Hot Metal Typesetting - Types of Typesetting

Types of Typesetting

Two different approaches to mechanising typesetting were independently developed in the late 19th century. One, known as the Monotype composition caster system, produced texts with the aid of perforated paper-ribbons, all characters are cast separate. These machines could produce texts also in "large-composition" up to 36 point.

The Super-caster, another machine produced by Monotype, was similar in function to the Thompson, Bath, pivotal and others casters but designed to produce single type (including even larger sizes) for hand setting.

The other approach was to cast complete lines as one slug, usually comprising a whole line of text.

Of this system there have been at least 5 different enterprises:

• Linotype,
• Intertype Corporation,
• the Typograph, produced in Germany
• The Monoline, a very basic machine

The Linotype and similar Intertype machines came out with paper tape and electronic automation near the end of their life cycles that allowed for the news wire services to send breaking news to remote newspaper offices for prompt setting into late editions

All these machines were operated by non-qwerty-keyboards. There was however another system, completely dependent of hand-labour:

• Ludlow Typograph

This machine was able to cast display body sizes that other mechanical composition systems were unable to produce. In this way headings could be produced to complement text produced on other machines.

The success of these machines lay in different fields: the Monotype caster was more popular for bookwork that required the ability to make manual corrections and edits while the slug casting systems found success in newspaper production where speed of production and make ready for print was essential.

There is another essential difference between Monotype and all the "slug"-producing machines: a monotype-machine can function with a minimal set of matrices: each character needed one matrix. While linecasters cannot function this way, and these systems need quite large magazines of matrices to be able to set a complete line of text with the usual character repetitions.