were designated
by a variety of names which were meaningless so far as indicating
their sizes was concerned. In the point system the size of 12-point
corresponds to the old pica. Pica has been a standard type in many
countries for a long time, though it has not always been uniform in
size. All type founders made pica types, but all picas were not the
same size in this country until after the adoption of the point system
in 1887. The old names pica and nonpareil (half pica, or 6-point) still
survive as convenient terms to use in naming these sizes.
For convenience and economy in the composing room the leads, slugs,
rules, metal and wooden furniture, wood type, and other composing
material are used in lengths graduated by 12-point or pica. When leads
or rules are spoken of as being twenty picas, or twenty ems, it is
understood that they are twenty 12-points long. Pica gages are scales
marked off in units of 12-point (and half, or 6-point). A graduated
composing stick is made to set to measures of 12-point and half.
It will be remembered that the point size was given as approximately
1/72 of an inch. Actually a point is .013837 of an inch, but for
convenience the simpler fraction of 1/72 is sufficiently accurate for
composing-room purposes. This makes the 12-point or pica 1/6 of an
inch. Shop custom measures the items of a page in points, and the page
itself or its chief divisions by picas. Paper, sizes and other large
dimensions are measured in inches.
It is important for the apprentice to learn these units of measurements
and their relation to each other in order to make quick calculations
for line lengths, page sizes, margins, etc.
_Spaces and Quads_
Trade custom gives the name _spaces_ to the small type blanks and
_quads_ to the larger type blanks. These are further specified
according to their thickness or fractional part of the em, or square,
as 3-to-em, 4-to-em, 5-to-em (hereafter in this treatise, for
convenience, termed respectively the 3-space, 4-space, 5-space). Very
thin blanks are hair spaces or justifiers. The en quad (half the
square) is sometimes called the thick space.[2] The large blanks are
the em quad 2-em quad, and (for types of 12-point and smaller) 3-em
quad.
[Footnote 2: NOTE. The 3-space is often miscalled the thick space; but
as it is commonly known as the normal space (i.e. neither thick nor
thin) it seems illogical to call it also a thick space. The en quad or
any space thicker than the 3-space is obviously a thick space.]
To the beginner the difference between some spaces and quads is not
always clear because of the frequent identity of size in different type
bodies. Thus, a 3-space of an 18-point font is 18x6 points, which is
the same as a 3-em quad of 6-point. The difference between the two is
in the position of the nicks (except where spaces and quads are cast
without nicks). On the 6-point quad the nick is along the 3-em side,
while on the 18-point space it is across the narrow 6-point edge. The
identity in size is often a convenience, when quads or spaces of one
size are exhausted, by allowing the use of pieces from another font.
[Illustration: FIG. 4 10-POINT SPACES AND QUADS]
The apprentice should become familiar with these regular spaces of his
case at the outset. He may learn to distinguish them by putting one
of each thickness side by side frequently for comparison. By doing
this with each size of type as he comes to use it he will soon learn
to distinguish the spaces at a glance, to select quickly the space he
wants, and to sort them properly in distributing.
These four regular thickness of spaces meet most of the requirements
of type composition. Besides their own individual widths they may be
combined into any other widths for spacing and justifying lines. The
following table, showing twenty-four different widths less than the em
which can be made with the four original spaces, should be studied by
the beginner who is in despair because he cannot find just the right
thickness to fit his line.
_A Simple Spacing Table_
Taking 60 as the common denominator of the five blanks, including the
em quad, which would be 60/60, the en quad is 30/60, the 3-space is
20/60, the 4-space is 15/60, and the 5-space is 12/60. By combining the
various spaces the following fractions of the em square may be obtained:
5-space = 12-60ths
4-space = 15-60ths
3-space = 20-60ths
2 5-spaces = 24-60ths
4-space and 5-space = 27-60ths
en quad = 30-60ths
3-space and 5-space = 32-60ths
3-space and 4-space = 35-60ths
3 5-spaces = 36-60ths
4-space and 2 5-spaces = 39-60ths
2 3-spaces = 40-60ths
en and 5-space = 42-60ths
3-space and 2 5-spaces = 44-60ths
en and 4-space = 45-60ths
3-4-5-spaces = 47-60ths
4 5-spaces = 48-60ths
en and 3-spaces = 50-60ths
4-space and 3 5-spaces = 51-60ths
2 3-spaces and 5-space = 52-60ths
en and 2 5-spaces = 54-60ths
2 3-spaces and 4-space = 55-60ths
3-space and 3 5-spaces = 56-60ths
en, 4- and 5-spaces = 57-60ths
3-space, 4-space and 2
5-spaces = 59-60ths
em quad = 60-60ths
With a supply of the regular spaces at hand it will be seen that
for average work there is ample opportunity for careful spacing and
proper justification. The trouble often comes, however, because of an
insufficient supply of the thinner spaces. Unfortunately in many places
these are not supplied in right quantities and the usual boxes for
holding them are inadequate for a proper supply. Improper distribution
of the thin spaces is also responsible for the lack of a proper supply,
as well as for great loss of time in sorting and hunting during
composition.
The point system of widths has been applied to spaces, the thickness
being graduated by points and half-points, instead of the fractional
division of the em. In a font of 10-point, for instance, the
four ordinary spaces 5-space, 4-space, 3-space, and en quad, are
respectively 2, 2-1/2, 3-1/3, and 5 points thick. In the point system
there are five spaces within these limits, namely: 2, 2-1/2, 3, 4, and
5 points thick. The extra space and two intermediate widths between
the 4-space and the en quad give many advantages in spacing for good
composition; though as yet the use of these point-width spaces is not
general in hand composition. The lack of proper boxes to keep them in
the ordinary type cases is a serious drawback to their economical use.
The following table shows the widths of point spaces in six common
sizes of type:
POINT SYSTEM OF SPACE WIDTHS
------------------------------------------------------------------
| 6-to- | 5-to- | 4-to- | 3-to- | Patent| en | em
| em | em | em | em | space | quad | quad
----------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------
6-point | 1 | -- | 1-1/2 | 2 | 2-1/2 | 3 | 6
8-point | 1 | 1-1/2 | 2 | 2-1/2 | 3 | 4 | 8
10-point | 1-1/2 | 2 | 2-1/2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 10
12-point | 2 | 2-1/2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 12
14-point | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 14
18-point | 2 | 3 | 4 | 6 | -- | 9 | 18
------------------------------------------------------------------
When type composition is to be used regularly for making moulds for
electrotypes; high spaces, quads, leads, and slugs are employed instead
of the ordinary low spaces and quads. These reach nearly as high as the
shoulder of the type and, unlike low spaces, do not leave small holes
and crevices between the words and lines into which the moulding wax
is forced when moulding. Although a great deal of miscellaneous job
work is moulded for electrotyping with low spaces and other blanks, the
electrotyper finds it difficult to obtain the best results with forms
made up in this manner. The high blank spaces make a better moulding
form and are used in composing rooms where the major part of the work
is electrotyped.
Large hollow quads, known as quotation quads (quotation furniture, in
the larger sizes), are used in place of solid quads where there are
many large blanks in the form. These have the advantage of lightness
in comparison with regular quads. They should be set in the form with
the hollow space down, so as not to catch dirt and small particles
that will be likely to come out later on the ink rollers when the form
is on the press. There are occasionally places where it will be an
advantage to use them hollow-side up for ease in picking them out when
changing the form; but the form should never be sent to press or to the
electrotype foundry with the hollow spaces up.
In a font of typewriter type all characters are cast on bodies of
the same width. Only one kind of space is used (or need be used) for
spacing the lines. This space is the same width as the letters, so that
each line contains exactly the same number of pieces. The usual size
for this kind of type is 12-point and the width of the letters and the
space is a little more than the en. The apprentice should notice that
the 12-point typewriter space and the 12-point en quad are not the same.
Script types usually need spaces and quads that are beveled on two
sides near the top. The bevels are to allow for the overhanging kern of
the letters. The spaces and quads are cast to fit the particular design
of the face.
The general practice of slug-casting machine composition is to justify
the lines by _increasing_ the spaces, which explains the customary
wide-spaced appearance of machine-set matter. As the same space-bands
are used for all sizes on the machine, a 6-point size is spaced
relatively much wider than a 10-point face.
NOTE. The system of spaces here considered is that of regular
foundry type fonts. Linotypes and Monotypes have systems of
spacing which differ considerably from this. In Monotype
composition a special unit system is used. There are 18 units
in a quad, which, unlike the em quad of foundry type, in the
smaller sizes is not usually an exact square. The space is 6
units, approximating the foundry 3-to-em space; the 5-unit space
equaling the 4-to-em space; and the 4-unit usually a little
less than the 5-to-em space. These are cast from matrices and
represent fixed widths. But in the process of composition the
expanding or justifying space is used to fill out the line.
When the keyboard operator sees that another word or syllable
can not go into the line the keys indicating the width of the
spaces to fill the line are struck, the result being that all
spaces are spread equally to fill the line. The actual spaces
cast may be any number of units in width.
On the Linotype there are three fixed spaces: the em quad, the
en quad (or figure space), and the thin space, equal to a fourth
of the em. The regular space is made by space-bands which can
be used to make any size between a 3-to-em and double this
thickness. If anything smaller than the thin space is needed,
it must be put in by hand.
_Hair Spaces and Justifiers_
The term _justifying_ refers to the tightening of a line to make it
correspond with other lines or parts of the page, so that the whole
form may be locked together compactly, with no parts loose and none too
tight. The term _spacing_ refers to the blanks between the words in the
lines. The term _leading_ refers to the distance between the lines in a
paragraph or page of plain matter.
A line of type may be well spaced but improperly justified. On the
other hand, it may be badly spaced but nicely justified.
There are many places where spaces thinner than the 5-space are needed,
especially for letter-spacing and for careful word-spacing, as well as
for tabular pages and other work requiring accurate justification. For
such purposes hair spaces, copper-thins, and brass-thins are provided.
The thickness of hair spaces varies according to the size of the type;
the name is given generally to any cast space thinner than the 5-to-em.
Copper spaces are 1/2-point in thickness and brass spaces are 1-point
thick, the difference in the metal used being for easy distinction
of the thicknesses. Copper and brass spaces, because of greater
durability, are superior to cast metal hair spaces for hand composition.
When metal thin spaces are not at hand it may be necessary to resort
to pieces of paper or thin card. Spaces of this kind should be used
only in exceptional cases and not at all as a common practice. There
should be never more than a few pieces of paper used in justifying a
line. A safe rule for the apprentice, when he thinks he cannot make his
line come right without some such expedient, is to ask an experienced
compositor, who will usually show him how to justify without the paper.
_Leads and Slugs_
Lines of type are separated by leads and slugs. These are strips of
metal lower than type-high and are furnished by dealers in labor-saving
fonts and also in lengths of two feet. Leads are made 1-point,
1-1/2-point, 2-point, and 3-point thick. The 1-point size is furnished
in 16-inch lengths. The 2-point is the thickness mostly used. Slugs are
made usually 6-point, 12-point, 18-point, and 24-point thick, but other
sizes are also made.
Leads and slugs are made in two heights; one slightly less than low
spaces and quads, for usual composition when the type is to be used for
printing, and the other high enough to reach the shoulder of the type,
for use with high spaces and quads in electrotype moulding.
Leads and slugs are also made of brass, in sizes, lengths, and heights
similar to the soft metal varieties. While the cost of brass material
is much greater than ordinary metal strips, in some cases its greater
durability makes it more economical. This is true of the 1-point and
1-1/2-point thicknesses used in standard lengths, as in newspaper and
periodical pages. For occasional use in job work the soft metal leads
are usually satisfactory.
Strips of wood, called reglet, are sometimes used as substitutes for
leads and slugs in large sizes. These are made in lengths of one yard
and in sizes of 6-point (nonpareil), 12-point (pica), and 18-point.
Larger sizes of the same material are known as wooden furniture.
All the material mentioned under this head is commonly used in
lengths graduated by the pica (12-point) and is for the most part in
labor-saving fonts or assortments. Each kind should be kept, when not
in use, in racks or cases with compartments for the different lengths.
_Setting the Composing Stick_
The width of a type page is called its _measure_. Before commencing to
set type the stick must be set to the measure required; that is, for
the length of the type line. If the stick is of the modern graduated
pattern which sets to standard measures by changing the movable
side-piece to a slot or notch where it is fixed, the setting is a
simpler matter. These sticks will no doubt be in more common use later
than they are now because of their many advantages; but as there are
many of the old style thumbscrew sticks (especially the kind known as
the Yankee job stick) in use in composing rooms throughout the country,
it is necessary to know how to adjust these correctly. The old style
sticks not only require care in setting but watchfulness afterward to
see that they do not change while being used for a job.
The manner of setting a stick may depend upon the kind of work to be
done. For job work of a few lines only, where the lines are to be
locked by themselves in a chase, the stick may be set by a bunch of
leads of the required length. These are placed in the stick and the
movable knee setup to them loosely, so that the leads do not bind at
the ends. If the job is to be enclosed in a border or rule panel the
stick should be adjusted accurately to ems of 12-point or 6-point.
[Illustration: FIG. 5 The Composing Stick]
For ordinary measures a line of perfect 12-point quads will be a good
gage. For very short measures, as in tabular column heads, 6-point
quads should be used. A gage that will be more uniformly accurate is a
line of 12-point letters (for short measures) or 24-point letters (for
longer measures) from a font of foundry-cast type. These should be set
in the stick with the nicks sideways, not in front as for composition.
The body-size of cast type is the most accurate of any point-size
material, and as 12-point and 24-point fonts are at hand in every
composing room they furnish a convenient and reliable standard at all
times.
[Illustration: A row of twenty sideways ems]
Usually the knee should be set lightly against the gage when the
thumbscrew is tightened. A good plan is to put a slip of paper at one
end of the line of quads or letters (See A, Fig. 5), and to push up
the knee firmly. A line of many separate types will not fit together
as solidly as a line of a few quads; to allow for a little compression
in the line when it is locked up later the slight fullness is given in
setting the stick. In setting measures for tabular columns and for very
short lines the slip of paper is not necessary.
[Illustration: FIG. 6 The Composing Stick]
It is important that the outer end of the knee should be kept at a
right angle to make the stick square, in order that the first and last
lines of the stickful should be of exactly the same length. If there
is any doubt about this, test the front of the stick by moving the
gage line forward when the measure is adjusted. If the gage line is
looser here than at the back, the outer end of the knee may be closed
in by inserting a piece of card between the knee and the back plate, as
is shown at A in Fig. 6.
When the measure is set, make the thumbscrew as tight as possible
with the fingers. _Do not use a wrench_, as this is liable to give
unnecessary force and break the small clamp.
Make it a practice to try the thumbscrew occasionally while using the
stick to prevent the knee from becoming loose, as it may in case the
lines are justified tightly.
_Use of the Composing Rule_
Lines of type are easier handled by the aid of a composing rule. It is
not practicable to set small types in the stick without some support or
to set a second line immediately next to another without a lead or rule
to separate them. The composing rule furnishes a smooth surface against
which to place the types as they are assembled and to keep them in line
while the respacing and justifying is done. The rule is also convenient
for lifting lines out into the galley and for handling them in later
operations.
Sets of these rules can be purchased from supply houses or they may
be made from a discarded strip of brass rule (2-point or 3-point), by
trimming one end so as to leave a nib 10 points long.
Composing rules are not used now as much as formerly, owing to the
fact that hand composition is largely in the nature of job work. A
compositor in a day sets a great variety of line-lengths, many of them
in large types, and he dispenses with the composing rule as a needless
tool, using instead the ready-at-hand leads and slugs needed for the
page. In many cases this is advisable. Yet when there are many lines of
one length to set and to correct and later to make up into pages, the
composing rule is recommended as a useful accessory.
_Setting Type_
With a correct plan of the case before him the beginner at typesetting
may go at his work with confidence that one part of his work is
simplified and he can devote his attention to the next steps, that is,
to learn to hold the stick comfortably and to pick up the types and put
them in line.
[Illustration: FIG. 7 Holding the Composing Stick]
The accompanying illustration shows the manner of holding the stick.
Notice that it is held in the left hand, leaving the right hand free
to pick up the letters. Type must be set right-handedly even by
left-handed persons. The types are placed in the left corner of the
stick with the nicks outward, and each type as it is placed is held
gently by the thumb of the left hand.
The stick is always held with the open side slightly tilted up to allow
the types to lie against the composing rule, and the left thumb follows
each type along the line to keep it from falling out of place.
The beginner will usually try to read his first words in type by
turning the stick so that the bottom of the line is toward him. This is
not the way experienced compositors do, however. The printer reads his
type lines up-side-down, with the top of the line toward him. In this
way he reads the lines from left to right, just as he would the printed
page except that the top of the type page is nearest to him.
It must be remembered that any printing form is the reverse of the
printed sheet. The simplest way is to reverse the page from top to
bottom rather than from right to left. Just turn this page face down on
the table and you can readily imagine what the types that printed it
would look like.
A compositor should always read his copy ahead of his setting and try
to get the sense of the words. This will make it easier for him to
carry in his mind a number of words at a time in advance of picking up
the types. One who must constantly refer to his copy word for word will
waste valuable time hunting for his place, will have greater difficulty
in keeping the sequence of words, and will be far more liable to make
mistakes. Concentration of mind is absolutely essential if he hopes to
become a good compositor.
[Illustration: FIG. 8 Example: The printer must learn to read letters
and words up-side-down, as they appear in this example. (Text inverted)]
The nicks on the type bodies are important in helping to pick them up
in such a manner that they may be carried to the stick and put in place
right side up quickly. Look for a particular type in the box and note
the nick first. Select one that can be carried to the stick right side
up with the fewest motions. While it is going to its place look for the
next type and have the left thumb in the stick do its share of the team
work. Fumbling for a type, picking it up and turning it over several
times to find the nick before it can be put in the line is a habit
that should be guarded against as a positive handicap. Study to avoid
as much as possible all superfluous motions. Do not mistake nervous,
fussy, trust-to-luck motions for speed; they are usually the reverse.
Be deliberate and accurate, even if slow at the start. Learn first to
do it right, then strive to do it quickly. Speed is important, but
correctness is much more so.
_Justifying the Lines_
Each line of type must end with a completed word or a syllable. When
the line is first set, however, it rarely happens that the types fill
the line snugly without more or less changing of the spaces. If a
little more room is needed to take in the last letter or two of a word,
the spaces are changed for thinner ones until the word is brought in.
On the other hand, if there remains a little space after the last word
or syllable, the spaces are increased a little until the line is full.
Just when to thin space and bring in a word or syllable or when to fill
out the line with wider spaces depends upon whether the composition
generally is to be thin spaced or is to be wide spaced.
Changing the spaces is done by pushing the top of the space from
between the words with the one that is to be inserted in its place. The
new space is dropped in and the old one picked out and put in the case
where it belongs, the thumb in the stick meanwhile keeping the line
from falling. Changing the spaces in this manner should be done with
care in order to avoid injuring the face of adjoining types.
Another method of changing spaces is to lift up the wrong space by an
upward pressure of the left thumb and pick it out with the right thumb
and forefinger, afterward inserting the new space.
A line of type is well justified when it will stand up in the stick
without other support than its own tightness. Lines that will fall down
when the composing stick is slightly tipped forward are too loosely
justified. On the other hand, they should not be so tight that they
will be difficult to lift out when the stickful is taken out on the
galley. Unnecessary tightness is liable to injure small types at the
end of the lines. Careless compositors will sometimes force a type
into place so tightly that it will shave a slight film of metal from
the adjoining types, the metal remaining under the feet of the letters
which will make them higher than the surrounding letters.
Long lines require a little firmer justification than short ones,
because the greater number of pieces, especially if the type is old,
will compress more than the fewer number in the short line when they
are later locked up in the chase.
Leads and brass rules should not be so long that they bind tightly when
they are placed in the measure. When this happens the type lines near
them will rarely lock up tight without very great pressure in the chase.
The beginner at composition is not at first apt to realize the
importance of careful justification. It is not till later when he must
lock up the types for printing that he learns why they must be exactly
upright to give the proper impression and carefully fitted together to
hold solidly in the form.
The first point to note is that the types should be squarely on their
feet in the stick when the line is justified. If they are leaning
forward or backward and left this way the line will be short when the
types are later straightened up on the galley or in the form. It is
wise, therefore, before going to the next line to make sure that all
types are on their feet when the final letter or justifying space is
inserted.
_Emptying the Stick_
For the first few stickfuls, until the apprentice learns how to handle
the lines without _pi_-ing, leads should be put between all the lines
in the stick, even if they are to be taken out later to print the type
as solid matter. A lead should be put at the top of the first line and
after the last line in the stick. If a composing rule is used, this
may or may not be kept with the lines. Many compositors insert the
composing rule at the top of the first line while lifting the lines out
of the stick, as the rule gives a good surface by which to take hold of
the matter.
It is a good plan not to fill the stick too full before emptying. A
few lines at first will be enough to practice with, until the knack of
grasping the matter all around and lifting out is acquired.
[Illustration: FIG. 9 Emptying the Composing Stick]
The galley should be placed on the case or on an adjoining stand or
inclined support, with the head turned toward the right. If the lines
have been properly justified, there is no need to open the measure of
the stick to extricate lines that seem very tight. In this case take
out the lines separately, but keep the measure unchanged till the work
is done.
[Illustration: FIG. 10 The galley on the case]
The stick is emptied in the following manner, as illustrated in the
accompanying diagram: Lay the stick near the bottom of the galley, with
the top line or back of the stick at the lower rim of the galley. The
two forefingers are then placed in the stick after the last line and
the two thumbs beside the top line. The second fingers, doubled up,
are pressed against the ends of the lines at both sides. Thus holding
the lines evenly all around, the top lines are lifted slightly with
a turning motion to bring the feet of the type upward. This gives a
chance for the thumbs to get a better hold down beside the top line.
The small fingers are meanwhile holding the stick down against the
upward motion of the matter, while the lines are taken out. The types
should then be held in a horizontal position, while the compositor
turns his right side to the galley. Still holding the lines firmly, he
next turns them feet down in the lower corner, with the beginning of
the lines at the lower rim. (Do not release hold until the matter is
close against the rim of the galley, keeping the middle fingers at the
ends of lines to prevent any types from dropping out of place. If any
types should drop, take hold of the handful again and move it farther
down the galley, pick up the loose type and then slide the lines to the
head of the galley and insert the missing type.)
[Illustration: FIG. 11 Holding the lines of types]
When first placed on the galley the type is liable to be a little off
its feet. Have a piece of good metal furniture 8 x 20 picas to place
beside the lines, first at the bottom and then at the ends of the
lines, and use this to square up the types on their feet.
An untrained compositor is prone to use more thin spaces than are
necessary, and he quickly finds that there are not enough in the
case to meet his wants. He puts in extra thin spaces to fill out the
line instead of changing the spaces already in for thicker ones. He
inserts 5-spaces beside 3-spaces through the line because this appears
the easiest way, though in the end it is neither the quickest nor
the best way. When wide spacing is necessary it is usually better to
change the 3-spaces for en quads, and if the line does not then quite
justify to put double spaces between long words or those having tall
letters. Obviously it is not wise to put in two 4-spaces when there
is a plentiful supply of en quads at hand. By using two thin spaces
where one thick space will suffice the supply of thin spaces is soon
exhausted, while there will be an over-supply of the thicker kinds left
in the case. It often happens that the same kind of composition is set
by an experienced workman with half the number of thin spaces used by a
novice and it will show greater uniformity in spacing and justification.
Combinations of 3 5-spaces, 3 4-spaces, or 4 5-spaces should be used
sparingly, and only when they are needed to justify the line. Two
3-spaces together are better than an en quad and a 5-space. There are
usually more 3-spaces in the case, and they are easier to distribute
than the thinner spaces.
A good general rule is never to use two or more pieces of material
where one piece will suffice.
_Tying Up the Page_
When the composed lines are on the galley ready for proving they must
be fastened temporarily. A column of type is placed on a long narrow
galley in which a side-stick of wood is laid beside the lines. This is
held in place by pushing in a few wooden wedges or quoins. The Hempel
style of metal quoins are well adapted for this purpose.
[Illustration: FIG. 12 Starting to tie up the page]
When the composition is relatively small the lines are usually tied up
with a cord. This is done by winding the cord several times around the
matter, the number of turns depending upon the size of the page and the
stoutness of the cord. Printers' supply houses call this string page
cord. There is no standard thickness or brand. Any good cotton cord can
be used. That which is known among twine dealers as Seine No. 12 is
excellent for this purpose. Start the cord at the left top corner of
the matter as it lies on the galley--that is, usually at the end of the
last line. With the left hand hold an inch or less of the cord while
the right hand winds it along the upper side, around the head, and
down the lower side of the matter close to the rim of the galley, then
back to the starting point. Here the cord is crossed over the first
end so as to bind it, each turn of the cord at this point going below
the preceding one. At the end of the cord turn in a loop just around
the corner, pushing the cord between the types and the windings with
the nib-end of the composing rule. Draw the loop up reasonably tight
so that it will not slip out, and leave a short end out, to be found
later when necessary to take the cord off. Hold the left hand on the
page until the end of the cord is made fast, to avoid any unexpected
movement of the page during the operation. When the page is fastened,
move it a little from the lower rim of the galley and push the cords
down to the middle of the type-height, especially if low leads,
spaces, and quads are used in the matter. When the cord is tight around
the upper part of the type there is liability of the page doubling up
when it is pushed off to the imposing table or the proof press.
[Illustration: FIG. 13 The fastened page]
If the galley has a high rim there may be some difficulty in getting
the cord down over the lead at the top line and along the lower edge.
In this case, when the first complete turn of the cord is made move
the page carefully up on the galley so that the second and succeeding
windings may come under the first one.
Do not leave long ends of the cord hanging out, as they are liable to
get under the feet of the type and cause damage when the proof is made.
Special care should be taken to keep the feet of the type free from
dirt or lumps of any kind. A good practice of many compositors, after
tying up pages that are not too large to allow it, is to lift the
page perpendicularly and hold it in the left hand while the bottom is
brushed off with the right hand, and then to wipe off the surface of
the press or imposing table before laying the page down.
In composing rooms where a great deal of job composition is done the
time spent in tying up pages is considerable, and the work is often
done carelessly. Each compositor should have at hand his own supply of
page cords, kept in orderly manner for instant use. A ball of stout
white twine every week or oftener costs much less than the time spent
in a week to hunt for pieces of cords kept in no particular place. An
assortment of the lengths most used, folded into little skeins and kept
in the apron pocket, will save time and trouble. Avoid the pieced-up,
knotted string around a page of type that is to be placed on the
imposing table for locking up. Leave no long loose ends, but make the
fastening loop so that it can be readily found after the furniture is
placed around the page.
Stout new rubber bands of the right length may be used for tying up
pages and jobs, but they must be managed carefully, especially in
taking off, to avoid squabbling the type. They are suitable only for
temporary tie-ups and should not be used if the pages are to be kept
standing many days.
_Taking Proofs_
First proofs from composed types are taken for the purpose of
correcting any errors. Later proofs are for verifying corrections and
to note whether instructions have been followed in make-up and in
various other matters necessary to get the type ready for printing.
Proofs are sometimes taken by using a proof planer and mallet, but more
commonly by means of a proof press.
In any of the usual methods employed it is first necessary to spread
ink on the type face with an ink roller. A small hand roller is used in
combination with a smooth steel or stone surface on which to distribute
the ink. The composition of the roller should be well seasoned and the
roller should be well cleaned. A good grade of slow-drying black ink of
the quality known as "book" ink is necessary for the usual work. A very
thin ink or a very stiff ink is not suitable. The amount used should be
just enough to give a clear impression of the type, and no more. This
is graduated to the lightness or boldness of the face, and also to the
finish of the paper. A glossy coated paper will need less ink than a
machine-finish paper; while an antique-finish paper will need much more
ink than either. As a general rule, proofs are made on smooth-finish
paper with a minimum quantity of moderately stiff ink.
[Illustration: FIG. 14 Proof Planer and Round-head Mallet]
[Illustration: FIG. 15. Proof Planer and Mallet in use]
A proof planer is a block of wood about 8 inches long by 3-1/2 inches
wide and 2-1/2 inches high, having its face covered with a piece of
thick cloth or felt. A planer proof must be made while the type is
on the imposing stone or some other solid surface. When ink has been
rolled on the type a sheet of thin paper, slightly damp, is laid on the
type and the planer is used for taking the impression. The sheet should
be dampened evenly all over with a sponge, enough to be a little limp.
The unsponged side of the sheet is laid on the type very carefully to
avoid slurring the impression. The proof planer, held in the left hand,
is placed steadily on top, and a mallet in the right hand is used to
tap the planer. If the planer does not cover the whole page, it must be
lifted from one part to another until the whole surface is covered.
This requires some practice, to avoid a shifting of the sheet on the
type and making a double or smeared impression.
A firm foundation for the type and a steady blow, graduated in force to
the size of the printing surface, are necessary for a clean impression.
The mallet should hit straight, without glancing sidewise, and the
planer should be held level and steady.
[Illustration: FIG. 16 A Proof Press]
The kind of type forms adapted for proving by this method are those
with paragraphs of plain matter and strong faces which will not be
easily battered. Those with large open spaces and small lines, and
those with delicate lines like scripts and kerned italic letters,
should not be proved with a planer if another method is available.
Small groups of type standing alone, like page numbers and small
imprints, require very careful treatment in proving, to avoid
unnecessary impression which may batter the face or break off the
kerns. When it becomes necessary to take proofs of fine or small types
standing without surrounding support, it is a good plan to place near
the type, on two sides if possible, type-high blocks upon which the
planer may rest while the impression is being tapped.
The proof planer is not the common method of taking proofs, but is
employed in places where there is no regular proof press, and also
under conditions where a proof press cannot readily be used. The latter
condition is in the case of a large form beyond the capacity of the
proof press, locked up on the imposing stone, when a proof is required,
either of a part or of the whole, for verification of some detail
before sending the form to press for printing.
[Illustration: FIG. 17 A Proof Planer]
The other and more common method of taking proofs is on one or another
of the several kinds of proof presses, as described in text-book No. 5
of this series, "Proof Presses," to which the reader is referred for a
detailed consideration of the subject.
_Making Corrections_
When a line of type has been set in the composing stick it should be
read over with care, compared with copy, and any mistakes corrected
before the line is justified. A habit of doing this will make cleaner
proofs and save a great deal of time and expense. An error corrected
at this time saves a second justification of the line. If the error
is an omitted word or syllable or a word inserted twice its detection
will save the probable over-running of several lines or even of a whole
paragraph later.
The lines should also be scanned before being taken from the stick to
the galley. A turned letter or a wrong type overlooked in the first
examination may be changed by lifting the line a little until the type
can be picked out and the right one put in its place.
[Illustration: FIG. 18 Checking lines at the case]
Do not try to correct a line in the stick when another line or part of
a line is in front of it. If a correction makes necessary a change of
spaces or a re-justifying of the line, take out all the lines in front,
then correct and justify again. This allows the stick to be held in
the hand and the types can be handled in the same manner as for the
original setting. This will be more convenient than to lay the stick on
the case while re-spacing a line in the middle of a stickful.
The use of a bodkin or tweezers is seldom necessary for correcting
in the stick or on the galley, unless the type is very small and the
measure is narrow.
A little care in revising the lines as they are set, before the first
proof is taken, will result in cleaner proofs and will reduce the time
for proofreading as well as for later corrections.
Even though the lines have been carefully revised while being set,
errors of various kinds will probably be marked on the proof when it
comes back from the proofreader. If there are many lines and a number
of serious errors the corrections are made at the case. The galley is
placed at one side of the case if possible, rather than on top of the
case, with the head of the galley and the top of the lines toward the
right. When only one stand can be used it may be well to put the type
case in the rack under the working shelf and to put the galley on the
shelf. This will permit free access to the case for the letters needed
in correcting and will give a good resting place for the galley and
composing stick.
The compositor stands with his right side to the galley and works with
the tops of the lines toward him. The composing rule with a nib is
useful at this time. Lines in which corrections are to be made should
have leads or rules beside them to help keep them from _pi_-ing during
the operation. If the lines are set solid, leads or rules should be
inserted temporarily and taken out when the correcting is finished.
Simple errors like the exchanging of one type for another of the same
width, the turning of an inverted character, or the transposition of
letters or words, are corrected by pressing the line at both ends to
lift it up about one-third of its height and picking out the wrong
types with the finger and thumb. The line is then dropped in place and
the right types put in.
A line in which there is a change of the spaces or of the justification
should be lifted into a composing stick of the right measure for
correction. Any important change in a line of type should always be
made in a stick, where accurate justification is most readily secured.
First place the composing stick conveniently at hand, with its back
toward the compositor. Insert the composing rule down at the top of the
line in the galley, press both ends of the line together, and raise
it up gently; when it is clear of the other lines turn it so that the
rule is under, and then transfer to the stick. As a rule, lines of
type should be carried in a position which keeps the types themselves
horizontal, not perpendicular. In this manner they are supported by the
lead or rule underneath. If carried with the feet of the types down
they are liable to drop out unless perfectly justified and firmly held.
Many careless compositors persist in correcting lines on the galley in
a puttering, botchy manner which results in badly justified lines. The
beginner is usually inclined to do the same thing because he has not
yet learned to perform with ease and safety the trick of transferring
lines back and forth from the galley to the stick. Instead of shirking
this operation because it looks difficult, he should practice it until
he can do it safely and quickly. A compositor who does not justify his
lines properly is rated as a careless workman. If he has nothing to do
with the later locking up of the forms for the foundry or the press
he is prone to slight this part of his work and thus make additional
duties for other workmen, as well as increase the risk of subsequent
error or accident.
Corrections in type matter often call for the over-running of the
lines; that is, the words must be taken from one line to another,
requiring changes in other lines beside the one in which the correction
was marked. This procedure takes time and is costly. It means that the
entire matter thus re-arranged must be revised to see that new errors
have not crept in.
There are two ways of handling the lines for over-running. When a few
lines are to be thus changed lift them out one at a time and put them
on an extra galley above the working galley, standing them in sequence
along the lower rim with the nicks up. Put the first line into the
stick, take out words or insert new ones as directed in the proof, then
take the words in order from the galley, make any corrections called
for, re-space and justify to the end. If the lines are long, a brass
rule or composing rule of the right length should be used to measure
off the new lines, and these may be taken into the stick a line at a
time instead of a few words at a time.
Another method of over-running does not require the extra galley if
there is some spare room at the bottom of the matter on its own galley.
Insert the rule at the top of the line where the over-run commences and
move the matter down the galley a distance equal to the length of the
lines and an inch farther. Take the first line into the stick. Then
turn a half dozen or more of the following lines so that the nicks of
the type are toward the lower rim of the galley, keeping the ends of
the lines against the matter farther down. Put a piece of 4-em metal
furniture at the other end of the turned lines to prevent letters from
falling down. Correct the line in the stick and proceed by taking the
words in order from the turned lines. If more lines are to be over-run,
take them from their regular position in the galley and turn them nicks
down in the same way as the first lot.
The spacing of over-run lines should be done as carefully as for the
original setting. Sometimes lines too thinly or too widely spaced in
the original may be improved in the re-spacing. Unfortunately, much
work of this kind is done in a rush and the second justification is
neglected. Yet the difference in time taken to do good spacing and
that spent on careless work is often very little.
Hand compositors now do a great deal of correcting and page make-up on
type set by machines. This work is often in the nature of specialties,
yet the general rules of good spacing and justifying apply here also.
Usually greater speed is required, and this means more skill and
oftentimes the employment of some special facilities adapted for the
particular class of work in hand.
It is a rule that any lines of type pied during corrections and reset
must have a mark around them on the revise proof to call attention to
them for another reading to be sure that no new error has been made.
_Importance of Uniform Spacing_
The beginner will realize after he has set his first few stickfuls that
the part of the operation which gives him the greatest trouble is not
finding the types for the words of his copy, but it is getting uniform
spaces between the words to justify the lines. To the uninitiated the
words of a well-set page appear to be separated with spaces of equal
thickness. This is far from the fact; it is only in rare instances that
several lines in a page have spaces that are exactly alike. A close
examination of a page will show a great variety of white spaces between
words, although the difference may not be readily recognized by the
ordinary reader.
In order to make the reading easy and legible the words should be
spaced enough to make them quickly distinguishable at a glance. In
order to make it comfortable and pleasing the words should be spaced
uniformly and the lines arranged orderly, with neither undue huddling
together nor unnecessary separation. Good typesetting means that the
spacing must be approximately even and that the average space must be
carefully proportioned to the style of the type face, the distance
between the lines, and the size and shape of the page.
Uniform spacing between the words in a line is always desirable. A
thin space on one side of a word and a wide space on the other is an
inexcusable fault. An exception is made of the space between sentences,
where the ending of one and the beginning of another occurs in the same
line. In this case it is customary to leave a wide space after the
period.
Lines should not be wide-spaced at one end and thin-spaced at the
other. Absolute evenness may not be easily secured, but an appearance
of uniformity may be given by observing some of the methods described
further on in these pages.
Good spacing means also that all the lines of a composition should be
spaced as nearly alike as is practicable. The extremes of a wide-spaced
line and a thin-spaced line in the same paragraph, or of a wide-spaced
paragraph and a thin-spaced paragraph of similar types on the same
page, should be avoided.
The last line of a paragraph should not be spaced wider than the
average spacing in the paragraph itself. Many compositors have a
habit of wide-spacing a line which happens to have a few words in it,
with the evident aim to make these few words fill the line as much as
possible. This often results in lines needlessly wide-spaced.
_Rules for Spacing_
The standard space between words in ordinary roman lower-case type is
the 3-space. This thickness is commonly accepted as the average spacing
required for legibility in a printed page to be held in the hand. It
gives comfortable legibility in sizes of type from 8-point to 14-point.
Smaller sizes may be spaced with an average slightly wider, like the en
quad, while for large types to be read at close range the spacing may
be less than the 3-space average.
Wide measures, as a rule, require relatively wide spacing. Narrow
measures are preferably thin-spaced, whether the lines are leaded or
solid.
An apparently equal spacing between all words in a line means that in
some cases there must be a slight variation in the width of the actual
spaces used. The size and shape of the letters at the ends of words
will often affect the amount of white space, especially in the larger
faces of type.
There are several combinations of word endings which call for spaces
thinner or thicker than the average in the line in order to make all
the spaces appear equal. These little variations can be made while
changing the spaces to justify the line. They need not, for the
most part, take any extra time, while the resulting evenness in the
spacing of the page will be noticeable. Good spacing without spending
unnecessary time is usually a matter of following a few simple rules.
When necessary to use thinner spaces to get a complete word or syllable
in the line, put these thin spaces after a comma, or between word
endings like ----e w----, ----y a----. Word endings like ----y A----,
----w v----, ----y u---- can be very thinly spaced if necessary.
On the other hand, if a little extra space is needed to fill the line,
increase the spaces between words ending with tall letters,----d l----,
----f b----, etc.
Abbreviated words and initials with the period (Mrs. Rev. M.D. Ph.D.
etc.) are places where thin spaces are properly used.
A thin space is required before colons, semicolons, question marks, and
exclamation marks, when these are cast on thin bodies. These points
should be followed by an extra-wide space. That is, if the line is
spaced with a 3-space as the average, a semicolon should have a 5-space
before it and an en quad after. If the line is thin-spaced, the spaces
before and after the semicolon are reduced also. In some fonts of type
these punctuation marks are cast on thick bodies which furnish a
slight shoulder on each side of the face of the mark. In such cases the
extra spaces may not be required in ordinary composition.
When a question mark or an exclamation mark finishes a sentence, it
should be followed by a space equal to that used after periods in other
parts of the same matter.
The em dash usually should have a little space on each side of it,
especially if the line is spaced with 3-spaces or wider. If the line
is thin-spaced, the dash also may be set close to the adjoining words.
Whenever possible avoid putting the dash at the end of the line in
paragraphs; try to keep it within the line.
A short line, consisting of a word or syllable of two or three letters
only, should be avoided at the end of a paragraph, especially in a
measure of ordinary width. In a very narrow measure it may not be
avoided. Where the other lines of the page are fairly well filled this
short line will make an objectionable break in the matter. If it cannot
be taken back to the preceding line, a little wider spacing of these
lines will allow an additional word or syllable to be brought over to
lengthen the objectionable short line.
It is desirable to end a paragraph with an em quad, if this is
practicable, rather than fill the last line flush. Do not leave an
ordinary space after the period.
When justifying the last line of a paragraph or a headline in which
quads are used, keep the justifying spaces next to the types. Do not
put small pieces at the end of a quad line or scatter them between the
large quads. They will be easier to distribute if placed after the
period.
Hyphenated words in a widely spaced line should have a hair space on
each side of a thin hyphen; but this may not be necessary if the hyphen
is cast on a thick body, as it is in some fonts.
The dollar sign $ is set close to the whole numbers in printing
amounts of money: $25. When specifying fractions of a dollar (in
tabular columns only) put a space between the sign and the decimal:
$ .25. The symbols for English money are also placed close to the
figures, thus L10 5s 2d.
When justifying lines some compositors commence respacing at one end
of the line and increase the spaces in order till the line is full,
regardless of the length of the words or the word endings, repeating
this line after line. The result is that one side of the matter is
spaced wider than the other--a most inexcusable fault. If a few spaces
wider than the average must be used in the line, put these between long
words or words with tall letters; and _vice versa_, if thin spaces are
necessary, put them between short words or words with small letters.
Do not wide-space short words and leave long words in the same line
with thin spaces. Do not, however, if it can be avoided, allow wide
spaces to be repeated nearly under each other, to produce noticeable
straggling white spaces or "rivers" up and down the page. Spacing of
this sort is particularly objectionable for good printing.
An old-time rule required an em quad after a period before beginning
another sentence in the line. This is the practice in many places now,
but there is an objection to the unnecessary large white spot which it
makes in the ordinary page of reading matter. As a distinction between
sentences it seems too conspicuous except in matter that is wide-leaded
and wide-spaced. The modern practice in good work is to reduce this
space to the double 3-space or the en quad, or even to the 3-space in
small pages.
Another unnecessarily large space in narrow measure of solid or
single-leaded lines is an em quad after the period or Roman numeral in
numbered paragraphs. Where the period is used an en quad following it
is sufficient.
In good composition quotation marks should not be crowded close
against the words which they enclose, unless the lines are
close-spaced. Commas and apostrophes cast on very thin types usually
need a little space between the quote-marks they form and the words
they enclose, especially if they are next to tall letters. A large
capital A or a sloping italic capital at the beginning may not need the
separating space after the inverted commas, and a period or a comma
between the last word and the final quote-mark will furnish the needed
separation.
"Quote-marks properly spaced."
"These are not well spaced. "
"'Quotes' within 'quotes' are like this."
In open-spaced matter there should be a thin space between an
exclamation or question mark and the final quote-mark, thus:
"Do you wish to become a good compositor?"
Letter-spacing, or inter-spacing, is frequently employed in headings
and in job and display composition. It is rarely a good practice in
ordinary lower-case composition in paragraph form. In very narrow
measures, where word length or word divisions do not come right to
make the lines the desired length, the letter-spacing of a few words
is sometimes resorted to in order to extend the words. This should be
done with care to avoid making such words conspicuous in the general
appearance of the page. It is better to letter-space the whole line a
little rather than to put excess spacing in one unimportant word.
Black-letter, Old English, Priory Text, Cloister Black, and similar
varieties should not be wide-spaced, nor should they ever be
letter-spaced. The beauty of such letters, which are now used for
their decorative rather than utilitarian qualities, depends upon the
consistent, well-balanced relation between the white and black spaces
of the composition. The compactness of the letter shapes makes words
that are compact and unified. As there are relatively close spaces
between the strokes of the letters, so there should be thin spaces
between the words of the lines and between the lines. Wide spaces
between words do not necessarily make them more legible. A comparison
of the two groups of lines following will show one as easy to read as
the other, while the close-spaced example is less confusing in its
detail.
[Illustration: Example (Black-letter):
These Two Lines Are
Spaced About Right
These Two Lines
Are Wide Spaced]
_Spacing of Italic_
A paragraph of italic type is more difficult to space evenly than the
same lines in roman letters. Usually the average spacing may be about
the same as the companion face of roman; but more frequently than in
roman types the spaces in a line may need to be of unequal thickness in
order to give a uniform appearance to the spacing. Overhanging letters
are frequent and when these come at the beginning or end of words they
require a little more space than is used for words ending or beginning
with small letters. Word pairs with letters like _--f p--_ and
_--l h--_ will in most cases need wider spaces than are used
between pairs like _--e w--_ and _--s A--_.
Some italic capitals have extra shoulder-space on the left of the face,
like _T_, _W_, _V_, which should be allowed for by thin spacing when
they follow small lower-case letters. This extra shoulder is made on
letters of this kind to protect the overhanging kern of an adjoining
letter when words are set in capitals.
Where an italic _f_, _j_, or other kerned letter comes at the beginning
or end of a line a thin space should be placed outside of it to keep
it from projecting beyond the side of the page, where it is easily
broken off. This is important if the matter is to be moulded for
electrotyping.
On account of the frequency of overhanging letters italic types require
very careful handling during composition, correcting, and locking up.
If the kerns over-ride an adjoining type or are subjected to a slight
blow of any kind they are easily broken off.
_Spacing Capital Letters_
Words in capitals need wider spacing than those in lower-case of the
same size. Capitals occupy more space on the type body than small
letters and consequently they need a little more openness between the
words and between the lines to give them a proportionate relief of
white space for legibility.
Roman capitals of the standard faces are often sufficiently spaced with
the en quad if the words are short. Long words in a headline may need
double 3-spaces, while lines of round open capitals in an open area may
need the em quad.
A simple rule to follow is to space wide letters with wide spaces, and
thin or condensed letters with narrow spaces. This may be put another
way by saying that the spacing should approximate the average width of
the letters used, taking an entire alphabet as the basis. Thus, if the
alphabet of capitals measures 18 ems, the average width of the letters
would be 18/26ths, or approximately 2/3 of the em.
Like all rules, this is subject to modifications in special cases.
The shapes of the letters which end and begin the words may make it
desirable to increase or decrease the spaces in some places. Word
endings like --L T-- and --Y A-- should have a little thinner
space than is used between those ending and beginning with full-bodied
upright letters like --M R--.
[Illustration: Example:
VERY AGED BOTTOM RIM]
In small types the inequalities in white space around letters of
different shapes may not be readily seen, but in large sizes these
differences increase in noticeable degree. A careful compositor will
select his spaces to equalize these little differences and thus avoid
the numerous inconsistent defects sure to result from mere mechanical
justification of the lines.
Combinations of capitals like the following example show distinctly
uneven white spaces between the letters of the word. These should be
equalized wherever possible by the use of thin leads or cards between
the close-fitted letters.
[Illustration: Example (before and after spacing):
VAINLY ATTEMPTED
VAINLY ATTEMPTED]
This differential spacing will also be desirable in a line having
abbreviations or initials. The following example spaced with en quads
in every place shows an excess of white between the initials because of
the presence of the periods.
[Illustration: Example (before and after spacing):
HON. JOHN L. SMITH MARK HARRIS, D. D. S.
HON. JOHN L. SMITH MARK HARRIS, D. D. S.]
A thinner space between the initials gives uniform spacing through the
line.
Large initials used in groups, as in college degrees and military
titles, are often set close together with simply the period for
separation. This style is preferred in any close-spaced matter; though
for more open matter a thin space may be used after the periods.
Two or more lines of capitals of the same size should be spaced as
nearly alike as possible. The disproportionate spacing of the following
three lines is sometimes seen, but is not pleasing:
[Illustration: Example:
A PRIMER OF INFORMATION
ABOUT WORKING AT THE CASE
AND SETTING TYPE BY HAND]
Lines of small capitals of normal size are often sufficiently spaced
with the 3-space and slightly wider when in paragraph form. When used
in headings and open-leaded matter en-quad spacing is required.
[Illustration: Examples:
LINES OF SMALL CAPITALS OF NORMAL SIZE ARE OFTEN
PROPERLY SPACED WITH ONE THREE-TO-EM SPACE WHEN
IN PARAGRAPH FORM.
IN HEADINGS AND OPEN MATTER, EN-QUAD
SPACING IS REQUIRED.
EXTENDED OR WIDE-FACED LETTERS NEED
WIDER SPACES THAN CONDENSED OR THIN-
FACED LETTERS, AS SHOWN IN THESE LINES
Type of Condensed Shape should, in all ordinary conditions, be thin
spaced. To select thin letters and then to wide space them is hardly
logical.
SPACING OF THIS KIND IS OBJECTIONABLE.]
_Wide Spacing_
Letters and words huddled together so that they are not readily recognized
at a glance do not make easy reading. On the other hand, very wide spacing
does not necessarily result in a proportionate increase of legibility; it
may even produce results as confusing as very thin spacing.
[Illustration: Example:
LIGHT-FACED GOTHIC THIN-SPACED
IS CONFUSING TO THE EYE OF
THE AVERAGE MAN OR WOMAN]
A general rule affecting wide spacing is that the average distance
between the words in the line should be less than the distance between
the lines themselves. Notice in the above example how the words group
themselves up and down the page rather than in order along the line for
the eye to follow. Note also how wide spaces between the words form
distinct, irregular streaks up and down the page to lead the eye away
from its course along a single line at a time.
[Illustration: Example:
WIDE SPACING FOR EASY READING
HAS LITTLE ADVANTAGE UNLESS
THE LINES ARE LEADED OUT]
Wide spacing for easy reading has little advantage unless the lines are
leaded out in equal proportion.
Double-leaded lines are well spaced with an average of an en quad. When
this is used the limit of space would be the double 3-space, while the
thin space would be the single 3-space.
An average spacing wider than the en quad is rarely ever necessary
in roman lower-case matter even if the lines are separated with more
than the double leads. The only excuse for the wider spacing is the
necessity for making words and syllables fill the line.
In some kinds of composition wide spacing and wide leading are
desirable. Wide measures and ample white space up and down the page
naturally call for open spacing of type lines. Large advertisements,
wall cards, placards, and other forms intended to be read at a distance
farther away than the book or magazine in the hand, are properly
wide-spaced and wide-leaded. Extremes in openness, however, are not
safe to follow. A study of the work of the leading designers in
typography will show a compact grouping of both words and lines which
gives unity and orderliness with ample readability. In contrast with
this the disconnected, patchy, scattered effects shown in commonplace
type composition will prove that habitual wide-spacing is often
unnecessary.
_Paragraph and Other Indentions_
There are several styles of indention employed in type composition.
These are known as (1) regular paragraph, (2) hanging indention,
(3) half-diamond indention or inverted pyramid indention, with its
variation of lozenge-shape formation, (4) squared indention, and (5)
diagonal indention.
Hanging indention is where the first line of a
paragraph begins flush and the second and
succeeding lines are indented, as in this
paragraph. It is a common form in catalogs,
tabular work, and also in poetry.
Half-diamond indention is when successive lines are indented at
both ends, each one being shorter than the preceding
line, as shown in this paragraph. It is
commonly used for title pages
and display matter.
INDENTIONS
WHICH MAKE THE
LOZENGE-SHAPED PANEL
ARE OFTEN USED
FOR TITLES
AND BITS
OF DIS-
PLAY
It is often advisable to indent lines at
both ends, to make several short lines
instead of one or two long lines. In
cases of this kind the first line is not
indented more than the others, as
shown in this paragraph. Squared indention
is used for short paragraphs in
advertising matter, bits of minor display,
and miscellaneous composition.
Diagonal indention is when the lines of
type are so arranged that they follow
after each other diagonally in this style.
Another manner of indenting lines, somewhat rare in this country but
common in Europe, is termed French motto indention. This is usually
made with small types, the paragraph being set in squared-up fashion at
the right side of the page, within the measure.
An indention should be enough to indicate the paragraph clearly, yet
not be so wide as to make it a conspicuous white spot on the page.
Its purpose is to show the reader a change of subject or a minor
subdivision of the matter. The amount of indention necessary to attain
this will vary in different forms of composition, and therefore only
general rules can be given.
The usual indention of paragraphs in plain reading matter is an em quad
at the beginning of the first line. If the lines are more than average
length the indention may be increased to one and a half ems, two ems,
or more. Indentions of over two ems, however, are seldom allowable in
ordinary reading matter like books and periodicals.
Wide indentions should not be made in narrow measures; nor should
indistinct, insignificant indentions be made in broad measures.
Paragraphs set in 10-point or 12-point type in measures from 15 to 20
picas wide are sufficiently indented by the em quad, while 6-point type
in the same measure should be indented with a two-em quad.
Wide-leaded, open matter will call for a little more paragraph
indention, as a rule, than is given to thin-spaced solid-line
paragraphs. In pamphlets, circulars, advertisements, and job work,
where wide leading and broken lines of a miscellaneous character are
frequent, paragraph indentions may be wider than in book pages. On the
other hand, in composition of this kind where other means of showing
the commencement of a subject are used, indentions are omitted and the
paragraphs begun flush at the margin.
The indention of paragraphs should be uniform throughout any single
book or job. It is rare that more than two different widths of
indention are needed to give a clear idea of the classification of
any group of subjects. A variety of indentions on the same page is
confusing and often spoils the orderly arrangement of the matter which
the copy writer sought to obtain. Even where there are several sizes of
type on the page, if the paragraphs are the same width, the indentions
should be alike.
A common defect that is made conspicuous when wide indentions are made
in paragraphs following each other is the occurrence of a single short
word or syllable in the last line of a paragraph, as shown in this
example:
Every printer's apprentice should carefully read and
study these simple rules for the indention and spacing of
type.
He should study all the books of this series.
This constitutes a "bad break" and should be avoided either by
thin-spacing the last two or three lines of the paragraph to take
the short word back and save the line, or by over-running the lines
with wider spaces to bring more words to the last line. The choice of
these expedients will depend upon the openness or closeness of the
composition, in many cases upon the make-up of the page. If a line can
be saved, take the solitary word back; if the line is needed, space out
the preceding lines, provided it may be done without making bad spacing.
_Setting Poetry_
The indention of lines of poetry is sometimes a puzzling matter for
the inexperienced compositor, unless he is given printed copy or
carefully prepared manuscript in which the line indentions are clearly
indicated. There are few rules which govern the subject and these few
are sometimes ignored in practice.
If the composing stick will accommodate each line of verse in a line of
type the composition will be much simplified. The first consideration
will be to indent the lines so that the general body of the poem is
approximately near the middle of the page or column. When the lines
vary in length a great deal some calculation is needed to get the right
indention without going over them the second time. The longest line
should be set first and the indention of the others made to accord
with this. In this case some lines will be set a little at the left of
the page.
Indention of poetry is made with even em quads of the type used. The
variations in indention are also graduated by ems; usually one em, but
sometimes two, three, or more, according to the relative length of
lines. The odd spaces needed for justifying are put after the last word
in the line.
As a rule, lines which rhyme with each other are indented alike.
Pick and click
Goes the type in the stick,
As the printer stands at his case;
His eyes glance quick and his fingers pick
The type at a rapid pace.
One of the commonest forms of verse is that in which the alternating
lines or the second and fourth lines rhyme. In this case the second
line of each pair is indented one em beyond the first. If the lines are
long and the type small the indention may be two ems.
(Rhyme of first and third, second and fourth lines.)
When Freedom from her mountain height
Unfurled her standard to the air,
She tore the azure robe of night
And set the stars of glory there.
(Rhyme of second and fourth lines.)
There is no wrath in the stars,
They do not rage in the sky;
I look from the Evil Wood
And find myself wondering why.
In many cases, however, rhymes like those above are set without varying
the indention.
When the rhyme follows at certain intervals, the rhyming lines are
indented alike:
My country, 'tis of thee,
Sweet land of liberty,
Of thee I sing;
Land where my fathers died,
Land of the Pilgrims' pride,
From ev'ry mountain side
Let freedom ring.
In blank verse the indention of lines is uniform, the only
consideration being to indent the lines so that the general group will
be somewhere near the middle of the page.
Who draws a line and satisfies his soul,
Making it crooked where it should be straight?
An idiot with an oyster shell may draw
His lines along the sand, all wavering,
Fixing no point, or pathway to a point.
An idiot once removed may choose his line,
Struggle, and be content; but, God be praised!
Antonio Stradivari has an eye
That winces at false work and loves the true,
With hand and arm that play upon the tool,
As willingly as any singing bird
Sets him to sing his morning roundelay,
Because he likes to sing and likes the song.
A uniform indention is also given to poems in which the rhyme is in two
adjoining lines.
He spoke of the grass and flowers and trees,
Of the singing birds and the humming bees;
Then talked of the haying, and wondered whether
The cloud in the West would bring foul weather.
When a line is too long to come into the page width the surplus words
are turned over to the next line; to avoid confusion this turn-over is
indented differently from the beginning of a regular line commencing
with a capital.
Gallop and sing, gallop and sing!
With the open road before,
And my good horse laying his hoofs to
the ground
As I ride by the shouting shore.
If the compositor is given any discretion in setting poetry, care
should be taken to regulate the length of line and the indentions so
that lines will not turn over into extra lines unnecessarily; yet, when
the measure is narrow it is better to turn over an occasional long line
rather than to place the whole poem out of the center.
_Headings_
The usual heading, termed a center head, is set in the middle of
the line. It may be in capitals of the text or in a larger size. If
capitals and lower-case are used the size should be several sizes
larger, or the face should be bolder. In any case a main heading should
be a little more prominent than a line of the text.
[Illustration: TYPESETTING]
A sub-heading is a secondary heading and may be in the center of the
measure or a side heading at the beginning of the line. In the latter
place it may be in a line by itself, set flush, in italic, in caps. and
small caps., or in small bold face; or it may be set in the first line
of the paragraph, with the regular indention.
[Illustration: A PRIMER OF INFORMATION]
A cut-in head is set in a panel, with or without rule, after the second
or third line of the first paragraph.
A running head is at the top of each page of a book or other work of a
number of pages. In books and pamphlets the page number is usually at
the outside end of the running-head line.
Box headings are enclosed in rules at the top of columns in tabular
matter.
In modern practice no punctuation is placed at the end of headings,
except the question and quotation marks when these are required. In
a heading of two or more lines where a comma or semicolon comes
naturally at the end of the first or second line, its omission may
change or confuse the sense of the phrase. In such cases it should be
used, even if the period is left off the end of the heading.
For additional comment on headings and punctuation see other title of
this series: Book Composition (No. 20); also Punctuation (No. 33) and
Capitals (No. 34), etc.
_Initial Letters_
An initial at the beginning of a chapter or other text requires nicety
of spacing and justification. In modern practice the use of initials
is often overdone, being used in many cases where they might better be
omitted. Before the invention of typography, and since, the initial
letter has been considered the feature of a page that could be used for
decorative purposes. Early manuscripts show many elaborate, beautifully
colored initials done by artists and illuminators. It was the custom
of early printers to leave blank spaces in their printed pages for
initials to be drawn in later. In some cases a small letter was printed
in the middle of a large space as a guide to the artist. These small
letters would be covered by the larger letter, but sometimes they were
left as printed and the decoration drawn around them to fill the space.
Later the ornamental initials were cut on wood or cast in metal and
printed with the text.
As an initial is usually a prominent spot on a page its selection
should be a matter of care. A plain letter of a style of face similar
to the text is always a safe choice; an old-style letter for a text set
in oldstyle roman, or a modern-cut Bodoni for Bodoni text. If the text
is in italic an italic initial is more suitable than an upright letter.
Extremely bold initials are not suitable for small types or light-faced
text matter.
The size of an initial should be considered in relation to the size
of the page and the size of the type used. In small pages of type of
10-point or smaller, a two-line letter will often be large enough;
while a large page will require a large initial. If the initial is an
ornamental letter it should be of a similar style of ornament to a
head-piece or other decoration that may be on the page. Two different
styles of initials or other decorative features of a page should be
avoided.
In setting an initial into the beginning of a paragraph the letter
is placed in the stick and the first line of text set after it. The
letters of the first word are set in capitals usually, unless the first
word is very long and the line of capitals is too prominent, when
small capitals may be used. If the first word contains two or three
letters only the next word is also set in capitals. The top of the
initial should be even with the top of the first line of the text. If
the initial has more shoulder than the body type, which is usually the
case, a lead or more may be needed at the top of the first line. This
should be properly lined up in the stick.
The spacing between the initial and the text depends upon the
particular letter of the alphabet used, if a plain letter, or upon
the decoration around the initial. The other letters of the first
word are kept close to the initial, but the beginning of the second
and succeeding lines are separated from it a little. In this way the
initial has a closer relation to the word to which it belongs. The
space at the right of the initial, between it and the text, should
be apparently equal to that below it. It should not be extra wide in
either place, or it will give the initial a detached appearance. To
avoid this extra wide space it may be necessary to trim off some of the
shoulder from the type, especially below the face. The proper size for
an initial-letter should be equal to the number of text lines which it
covers. This is not always practicable when miscellaneous types are
selected from other fonts. If they are to be put back in their fonts
after use as initials they may not be trimmed to odd sizes of body;
nor should they ever be trimmed so without express permission of the
foreman. For the usual work it is possible to use an initial that is a
multiple of the text size with or without leads. An 18-point letter may
be used for two-line initial in an 8-point text with 2-point leads; or
a 24-point letter in leaded 10-point text.
The width of initials is very likely to make text lines after them of
odd length rather than even picas or nonpareils. If the text is solid,
this odd length of line is easily justified to the measure; but in case
leads are used and even-pica leads do not fit it may be necessary to
cut a few special odd-length leads to fit the lines. First, however,
after the top line has been justified, put a few leads of even picas in
the stick and try a short lead or two up and down beside the initial to
fill in to the even-pica leads. If these extra vertical leads do not
leave too much space around the initial they will do to take up the odd
measure. Sometimes a thin space of a size two points larger than the
text may be used.
_Making Up Pages_
Make-up is the term describing the various operations of dividing
composed matter into pages of uniform length, adding the headings, page
numbers (folios), inserting small engravings, and otherwise preparing
the pages for locking up in a chase for the press or the electrotype
foundry.
Newspaper pages and other large page forms of two or more columns are
customarily made up on the stone or a similar flat surface in a special
chase, with side-sticks and lock-up fitted for the form.
Pages for books, catalogs, and other small and medium sizes are made up
on a broad galley placed on the inclined top of the compositor's stand
or cabinet. The compositor who does this work regularly has the working
top of his stand fitted with material and conveniences which should
help him to do the work without waste of time. There are several styles
of make-up cabinets furnished by dealers in printers' goods. These are
designed with the object of keeping near the workman a supply of leads,
rules, furniture, and other articles frequently used, so that he may
save steps and minutes in doing his work.
It is important that the make-up galley should set firmly and that the
bottom should not sag. If it is liable to move at a slight touch, or
the bottom is uneven, the type lines will fall down easily, thereby
adding to the care and time needed for the work.
[Illustration: FIG. 19 The Make-up Galley]
The galley is laid with its closed end or head at the right hand. A
strip should be nailed on the shelf at the right to act as a stop to
hold the galley in place while working on it, especially to prevent it
from moving when the lines are pushed up to test the length of the page.
The make-up compositor works with his right side inclined toward the
stand, as when making corrections on the galley. The galley should not
be so high as to be uncomfortable for the right arm, which must be held
over it while working on the pages.
The common practice in making up is to handle the pages sideways, with
the top toward the right hand, so that the sequence of lines follows
to the left down the galley. In this way the beginning of each line
rests against the lower galley rim, and by the use of leads or rules
one or any number of lines can be taken out or moved back and forth on
the galley with safety. Some job compositors handle small forms with
the top line along the lower rim of the galley. This method may suffice
with a few lines of large type, but it is not recommended. It is not
practicable for pages of many lines or for lines without leads.
The galley matter should be corrected and revised before making up
begins. This is important in a work of a number of pages, as any
considerable changes after the pages are tied up usually require extra
labor. If the revise proofs show only a few corrections, these may be
made in advance, a galley or more at a time, by the make-up hand.
The justification of the lines requires particular attention, and all
faulty lines should be re-justified. If there are many lines requiring
extra time for rectifying the fact should be reported to the foreman
or the compositor at fault. Badly justified lines should not be passed
over and allowed to go to the imposing stone, in the expectation that
they may be rectified when the locking up is done. All justifying
should be done and all corrections made as far as possible while the
matter is on the galley.
When there is enough composition for a number of pages a gage should be
made to measure the exact length of the pages. For a few pages, like a
circular or a program, an ordinary pica measure may be used, the length
being defined as a given number of picas or lines. If there are to be
a number of pages, a page gage should be made from a strip of reglet
or brass rule. The gage should include the length of a full page, over
all, from the top of the running head down to the foot slug. It may be
marked on its upper edge to show the depth of the running head and any
other uniform division to be repeated on several pages.
For book pages set in one size of type the length should be determined
by even lines of the type used and the running head. No extra leads
should be put here and there between the lines or paragraphs of a
regular text page; these are used only in broken pages, above and below
headings, engravings, or in separating extracts, foot notes, etc. If
the pages contain several sizes of type the gage should indicate the
exact length of the printed face, as different sizes of type have
different amounts of shoulder below the face. For example, a page set
in 12-point type would have a pica slug below the last line; if the
next page contained a foot note set in 8-point, with the pica slug
below, and both pages were exactly the same length, the face of the
8-point note would be a point below the face of the 12-point line on
the first page. In this case a 1-point lead should be taken from above
the 8-point note and put between the note and the foot slug.
For a book, periodical, or other work that is to be made up frequently
from time to time there should be a durable steel or brass page gage,
carefully marked for depth of running head, chapter sinkage, drop
folio, or any other feature to be kept in uniform position.
Galley matter to be made up into pages of a uniform number of lines
should be first marked off with slips of card or slugs at the places
where the matter breaks into pages. This is done with the page gage,
making allowance for running heads and other features not yet in the
matter. If the division comes badly at some places a change of a line
more or less at some preceding page and a shifting of the dividing
place will eliminate the awkward break. It may happen in the first
casting off that a sub-head comes at the bottom of a page, or the last
short line of a paragraph comes at the top of a page, or the pages
divide in the middle of a short table. These objectionable divisions
may usually be overcome by a change in the starting at the first page,
taking a line or two from the second page, and so on to the third and
succeeding pages; or, on the other hand, adding a line or two to the
succeeding page. Sometimes an extra line may be made by over-running
two or three lines at the end of a paragraph; or, if a line less is
desirable, a short line at the end of a paragraph may be saved by a
little thinner spacing of a few preceding lines.
A few moments spent in casting off the matter on two or three galleys
ahead of the actual making up will save a great deal of time later in
case a bad division makes necessary a little change in pages already
completed.
Rules regarding the make-up of book pages must be general for the
most part, as many things depend upon the character of the work and
the conditions under which it is done. In certain kinds of fine work
there are some careful details which can be overlooked in ordinary
work that must be done hurriedly and economically. Yet many desirable
details of good workmanship may be followed without extra expenditure
of time or material if the compositor and make-up hand understand how
to do them properly in the first place. A great part of the time and
expense devoted to preparing composed type for printing is due to the
necessity for going over the pages to correct important matters which
could as well have been done right in the first place if it were not
for carelessness or lack of knowledge.
The desirable division in a chapter or other composition of plain
matter is in the middle of a paragraph of four or preferably more than
four lines. There should be at least two lines of a paragraph together
on a page. There will thus be a full line at the bottom of one page and
another full line at the top of the next.
There are many cases, of course, where the natural division of pages
will come between paragraphs. An old-time rule tried to avoid this
because of the liability of losing the connection in reading from page
to page; but with pages plainly numbered and with consistent running
heads this rule has little value. The objection to ending a page with
the end of a paragraph may often be caused by the presence of a very
short line which gives a broken outline to an otherwise symmetrical
page.
The last line of a paragraph should not be put at the top of a page or
a column. This rule may be modified in ordinary work if the last line
is full length and its presence at the top of the page will avoid some
other objectionable feature.
The first line of a paragraph should not be left at the bottom of
a page, especially if there is a short line ending the paragraph
immediately above.
If there is no other way of following the two preceding rules, make two
facing pages a line shorter than the regular length by carrying the
lines backward or forward.
A short word divided by a hyphen at the end of a line should not be
divided between two pages. A little respacing of the bottom line of one
page and the top line of the next will usually overcome a division of
this sort.
In book work, the first page of the preface, introduction, table of
contents, and of each chapter should be sunk uniformly about one-sixth
of the distance down from the top of a full-length page. This space
may be varied in different books according to choice, but the sinkage
should be the same throughout any one book. These pages are always on
the first side of a leaf. If they make only one page each, the back of
the leaf is left blank.
The style of the running head is usually specified in instructions for
the work. The wording may be either (a) the title of the book on all
full pages, (b) the title of the book on the left-hand pages and the
chapter subject on the right-hand pages, (c) the title of a new subject
which begins, with or without a sub-head, in the text below. The latter
style is desirable in a book of many pages because the running heads,
carefully phrased, serve as a running index of the contents of a book.
First pages of chapters with sunken heads do not have running heads.
The page number or folio is in the end of the running head line, the
odd numbers at the right and the even numbers at the left. The folio of
the first page of a chapter (which has no running head) is put at the
bottom of the page in the center, where it is termed a drop folio. This
drop folio should not be included in the regular length of the page,
but put in the lower margin a lead or two below the text, and set in
figures of a type smaller than the text of the page.
The space between the running head and the text matter should be equal
to a full line of quads. This is an average for plain book pages which
may be varied according to the leading of the page. The running head
should not appear disconnected from the page itself, nor on the other
hand should it be crowded on the top line of the text, especially if
there are likely to be wide gaps between paragraphs or around sub-heads.
A headline or sub-head and one line of text should not be left at the
bottom of a page. If it is not possible to get three lines of the
paragraph at the bottom of the page, let the page go short and call
attention to the irregularity.
A sub-head immediately under the running head is a combination to be
avoided if possible, especially if the same kind of type is used for
both, as is often the case.
Two or three lone lines should not be left for the last page of a
chapter. Try to allow enough for a quarter of a page or more.
_Washing Type_
Clean printing can not be done from dirty type. For this reason, as
well as for greater ease and cleanliness in handling, it is important
that type (which has to be used over and over again) should be washed
as clean as possible after use. Ink should not be allowed to dry hard
on a form, as it will if left over night or over an idle day. The type
face should be cleaned after taking proofs. It should show a clean face
while corrections are being made, and also when it goes to press or to
the moulding room.
Type should not be distributed back into the case until it is well
cleaned after use.
Benzine is now very generally used to wash ink from type, electrotypes,
and other printing plates. When it can be obtained in good quality it
is a convenient washing fluid for printers' use. It loosens up dry ink
quickly, evaporates in a few moments, and leaves the surface dry.
Benzine and other type washes are often used with a brush, but this is
not a good practice. The brush cleans the ink off the face of the type,
but does not carry off the ink, which is left to dry again down in the
hollow parts of the form and around the shoulder of the types where the
fluid has washed it. A brush soon becomes foul after repeated use; it
cannot be easily cleaned; it is usually retained in this condition and
while it rubs off the face it leaves greater foulness than it can take
away.
A soft rag rolled into a pad with a little benzine poured on its
surface will loosen the ink and take it off the type clean. When the
pad gets inky turn another part of the rag out to give a clean wiping
surface. When the rag gets dirty enough to soil the hands throw it in
the waste can and get a clean one.
Quite often, after the ink has been wiped off with a rag, a fairly
stiff, fine brush is needed to clean out dried ink and dirt that has
accumulated in small places like the counters of the letters and the
screens of halftone plates.
Gasoline is a tolerable substitute for benzine when the latter cannot
be obtained. It is not so satisfactory, however, because of the
greasiness which it leaves on the surface after evaporation. If the
form is to be re-inked immediately after cleaning this greasiness must
be removed in order to ink up again for a sharp, clear impression.
Kerosene may be used for washing off ink, but it also leaves a
disagreeable greasy surface, even more than gasoline does. For this
reason it is not satisfactory for frequent washing of type or printing
forms, though it is a good wash for inking rollers.
A weak lye, made from dissolved potash, was formerly used extensively
for washing type forms and inking rollers, but its use has been
superseded by the safer, cleaner, more convenient benzine or gasoline.
It is excellent, however, for washing type forms occasionally, as after
a long run on the press or after electrotype moulding, to clean off the
accumulation of dried ink or of moulder's wax and blacklead.
For cleaning with lye the form should be stripped of all wooden
material like reglets, wood-base plates, and anything that is liable to
be injured by the washing. The type should be placed on a board and set
in the sink. The washing is done with a medium stiff brush, care being
taken not to allow the hands to get wet with the lye, as the solution
will burn and discolor the skin. After a thorough but not hard rubbing,
the lye is rinsed off with running water until it has all disappeared.
If the type is still a little greasy to the touch after rinsing there
is still some lye to be cleared off by further rinsing.
Caustic soda may be dissolved and diluted to the right strength and
used in the same manner as potash lye.
_Distributing Type_
The distribution of type and other material into the proper cases after
use is too often improperly done. It is important, if work is to be
done without waste of time, that the necessary materials should be
where they can be found quickly. A cleanly distributed case of type is
necessary to good typesetting.
A beginner should go at the work carefully. There are several matters,
as well as the lay of the case, with which he should become familiar.
If he is not perfectly familiar with every box he should have a diagram
of the case before him as a guide. He should take only one line at a
time in his hand, at the start, and only two or three types at a time
between his thumb and forefinger to drop in the boxes. Later, when
he acquires facility, he can take up a number of lines and take off
complete words to distribute.
[Illustration: FIG. 20 Holding type in the hand for distributing]
The type line is placed in the left hand, well down in the palm--not
upon the ends of the thumb and finger. The nicks of the type should be
upwards and the face toward him. All words should be carefully spelled,
especially unfamiliar ones, before taking them from the line. In this
way the learner will note the b's and d's, p's and q's, u's and n's,
A's and V's. These letters are liable to be confusing at first, until
one gets used to the inverted appearance of the types.
The distributer must also note the slight difference in the capital I
and lower-case l, in the size of small capitals and lower-case letters,
and to distinguish between the o, s, w, v, x, z of the two sets of
alphabets. In some fonts the difference is so slight that experienced
compositors may not always be sure to distinguish them, while other
fonts have these six small capitals marked with an extra nick. As a
rule, the small capitals are larger and slightly thicker than the round
lower-case letters.
Fonts of old style figures have the figure 1 so near like the small
capital I that the difference can only be noted by the thickness of
the body; the figure is on an en set and the small capital a little
thinner. The lower-case o and the old style cypher 0 are also easily
confused. The cypher is usually rounder than the lower-case letter.
The types should be dropped sidewise, with the face slightly upward,
the forefinger and second finger gently pushing the types apart as
each is dropped from the thumb and forefinger. Drop the type in its
place lightly, spelling the letters as they are dropped. If the type is
large, lay it in; do not throw it in face down. The eye should follow
the hand until it drops in the right box.
Special characters in the matter should be saved aside until the matter
is all distributed and then put where they belong. But do not put them
in the corner of a box and promise to care for them later. Types put
out of sight this way are usually forgotten. A small wooden galley or
shallow box kept in plain sight above the case is the best way to care
temporarily for extra characters, italics, and types that belong in
another case.
One of the most annoying things in a composing room is the distribution
of type into a case where it does not belong. This happens through
carelessness which should not be tolerated. To the beginner a constant
warning should be held up: Look sharp! Do not guess! Examine the nick
as well as the face. Do not be misled by a general appearance of
similarity. If there is any doubt about the types being returned to the
case where they belong, take a letter or two from the case and place it
beside a similar letter in the hand for close comparison.
The distribution of advertisements and job work in which there are
several sizes and faces of type calls for extra care and a little
system in sorting out the lines before distribution. First select all
the lines of each kind on the galley, beginning with the large sizes,
bringing all the lines of one kind together for distribution at one
time. This will save extra steps, save time, and give fewer chances for
distributing into the wrong case.
If there is much type to distribute, take it to the case in a small
galley, such as a distributing galley or a typefoundry paging galley;
or bring the case to the stand where the work can be done conveniently
and correctly. Do not stoop down in a dark corner, or reach up to a
case above the level of the eyes, and distribute at a guess.
Distribute the different thicknesses of spaces in the boxes where
they belong. This should be the rule in all sizes under 24-point. The
3-spaces, 4-spaces, 5-spaces, and hair spaces should be kept separate,
so that they will not have to be sorted out when composition is done.
Pied type in any amount should not be distributed from the hand. Set
the letters in line in a composing stick, with nicks all one way, and
then distribute them in the usual way. If there are several sizes, pick
out the large ones first.
If there is only a little type in the case before beginning
distribution, this is a good time to clean out the boxes. Clean out the
space and quad boxes, sort out the few spaces there may be, pick out
any bits of card, paper, string, leads, broken type, etc. If the boxes
are dusty, blow them out with bellows or air pump, taking the case to a
place where the dust will be carried off and not go into the air to be
inhaled.
Neither before nor after distributing is it necessary to shake the type
case violently. Rattling the type around in the case usually injures
the face. A gentle shake or two will be sufficient to spread out the
few remaining types in a nearly empty case or to settle down the types
in a full case.
Thin leads and pieces of card or paper used in letter-spacing and
justification should not as a rule be left in the cases. If they are
worth saving and are likely to be used again they may be kept in a
spare box by themselves, not with some other spaces.
Small types in solid or leaded paragraphs are easier distributed if
they have been sponged with water a little time beforehand. If the
types are loose and dry, the water will hold them together slightly
when handled. If the matter has been standing for some time after
washing and has become caked or stuck together, it may have to be
loosened up by a thorough dampening which will get in between the
types. New type is liable to become caked together after standing and
will need some soapy water to make it distributable.
SUPPLEMENTARY READING
CORRECT COMPOSITION. By Theodore L. DeVinne. Published by Oswald
Publishing Co., New York.
PRINTING FOR SCHOOL AND SHOP. By F. S. Henry. Published by John Wiley &
Sons, Inc., New York.
TYPE SPACING. By E. R. Currier. Published by Bowles, New York.
SUGGESTIONS TO STUDENTS AND INSTRUCTORS
The following questions, based on the contents of this pamphlet,
are intended to serve (1) as a guide to the study of the
text, (2) as an aid to the student in putting the information
contained into definite statements without actually memorizing
the text, (3) as a means of securing from the student a
reproduction of the information in his own words.
A careful following of the questions by the reader will insure
full acquaintance with every part of the text, avoiding the
accidental omission of what might be of value. These primers
are so condensed that nothing should be omitted.
In teaching from these books it is very important that these
questions and such others as may occur to the teacher should
be made the basis of frequent written work, and of final
examinations.
The importance of written work cannot be overstated. It not
only assures knowledge of material, but the power to express
that knowledge correctly and in good from.
If this written work can be submitted to the teacher in printed
form it will be doubly useful.
QUESTIONS
1. What does good typography demand on the part of
the craftsman?
2. What advantages have movable types over other methods of
preparing a page for printing?
3. Wherein is typesetting easy and wherein difficult?
4. What is really the principal working material of the
compositor?
5. What habits should be formed at the beginning of the young
compositor's work?
6. How should the compositor stand?
7. How should the compositor dress for his work?
8. Why is it unnecessary to learn all the cases in the market?
9. What case plans is it necessary to learn?
10. What is the plan of the common capital case?
11. What is the common lower-case plan?
12. Describe the California job case.
13. What are some wrong methods of learning the case?
14. Describe a good way of learning the case.
15. What incidental advantage has this method?
16. What is the unit of measurement for type?
17. How are type bodies graduated in size, and what are the most
used sizes?
18. What is an em, and how is the term applied to type?
19. How do we find the quantity of type on a page?
20. How were type sizes formerly designated?
21. What is a pica, and how is the term now used?
22. How are leads, slugs, and the like graduated in length?
23. How are point-system calculations converted into inches?
24. What are spaces and quads, and how are they commonly
designated?
25. How may the apprentice learn to tell the difference in the
regular spaces in his case?
26. How many regular spaces are usually found, and how may they
be combined to meet most of the requirements of composition?
(The instructor should exercise the apprentice in making the
combinations shown in the table by asking him how he could
get specified spaces.)
27. How has the system of width been applied to spaces?
28. What are high spaces and quads, and when and why used?
29. What are quotation quads, and how are they used?
30. What is the peculiarity of typewriter types and spaces?
31. What is the difference between spaces for script types and
the spaces for ordinary roman types?
32. What is the meaning of the terms spacing, justifying, and
leading?
33. What devices are used for spaces thinner than 5-space?
Describe them fully.
34. What may be used when thin spaces are lacking, and what
caution should be observed?
35. What is the first step before beginning to set type, and how
is it done?
36. What may you use for a gage to set the composing stick?
37. How may you provide for compression of types in locking up?
38. How may you be sure the stick is properly squared up?
39. How do you set the knee in place and keep it there?
40. What is a composing rule, what is its use, and why is it not
more frequently used?
41. How is the composing stick held?
42. In what position is the type in the stick read?
43. What should the compositor first do to his copy?
44. How is the type selected, picked up, and put in the stick?
45. How should every line of type end, and how can you make it
do so?
46. Describe two methods of changing spaces.
47. When is a line well justified, and what faults are to be
guarded against, and why?
48. What care should be taken with long lines, and why?
49. What care should be taken regarding leads and rules, and why?
50. Why is careful justification important?
51. What common mistakes do beginners make in the use of spaces?
52. What simple rule should be observed in this connection?
53. Why should the beginner use leads and a composing rule in
setting his first stickful?
54. What care should the beginner use in filling his stick?
55. Describe fully the operation of emptying the stick?
56. What should be looked for when the type is first placed in
the galley?
57. What must be done when the galley is full, and why?
58. Describe the operation fully.
59. What care should be given the feet of the type?
60. How can time be wasted in these operations and how saved?
61. For what purposes are proofs taken?
62. How is the type prepared for taking proofs?
63. How are proofs taken with a planer and mallet?
64. What kind of matter may be proved in this manner and what
should not, and why?
65. What should be done to insure correctness before the stick
is emptied?
66. What should be done if the correction requires change of
space or re-justification?
67. Describe the process of correcting from revised proof.
68. How may simple errors, such as a wrong letter, be corrected?
69. How should important changes requiring re-justification be
made?
70. How should lines of type be carried when taken out for
correction?
71. What careless habit is sometimes indulged in, and what is
the result?
72. What happens when the changes are extensive, such as the
insertion of a new phrase or sentence?
73. Describe two ways of handling this problem.
74. What care should be taken when this kind of work is done?
75. What should be done if a line of type is pied in correcting?
76. What will the beginner find to be his greatest difficulty in
setting type?
77. Are the words in a page separated by absolutely uniform
spaces, and why?
78. What is necessary to make reading easy?
79. What does good typesetting require to secure this?
80. What constitutes a well-spaced line?
81. What constitutes a well-spaced paragraph?
82. What special care should be taken in spacing the last line
of a paragraph?
83. What is the standard spacing between words, and how may it
be varied?
84. What has the length of line to do with spacing?
85. Does even spacing always look even, and why?
86. Where may you put thin spaces in order to get a word or
syllable into the line?
87. Where may you use thicker spaces to lengthen the line a
little?
88. In what special places are thin spaces properly used?
89. How are punctuation marks spaced?
90. How are spaces used with the em dash?
91. What should be done when you come to the end of a paragraph,
with only a few letters for the last line?
92. How should you treat the last line of a paragraph when the
matter nearly or quite fills the line?
93. What care should be taken in justifying lines, such as
head-lines and paragraph ends, in which quads are used?
94. Do you need spaces with hyphens?
95. How are the dollar mark and English monetary signs used?
96. What should and should not be done in re-spacing a line in
order to get a good result?
97. What is the proper space between sentences?
98. What should follow the period or Roman numeral in numbered
paragraphs, and why?
99. How are quote marks spaced?
100. When may spaces be used between the letters of a word?
101. Give a general rule for spacing Old English or other black
letter.
102. What general rules should be followed in spacing italics?
103. What peculiarity is there in the casting of some italic
capitals and what does it call for?
104. What special precautions should be used in handling kerned
italics?
105. What kind of spaces do words in capitals need, and why?
106. How should you space roman capitals of standard faces?
107. What is a simple general rule for spacing, and how may it be
modified?
108. How do the shapes of the several letters affect the spacing
of capitals?
109. What can be done to improve the spacing of lines having
abbreviations or initials?
110. How are initials in groups, such as college degrees, treated?
111. What care should be taken when there are two or
more lines of capitals of the same size?
112. How are lines of small capitals spaced?
113. What relation has spacing to legibility?
114. What is the general rule about wide spacing?
115. What relation has spacing to leading?
116. What is the widest spacing ordinarily allowable in roman
lower-case matter, and what permits occasional use of wider
space?
117. Where are wide spacing and wide leading desirable, and what
caution should be observed in using them?
118. Name and describe the several kinds of indention?
119. What is the use of indention and what excess should be
avoided?
120. What is the usual paragraph indention?
121. What is the relation between indention and measure?
122. What is the relation between indention and kind of matter?
123. Should the indention of paragraphs be varied in a single
book or job to suit varying matter or type, and why?
124. What common defect occurs in widely indented paragraphs, and
how may it be avoided?
125. What is the first consideration in indenting poetry, and how
is it secured?
126. What material is used in indenting poetry?
127. What is the relation between indention and rhyme?
128. How is blank verse indented?
129. What is the indention when the rhyme is in two adjoining
lines?
130. What can you do when a line is longer than the measure?
131. Describe the setting of center heads, sub-heads, cut-in
heads, running heads, and box heads.
132. How are headings punctuated in modern practice?
133. What is the purpose of the initial letter, and how has it
been used?
134. What considerations govern the choice of an initial?
135. How are initials set?
136. What follows the initial?
137. How should the initial line?
138. How should the space around the initial be treated?
139. What is the relation between the size of the initial and the
text lines?
140. What may be done to secure this relation, but under what
restrictions?
141. What is the effect of the initial on the length of the text
lines after it, and how may it be handled?
142. What is make-up?
143. How are newspaper pages and the like made up?
144. What appliances are needed for make-up?
145. How is the galley placed, and where does the make-up man
stand?
146. How are the pages handled, and why?
147. What should be done before make-up begins, and why?
148. What has the make-up man to do with justification?
149. How is the length of the page measured?
150. How is the length of book pages set in one size of type
determined?
151. Where may extra leads be used, and where not?
152. What should the gage indicate when the page contains several
sizes of type, and why?
153. What should be used for book, periodical, or other work that
is to be made up frequently from time to time?
154. What is the first step in making the galley matter into
pages?
155. What difficulties are likely to occur, and how may they be
met?
156. What precaution may be taken to forestall difficulties?
157. How may inexpensive work be made good work?
158. What is desirable in the division of a paragraph which runs
from one page to another?
159. Is there any objection to ending paragraph and page together?
160. What should be done if the last line of a paragraph comes at
the top of a page or the first line at the bottom?
161. What should be done when the last line of a page ends with a
short word divided by a hyphen and finished on the next page?
162. What is the rule in book work as to the sinking of the first
page of preface, chapters, and the like?
163. What styles of running head are used, and what determines
the choice?
164. When is the running head omitted?
165. Where are numbers placed?
166. What is the usual space between the running head and the
text, and why?
167. What positions should be avoided if possible for sub-heads?
168. What should be avoided in chapter endings?
169. Why should type be kept clean?
170. What is the best substance for cleaning type?
171. What bad method of application is often used?
172. How should the cleaning substance be applied?
173. What is sometimes needed to complete the cleaning?
174. What other substances are sometimes used for cleaning type?
175. What is the process of cleaning type with lye?
176. How should the beginner prepare himself to distribute type?
177. What is the process of distribution for a beginner? for a
more experienced apprentice?
178. What matters should be especially watched in distribution?
179. How should the types be put in the boxes?
180. How should special characters be handled?
181. What particular annoyance is often caused by the
distributor, and how may it be avoided?
182. How are advertisements and similar matter distributed?
183. What should be done if there is much type to distribute?
184. How should spaces be distributed?
185. How should pied type be distributed?
186. When and how should boxes be cleaned?
187. How should type be handled to prevent injury?
188. What should be done with thin leads and pieces of card or
paper?
189. What may be done to make it easier to distribute small
types in solid or leaded paragraphs?
GLOSSARY OF TECHNICAL TERMS
(For additional terms pertaining to type and type composition see
page 32, No. 1, of this series of books entitled "Type.")
AD-MAN--A compositor who sets advertisements on a newspaper or
other publication.
ANTIQUE FACE--A style of type having all parts of the letters
thickened, making a heavy appearance. Sample:
[Illustration: Example:
MODERN PRESSWORK]
ARABIC NUMBERS--The ten figures in common use, in distinction
from Roman numbers or those made with letters.
ASTERISK--Another name for the star *, commonly used as a
reference mark.
AUTHOR'S PROOF--A proof sent to the author after compositor's
errors have been corrected. Author's corrections are those
made on such a proof when returned, usually changes from the
original copy.
BAD BREAK--An objectionable division of a word at the end of a
line or between two paragraphs or between two pages.
BATTER--Bruised letters or other faces in a type form or
electrotype.
BEGIN EVEN--To start the paragraph or the line without indention.
BEVELED SIDESTICK--Strips of wood or metal the height of
furniture, wider at one end than the other, used with wedges or
quoins to tighten forms together.
BLACK LETTER--A style of letter used for the first printing
types, made in imitation of the hand lettering in early
manuscripts; made in many variations called by different names:
Old English, Caxton Black, Priory Text, Cloister Black, etc.
Sample:
[Illustration: Example (Black Letter):
Ye Quality Book Papers]
BODKIN--A long slender awl sometimes used in correcting type.
BODY SIZE--The depth of the type from the top to the bottom of
the line.
BOOK FONT--A large quantity sufficient to set a number of pages,
with a complete set of characters, as distinguished from a
small or job font.
BORDER--A set of characters of plain or ornamental design used
for panels or frames around pages or sections of pages.
BOXED, OR BOXED-IN--Lines of type or other matter enclosed in a
small panel or border.
BRACES--A set of characters used for connecting two or more lines
or items. Sample:
[Illustration: three different size horizontal braces]
BRACKETS--Signs of punctuation for enclosing words, letters,
figures, [].
BRASS THINS--Justifying spaces 1-point thick, made of brass.
BRASSES--Strips of brass to be used as leads, where more durable
metal than lead is desirable.
BREAK-LINE--The last line of a paragraph where quads are needed
to fill out the measure.
BROKEN MATTER--Type lines that have been taken apart but not
distributed; pi.
CALIFORNIA JOB CASE--A type case holding a complete font of
capitals, lower-case letters, figures, points, etc. See page 12.
CASE--In a composing room, the tray with compartments in which
type is kept for composing.
CAST OFF--Estimating the number of lines or pages of type a
manuscript or other lot of copy will make.
CAST UP--Measuring the amount of type set, usually by ems;
measuring up.
CLEAN PROOF--A first proof without errors or with very few
unimportant errors.
CLEARING AWAY--Putting surplus leads, rules, furniture, and other
materials back in their places when the make-up or lock-up is
completed.
CLOSE SPACING--Thin spacing.
CLOSE QUOTE--The final marks enclosing a quotation, usually two
apostrophes:".
COME IN--When the letters of a line or the words of copy are set
so that they occupy a given space they are said to "come in."
COMP.--Abbreviation for compositor or composition.
COMPOSING--Setting type and other material to make a printing
form.
COMPOSING ROOM--That part of a printing establishment in which
the type is set and the forms locked up for the press.
COMPOSING RULE--A strip of brass or steel used in the composing
stick while setting type and for handling lines.
COMPOSITOR--One who sets type; according to the class of work
done, he is termed a book, newspaper, ad, or job compositor.
CONDENSED FACE--A type face thinner in shape than the normal; it
may be light or heavy as to blackness. Sample:
[Illustration: Example:
CASLON BOLD CONDENSED]
COPPER THIN--A very thin justifying space, 1/2-point, made from
copper.
COPY--Handwritten, typewritten, or printed words or designs given
to the printer or engraver for reproduction.
COPY CUTTER--In daily newspaper rooms, the foreman's assistant
whose duty it is to arrange the copy for the compositors. He
receives it from the editorial room, marks the size of type,
the style of headings, etc., according to the custom of the
publication, and cuts the copy into portions, or takes, so
that it may be in the hands of several compositors or machine
operators for composing in the quickest time.
COPYHOLDER--One who holds copy and reads it aloud to the
proofreader.
CUT-IN LETTER--A large letter set into the beginning of a
paragraph; an initial.
DASH--A horizontal stroke cast on a type body of en, em, two-em,
or three-em width, thus - -- ---- ------. The common dash is
one em, used as a punctuation mark and for many other purposes.
The apprentice should not confuse the en dash [Illustration:
an en-dash, a little longer than a hyphen but shorter than the
em-dash] with the hyphen -.
DEAD--Said of type or other printing matter that has been used or
is not to be used. Dead type is ready for distribution.
DIAGONAL INDENTION--See page 53.
DIS.--Abbreviation for distributing.
DISPLAY--Type composition in which various sizes and faces are
used, like advertisements, title pages, etc., in distinction
from plain reading matter.
DISTRIBUTING--Putting type back in the cases after use.
DOT LEADERS--High metal quads with dots cast on their end, in
distinction from hyphen or dash leaders.
DOTTED RULE--Brass rule with dotted faces, for blank
forms, to serve as a line upon which writing is to be
done:.................................
DOUBLE--Words repeated by mistake in setting; a doublet. The term
double is used in many cases before other words to indicate
double quantity, size, or quality.
DRIVE OUT--To thick space and put the whole of the next word in
the following line.
DUPE--Abbreviation of duplicate; an extra first-proof of type
composition which is to be paid for by the piece, or to measure
up the amount of work done by a compositor or machine operator.
DUTCHMAN--A joke-name for a piece of wood or toothpick driven
into a line that has not been properly justified; the mark of a
careless compositor.
EM--The square of a type body [Illustration: em-square]. EN, one
half the square, [Illustration: a rectangle one em tall but one
half em (one en) wide].
EMPTY CASE--A case without sorts or letters that are needed to
compose the line; it may have other letters but is empty of
those required.
END EVEN--To make the words fill out the line.
EXTENDED FACE--Said of faces of type made extra broad; the term
expanded is sometimes used. See type founders' specimen books.
EXTRA CONDENSED--A type face which has been compressed very
narrow. Sample:
[Illustration: Example:
Gothic EXTRA Condensed]
EXTRACT--A passage taken from another book or another author's
writings; a quotation.
FAC-SIMILE--An exact reproduction of an original; often
abbreviated to _fac-sim_.
FAT--Composition which has many broken lines and open spaces;
matter with many quads and leads, which can be set profitably
by piece-work. Sometimes spelled _phat_ in printers' literature.
FAT-FACE--A style of type face with very much thickened heavy
lines; sometimes _full-face_.
FIRST PROOF--The proof taken for correcting compositor's errors,
in distinction from revise, author's proof, or subsequent
proofs.
FLOOR PI--Type dropped on the floor and allowed to remain until
swept up.
FOLIO--A page number. Also, a sheet folded once, a size of paper,
a sheet containing a certain number of words.
FOLLOW COPY--An instruction to follow the copy in matters of
spelling, punctuation, use of capitals, italics, and other
particulars, disregarding the style of the shop to a more or
less degree according to necessities.
FONT--A complete assortment of types of one size and face or
of one class of characters, as a cap font, a small-cap font,
italic font.
FORM--A page or number of pages or other printing surfaces
assembled for printing.
FOUNDRY TYPE--Type designed and cast by regular foundries which
make their chief business supplying printers; in distinction
from type cast by Monotype, Linotype, and other machines in
private establishments.
FULL MEASURE--Type lines set the full width of the column of page
in distinction from short lines or half measure.
GALLEY--A shallow tray for holding type after it is set.
GET IN--To thin space a line in order to make room for the last
few letters of a word; to take in; opposite of drive out.
GOTHIC--Type founders and printers in America use this word to
name a type face of the simplest style, without serifs and with
strokes of one thickness throughout [Illustration: Example:
GOTHIC TYPES]. Bibliographers and scholars name certain old
style forms of black letter Gothic, as representing the true
Gothic character. Our so-called gothics are made in many
variations and are chiefly used for newspaper and job work, but
are not acceptable for book work.
HAIR LINE--Said of a very delicate face, as of a brass rule or
the fine connecting strokes of a letter.
HAIR SPACE--A type space thinner than the 5-space.
HALF-DIAMOND INDENTION--An arrangement of lines in which the
second and succeeding line are indented at each end shorter
than the line above; inverted pyramid style.
HANGING INDENTION--When the first line is set flush at the
beginning and succeeding lines indented an em or more, as in
this paragraph.
HIGH SPACES AND QUADS--These are used when the type is to be
regularly used for moulding for electrotyping. See page 18.
HEAD AND TAIL--The top and bottom margins of a book page.
HELL, OR HELL-BOX--Old name for the receptacle for old or damaged
type; a dumping place for discarded type.
HIGH-TO-LINE--When a letter or a word is above the alignment of
the rest of the line; when it is below it is _low-to-line_.
HOLLOW QUADS--See Quotation.
HYPHEN--Used at the ends of lines when words are divided; also
for compounding words, and sometimes for leaders. See Dash.
IMPOSITION--The arrangement and locking up of pages so that
they will come in proper order when the sheet is folded after
printing.
IMPRINT--The name, with or without address, of the printer,
publisher, or dealer placed on a book or other work.
IN THE METAL--In type, as to correct in the metal or to revise in
the metal without taking proof.
INDENTION--The setting in of a line or body of type by a blank
space at the beginning or left hand, as in the first line of
a paragraph; also the space thus left blank. The printer's
indention is not (as it is often said to be) a shortened form
of indentation, but an original word from _dent_ (_dint_), "a
denting in, a depression," and hence is the proper word, rather
than indentation, to express the idea. --_Standard Dictionary_.
INITIAL--The first letter of a word; in typesetting, a large
letter set into the beginning of a paragraph.
INVERTED COMMAS--The quotation marks used at the beginning of a
quotation: ".
JOB CASE--A type case holding a complete font of capitals and
lower-case letters, figures, points, and spaces; in distinction
from a pair of cases.
JOB COMPOSITOR--One who sets a variety of miscellaneous work in
distinction from a book or newspaper hand.
JOB GALLEY--A short, wide galley, made in sizes from 6 x 10 to 15
x 22 inches.
JOB TYPE--Those miscellaneous faces, usually in small fonts, used
for small work; in distinction from roman and italic faces used
for books, periodicals, etc.
JUSTIFY--To make a line or other type composition of the proper
tightness to fit the space. See page 27.
KEEP UP--To capitalize words which might ordinarily begin with
small letters. _Keep down_, to begin a word with a small letter.
KEEP STANDING--To save type pages or forms after printing, in
case of further use.
KEEP UP STYLE--To follow the prescribed rules of the shop or
publication regarding spelling, abbreviations, headings,
capitals, punctuation, etc. See Style.
KERNED LETTER--A type on which part of the face overhangs the
body.
LABOR-SAVING--Said of leads, rules, furniture, and other
material made in sizes based on a common multiple, usually the
pica. They save labor because two or more may be combined to
make larger sizes, instead of cutting new material for each
particular work.
LAY OF THE CASE--The plan of the boxes for holding the different
characters of a font.
LAYING TYPE--Putting new type into the case, in distinction from
distributing used type back into the case.
LEAD (pronounced _led_, not _leed_)--A strip of thin metal to
place between lines of type.
LEADED--Type composition having leads between the lines, in
distinction from solid matter, or lines without leads.
LEADERS (_leeders_)--Periods or dots placed at intervals in open
lines to guide the eye across to figures or words at the end,
as in tables of contents, price lists, etc. Type founders
cast high quads in sizes from 5-point to 18-point in several
styles, like fine-dot............, two dots to an em .., hyphen
- - - -, and also make leaders in brass. For occasional use a
few lines of leaders may be made of periods spaced apart with
spaces or quads.
LEAN SETTING--Type composition that is solid and with few or no
blank lines. See Fat.
LETTER--Old-fashioned term for type in quantity. _Letter board_,
a board or shelf for holding composed type.
LIFT--When type is justified and fastened together so that it may
be taken up without any pieces falling out, it is said to lift.
LINING--Said of type faces which are made to align exactly along
the bottom of the letters.
LINING FIGURES--Modern-cut figures made in uniform size and of
equal height; in distinction from the irregular old-style
figures. [Illustration: Old style numbers 1234567890]:
1234567890.
LIVE MATTER--Type composition or pages that are to be printed;
after being printed or moulded it is _dead_ and ready for
distribution.
LOGOTYPE--Two or more letters cast on one body. _Ligature_,
two letters joined and cast together, like [Illustration:
ct-ligature].
LOW SPACES AND QUADS--Those used for composition to be printed
directly from the type. See page 18.
LOWER CASE--The type case holding the small letters, figures,
points, spaces, etc. The part of a job case holding the
lower-case font.
LYE--Used for washing type. See page 69.
MAKING UP--To divide composed matter into pages of equal length,
add headings, notes, and other parts to prepare them for
imposing and locking up.
MARGINAL NOTE--A side note.
MATTER--Composed type or linotype slugs.
MEASURE--The width of a page, the full length of a line.
MEASURING UP--Finding the amount of type set. This is done
by multiplying the number of ems in one line by the total
number of lines set, based in ems of the size of type used.
In measuring up to find the amount of composition for making
a charge therefor, headings, leads, slugs, small blocks, and
other items in the matter are counted as solid lines.
MOTTO INDENTION--A note or other small block of type set at one
side of the page but within the measure.
MUTTON FIST--A name sometimes given to the index or fist
[Illustration: pointing hand, or fist].
MUTTON QUAD--The em quad. For clearer distinction in speaking the
term _mutton_ is applied to the em, and the term _nut_ to the
en, as mutton dash --, nut dash -.
NIB--The small projection on the end of a composing rule.
NICK--A notch on the side of a type, usually indicating the lower
side of the letter.
NIPPERS--Another name for tweezers.
OFF ITS FEET--When type does not stand up squarely, but leans
slightly one way.
OUT--An omission of one or more words from the composition.
OUT OF SORTS--When the supply of any needed character is gone the
case, or the compositor, is out of sorts. See Sort.
OVER-RUNNING--Taking words backward or forward from one line to
another in correcting.
PAGE CORD--The string used to tie up pages or small jobs of type.
PAGE PAPERS--Pieces of heavy paper or card upon which tied-up
pages are placed for storage when there is not enough galley
space; also called page shoes.
PAGINATION--The page numbering of a book or other work.
PARAGRAPH MARK--One of the old-style reference marks furnished
for book fonts [Illustration: paragraph symbol], being the
capital P reversed. Paragraph marks are made in various forms
for different kinds of type.
PATENT SPACE--A special type space equal to the thickness of two
5-spaces. This space is common in 12-point and larger sizes,
but not furnished with regular fonts in smaller sizes unless
ordered.
PI--Type thrown down, mixed, or in confusion.
PICA--A size of type equal to 12-point. The common standard of
measurement for leads, rules, furniture, and for width and
length of pages. Six picas in length equal, approximately, a
linear inch.
PICK FOR SORTS--To take letters from standing matter, live or
dead, when the case is empty and types are needed for work in
hand.
PICK UP--A heading, line, or other matter taken from a dead form
and used over again.
PIECED LEADS--Two or more leads placed end to end to equal a
longer strip; similarly, pieced rule, pieced furniture, pieced
brace, etc.
PLANER--A smooth-faced block used to level the surface of a
printing form on the imposing stone.
POINT--The unit for measuring type bodies; a mark of punctuation.
PRINTER'S DEVIL--The old-time name for the errand boy in a
printing house.
PROOF--A trial impression.
PULL A PROOF--To take a proof on a hand press by pulling over the
impression bar; hence to take a proof by any means.
QUAD--A blank type larger than a space; from the word _quadrat_,
a square, originally the em quadrat.
QUOTATION--A large hollow quad.
REFERENCE MARK--The old-style characters * [Illustration: dagger,
double dagger] used in book work. The modern practice is to use
superior figures ^{123} (sometimes letters ^{abc}) in the text to
refer to foot notes or notes in the appendix.
REGLET--Strips of wood, 6-point, 12-point, and thicker used in
making up forms for the press; not desirable in type pages
except in large forms.
REPRINT--To set over again or to print over again.
REVISE--To examine a second proof to see that corrections have
been made; a proof taken for this purpose.
RING MARK--A circle around a marked error to signify a special
correction ordered by the proofreader or author.
ROMAN TYPE--The common upright characters, in distinction from
italics or black-letter.
RULE--A strip of metal for printing straight lines.
RULE WORK--Composition in which brass rules are largely used, as
in tabular matter, box panels, etc.
RUN-AROUNDS--Lines of type justified around small engravings or
blocks in a page or advertisement, especially when the shape of
the block requires irregular lengths of the adjoining matter.
RUN IN--To avoid making a paragraph, running the sentences into
one paragraph.
RUN OUT AND INDENT--To begin the paragraph without indention.
SETTING RULE--A composing rule.
SHANK--The body part of a type, as distinguished from the face,
shoulder, or feet.
SIDE SORTS--The infrequently used characters of a font, q x z,
etc. Also any special characters kept in an auxiliary box or
sort case, like figures, fractions, or other types not provided
for in the regular assortment.
SIZES OF TYPE--See No. 1, of this series for additional
information about type.
SLUG--A thick lead, the usual sizes being 6-point and 12-point;
used in making up pages.
SOLID--Type lines set close together without leads.
SORT--A type or character considered as a part of a font, usually
a quantity of one kind. When all the letters of one kind are
missing the case is _out of sorts_. When the copy calls for
more than the usual number of a particular character it _runs
on sorts_.
SPACE OUT--To increase the spaces to fill the line. _Quad out_,
to fill the line with quads after the words.
SQUABBLE--A doubling up or crumbling of lines of type; a pi.
STAND--A frame for holding type cases; a workstand.
STANDING MATTER--Composed type in galley form or made up in pages.
STICKFUL--A number of composed lines equal to that contained in a
composing stick.
STONE--The imposing table, usually of marble or similar fine
grain, but nowadays often of polished steel.
STONEMAN--One who works specially at the imposing and lock-up
table.
STRAIGHT MATTER--Plain paragraph composition in one kind of type;
in distinction from display or job work.
STYLE OF THE OFFICE--In order to maintain some consistency
in practice in details of composition many composing rooms
have rules, more or less variable, about spelling, division
of words, compounding, use of italic, capitals, headings,
paragraph indentions, and similar matters. A style card or
style book may be prepared for the purpose by the proofreader
or foreman. Frequently a publication set in a composing room
may have a style (ordered by the editor or manager) somewhat
different from the style of other work done in the same room.
SUPERIORS--Small figures or letters set above the general
alignment of the main line, as for references. _Inferiors_ are
small figures below the alignment.
TAKE--A portion of copy of one article or job that has been
divided between several compositors to hasten its composition.
TAKE IN--To thin space; to get in.
TEXT--The body of matter on a written or printed page, as
distinguished from notes, headings, engravings, or auxiliary
features. _Text type_, the type in which such matter is set.
The term is also applied to note one of several styles of early
black-letter, as Old English Text, Priory Text, etc.
THICK SPACE--The en quad is sometimes so called. Some compositors
call the 3-space a thick space, ignoring the fact that the
3-space is normal, neither thick nor thin.
TURN FOR SORTS--When the types in a case run short and they will
be supplied later, the compositor puts in another type of the
same thickness, turned bottom up, the proper letter to be
inserted before printing or moulding. It is the rule, when a
letter has been taken from a live page to be used immediately
in another place, that a turned letter should be put in place
of the one taken out to show the absence of the proper letter
when an impression is taken.
TURNED COMMAS--Inverted commas (") at the beginning of a
quotation.
TWO-LINE LETTER--A capital letter of the depth of two lines of
text used as an initial at the beginning of a subject.
TYPE MEASURE--A strip of strong card, wood, or steel having its
edges marked with scales indicating ems of type sizes; for
measuring composed matter; usually only sizes up to pica or
12-point are given.
TYPOGRAPHY--The art and process of printing from movable types.
It includes printing from engraved relief blocks which can
be made up and printed with composed types. Also called
letterpress printing.
UNDERSCORE--To draw or print a line under a word or sentence.
UNIT--An accepted standard of measurement; thus the point is the
unit for type sizes, the pica (12-point) is the unit for widths
of pages, lengths of leads, rules, furniture, etc.
UPPER CASE--The capital case.
WHITE OUT--To blank out a page or other space with quads or
furniture.
WIDE MEASURE--Lines of type that are longer than normal in
relation to the size of type used; a length that would be
normal for 12-point would be wide for 6-point, Generally, lines
averaging over twelve words or fifty letters would be termed
wide measure.
WRONG-FONT--A letter or character in the line from another kind
of type, due to mixing of fonts. Usually written in proof _wf_.
TYPOGRAPHIC TECHNICAL SERIES FOR APPRENTICES
The following list of publications, comprising the TYPOGRAPHIC
TECHNICAL SERIES FOR APPRENTICES, has been prepared under the
supervision of the Committee on Education of the United Typothetae of
America for use in trade classes, in course of printing instruction,
and by individuals.
Each publication has been compiled by a competent author or group
of authors, and carefully edited, the purpose being to provide
the printers of the United States--employers, journeymen, and
apprentices--with a comprehensive series of handy and inexpensive
compendiums of reliable, up-to-date information upon the various
branches and specialties of the printing craft, all arranged in orderly
fashion for progressive study.
The publications of the series are of uniform size, 5 x 8 inches. Their
general make-up, in typography, illustrations, etc., has been, as far
as practicable, kept in harmony throughout. A brief synopsis of the
particular contents and other chief features of each volume will be
found under each title in the following list.
Each topic is treated in a concise manner, the aim being to embody
in each publication as completely as possible all the rudimentary
information and essential facts necessary to an understanding of the
subject. Care has been taken to make all statements accurate and
clear, with the purpose of bringing essential information within the
understanding of beginners in the different fields of study. Wherever
practicable, simple and well-defined drawings and illustrations have
been used to assist in giving additional clearness to the text.
In order that the pamphlets may be of the greatest possible help for
use in trade-school classes and for self-instruction, each title is
accompanied by a list of Review Questions covering essential items of
the subject matter. A short Glossary of technical terms belonging to
the subject or department treated is also added to many of the books.
These are the Official Text-books of the United Typothetae of America.
Address all orders and inquiries to COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION, UNITED
TYPOTHETAE OF AMERICA, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, U. S. A.
PART I--_Types, Tools, Machines, and Materials_
1. =Type: a Primer of Information= By A. A. Stewart
Relating to the mechanical features of printing types; their
sizes, font schemes, etc., with a brief description of their
manufacture. 44 pp.; illustrated; 74 review questions;
glossary.
2. =Compositors' Tools and Materials= By A. A. Stewart
A primer of information about composing sticks, galleys,
leads, brass rules, cutting and mitering machines, etc.
47 pp.; illustrated; 50 review questions; glossary.
3. =Type Cases, Composing Room Furniture= By A. A. Stewart
A primer of information about type cases, work stands,
cabinets, case racks, galley racks, standing galleys, etc.
43 pp.; illustrated; 33 review questions; glossary.
4. =Imposing Tables and Lock-up Appliances= By A. A. Stewart
Describing the tools and materials used in locking up forms
for the press, including some modern utilities for special
purposes. 59 pp.; illustrated; 70 review questions; glossary.
5. =Proof Presses= By A. A. Stewart
A primer of information about the customary methods and
machines for taking printers' proofs. 40 pp.; illustrated;
41 review questions; glossary.
6. =Platen Printing Presses= By Daniel Baker
A primer of information regarding the history and mechanical
construction of platen printing presses, from the original
hand press to the modern job press, to which is added a
chapter on automatic presses of small size. 51 pp.;
illustrated; 49 review questions; glossary.
7. =Cylinder Printing Presses= By Herbert L. Baker Being a study
of the mechanism and operation of the principal types of
cylinder printing machines. 64 pp.; illustrated; 47 review
questions; glossary.
8. =Mechanical Feeders and Folders= By William E. Spurrier
The history and operation of modern feeding and folding
machines; with hints on their care and adjustments.
Illustrated; review questions; glossary.
9. =Power for Machinery in Printing Houses= By Carl F. Scott
A treatise on the methods of applying power to printing
presses and allied machinery with particular reference to
electric drive. 53 pp.; illustrated; 69 review questions;
glossary.
10. =Paper Cutting Machines= By Niel Gray, Jr.
A primer of information about paper and card trimmers,
hand-lever cutters, power cutters, and other automatic
machines for cutting paper, 70 pp.; illustrated; 115 review
questions; glossary.
11. =Printers' Rollers= By A. A. Stewart
A primer of information about the composition, manufacture,
and care of inking rollers. 46 pp.; illustrated; 61 review
questions; glossary.
12. =Printing Inks= By Philip Ruxton
Their composition, properties and manufacture (reprinted
by permission from Circular No. 53, United States Bureau of
Standards): together with some helpful suggestions about the
everyday use of printing inks by Philip Ruxton. 80pp.; 100
review questions; glossary.
13. =How Paper is Made= By William Bond Wheelwright
A primer of information about the materials and processes
of manufacturing paper for printing and writing. 68 pp.;
illustrated; 62 review questions; glossary.
14. =Relief Engravings= By Joseph P. Donovan
Brief history and non-technical description of modern methods
of engraving; woodcut, zinc plate, halftone; kind of copy for
reproduction; things to remember when ordering engravings.
Illustrated; review questions; glossary.
15. =Electrotyping and Stereotyping=
By Harris B. Hatch and A. A. Stewart
A primer of information about the processes of electrotyping
and stereotyping. 94 pp.; illustrated; 129 review questions;
glossaries.
PART II--_Hand and Machine Composition_
16. =Typesetting= By A. A. Stewart
A handbook for beginners, giving information about
justifying, spacing, correcting, and other matters relating
to typesetting. Illustrated; review questions; glossary.
17. =Printers' Proofs= By A. A. Stewart
The methods by which they are made, marked, and corrected,
with observations on proofreading. Illustrated; review
questions; glossary.
18. =First Steps in Job Composition= By Camille DeVeze
Suggestions for the apprentice compositor in setting his
first jobs, especially about the important little things
which go to make good display in typography. 63 pp.;
examples; 55 review questions; glossary.
19. =General Job Composition=
How the job compositor handles business stationery, programs
and miscellaneous work. Illustrated; review questions;
glossary.
20. =Book Composition= By J. W. Bothwell
Chapters from DeVinne's "Modern Methods of Book Composition,"
revised and arranged for this series of text-books by J. W.
Bothwell of The DeVinne Press, New York. Part I: Composition
of pages. Part II: Imposition of pages. 229 pp.; illustrated;
525 review questions; glossary.
21. =Tabular Composition= By Robert Seaver
A study of the elementary forms of table composition, with
examples of more difficult composition. 36 pp.; examples; 45
review questions.
22. =Applied Arithmetic= By E. E. Sheldon
Elementary arithmetic applied to problems of the printing
trade, calculation of materials, paper weights and sizes,
with standard tables and rules for computation, each subject
amplified with examples and exercises. 159 pp.
23. =Typecasting and Composing Machines= A. W. Finlay, Editor
Section I--The Linotype By L. A. Hornstein
Section II--The Monotype By Joseph Hays
Section III--The Intertype By Henry W. Cozzens
Section IV--Other Typecasting and Typesetting Machines
By Frank H. Smith
A brief history of typesetting machines, with descriptions
of their mechanical principles and operations. Illustrated;
review questions; glossary.
PART III--_Imposition and Stonework_
24. =Locking Forms for the Job Press= By Frank S. Henry
Things the apprentice should know about locking up small
forms, and about general work on the stone. Illustrated;
review questions; glossary.
25. =Preparing Forms for the Cylinder Press= By Frank S. Henry
Pamphlet and catalog imposition; margins; fold marks, etc.
Methods of handling type forms and electrotype forms.
Illustrated; review questions; glossary.