Object Record
Images
Metadata
Object Name |
Typesetter, Computer |
Catalog Number |
2012.0043.004 |
Date |
c.1985 |
Description |
Compugraphic Compuwriter Jr. Typesetter. Blue and grey computer like machine with a keyboard and switches on the front panel. There is a spot to put paper in the front. See "Notes" for description of how device works. |
Notes |
Was originally used to create "The Citizen" newspaper when it was first published in 1985. Description provided from The Citizen: "Compugraphic Junior: The Compugraphic line of computerized photo-typesetters revolutionized type-setting for small newspapers and print shops in the mid-1970s. Huron County's newspapers had been moving toward "offset" printing for the past 5-10 years from the hot-metal printing of the previous century. In the hot metal days each small town newspaper had its own printing press. Typesetting was done with Linotypes, which employed a key-board to select and arrange mould's to the filled with hot metal which would create a line of type. Headlines were usually assembled by hand-set type unless they were small enough to be set on the Linotype. Offset printing employed a photographic process. Thin metal plates were used on the press. They were created by exposing the photo-sensitive plate to a bright light source through a negative of the page to be printed. The negative was created by photographing a "paste-up" of the page. Unlike the hot metal printing, which made it difficult to use illustrations and photos, the photographic process used in offset made it much easier and less expensive to use art work. The problem in the early years was getting quality typesetting that was "justified" (even line-ends on each side of the column). Early systems used a typewriter-like instrument that required each line to be typed twice (the second time with the proper spacing to give an even line-end). IBM used a tape-recorder to record the key strokes and put them through the second typing without someone needing to type the line a second time. The Compugraphic system employed the newly-emerging computer technology with a photographic process in a small unit that was affordable for small newspapers (although when we purchased out first Compugraphic Junior -- the low-end model -- for the Blyth Standard in January 1974, the $5,000 cost made me take many deep breaths.) In the computerized photo typesetter, the typist typed the line and the computer kept track of the letters typed until there were enough to fill the line. It then inserted the proper spacing and sent the message to the processor. The type font was on a plastic film strip that contained one type face in one size, though it did have a regular and italic or regular and bold version of the type face. This type strip spun on a drum and as the needed letter came in front of the light source, the light would fire, projecting the letter onto the photographic paper that would become the "gallery" or column of type. This happened so fast that (if you opened the cover and watched) you could just see a machine-gun-like firing of the light as a line was set in about five seconds. The typist would adjust the length of the line by adjusting a counter on the front of the machine to the numbers required by a manual. You could change the type strip to use a different typeface. For each face there was a corresponding set of gears that created the proper spacing for that typeface. There was a switch inside the machine which could be used to double the size of the type, but you then needed the appropriate set of gears to be installed. The faces were much cheaper than buying fonts for a Linotype but the cost was still high enough that most small newspapers have a limited selection. (Sorry, I can't remember the cost but may have been around $100). The lines of type were recorded on a long roll of photographic paper which was then stored in a cassette that was light tight. This cassette would be removed periodically and taken to the darkroom where it was run through a photographic processor that had two baths of chemical, an "activator" to develop the image, and a "stabilizer" to stabilize it so it wouldn't fade in the light. At least that was what was supposed to happen. Too many times the paper would go into the machine and not come out, getting wrapped around a roller or bunched up by an obstruction. This would generally be accompanied by a scream of pain from the typist who realized that all the work of typing had to be done over again, since there was no longer-term memory storage on these machines. If all went well, the strip of type was hung up to dry, then proof read. When errors were discovered, a line would be retyped, cut as closely to the top and bottom of the letters as possible, and "pasted" over the error using a wax bonding process" |
Material |
Metal |
Dimensions |
H-107 W-73 L-85.5 cm |
Subjects |
Newspaper industry Newspapers Computers Typesetting machines |
Search Terms |
The Citizen Brussels |