Phototypesetting

写真植字 / 1924–1990s / Technique / Composition Technology

Composition by lens and glass matrix, printing letters optically — bringing tight setting, distortion and smooth contours metal type never allowed.

Enlarging and reducing by lens / Tight letterspacing / Condensed, extended, oblique / Smooth contours

Phototypesetting — 写真植字機 MC-6（CC BY 4.0）Phototypesetting — ライノタイプ CRTronic 360（CC BY 2.0）Phototypesetting — コンピュグラフィック写植機（CC BY-SA 3.0）
写真植字機 MC-6（CC BY 4.0） ／ ライノタイプ CRTronic 360（CC BY 2.0） ／ コンピュグラフィック写植機（CC BY-SA 3.0）

Dictionary entry

Best used for
Reading the lettering of late-Shōwa ads and magazines · Understanding pre-digital composition's freedoms and limits
Type
Observe the letters, signs and scale of reference works
Composition
Extract the one structure that governs gaze and information
Material
Verify the materials and behaviors specific to era, region and process
Caution
Don't reduce it to surface signs. Verify the context of era, region, technology and makers.
Further study
Ishii Mokichi and Morisawa Nobuo / Shaken's typeface program / the tight-set look of the 1970s

Related entries

Source: モリサワ 沿革 — 邦文写真植字機の発明

Back to index position