By Walter J. Berwick.
Books are printed in "forms," or sheets, of four, eight, twelve,
twenty-four, or thirty-two pages at a time, the number being
determined to a great extent by the size of the type page and by the
class of the work.
An ordinary twelvemo book, without illustrations in the text, is
usually printed in forms of thirty-two pages, on what is known as a
single-cylinder flat-bed press, which prints only one side of the
paper at an impression. For large editions, the size of the sheet of
paper is sometimes doubled and sixty-four pages printed at a time. The
class of work in question may also be printed on perfecting presses
which print both sides of the paper at one time, and in this way as
many as one hundred and twenty-eight pages are frequently printed on
one sheet, there being sixty-four pages on each side. Large editions
of books having small pages, such as small Bibles, are often printed
two hundred and fifty-six pages (one hundred and twenty-eight on each
side) at one time.
High grade, illustrated books are always printed on one side of the
sheet at a time, the reverse side being printed after the first
impression has dried properly. Thus a smooch, or "offset," the result
of handling the paper before the ink has become dry, is prevented.
For convenience, I shall describe the process of printing a book from
electrotype plates on a press which prints thirty-two pages at a time
and on only one side of the paper.
Before ordering his paper, the publisher must first determine the size
of the paper page of his proposed book, and from this arrive at the
necessary size of the sheets of paper. He must also determine the
thickness of the paper needed to give the finished book its proper
bulk.
If the book is to be trimmed on top, bottom, and front, about
one-eighth of an inch must be allowed on top and front for the binder
to trim off, and about one-fourth of an inch on the bottom. The
dimensions from back to front, including the amount left for the
"trim," should be multiplied by eight; and the page dimension the
other way, including the trim, by four. This would give the size of
paper needed. As an illustration, if the trimmed size of a book is
7-7/8 x 5-3/8 inches, the paper should be 32 x 44 inches. If the book
is printed 16 pages at a time, the paper should be 22 x 44; and if 64
pages at a time, 44 x 64.
The quality of the paper and the size of the sheet being decided upon,
and the number of pages known, any large paper house can tell the
weight necessary to give the required thickness to the book.
On receipt of the printing order, with directions as to whether the
book is to be trimmed or not, the printer first makes up what is
called a "form" of so-called "patent" blocks on which the stereotype
or electrotype plates are placed during the printing of the book.
These blocks are made of wood or iron planed to an even thickness of
about three-fourths of an inch, so that when an electrotype plate is
placed upon one, it will take only a few thicknesses of thin paper
between it and the electrotyped page to make the whole "type-high,"
that is, as high as an ordinary piece of type.
Two adjacent edges of these blocks are bound with strips of brass,
which project above the block and are turned over slightly, so as to
receive the two bevelled edges of the electrotype plate. The other two
edges are provided with movable clamps, which are screwed tight
against the flat edges of the electrotype plate by means of ratchets,
thus holding the plate firmly in its place.
In practice, the longer of the two brass-bound edges is called the
"back" of the block and the shorter one the "head," the other long
edge being known as the "front" and the other short edge, the "foot."
These terms, as a matter of fact, originated from the use of the same
words in describing the printed page of a book, the "back"
corresponding with the side of the page next to the binding of the
book, the "head" being the top of the book, and so on.
One-half of a set of blocks--thirty-two being a set in this case--are
made with the backs on the left and one-half with the backs on the
right edge of the block. The common way is to place thirty-two of
these blocks, in four rows of eight blocks each, in a "chase," or iron
frame, with a cross-bar in the centre. Thus sixteen blocks are on each
side of the cross-bar, and all have their backs toward it. The form
then appears like this:--
[Illustration: Blocks, cross-bar.]
Strips of wood, called "furniture," are then used to fill up the
spaces between the blocks, care being taken to see that all the backs,
fronts, and heads are in uniform positions. As some people prefer the
printed pages of a book to be near the centre of the paper pages,
while others like the head and back margins to be much narrower than
the margins at the front and foot, the distances between the blocks
must be arranged according to the taste of the publisher or the
author.
After the blocks have been spaced as desired, and the spaces filled
with furniture, the form is "locked up," or tightened securely, with
wedge-shaped pieces of iron called "quoins," and it is then placed in
position on the bed of the press, securely fastened by screw clamps,
and "making ready" for printing is begun.
Notwithstanding the care that has been taken to have all the "patent"
blocks and the electrotype plates of even and uniform thickness, there
is almost never a case where a form can be put on the press and
printed off properly without considerable work being required to make
the surface of the plates absolutely flat so that the entire printed
part of the page will receive the same amount of ink and will press
evenly on the paper.
The first step in making a press "ready" is to place a sheet of heavy
cardboard around the cylinder, and over it draw a smooth piece of
muslin or cotton cloth. This is called the "packing." In many of the
best offices this sheet of heavy cardboard is not used, but in its
place is a patent make-ready called "Tympalyn."
Over this a thick sheet of manila paper is shrunk, it being pasted
under clamps on the front of the cylinder, and carried around and
fastened to hooks on a rod on the back. The rod is then turned until
the sheet is perfectly tight and smooth.
While the pressman is laying out his plates the feeder should be
cutting thin sheets of paper the size of one of the plates. Some of
these papers are cut about one inch shorter than the plates for
"bevels," and these are pasted on the middle of the full-size pieces.
These bevels and the larger "blank" sheets are to go between the
plates and the blocks to overcome any variation there may be in the
thickness and to make the surface of the form as nearly level as
possible. The "bevels" raise the centres very slightly above the edges
of the plate, thus reducing the pressure of the cylinder at the points
of contact and departure, and saving the plates from wear.
The cylinder being properly packed, and the form of blocks fastened on
the press so that the impression of the form will come in the middle
of the paper sheets, it is necessary to know whether the binder is to
fold the sheets by hand or by machine, and if the latter, what kind of
machine, as different ones require different "imposition" or
arrangement of pages. This being decided, the plates are fastened on
the blocks so arranged that when the sheet is cut and folded the pages
of the book will run consecutively. Before levelling up the form with
the bevels and blank sheets, the plates of all open or short pages, if
any, are replaced with solid pages, as these sheets and underlay are
to remain through the printing of all the forms of the book. The
rollers are now put in the press and adjusted to just touch the inking
table, the ink put on the rollers and distributed, and one impression
printed on one of several sheets of thin paper which are run through
the press together.[3] This printed sheet is then turned face down by
the pressman and any unevenness of the impression noted. One of the
printed pages is taken as a standard and by removing as many pieces of
the thin sheets as necessary from under the plates where the
impression is too heavy, and by adding where it is not heavy enough,
the surface of the form is finally "evened," or made as nearly equal
as possible.
[Footnote 3: If one sheet of paper were run through
the press before "making ready," it would not
receive any impression, there being a space equal
to the thickness of ten sheets of paper between the
cylinder and the surface of the type. A bunch of
six or eight sheets is therefore run through to get
an impression for "make-ready" purposes.]
After this another impression is taken, and of this sheet an
"underlay" is made to further "even up" the form. The low places in
the individual plates are carefully marked with crayon or a soft
pencil on the impression, and the spots so marked are covered with a
piece of thin paper. The printed pages are then cut out a little
larger than the type page, and placed under the plates from which
they were printed. The plates of the solid pages, which had been
substituted for the open pages, are now removed, and the open pages
are put back in their places on the form.
Up to this point, all the "making ready" which has been done, is of
permanent use in printing all of the forms of the book in question.
The work that follows has to be done on each form as it is put on the
press.
More thin sheets of paper are now run through the press, the number
run through together being one less than were printed for the
underlay. These printed sheets are used for "overlays," which are very
much like an underlay except that much more care is taken in marking
any uneven places. A thinner paper is used to bring up the low places
in the plates. An impression of the form is then made on the manila
paper sheet which had, as before mentioned, been drawn around the
cylinder, and on this printed manila sheet this overlay is pasted, the
impression on the manila paper being a guide for the placing of the
overlay.
Another overlay is now made in the same way as the first; only it will
now be found, if the work has been properly done, that there will be
only a few spots to be covered with tissue. After this overlay has
been made and the necessary pieces pasted over the first one, a thin
sheet of manila is smoothly and tightly drawn around the cylinder,
covering completely the thick manila sheet with the pasted overlays on
it. The form is then ready to print.
While the feeder, as the man who feeds the paper into the press is
called, has been "filling in" the overlay, the pressman should have
been getting "register,"--that is, moving the plates so that the
headlines and the sides of the plates align properly, and that when
both sides of the paper have been printed, the pages will exactly back
each other. The ink fountain should also have been so regulated by
means of thumb-screws that the right amount of ink will run on the
rollers and be distributed evenly over the form. Where too much ink
shows on the printed sheet, the thumb-screws on the fountain are
tightened a little, to decrease the flow, and where not enough ink
shows the thumb-screws are loosened to increase its flow. This process
is repeated until the "color" is all right. The grippers, which seize
and carry the sheets of paper through the press, the reels, cylinder
bands, and many other things have also to be adjusted. These cannot
well be described, but have to be learned by actual experience.
The "making ready" and watching the sheets as they come from the press
to see that the "color" does not vary, is the skilful part of the
process. The feeding can be done by a bright boy after a few weeks'
experience, but is now done automatically by machines to a great
extent.
While the press was being made ready, another set of men in charge of
the paper have taken it out of the cases or bundles, counted out the
number of sheets required for each form, piled it on hand trucks,
keeping that required for each form separate, and have delivered it to
the press. If a machine feeder is used, the paper is piled on the
elevator of the feeder, from which it is automatically taken, one
sheet at a time, and delivered on endless tapes to gauges on the feed
board of the press, thus bringing every sheet in the same position
each time. The number of sheets required for the order are printed
from one form on one side and then from another form on the other
side.
From the preceding it can be seen that to get a press ready may be a
matter of hours, while, in the case of ordinary book work, a press
generally prints from 1200 to 2000 impressions and more per hour.
The principal difference between making ready a form on a flat-bed
perfecting press with two cylinders and on a single-cylinder press is
in extra work necessary to obtain correct registering of the plates
and in preventing an offset of the fresh ink on the second cylinder.
Otherwise, a perfecting press is very much like two cylinder presses
joined together. It has two sets of rollers, two ink fountains, two
cylinders, two forms, etc., but only one feed board and one delivery.
The sheet is fed to one cylinder and printed, taken from this
cylinder by the second and printed on the second side, and delivered
on the "fly board" ready to go to the shipping department.
The process of making ready forms containing illustrations is
practically the same as for plain ones, except that a new underlay is
made for each form, and much more care and skill must be used on the
cuts themselves. It frequently happens that one or even two days are
spent making ready a form of half-tone cuts, before the actual
printing, which takes perhaps half a day to do, can be begun.
In most offices, a special "cut overlay" is made for forms with cuts,
or illustrations. The cut is placed on a hand press before the form is
made up, and proofs on four different thicknesses of paper are made.
The heaviest paper is used as a bottom sheet, and the others are
pasted on it. Out of the next to the thickest paper of all, the solid
blacks are cut and pasted accurately on the same places on the bottom
sheet. From the second or next thinner sheet, the medium shades
including the solid blacks are cut and pasted on the bottom sheet,
thus building up the blacks and strong shadows. From the thinnest
sheet of all, the high lights and very light shades are cut, and the
rest of the sheet is pasted on the bottom one. In this way the solid
blacks and dark shadows on the cut have three thicknesses on the
overlay; the next shades two, and the light shades one, where the high
lights are cut out altogether. This is the common form of "cut
overlay" used in most offices; but there are many other kinds, some
being made on metal by chemical action. All kinds are fastened
carefully over the impression of the cut made on the heavy manila
sheet covering the cylinder, and the cut must not be moved on the form
after the overlay has been fastened on the cylinder, or the effect of
all the work will be entirely lost.
One of the great troubles which the printer has to contend with, is
electricity in the paper. The pressman is unaware of its presence
until he lifts a printed sheet from the pile and receives a slight
shock, and finds the sheets stick together. In the case of a cut form,
the ink is almost sure to be offset, and in printing the second side
of the paper the feeder will have to stop frequently to separate the
sheets. Much money has been spent and many devices originated to
overcome this trouble. Ink manufacturers make a liquid preparation to
be applied to the packing. A row of lighted gas-jets placed near the
point where the sheet goes on to the "flyboard," a heated steam-pipe,
and many other things have been used, but a new device by which
electricity is generated and carried into the press, and there
neutralizes the electricity in the paper, is the best of them all.
The printed sheets are counted automatically by the press, and as fast
as enough accumulate, they are piled on hand trucks and removed to the
shipping room. Here they are "jogged up" so that the edges are even
and are counted again by hand. If they are to be shipped away, they
are tied up in bundles or nailed in cases and marked for shipment. If
the bindery is connected with the pressroom, they are simply jogged,
counted, and piled on trucks and delivered in this way.