The evolution of printing
Three centuries after Gutenberg invented the printing press had not undergone major technical improvements. On the contrary, the production of books had increased steadily. Its progress had doubled from one century to another and around 1880, it had quintupled. In 1900, there were more than 8 million editions. In France, under the Third Republic, it was published more than 10 000 titles per year. The book became a consumer product, an industrial product.
It is from 1820 that it was completed the adjustment of the mechanization of presses, printed copies became more regular and above all much faster than the old hand press.
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Automatic cylinder press (1812 - F. Koenig&A. Bauer) Principle of the plan against cylinder
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Linotype composing an article for the newspaper L'Intransigeant in 1925
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It is around 1880 that major innovations were going to change the world of printing. Since Gutenberg, typographers had to compose texts entirely by hand, character by character. Ottmar Mergenthaler, Swiss watchmaker, defined the first mechanical composing machine, the linotype in 1885 and Tolbert Lanston the monotype in 1889. The linotype allows the composer to strike directly texts on the keys of a keyboard; it ordered then the cast iron of characters and their alignment. By striking a key, the typesetters release of a store copper moulds that are assembled to form a justified line. A casting unit then injects a lead, line by line in sparse moulds which then returning to their seats. After use, the lead lines were cast in ingot called "salmon" to recharge again linotype. This represents an obvious progress, ending with the wear over fonts, we have constant new characters and the lines are automatically justified. The disadvantage of this method is the correction of mistakes that requires the restructuring of the entire line. This was the system used to compile the newspaper until 1965. The monotype allowed the mechanical production of movable characters but not experienced much success.
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The invention of photography (Niepce, 1826) would have repercussions in the first place leading to the technique of printing. Eugène Grasset and Charles Gillot joined to develop a new way of illustration. The latter had inherited his father's patent for the invention of a chemical process, the "zincography" which allows the transformation of a flat image in a relief image on a zinc plate. It then became possible to print this image on a press along with the text. Gillot had adapted this technology to photography and had founded in 1876, the first French workshop of photogravure. The feature drawings could be reproduced and also color, by overlapping the inked plates in different ways. This invention made completely disappear the execution engraving. The first book printed with the photogravure in several colors was made in 1883, The History of the Four Sons of Aymon. It was published between 1870 and 1900 a hundred illustrated books.
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The History of the Four Sons of Aymon
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Photo composer, type Compugraphic (1980)
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The first photo composing machine was designed by two French engineers, Higonnet and Moyroud, and is presented in the United States in 1949. The operator hits the text from the keyboard by setting the font, the style and justification. A calculator, automatically calculates the space between the words for each line and these data are transmitted to a matrices disc (negative characters) and rotating between a camera and a flash. Each character is this way photographed on a sensitive areas from which are drawn offset plates. Quality is further improved and the problems generated by the composition of lead are now history.
Photocomposition will evolve up to the 80s over several generations. The arrival of the computer will be the end of photo composers.
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