![]() ![]() When you are filling out a line with spacing material, arrange it with the thickest wordspacing at the ends.Īs you are setting your line of type and finish the last word of the line, you’ll need to fill out the rest of your line with word spacing material. ![]() The quads also allow some neat typographical features, such as ‘hanging’ punctuation where the commas and hyphens appear slightly in the margin, leaving a very evenly justified column. The em quads act as “book ends” for your type, and help to hold up the lines as you move them around. Here are a few characters that tend to trick the eye, shown as how they look when in your composing stick and as printed:īegin/end each line with an em quad-keep thin word spacing on the inside Reading type both upside-down and backwards is not easy. Rounding up to the nearest length of furniture will make your lock up easier. Sitting puts your neck at risk.Įven though it might not be your first line of type, begin your typesetting with your longest line of type, so that you know what pica length your lines will need to be in order to accommodate that line and the em-quads that need to “book end” it. Gravity works in your favor this way, plus it allows you to have a place to prop both your copy (text) and your case layout cheat-sheet. Work standing, with your type case set on the slant-top Make a note of which type case you’re setting from!.It’s very important that all your lines are exactly the same length! If you are using a stick with a continuous slide setting, set your stick using a row of 12 point em quads set to the length of your line plus one brass space. Use the same composing stick for the duration of the project.This will create problems in justification, so be aware. As you begin to justify the line, make sure the types aren’t leaning just a little. Watch out for type that is off its feet.Take the time to master this skill as you begin, and you will save much trouble later. Not too loose, nor too tight - but just right. A line is perfectly justified when the last type just slides into place. This will keep the thin spaces from getting bent. When fine tuning the line tension (justifying the line), do not force thin spaces, but instead remove your final quad, add these smaller pieces and replace the quad. This will help when correcting and distributing the type. Get it right and lock-up later will be a snap! Also, when centering or filling out a line of type, put the smaller spacing material on the inside. If you need to use more than one copper and one brass in a line you can probably justify that line by rearranging the cast metal spaces. ![]() Don’t put several coppers or brasses right next to one another they make the line too springy. Only use coppers and brasses when thicker spacing material isn’t quite enough. Most lines can be justified with the spaces in the case. Study the combinations of spacing until you understand how to select the various thicknesses to best effect. It is essential that every line is snug and has an equal amount of tension. Be extremely careful not to mix up the two. Use generic spacing material to fill out the line. If you’re using monotype, there may be special word spacing material provided. If none can be found, it is possible, but not ideal, to use material from the next point size down. Use spacing material the same size as the type. By doing the above, it will be set properly: upside down but still left-to-right. Lay the type into the stick with the nick facing up, in the same order as it’s normally read. NOTE: this was not trade practice, but a useful technique when new to handling type. It will take some planning, as you’ll have to determine your longest line, and then add 2 ems to it. This is so your form doesn’t fall apart as easily. Use em quads. Start and end each line with an em quad. ![]() If you’re setting lines that will be separated once they are taken out of the stick, be sure to put at least two leads between each line, that way your type will be contained when you move it. If it doesn’t rattle, then trim off a point or so with the slug cutter. Make sure it rattles back and forth in the stick just a trifle. Start your composing stick with a lead or a slug just slightly shorter than the length of the line. Centuries of experience have proven this is the way to do it. Let gravity help keep the type from spilling out.
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