Phototypesetting: A Design Manual was published in 1978 to address the introduction of a new typesetting technology that challenged a generation of designers familiar with only metal type technologies.
Phototypesetting offers the designer a complete, graphically illustrated guide to phototypesetting. To help the reader find the necessary information quickly, the book is presented in a series of self-contained units that are grouped under four major headings.

Terminology. The basic typographic terms are introduced in this section: typeface, type style, font, letterspacing, wordspacing, linespacing, x-height, etc. Also covered are points, picas, and the unit system.
Design. This section deals with making day-to-day design decisions that fully utilize the unique potential of the phototypesetting process: choosing typefaces and type sizes; mixing typefaces and type sizes; matching type; controlling letterspacing, wordspacing, letterspacing, and linespacing; indicating paragraphs; working with display initials, boxes, bullets, rules, borders, ligatures, small caps, under scores, leaders, and fractions, to name only a few.

Copyfitting. Because character-counting methods vary from one phototypesetting system to another, the reader is shown various ways of obtaining an accurate count. Also covered in this section are copy preparation and markup, using proofreader’s marks, copyfitting tabular matter, writing to fit, and comping techniques.

Phototypesetting Systems. This section explains the basic components of a phototypesetting machine and the various systems. By knowing what each system can do and cannot do, the job can be matched to the equipment, and the quality and cost controlled.

“ A thorough and exacting compendium which will prove invaluable to anyone who needs to understand the basic vocabulary of modern photo composition,”
Ivan Chermayeff

“An excellent book for students and experienced typographers.”
Peter Brattinga

224 pages. 8 1/2 X 11 inches. Over 650 B/W illustrations. An appendix covering the the Metric System, and Didot System as well as an extensive glossary, bibliography, and index.

ISBN 8230-4011-9
Watson-Guptill Publications

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