The Winslow mail., 1925-10-16
TYPELESS PRINTING

oDAYS typesettlng lllacnine0'
marvels of inventive genius, may
soon be regarded as curious, crude
implements of the past, if the in
vention and perfection of photo
graphic typesetting, reported by
The Publishers Weekly (New
York;, should turn out to be ac-
curate. The inventors are said to
be J. r. C. August and E. K. Hun
ter, of Walworth, England. We
read:
Experts who have seen the ma
chine in operation claim that IL
will probably revolutionize print
ing, and that principles OF printing
in use since Caxton's time may
soon become obsolete. Not since
the invention of the modern radio
has any such uncanny machine
been invented. It is said to do
away with metal type by subsititu-
ting a Photographic film upon
which letters, figures, etc., have
been photographed.
ALTHOUGH no detailed or very in
formative explanation of the work
ing of this new printing marvel has
been given, the principal features
have been explained. The machine
is, as clearly as can be defined,
a combination Of a typewriter, a
Photographic instrument, together
with certain features of process en-
craving.
"The operator, working a key
board similar to a typewriter's
causes letters and characters from
a master film to be projected, one
by one, in rapid sequence, on to
sensitized Photographic film base.
These projected letters are then
rapidly photographed, the exposure
being a matter of a fraction of
second. When this exposed film
is developed we have the modern
prototype of the 'set-up-materiaP
or type-line Of the composing ma
chine. 1t is in reality a photo
graphic film bearing an image Of
the subject-matter to be printed,
and is somewhat similar to the
stage reached by the process en-
graver who obtains a negative by
photographing an original.
"On reaching this stage printing
is very simple matter and may
be done in dozen different ways
by line block for letterpress print
ing, by direct Iitho, by Photographic
processes from plate or stone, or
by the offset photo-litho through
out.
"Type in bewildering variety is
available by an adjustment OF focus
of the lens which projects the
master film image; this operation
is completely automatic. A single
spool 2 inches in diameter of mas
ter film inches wide contains the
equivalent of 2,700 fonts or COM
piete sets of type.
"The claims made read almost
like Jules Verne description of
7some creative machine of his brain.
Some of them are:
"(a) The printers composing
rooms of the future, instead of oc-
cupying great areas filled with
costly machines, will consist Of Of
fees of a fraction of the size hous-
ing only the camera composers.
Millions of dollars will be saved,
inasmuch as the bulk of the COM
posing plant of today will become
unnecessary.
"(b) The application of wireless
telegraphy to the invention will en-
able machine, installed in Lon
don printing works, to set up the
same matter simultaneously in
many provincial towns.
"(c) Books and magazines,
whether of letterpress or pictures,
and, in fact, all printing will be-
come much cheaper, also more
beautiful because of the greater
variety of types available and the
avoidance of intermediate pro-
cesses, which tend to lessen the
ryearness of outline of the original
type.
"The invention, which involves
many subsidiary inventions, has
been protected by seventy British
and foreign patents"