Linofilm

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Linofilm is the name of a typesetting machine that uses the photo typesetting process . It was developed in 1954 by the Mergenthaler Linotype Company of Brooklyn , New York .

The Linofilm consists of two parts, the button and the photo booth. The text to be set is first recorded on the button. The typesetter works on an electric typewriter keyboard. The machine creates a punched tape with control commands for the photo booth and a printout in plain text for control purposes. The punched tape is then read into the photo machine.

The photo booth is housed in a compact, closed housing. The punched tape now controls the functions of the imagesetter, which works according to the electromechanical principle. An electronic flash tube exposes the desired character through a disk with negative characters on a light-sensitive film or paper. An optical system consisting of reflectors and mirrors controls the various positions on the photographic material.

The Linofilm can hold 18 different writing discs, each with a complete character set, in its magazine and access them while they are being set. The punched tape contains the necessary data to set the font size, the leading and the number of the writing disc. With a thickness map for each font, the machine can automatically set the character spacing. The machine's electronic flash can expose around 43,000 characters from 6 to 36 points per hour. The possible sentence width is up to 28 Cicero and can contain 88 characters per line.

In addition to the Linofilm, there is also the Linofilm corrector and the composer. The corrector makes it possible to cut out the lines to be corrected in an exposed film and to replace them with the correct lines also present on the film; they are installed using the butt welding process. With the composer it is possible to change the font size even further. Sizes from 4 to 100 points can be achieved. The composer can assemble columns up to 90 Cicero width and any length. This makes the machine particularly suitable for typesetting large advertisements, but also for tables and commercial jobs.

literature

  • Jackson Burke: An Introduction to Linofilm . In: The Penrose Annual . Volume 49, 1955, p. 110.
  • Günter Schmitt: typesetter. Typographer. A job through the ages . AT Verlag, Aarau 1990, ISBN 3-85502-380-8 .
  • The LINOFILM SYSTEM - The New Concept in photocomposition. Pp. 7–8 in: The Linotype Line. The world's finest composing machines for hot or cold type. http://www.metaltype.co.uk/downloads/LinotypeLine.pdf