Part of the job in publishing is setting the compositors by hand or machine for articles, including the headings, and other printed matter. They select the type style and size according to instructions for the job to be done. When compositors or compositors apprentices set copy by hand, which is rarely done anymore, they select one letter or character at a time, putting it in a tray called a ‘composing stick.’ They insert lead, brass, or copper to even out the line. They may later insert lead slugs or lines of quads to adjust the length of the whole set up. When the stick is full, the type is dumped from the stick to another tray called a ‘galley.’ In the galley, the type is fastened tightly together, inked, and then paper is pressed against it by galley strippers. This sample of the printed article is called a proof, and is examined for mistakes by proof sheet correctors so that the compositor may correct them. When the job is finished, the type is cleaned and returned to its storage case till it is used again. Moreover, the ad compositor gets together the type and cuts needed for an advertisement. This worker spaces the materials in a galley according to a predetermined plan furnished in the copy prepared by the customer. The ad may ultimately be stereotyped, electrotyped, and printed from type, engraved, or proofed for photographic reproduction.
Furthermore, the publishing careers of the linotype operator involve operating a semi-automatic machine that has a keyboard, consisting of small, or lowercase, letters and numbers, and large, or uppercase, capital letters. The keyboard is operated to form a line of type, hence the name of the machine. The operator starts the machine-reading from copy clipped to his or her copy board, strikes the keyboard and activates the proper matrices that form a line. This makes a slug of metal with raise letters on it. This slug is of the length desired for the length of a line of type in the finished printed material. By operating a lever, the compositor causes the slug to be deposited in metal tray called a ‘galley’ that is on one side of the machine. After the proof is made, the galley is returned to the operator for corrections. The Linotype operator has the duty of seeing that solid pieces of lead, called ‘pigs,’ are added to the melting pot when needed. Nearly all newspaper plants, large commercial shops, and typesetting shops once used these machines and operators to set type, but Linotype machines in most instances have been replaced by computerized typesetting machines.
Today, one of the most active machine compositors in publishing employment is the phototypesetting operator. This machine sometimes has the appearance of other typesetting machines, but its operation results in a film or photographic paper print. The operator must be familiar with photographic processes to develop the films. This person must also be familiar with electronics, because much of the equipment has electronic controls. The product of such typesetting machines may be called “cold type,” for no hot metal casting is involved. This occupation includes typewriter style typesetting, too. Meanwhile, proofreaders have the responsibility of cross-checking trial proofs before the final printing is made. They check for grammatical, typographical, and composition errors, by reading the original copy against the proof. A special proof-reader’s code of marks is used for indicating errors, mark-up proofs are returned to the compositor for corrections, additions, or deletions in the copy. Most composing room workers in their publication jobs learn their trades as helpers or as apprentices. Apprenticeships usually cover a certain period of years, but it may be shortened for those apprentices who have had previous experience or schooling. The apprentice begins with the simplest and most routine tasks and gradually advances through the more complicated aspects of composition. In small shops and in small communities, especially where the shops are not unionized, new workers gain their knowledge and skills as helpers. Trade school work is helpful in such cases.
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