tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6291577123115510773.post6122774755566000505..comments2023-05-18T09:26:40.814-04:00Comments on Thoughts on association publishing: The Advent of PhototypesettingBob Silversteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01066082859129301175noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6291577123115510773.post-56683264114483832812009-06-18T16:51:54.574-04:002009-06-18T16:51:54.574-04:00I apprenticed at a small printing company from 197...I apprenticed at a small printing company from 1976-81, and worked at Auburn University's printing service from 81-84.<br /><br />I was introduced to the IBM Composer system, where you typed everything twice, and a year or so later we started using a CompuGraphic IV TG, which used film strips, and had a 2x lense so we could get some font size variation. <br /><br />Later, at Auburn University we had Veritypers which used disks and a zoom lens . . . the type was never really that sharp, but the system had a large CRT for reviewing and revising type, which was great.<br /><br />We also had an ancient Linotype, which was used for the Extension Service . . . they would set type and lock up a chase with a full page, pull a repro proof, paste the proof up and make overlays and/or add art for various county extension brochures, and it was great to see and hear how "real" typesetting was done, but I digress.<br /><br />I worked for a typesetting/design company from 84-86 in Atlanta who used a Comp 8400 system and they too bought an early Mac, a Mac Plus I believe to add tags so it could be output, then I left the company in 86 so I don't know what they did after that.<br /><br />In 1987 my freelance work turned to having my own clients and I worked with a typesetter who used yet another system, I can't remember. It used Mag Tapes to store the files, using refrigerator sized units to read and write the data.<br /><br />I landed a book project I bought my first Mac, a SE, and began to work with Quark XPress 1.02.<br /><br />I betan to work with another printer who was also using Macs as their front end for typesetting, and they would output pages on an Itek imagesetter. We still had to make pasteups and used overlays, but the output had crop marks and usually several rounds of laser proofing meant none of the cutting in "strip-ins" to fix a word here and there.<br /><br />The pasteups still had to be shot with a horizontal camera, and halftones had to shot and stripped into the negatives, but it was a great leap forward, and I could kern my type and adjust leading and make it just the way I liked it.<br /><br />The 1990s was great with scanners coming of age and finally digital files to film.<br /><br />I missed out on a lot of pre-press advancements during the late 1990s through 2003, as I was working with an Internet company and it wasn't until 2004 I started my own company again and made the transition to Adobe's CS and InDesign.<br /><br />As a designer, it was frustrating in the past when you had to markup type and maybe take it through a few rounds of work with typesetters to get it exactly as you wanted it.<br /><br />Today everything intersects at the same workstation . . . typesetting, image correction, design and pre-press which is great for someone who knows what they are doing and have the time.<br /><br />Do I want to go back to the old days and ways . . . not me. I like going from my files to plates.Vann Bakerhttp://www.design-first.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6291577123115510773.post-57855664703431315092009-06-17T16:03:13.140-04:002009-06-17T16:03:13.140-04:00I still have a scar on the end of my finger where ...I still have a scar on the end of my finger where I sliced it off with an X-acto knife, and I have to say I miss the smell of hot waxers. And don't forget light tables and blue-line grids on the mechanicals.<br /><br />The oddest thing we did in the transition between typesetters and desktop publishing was connect a Macintosh 512k up to a Compugraphic 8400 and created type in place, bypassing a lot of pasteup. The 8400 used a CRT to image the type instead of film strips, but boy, was it slow.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00489314648580446317noreply@blogger.com