# Cowie's Printer's Pocket-Book and Manual/Of Imposing

OF IMPOSING.
Imposing comprehends not only the knowledge of placing the pages that they may, after they are printed off, follow each other regularly, but also the manner of dressing the furniture, and making the proper margin.
Having composed as many pages as make a whole sheet, half sheet, or less part of a sheet, of whatever size, they are taken from under the frame, and carried to the imposing stone; taking care to put the first page in its right position, with the signature to the left hand, facing us, according to the following schemes:—
A Sheet in Folio.
| Outer Form. | Outer Form. | Outer Form. | Inner Form. | Inner Form. | Inner Form. |
| 1 a | | 4 | 3 a2 | | 2 |
Two Sheets in Folio, Quired, or lying one in another.
| Outer Form of the Outer Sheet. | Outer Form of the Outer Sheet. | Outer Form of the Outer Sheet. | Inner Form of the Outer Sheet. | Inner Form of the Outer Sheet. | Inner Form of the Outer Sheet. |
| 1 a | | 8 | 7 | | 2 |
| Outer Form of the Inner Sheet. | Outer Form of the Inner Sheet. | Outer Form of the Inner Sheet. | Inner Form of the Inner Sheet. | Inner Form of the Inner Sheet. | Inner Form of the Inner Sheet. |
| 3 a2 | | 6 | 5 | | 4 |
A Sheet of Common Quarto.
| Outer Form. | Outer Form. | Outer Form. | Inner Form. | Inner Form. | Inner Form. |
| 5 | | 8 | 7 | | 6 |
| 4 | | 1 a | 2 | | 3 a 2 |
A Sheet in Broad Quarto.
Outer Form.Inner Form
Two Half Sheets in Quarto, worked together.
Outer Form.Inner Form
Half a Sheet of Common Quarto.
A Sheet of Common Octavo.
Outer Form.Inner Form
A Sheet of Broad Octavo.
Outer Form.Inner Form
| Half a Sheet of Common Octavo. | Two Quarters of a Common Octavo. |
Two Half Sheets of Common Octavo, worked together.
Outer Form.Inner Form
Sheet of Octavo with Two Signatures—12 concluding pages of a work, and four of other matter.
Outer Form.Inner Form
A Sheet in Octavo, of Hebrew Work.
Outer Form.Inner Form
A Sheet of Twelves.
Outer Form.Inner Form
A Sheet of Twelves without cutting.
Outer Form.Inner Form
A Sheet of long Twelves.
Outer Form.Inner Form
| Half Sheet of Twelves without Cutting. | A Common Half Sheet of Twelves |
Half Sheet of Twelves with Two Signatures—being 8 concluding pages of a work, and 4 of other matter.
One-third, or 8 pages of a Sheet of Twelves.
To be imposed in the Off-cross.
Outer Form.Inner Form
A Sheet in Twelves, with two Signatures.
Outer Form.Inner Form
Two Half-sheets of Twelves worked together.
Outer Form.Inner Form
A Sheet in Sixteens, with One Signature.
Outer Form.Inner Form
A Half Sheet in Sixteens.
A Sheet of Eighteens, with One Signature.
Outer Form.Inner Form
A Sheet of Eighteens, with Two Signatures.
Outer Form.Inner Form
A Sheet of Eighteens, with Three Signatures.
Outer Form.Inner Form
A Sheet of Eighteens, to be folded up together.
Outer Form.Inner Form
A Half Sheet of Eighteens.
Note.—The white paper of this form being worked off, the four lower-most pages in the middle must be transposed: viz. pages 8, 11, in the room of 7, 12, and pages 7, 12, in the room of 8, 11.
A Half Sheet of Eighteens, without transposing the pages.
Sixteen Pages to a Half Sheet of Eighteens.
Note—The white paper of this half sheet being worked off the middle-most pages must be transposed; viz. pages 7, 10, in the room of 8, 9 and pages 8, 9, in the room of 7, 10.
A Sheet of Twenties.
Outer Form.Inner Form
A common Half Sheet of Twenty-fours.
A Half Sheet of Twenty-fours, the Sixteen-way.
A Half Sheet of Twenty-fours, with Two Signatures.
A Half Sheet of Twenty-fours, without Cutting.
A Half Sheet of Long Twenty-fours.
A Sheet of Twenty-fours, with Two Signatures.
Outer Form.
Inner Form.
A Sheet of Thirty-twos.
Outer Form.
Inner Form.
A Sheet of Thirty-twos, with Four Signatures.
Outer Form.
Inner Form.
A Half Sheet of Thirty-twos, with Two Signatures.
A Common Half Sheet of Thirty-twos.
A Half Sheet of Thirty-twos.
A Half Sheet of Long Thirty-Sixes.
Half Sheet of Thirty-sixes, with Two Signatures.
A Half Sheet of Thirty-sixes, without Cutting.
A Half Sheet of Forties.
A Quarter Sheet of Forty Eights, with Two Signatures.
A Half Sheet of Forty-eights, with Two Signatures.
A Half Sheet of Forty-eights, with Three Signatures.
A Quarter Sheet of Forty-eights, without Cutting.
A Common Quarter Sheet of Forty-eights.
A Quarter Sheet of Sixty-fours.
A Common Quarter Sheet of Sixty-fours.
A Half-sheet of Sixty-fours. :
| 2 | 63 | 63 | 63 | 63 | 63 | 58 | 7 A 4 |
| 15 A 8 | 50 | 47 | 18 | 23 | 42 | 55 | 10 |
| 14 | 15 | 46 | 19 | 22 | 43 | 54 | 11 A 6 |
| 3 A 2 | 62 | 35 | 30 | 27 | 38 | 59 | 6 |
| 4 | 61 | 36 | 29 | 28 | 37 | 60 | 5 A 3 |
| 13 A 7 | 52 | 45 | 20 | 21 | 44 | 53 | 12 |
| 16 | 49 | 48 | 17 A 9 | 24 | 41 | 56 | 6 A 5 |
| 1 A | 64 | 33 | 32 | 25 | 40 | 57 | 8 |
A Half-sheet of Seventy-twos, with Three Signatures.
A Half Sheet of Ninety-sixes, with Six signatures.
A Half Sheet of One Hundred and Twenty-eights.
* ↑ Imposing in quires may be carried to any extent, by observing the following rule:—suppose the work to consist of 32 pages, or 8 sheets, then any two pages whose united numbers make 33. are to be imposed together; as, 1, 32—19, 14—12, 21, &c. There must be less furniture in the backs or the inner sheet than the outer, to allow for stitching.
* ↑ A sheet in sixteens, with two signatures, is imposed as two sheets of common octavo, putting the first signature for the one half sheet where A stands above, and the first page of the other half sheet in tha place where the fifth page is.