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==History==
Hot metal typesetting was developed in the late nineteenth century as a development of conventional cast metal type.<ref name="Cold type vs. hot typesetters">{{cite web|last1=Kupferschmid|first1=Indra|title=Cold type vs. hot typesetters|url=http://www.alphabettes.org/cold-type-vs-hot-typesetters/|website=Alphabettes|date=9 November 2012 |access-date=20 August 2017}}</ref> The technology had several advantages: it reduced labour since type sorts did not need to be slotted into position manually, and each casting created crisp new type for each printing job. In the case of [[Linotype machine]]s, each line was cast as a robust continuous block (hence "line o'type") which was useful for rapid newspaper printing.
== Types of typesetting ==
Two different approaches to mechanising typesetting were independently developed in the late 19th century. One, known as the [[Monotype System|Monotype composition caster]] system, produced texts with the aid of perforated paper-ribbons.
The Super-caster, another machine produced by Monotype, was similar in function to the Thompson,
The other approach was to cast complete lines as one slug, usually comprising a whole line of text.
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While the other machines were operated by (non-QWERTY) keyboards, in the [[Ludlow Typograph]] the matrices for each line were assembled in a stick by hand. This machine was able to cast display body sizes that other mechanical composition systems were unable to produce. In this way headings could be produced to complement text produced on other machines. It also used the same alloy as Linotype machines, so was a useful adjunct to page makeup for newspapers as, when a print run was completed, all the metal could be remelted at once, without having to be separated or the type from the headings redistributed back into case.
The success of these machines lay in different fields. The Monotype caster was more popular for bookwork that required the ability to make manual corrections and edits while the slug casting systems found success in newspaper production, where speed of production and 'make ready' for print was essential.
Another essential difference between Monotype and the "slug"-producing machines is that a Monotype machine functions with a minimal set of matrices. Each character needs one matrix. Linecasters cannot function this way, and these systems need quite large magazines of matrices to be able to set a complete line of text with the usual character repetitions. Indeed, the nominal 90
Additionally, Monotype ''must'' use a punched paper tape, and the "reading frame" is always backwards (right-to-left) in order to achieve [[Typographic alignment|justification]], as justification is not an inherent capability of the machine (however, "flush left" ''is'' an inherent capability). Whereas Linotype ''may'' use a punched paper tape, although this option is seldom-used outside of daily newspapers, and whether a tape is used, or not, the "reading frame" is always forwards (left-to-right), with justification being an inherent capability of the machine (and, "flush right", "centered" and "flush left" may be very easily accommodated manually, or automatically using a "quadder" attachment).
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It was a source of pride for trained operators to boast of being able to ‘hang’ a line – to keep a line waiting in the delivery channel while the machine was casting the previous line and the operator was composing the next one.
The metal pot was kept filled by the operator tossing in small ingots of type metal every few lines, or later, by mechanical feeders that carry large ingots of type metal (and which often carried two ‘pigs’ at a time to be consumed in turn, the operator hanging a fresh one when one was consumed). These feeders are actuated by various methods (by cam, either elevator, or distributor shifter), but the
From time to time, the slug galley is transferred to the composing table to be set in the form, and once the press run is completed and the slugs removed from the form, they are tossed into the ‘hell box’ for remelting into new ingots. At intervals the lead is remelted and the oxidized metal (dross) skimmed off. As part of this process, ‘plus metal’ is added in the form of small ingots to replenish that portion of the alloyed metals that was lost by the formation of dross (by oxidization of the metal in the machine's pot or during the remelting stage). The type metal is poured into ingot molds – small molds for manually feeding the metal pots or larger molds for the metal feeders. (In the latter case, special attention must be given the ‘eye’ end as it has to support the weight of the entire ingot. Failure often results in it dropping into the pot and splashing molten metal everywhere.)
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Towards the end of its life as a common [[backshop]] type setter, the Ludlow was often joined by the "Super Surfacer" a specially designed surface plane that would smooth the surface of the freshly cast type and ensure it was exactly type high. A Ludlow slug was just the letters overhanging a central spine about 12 points wide (T-shaped viewed from the end). It needed to be bolstered by Elrod slugs on either side for support. The number of slugs above and below the central spine could adjust the white space above and below the type making it a very flexible system for large type.
The Elrod was a machine used to cast rules and spacing material (leading) of a specific width: 1, {{frac|1|1|2}}, 2, 3, 4, 6, 12, 18, 24, 30, or 36 point.
All these line-casting machines used various alloys near the [[eutectic]] point and which typically consisted of approximately 4% tin and 12% antimony and the balance being lead. These alloys were proportioned such that the type metal would solidify as rapidly as possible at the lowest possible freezing point.
=== Monotype ===
[[File:Matrixcase-bembo-16pts.jpg|thumb|right|A Monotype composition case showing bronze matrices struck from steel punches
The [[Monotype System]] took a different direction in hot metal typesetting, with the ability of the Composition Caster to cast loose type using a paper tape
This type was most times made of an alloy (8-10%
The used type, like the slugs from line casters, was re-melted when no longer needed. Each time remelting caused some loss of
The [[Monotype Corporation]] survived the demise of the hot metal typesetting era by selling digital type.
== Transition ==
Towards the end of its life, hot metal composition in newspapers was kept alive by the proof press. As each page was set and locked up, it was moved on a turtle (a rolling table with an [[surface plate|accurately flat]] steel surface)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.printerhistory.com/lore.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031212054328/http://www.printerhistory.com/lore.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=12 December 2003 |title=A Few Words About Words |publisher=Pressed for Time |access-date=9 May 2014 }}</ref> to the manual proof press, where it was hand inked and a single very high quality proof was pulled. This proof could then be [[Process camera|photographed]] and converted to a negative.
Black paper was inserted before the proof was photographed for each of the photos on the final page to create clear windows in the negative. The separately made [[halftone]]s would be taped into these clear windows on the negative. This negative could then be used to expose the photosensitized printing plate for an [[offset printing|offset press]]. In this way the heavy investment in hot metal typesetting could be adapted to the newer offset technology during a transition period.
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Another [[synergy]] and transition mechanism was using paper tapes made for TTS systems (linotype) and monotype tapes directly by the photo typesetter system.
These tapes could be read and processed by many, maybe most optical setting systems. This allows avoiding actual use of metal, while preserving some of the value and investment in the "typesetting" and communication side of hot
== Comparison to successors ==
The nature of text printed via the hot-metal method is notably different from that produced by the [[phototypesetting]] processes that followed it. As the lead type used to print (letterpress) a page had been directly formed from the [[Matrix (printing)|type matrix]], a good fidelity to the original was achieved. Phototypesetting suffered (at least in its early days) from many problems relating to [[Distortion (optics)|optical distortion]] and misalignment. These disappointing results were a thorn in the sides of many authors and readers (especially of complex or mathematical texts that had many small sub- and superscripts). A desire to re-create the aesthetic qualities of hot lead spurred [[Donald Knuth]] to create one of the first general-purpose digital typesetting programs, [[TeX]].
Although not technically typesetting, stereotyping ([[electrotyping|electrotype]] or nickeltype) could be used to cast a reproduction of an entire typeset page (or pages imposed in a [[wikt:forme|forme]]) using a mold made with an impression using ''[[flong]]'' (similar to [[papier-mâché]]). The ensuing casting could be made curved for use on a rotary press or flat for the slower flat
== References ==
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