| Photo Typesetting – Leaving the LeadThe term “Photo typesetting” was used to point out the difference to conventional metal typesetting. Glass disks have been exposured by an electric bulb or flash light onto photographic material, what was used for offset printing. The first attempts have been mede during the Twenties on the base of experimental hot metal machines. In the following years there have been multiple attempts to start a new era of typesetting. A first milestone had been the presentation of the “diatype” from Berthold out of Berlin. The small, compact device was used for headlines and short pieces of text. Often the films have been combined with metal typesetting. During the following years the devices and machines have been developed and equipped with electronic circuits, what was resulting in an exponential increase of speed. Something as a legend has been the “Linotronic” from Linotype out of Eschborn near Frankfurt/M., as well as the ads (Akzidenz Doalog System) made by Berthold. There have been other vendors of phototypesetting solution like AM, Bobst, Dr. Böger (Scangraphic), CG (Compugraphic), Güttinger, Harris, Monotype or Stempel. During the 70ties the concepts has been transferred onto more powerful, digital working systems. One of the main things has been the splitting between exposure units and text processing units. A very useful invention has been generating endless text columns with automatic line breakings.
From top to bottom: Berthold diatype Dr. Böger Copytype Linotype Linotronic Berthold gst |
