Watching this again 7 years later I'm quite impressed (printers joke) with this tutorial - I made all the music too btw - I still have all my printing gear - 2 ARAB platens and 120 trays of type and a whole lot of other stuff but now being in a new town I've yet to find somewhere to put everything - the presses weigh 2 tons and the type several tons - its a lot of steel, lead & iron to haul around the country - I've been restoring presses around the place and will set up a studio somewhere someday..
I learned how to set type in the 60's. Been in the printing industry for 50 years. Funny how letterpress went out of style in the 70's and now everybody wants printing done by letterpress.
Hello Rob thanks for your demo. I worked in the printing trade all my days from early 60s to 2000, and seen a lot of changes in the industry. I started as an apprentice compositor in a small jobbing printers, serving 5 years apprenticeship. Then decided to see the great and varied world of the printing industry. First got a job in a large book and magazine house, working with Linotype and monotype and working on the "stone" imposing 16 page formes of A4. Just a query, I never heard of starting and ending a line of type with a quad as you mentioned. The other thing I found to be strange was that you set your stick to 25 EMS. I know that most furniture whether wooden or alloy like "Cornerstone" was to an EVEN measure. Keep up the good work.
Hi - set the stick to 25 ems to make up the quad sizes - really it just stops the type from falling out - the quads squeeze the type rather than a couple of leads either side - the line of type is still 24 ems. That was a very convoluted explanation wasn't it - I made these films in 2011 - It really feels like a different time.
The case was said to be "dirty" when letters and sorts weren't in the right boxes. It is one thing to set type from a case, it is quite another thing to "distribute" (or dis) the individual letters back in the correct boxes in the type case. This is as important as setting the type. If you got it wrong, you didn't have the confidence to know when you picked the letter "e" that it was an "e". Non-printing people don't realises that if it is "handset" the type has to go back in the type-case in the correct box! If the type was "Linotype" or "monotype" it was just discarded and thrown into the "disbins" to be melted down at a later dare. I love talking about the printing industry!😄😄😄
The type case should be on a sloping frame. The setting stick should be set to correct measure accurately using 12pt ems. To aid setting a setting rule usually made of brass of the correct size should placed in the stick and moved up when each line is complete. A thick space should be used between each word initially and increased to justify the line. When the setting is complete it gets lifted out of the setting stick and put on a galley, tied up with page cord, inked up on a proofing press and proof read for any mistakes.
Hi I run a printing company in the Cotswolds and we print letterpress. I am time served and started my compositor's apprenticeship in North Wales in 1963. The first thing we learned was the layout of the typecase and how to hold a composing stick. Hate to say it but the film shown here is definately the wrong method of holding a stick. The left hand thumb should be used with enough pressure to securely hold the characters in place, not the forefinger. The stick should lay across the hand with all the fingers underneath and sit comfortably balanced with the palm facing upwards, the fingers grip the stick from underneath. We wouldn't have held the full stick up with both hands to read it. The practice of putting a thin space before a hyphen or any punctuation is something I've never heard of either. We never started a line with a mutton quad - can't understand the reason for this, and we always set the stick to even measures using cornerstone furniture which was the most accurate and was invariably supplied in even em lengths. The Monotype typesetting system I later used was an invention from around 1890 and this revolutionised typesetting by casting its own type in correct sequence to the right measure with incredible accuracy. It was a two man operation - a keyboard operator producing a punched tape of the typescript - the perforations were codes to allow compressed air to control a hot metal typecasting machine run by another operator. To hear the rat-a-tat noise and see the lines of type 'marching' out in perfectly justified lines onto the galley was a marvel to behold. The speed was astonishing as well, we could cast 6 point size type at 120 characters a minute. All selected from a moving matrix case, the aperture width adjusted (think i compared to m width), the correct mat positioned over the mould and the molten lead pumped through a nozzle into the mould and ejected all in half a second. This was perfect for book printing but sadly replaced an army of compositors. It was great to be part of it though before the advent of the mighty litho machines. And now here I am still enjoying it after almost 60 years! Thanks for the film Rob and despite my observations I must say I really enjoyed it and that it's great that you are helping to keep letterpress alive and well and indeed thriving again. There really is nothing quite like it.
thanks for your reply - I hold the setting stick the way I do because of my arthritis (in my thumbs) and hold the stick up with 2 hands because I can't see very well. I did my 1st 2 years of my time (1976 - 78) in hot metal - newspaper so no skills other than reading - just set and forget. Then I worked with an old boy for 5 years, he taught me setting, and operating the Heidelberg windmill and cylinder press amongst other skills - paper making, binding, plate making and more. As my mum used to say - depends what school you went to . . I'm the youngest 'journeyman' in our group - everybody else is late 70's - 80 + I'm 65. I made this film in 2011 when I was a youngster of 52 . .
After arranging all the letters, does it then goes into the printing machine and is that how it comes on to the paper?Or is there some other way. Just curious enough to know.
Swati Gandhi - yep thats pretty much it - the type is locked up in a chase, then into the printing press where its inked then pressed against the letters. Letterpress. Very simple.
I've been trying to learn to set type by watching these videos and it's near impossible. Case in point, notice before setting any type, he puts a lead strip on the composing stick? Yeah, he makes NO mention of that, nobody does. Is it a secret? Now, before anyone says "oh, everybody knows that!", this is supposed to be an instructional video for people who don't know that. It's not just him...virtually every video ignores that.
If his case is so dirty that he has to check every sort, he should clean his case. Start every line with a mutton quad? Nonsense. He has never put in the time to learn to set type. Competent handsetting is like touch typing, the operator does not look at the keys nor does the compositor look at the case and sorts as he does.
I'm doing this for people to learn - Ive set type for 35 years - and I've got 220 trays of type - this is one of the newer trays - my cameras are old and I'm doing the best I can under the circumstances - perhaps you could do better?
I came back here today because I realised I had been rude. I began an apprenticeship to Hand Composing 60 years ago. I still have a hand platen and a shirt-tail full of type and set and print the occasional job. A Compositor, fresh out of his apprenticeship was referred to as a "Journeyman" and it was expected that he would change jobs several times in order to learn the differing ways the trade was performed around the country. A few years ago, I was giving a demonstration at the local school and the teacher expressed surprise that I did not look at the sort I was about to pick up. When setting, it is my practice to locate the next sort that I want and while the hand is going for that, the eye is already going to the next letter and locating the exact sort that will be taken from that box. The compositor gets to know the relative position of the type case just as the typist knows the relative position of the keyboard. A case is said to be "dirty" if the compositor can not be confident that all the sorts in each box will be correct. When setting lines that are to be centered, it is good practice to make an estimate of how much space will be needed to justify the line and to then put half of that space in the stick before setting the line. But I had not before come across the suggestion of commencing every line with a quad. With regard to units of measurement. We always worked with the knowledge that terms had two meaning and were used with the expectation that the meaning would be taken from the context. For example, an em of 12 pt is 12 points and is interchangeable with a pica. But an em of 10 pt is only 10 points. This was my trade but there is not much demand for it now. Many of the things that I do these days have been self taught and at those I am barely competent.
I'm 57 and started my trade on the Evening Post newspaper in 1976 - I had 2 years of newspaper hot metal and 2 years on 'pasteup' - then I was lucky to work for an old boyfor 5 years in his small jobbing printers. We had a heidelberg and an ARAB - he taught me everything he knew. I've gone on since then to learn paper making and bookbinding. I'm one of the very few letterpress printers still working in NZ.
@@denisstarrs5882 I'm with you. I'm 83 and started as a "comp" in 1951 in a small jobbing shop in Kent. Finishing with letterpress in London in 1973. I still print but now it is digital.
"The Compositor is THE Superior Being" . . . my mate had that printed and hung ABOVE his Frame . . . can't argue with that 😉
Watching this again 7 years later I'm quite impressed (printers joke) with this tutorial - I made all the music too btw - I still have all my printing gear - 2 ARAB platens and 120 trays of type and a whole lot of other stuff but now being in a new town I've yet to find somewhere to put everything - the presses weigh 2 tons and the type several tons - its a lot of steel, lead & iron to haul around the country - I've been restoring presses around the place and will set up a studio somewhere someday..
I learned how to set type in the 60's. Been in the printing industry for 50 years. Funny how letterpress went out of style in the 70's and now everybody wants printing done by letterpress.
Hello Rob thanks for your demo. I worked in the printing trade all my days from early 60s to 2000, and seen a lot of changes in the industry. I started as an apprentice compositor in a small jobbing printers, serving 5 years apprenticeship. Then decided to see the great and varied world of the printing industry. First got a job in a large book and magazine house, working with Linotype and monotype and working on the "stone" imposing 16 page formes of A4. Just a query, I never heard of starting and ending a line of type with a quad as you mentioned. The other thing I found to be strange was that you set your stick to 25 EMS. I know that most furniture whether wooden or alloy like "Cornerstone" was to an EVEN measure. Keep up the good work.
Hi - set the stick to 25 ems to make up the quad sizes - really it just stops the type from falling out - the quads squeeze the type rather than a couple of leads either side - the line of type is still 24 ems. That was a very convoluted explanation wasn't it - I made these films in 2011 - It really feels like a different time.
The case was said to be "dirty" when letters and sorts weren't in the right boxes. It is one thing to set type from a case, it is quite another thing to "distribute" (or dis) the individual letters back in the correct boxes in the type case. This is as important as setting the type. If you got it wrong, you didn't have the confidence to know when you picked the letter "e" that it was an "e". Non-printing people don't realises that if it is "handset" the type has to go back in the type-case in the correct box! If the type was "Linotype" or "monotype" it was just discarded and thrown into the "disbins" to be melted down at a later dare. I love talking about the printing industry!😄😄😄
The type case should be on a sloping frame.
The setting stick should be set to correct measure accurately using 12pt ems. To aid setting a setting rule usually made of brass of the correct size should placed in the stick and moved up when each line is complete. A thick space should be used between each word initially and increased to justify the line.
When the setting is complete it gets lifted out of the setting stick and put on a galley, tied up with page cord, inked up on a proofing press and proof read for any mistakes.
Thoroughly impressive this time my friend. The captioning worked great as well.
One day this information may well be very very important - vital even - well done for recording this stuff :-))
. enjoy this very much . thank you ;)
Hi I run a printing company in the Cotswolds and we print letterpress. I am time served and started my compositor's apprenticeship in North Wales in 1963. The first thing we learned was the layout of the typecase and how to hold a composing stick. Hate to say it but the film shown here is definately the wrong method of holding a stick. The left hand thumb should be used with enough pressure to securely hold the characters in place, not the forefinger. The stick should lay across the hand with all the fingers underneath and sit comfortably balanced with the palm facing upwards, the fingers grip the stick from underneath. We wouldn't have held the full stick up with both hands to read it. The practice of putting a thin space before a hyphen or any punctuation is something I've never heard of either. We never started a line with a mutton quad - can't understand the reason for this, and we always set the stick to even measures using cornerstone furniture which was the most accurate and was invariably supplied in even em lengths.
The Monotype typesetting system I later used was an invention from around 1890 and this revolutionised typesetting by casting its own type in correct sequence to the right measure with incredible accuracy. It was a two man operation - a keyboard operator producing a punched tape of the typescript - the perforations were codes to allow compressed air to control a hot metal typecasting machine run by another operator. To hear the rat-a-tat noise and see the lines of type 'marching' out in perfectly justified lines onto the galley was a marvel to behold.
The speed was astonishing as well, we could cast 6 point size type at 120 characters a minute. All selected from a moving matrix case, the aperture width adjusted (think i compared to m width), the correct mat positioned over the mould and the molten lead pumped through a nozzle into the mould and ejected all in half a second. This was perfect for book printing but sadly replaced an army of compositors. It was great to be part of it though before the advent of the mighty litho machines. And now here I am still enjoying it after almost 60 years!
Thanks for the film Rob and despite my observations I must say I really enjoyed it and that it's great that you are helping to keep letterpress alive and well and indeed thriving again. There really is nothing quite like it.
thanks for your reply - I hold the setting stick the way I do because of my arthritis (in my thumbs) and hold the stick up with 2 hands because I can't see very well. I did my 1st 2 years of my time (1976 - 78) in hot metal - newspaper so no skills other than reading - just set and forget. Then I worked with an old boy for 5 years, he taught me setting, and operating the Heidelberg windmill and cylinder press amongst other skills - paper making, binding, plate making and more. As my mum used to say - depends what school you went to . . I'm the youngest 'journeyman' in our group - everybody else is late 70's - 80 + I'm 65. I made this film in 2011 when I was a youngster of 52 . .
After arranging all the letters, does it then goes into the printing machine and is that how it comes on to the paper?Or is there some other way.
Just curious enough to know.
Swati Gandhi - yep thats pretty much it - the type is locked up in a chase, then into the printing press where its inked then pressed against the letters. Letterpress. Very simple.
Rob Lamb thanks alot for this great help
I've been trying to learn to set type by watching these videos and it's near impossible. Case in point, notice before setting any type, he puts a lead strip on the composing stick? Yeah, he makes NO mention of that, nobody does. Is it a secret?
Now, before anyone says "oh, everybody knows that!", this is supposed to be an instructional video for people who don't know that. It's not just him...virtually every video ignores that.
its not a secret - it's common sense . . .
an em is from the word "Mutton" and an en is from the word "Nut"
an Em is from the 12 pt Times Roman cap M and an En from the 12pt Times Roman cap N - mutton and nut were never used by the comps I worked with.
@@treborif Sorry, you are wrong!
Being a compositor from 1951 I think you should talk to someone in the trade before showing how to do it.
Hi knows his trade but doesn't know how to tell it.
If his case is so dirty that he has to check every sort, he should clean his case. Start every line with a mutton quad? Nonsense. He has never put in the time to learn to set type. Competent handsetting is like touch typing, the operator does not look at the keys nor does the compositor look at the case and sorts as he does.
I'm doing this for people to learn - Ive set type for 35 years - and I've got 220 trays of type - this is one of the newer trays - my cameras are old and I'm doing the best I can under the circumstances - perhaps you could do better?
I came back here today because I realised I had been rude. I began an apprenticeship to Hand Composing 60 years ago. I still have a hand platen and a shirt-tail full of type and set and print the occasional job. A Compositor, fresh out of his apprenticeship was referred to as a "Journeyman" and it was expected that he would change jobs several times in order to learn the differing ways the trade was performed around the country. A few years ago, I was giving a demonstration at the local school and the teacher expressed surprise that I did not look at the sort I was about to pick up. When setting, it is my practice to locate the next sort that I want and while the hand is going for that, the eye is already going to the next letter and locating the exact sort that will be taken from that box. The compositor gets to know the relative position of the type case just as the typist knows the relative position of the keyboard. A case is said to be "dirty" if the compositor can not be confident that all the sorts in each box will be correct. When setting lines that are to be centered, it is good practice to make an estimate of how much space will be needed to justify the line and to then put half of that space in the stick before setting the line. But I had not before come across the suggestion of commencing every line with a quad. With regard to units of measurement. We always worked with the knowledge that terms had two meaning and were used with the expectation that the meaning would be taken from the context. For example, an em of 12 pt is 12 points and is interchangeable with a pica. But an em of 10 pt is only 10 points. This was my trade but there is not much demand for it now. Many of the things that I do these days have been self taught and at those I am barely competent.
I'm 57 and started my trade on the Evening Post newspaper in 1976 - I had 2 years of newspaper hot metal and 2 years on 'pasteup' - then I was lucky to work for an old boyfor 5 years in his small jobbing printers. We had a heidelberg and an ARAB - he taught me everything he knew. I've gone on since then to learn paper making and bookbinding. I'm one of the very few letterpress printers still working in NZ.
You are so right, where do these people come from?
@@denisstarrs5882 I'm with you. I'm 83 and started as a "comp" in 1951 in a small jobbing shop in Kent. Finishing with letterpress in London in 1973. I still print but now it is digital.
czcams.com/video/bAniQMoRsQQ/video.html