INTRODUCTION TO HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
Between 15th
century from the invention of muturable types in the 15th
century to the years 1800 the techniques of cover posing printing and book binding am ong the only existing processes of the period noticed a — improvement revision of techniques and equipment were few and of modest conception what printing look like before 1683 started in African, Egypt to be precise with writing on heaves found on the back of the Rive Nile on these leaves called papers were written massages and attached to dogs and pigeons to derived destinations we said above then what printing was like is not known and thin back. In 16 83 Joseph Moxon’s monomental work was God fired and for the first time printing procedure was codified.
Early methods and their investors
We have —- where we and erpert opinion suggestions that gutenburg modelled him — press on proelum or wine press. As time elapsed so refinements were made to big and clumsy presses of 15th
century, the TUMPAN AND FRISKET were added in about 1545 and the metal series was introduced in 1550, poribly by DANNER a printer in MUREMBURG at that time but the associated history is some what confused.A printing press of Dutch origin, the work of WILLEM JANSZOON. BLAEU, was available in 1620 and embochied several development although some authorities have accredited certain improvement to BLAEU which are not device for effecting the automatic return of the platen often impression. Subsequently attempts pressers wee frustrated by take of stability in the wooden france which tended to stretch under the slightest strain —– step toward was in 1790 when on American, ADAM RAMAGE brict a press which incorporated both an iron platen and bed and also included a spring device for inducing the automatic ascent of the platen offer impression.
In 1796 firming DIDOT cominoned a press with a large iron platen capable of printing a full form is stage by taking two elistinct impression. The DIDOT press was soon to be supplented by the first all iron press.
Thus, on the eve of the 19th
century printed impression. The chniques of the compositor in the year 1800 had advanced very liuttle, if at all from moxons day. Printing can be traced as far back as AD 594 to the Chinese whom used block from which print were produced. However relief printing, as we know it was developed in Europe during the fifteenth century as a result of Gutenbery. Invention of movable type.The early presses were adaptation of the winepresses in use of that time.
Few improvement or charges were made to this system. Public desire for reading which placed increasing demands of the painter technological development of the nineteenth century, the so called industrial Revolution were vast and reflected on the demand for increase for production especially of book and newspapers. Also running of the paralled with changes machine designs were the invention to the paper making and the invention of mechanical typesetting machine, faster, bigger, efficient presses were need to cope with the out put of from mechanical typesetting machines.
The most remarkable development was the introduction of iron Stan hope presses within in the period of 18 30 18 40. The rotary presses were developed for newspaper work.
Today the baie principles remained the same but the machines themselves have been developed to sophictaktion high speed electronically controlled pressed now in use.
CHAPTER ONE
Printing may be simply defined as the transference of ink from an image on to STOCK.
This may be carried out in many ways but every method has each of these elements ink, image and stock.
Ink : Enables the shape of the —— to be seen on the paper. The kind of ink depend on the process and stock, bot must be capable of:
(i) Being deposited in a thin layer on to the image.
(iv) After being transferred, it shall adhere to the stock permanently inks are available in a wide range of colours and for wide range of purposes.
Image: A prepared surface which will accept inks are for eventual transfer to the stock.
The surfaces very considerably in the form the hake depending up on the printing process being used.
The surfaces also very within any given process e.g.
Letter press, image, type, zinc plate plastic plate, nylon plates brass steel.
Image are produced form a variety of original copy. Sketches, artists, drawing layouts, water and oil paintings, script, photographs type images etc. type images.
Stock: any material upon which an image can be printed. Also called substrate usually paper but may be plastic linen, tin, film.
Stock must have the following properties.
PRINTING PROCESSES
There are many printing processes that cover many requirements, only four processes colour one generally in operation in Nigeria.
They are letter press, lithography, gravune and screen printing.
LETTER PRESS AS PHYSICAL PRINCIPLES
Letter press principle can easily be defined as more of mechanical (physical, method of transferring ink to he stock a thin layer of ink is deposited on the relief image areas.)
This ink film is offset directly on to stock under pressure form the impression cylinder or platen.
The printing surface or image is raised in relief with the non printing areas are recessed or / on a lover plans.
METHOD OF IDENTIFICATION
The image is impresured into the paper, the indentation is sometimes visible if the back of the printed sheet is examined
Advantages
DIFFICULTIES IN LETTER PRESS PRINTING
HAND CORRECTION: Hand correction is usually required to fill up required areas often casting by the mechanical comping machine as the proof reader may indicate.
Hand correction is carried on by picking types from the case. A pair of tweezers is normally used by the composition for easy access into the type form.
COMPOSING STICK
Composing stick is usually held in the left hand while setting a line of type from type case with the right hand. The type is assembles in the composing stick with the ink at the type is the space is placed between words as the setting proceeds. Sometimes setting rules is used to facilitate the setting when a line is set to the required measure another is started until the seetingstic is full and litted to the qalley.
Fig shows the diagram of California job case
Show the diagram of California job case. This is the termed a double case, it contains caps, lower case, figures spaces of different thickness and punctuation points. This case is universally used in preference to pair of case. The cantals letters are kept in separate area which is about one third of the case as shown above.
Types Alloys: The requirements of type alloys are as follows. Able to be case easily give a solid, sharp casting sufficiently strong to with stand distortion under reasonable pressure and long runs impervious to oxidation head Antimony and tin are good material for these requirement.
Head: Forms the basis of printing matals, it metal
Antimony: Is a bright crystalline and very brittle metal which tarrishes by air, it confers hardness and solidity of the types allows.
Tin: Is a bright metal which is not tarnished by air, it possesses the property of hardening the alloys but not to the extent of antimony.
THE MONOTYPE
The monotype consists of two units – a keyboard and a casting machine. Each of the units makes use of 15 pound of compressed air that passes through a cooking tank per square inch.
Its fundamental principle is to cast single type.
The monotype key board is made to produce a kind of paper ribbon / spool paper, which control is the functions of the monotype composition caster. Two key button. There are of course three special key:-
Characters and letters of the type point together which the spacings required for adjustment are represented in the perforations in the tape. Normal spaces between words is put as the compositor composes and a signal is given at the completion of each line.
The compositor then records the required symbols to device the remaining space evenly. An automatic scale is used in carrying out this. The machine calculates exactly in advance how much space to put between each word. While the tape moves through the casten, it controls plasts of compressed air that movers levers to pull a movement deposits required matrix on to the mouth of the mould where the hot mottern metals is —- against it to form the letter, character or space. It has a very fast casting capacity of about one hundred and fifty casts per minutes. Cast unit is pushed forwards until the whole line is completed and pushed into galley than another line starts.
LINOTYPE
There linotype land intertype machine incorporates both key board and caster. It doesn’t compose types in acceptable sence but produces lines of metal called slugs which have on their upper edges the required character. Linotype of intertype was almost conclusively used for the production of news paper and magazines bot today, the introduction of photo seterters are fastly dominating the newspaper composition.
The compositor sits before muti alphabet key board and punches the key in much the same manner as a type wrote is operated. Brass muld called matrices are released from their position of storage in magazine. They drop through the delivery channels and one then carried to the assembly elevator, at this point space bands a re dropped between words henes of martrices and lands is then carried to the casting mechanism where moltern metal is flushed against than coasting type slug. Immediately after casting the matrices and space bonds are revised by the first elevator to a point where they are transferred to the distributing elevator that lift at a certain position form where they are returned to the their storage box ready for use again.
HOT METAL
Casting of type from the monotype and linotype machines is known as hot metal, this is because the production of much of the materials in use in this system. Type slugs, goods, roles and leads are the products of hot metal system as they are molten metal based.
BOOK BINDING: After the mechanization of printing there are a high demand of book and these binding operation cash making and case in remind in the hand of craptment with how out put needed mechanization too.
FIG. SHOS PARTS OF A TYPE