Setting Type For Printing
| Field | Printing using a printing press |
| Went Obsolete | 1970s - 1980s |
| Made Obsolete By | Conversion to digital layout & printing |
| Knowledge Assumed | Selecting the correct letters from a letter case, knowing type styles & sizes |
| When useful | After an EMP takes out all the electronic composting & printing capabilities |
Prior to digital composing and printing, type consisted of lead pieces with a single letter (in reverse) raised at one end. This is ignoring type-setting machines such as the Linotype, which created an entire line in one molded piece. One type case contained all printable characters & spaces for one size of a single font. A typical print shop would have hundreds of cases for the various fonts - each case containing all the same size characters.
The letters/characters/spaces were picked out of the case and set into a “composing stick” with a long lead spacer between lines. Space between lines is still referred to as “leading” (pronounced “ledding”) to this day. Reading the set type required being able to read letters upside-down and reversed. The various lines would be locked into a square or rectangular frame called a “chase” and set into a press. As the press operated, a roller would dip into the ink supply and roll over the type. A single sheet would be placed (by hand or mechanically) into a holder and then be pressed against the inked type. The paper would be removed and the cycle repeated.
