IMPOSING, OR PREPARING FOR PRESS.

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IMPOSITION

Comprehends a knowledge of placing the pages so that they may regularly follow each other when printed and the sheet is folded up; and also the mode of dressing chases and the manner of making the proper margin. As many pages as are required for a whole or half sheet being made up, the compositor lays them upon the imposing-stone, placing the first page with the signature to the left hand facing him, and then proceeds according to one of the schemes on pp. 150-199. These will be found to contain every necessary imposition,—viz. folios, quartos, octavos, twelves, sixteens, eighteens, twenties, twenty-fours, thirty-twos, thirty-sixes, forties, forty-eights, sixty-fours, seventy-twos, ninety-sixes, and one hundred and twenty-eights. We also introduce schemes for imposing from the centre, by which means the blank or open pages may be thrown in the centre of the form, leaving the solid pages on the outside to act as bearers for the rollers, as well as for the better regulation of the impression.

All odd matter, for any form, should be divided into fours, eights, twelves, and sixteens, which is the groundwork of all the impositions except the eighteens, which differ from all the others; for instance, sixteens, twenty-fours, and thirty-twos are only octavos and twelves doubled, or twice doubled, and imposed in half sheets: for example, the sixteens are two octavos imposed on one side of the short cross; the twenty-fours are two twelves imposed on each side of the long cross; and a thirty-two is four octavos imposed in each quarter of the chase. Thus, a sheet may be repeatedly doubled. By this division, any form or sheet may be imposed, always bearing in mind that the first page of each class must stand to the left hand, with the foot of the page toward you. Having set down the first page, then trace the remainder according to the scheme which applies to its number; in proof of which, the standard rule for all other impositions may be adopted,—namely, the folios of two pages, if placed properly beside each other, will when added together make one more than the number of pages in the sheet; that is, in a sheet of sixteens, pages 1 and 16 coming together will add up 17, and so 9 and 8 will make 17, &c.

In half sheets, all the pages belonging to the white paper, and reiteration, are imposed in one chase. So that when a sheet of paper is printed on both sides with the same form, that sheet is cut in two in the short cross if quarto or octavo, and in the short and long cross of twelves, and folded as octavo or twelves.

TYING UP PAGES.

In tying up a page, use fine twine, winding it four or five times round it, and fastening at the right-hand corner, by thrusting a noose of it between the several turnings and the matter with the rule, and drawing it perfectly tight, taking care always to keep the end of the cord on the face of the page. While tying it, keep the forefinger of the left hand tight on the corner, to prevent the page from being drawn aside.

The twine being fastened, the compositor removes the page from the ledges of the galley, to see if the turns of cord lie about the middle of the shank of the letter; if they lie too high,—as most commonly they do,—he thrusts them lower; and if the page be not too broad, he places the fore and middle finger of his right hand on the off side of the head of the page, and his thumb on the near; then, bending his other fingers under, he presses them firmly against the head of the page; he next places the fingers of his left hand in the same position at the foot of the page, and, raising it upright, lays it on a page-paper; then, with his right hand he grasps the sides of the page and the paper, which turns up against the sides of the page, and sets it in a convenient spot under his frame, placing it on the left hand, with the foot toward him, that the other pages that are in like manner set down afterward may stand by it in an orderly succession until he comes to impose them.

If the page be a quarto, folio, or broadside, it is, of course, too wide for his grasp; and he therefore carries the galley and page to the imposing-stone, and turns the handle of the galley toward him, and, taking hold of the handle with his right hand, he places the ball of the thumb of his left hand against the inside of the head ledge of the galley, to hold it and keep it steady, and by the handle draws the slice with the page upon it out of the galley, letting the slice rest upon the imposing-stone; he then thrusts the head end of the slice so far upon it, that the foot of the page may stand an inch or two within the outer edge of the stone, and, placing his left hand against the foot of the page, he quickly draws the slice from under the bottom of the page.

LAYING PAGES.

In taking up his pages for imposition, the compositor tightly grasps the paper on both sides of the page, in order that it may be kept firm to the bottom of the page; for if it be left slack, the letters will be liable to slip out, unless it be particularly well tied up. Having conveyed it to the stone, he next places the last two fingers of his right hand under the head of the page, but not under the page-paper at the head of it, still grasping the sides with his forefingers and thumb; he then slips his left hand so that the palm of it may turn toward the bottom, and, lifting the page upright on his right hand, with the left he removes the paper; he next grasps again the foot-end of the page with his left hand, in the same manner as the right holds the head of it, and, turning the face of the type toward him, lays it squarely and quickly down, so that the whole page may come in contact with the face of the stone at the same time.

As this method, in inexperienced or careless hands, would frequently endanger a page containing intricate matter, it will be safer to place the pages at first on good, strong, but not coarse and rough papers, and, when they are brought to the stone, instead of lifting them up as just noticed, slide them off the papers in the same manner as before directed respecting a folio page on the slice galley, being careful that no particles of dirt remain under the page.

MAKING UP FURNITURE.

Having ascertained that his pages are laid down right, the compositor proceeds to dress the chases, which we will suppose to be for a sheet of octavo. Accordingly he selects a good pair of chases that are fellows in all respects; and, having laid them over the pages for the two different forms, he puts such gutter-sticks between page and page, and such reglets along the sides of the two crosses, as will give the book proper margins after it is bound.

To ascertain the proper distance, and to prevent wastage of furniture, he takes short pieces of furniture, or quotations, and quadrates or reglets, to fit the space between two pages; then, pushing the pages close to them, he finds the exact width of the furniture necessary, by trying the ends of various pieces, always measuring from the edge of the lines of type above the page-cords.

By observing a proper method in cutting up new furniture, the same will be serviceable for other works as well as the one for which it is intended, even though the size of the page may differ, provided it agrees with the margin of the paper. The gutters should be cut two or three lines longer than the page; the head-sticks wider; the back furniture may run nearly down to the rim of the chase, but must be level with the top of the page, which will admit of the inner head-stick running in; the difference of the outer head-stick may go over the side-stick, and the gutter will then run up between them. The side-stick only need to be cut exact, and the furniture will completely justify.

Wood and metal furniture, cut or cast to specific lengths and widths, may now be had from the type-founders, the use of which will save time, waste, and labour.

MAKING THE MARGIN.

The next business is to arrange the margin, so that each page may occupy one side of a leaf, and have the proper proportion of white paper left at the sides as well as at the head and foot. The page when printed should be a little higher than the middle of the leaf, and have a little more margin on the outside than in the back. This rule is often neglected by careless or ignorant printers, and the appearance of the book when bound is repulsive to the eye of taste.

One mode of making margin is the following:—For octavos, measure and mark the width of four pages by compasses, on a sheet of paper designed for the work, beginning to measure at one extremity of the breadth of the sheet. The rest of the paper divide into four equal parts, allowing two-fourths for the width of two separate gutter-sticks; the remaining two-fourths divide again into four equal parts, and allow one-fourth for the margin along each side of the short cross, and one-fourth for the margin to each outside page. But as the thickness of the short cross adds considerably to the margin, reduce the furniture in the back accordingly, and thereby enlarge the outside margin, which requires the greatest share to allow for the unevenness of the paper itself, as well as for pressmen laying sheets unevenly when the fault is not in the paper. Having thus made the margin between the pages to the breadth of the paper, in the same manner proportion the margin at the head to the length, and accordingly measure and mark the length of two pages, dividing the rest into four parts, one-fourth of which is allowed for each side of the long cross, and one-fourth for the margin that runs along the foot of the two ranges of pages. The furniture on both sides of the long one must be lessened to enlarge the bottom margin, for the reason assigned for extending the side margin.

Go the same way to work in twelves, where, for the outer margin along the foot of the pages, allow the amount of two-thirds of the breadth of the head-sticks, and the same for the inner margin, that reaches from the foot of the fifth page to the centre of the groove for the points; and from the centre of that groove to the pages of the quire, or the cut off, allow half of the breadth of the head-stick. The margin along the long cross is governed by the gutter-sticks; and it is common to put as much on each side of the long cross as amounts to half the breadth of the gutter-stick, without deducting almost any thing for the long cross, since that makes allowance for the inequality of the outer margin.

Another plan, more simple, is the following:—Having laid the pages as nearly as possible in their proper places on the stone, with a suitable chase around them, fold a sheet of paper which has been wetted for the work, or one of the same size, into as many portions as there are pages in the form, and, holding the sheet thus folded on the first or left-hand page of the form, one edge even with the left-hand side of the type, place the adjoining page so that its left side may be even with the right-hand edge of the folded paper, which will leave a sufficient space between the two pages to admit the gutter-stick, which should then be selected of a proper width to suit the form in hand, as follows:—In octavos, about a Great Primer less in width than the space between the pages, as determined by the above rule; in duodecimos, about a Pica less; in sixteens, about a Long Primer; and proportionably less as the number of pages are increased. Having thus secured the proper width for the gutter-sticks, cut them somewhat longer than the page, and holding one of them between the two pages, above the page-cord, close the pages up to it; then open the folded sheet so as to cover the two pages, and, bringing the fold in the paper exactly in the middle of the gutter-stick, secure it there with the point of a pen-knife or bodkin; the right-hand edge of the paper thus opened must be brought to the centre of the cross-bar, which determines the furniture required between it and the pages. Having thus arranged the margins for the back and fore edge of the book, proceed in like manner to regulate the head and foot margins, by bringing the near edge of the folded paper even with the bottom of the first page, and so placing the adjoining off page that its head may be barely covered by the off edge of the folded paper, which will give the required head margin. All other sections of the form must be regulated by the foregoing measurements, when the margins for the whole sheet will be found correct.

The greater the number of pages in a sheet, the smaller in proportion should the margin be: the folded paper, therefore, should lie proportionally less over the edge of the adjoining page, both for gutter and back, in a form of small pages than in one of larger dimensions. A folio may require the page to be half an inch nearer the back than the fore-edge; while a duodecimo may not require more than a Pica em.

In imposing jobs where two or more of the same size, requiring equal margins, are to be worked together, fold the paper to the size appropriate for each, and so arrange the type that the distance from the left side of one page to the left side of the adjoining one shall be exactly equal to the width of the folded paper, as before described.

Having dressed the inside of the pages, next place side- and foot-sticks to their outsides; being thus secured by the furniture, untie the pages, quarter after quarter, the inner page first, and then the outer, at the same time forcing the letter toward the crosses, and using every precaution to prevent the pages from hanging or leaning; and, in order to guard against accidents, when the quarter is untied, secure it with a couple of quoins.

LOCKING UP FORMS.

First, carefully examine whether the pages of each quarter are of the same length; for even the difference of a lead will cause them to hang. Test their exactness: place the ball of each thumb against the centre of the foot-stick, raising it a little with the pressure, and, if the ends of both pages rise equally with the stick, it is a proof they will not bind; then fit quoins between the side and foot-stick of each quarter and the chase. After pushing the quoins as far as possible with the fingers, make use of the mallet and shooting-stick, and gently drive the quoins along the foot-sticks first, and then those along the side-sticks, taking care to use an equal force in the strokes, and to drive the quoins far enough up the shoulders of the side- and foot-sticks, that the letter may neither belly out nor hang, and the lines be kept straight and even. Quoins should be slanted on one side only, but the edges should not be bevelled. The several quarters of a form should be partially tightened before either quarter is finally locked up; otherwise the cross-bar may be sprung.

Before locking up the form, plane the pages gently over all the face. If this be properly done, a second planing is hardly necessary, provided the justification is perfect and the pages are all of the same length. But, as this is seldom the case, the second planing can hardly be dispensed with.

It often occurs that the quoins, when locked up wet, stick so tight to the furniture as to render it troublesome to unlock them: in such cases, drive the quoin up a little, and it afterward unlocks with ease.

Before lifting a form after it is locked up, raise it gently a short distance, and look under it, to ascertain whether any types are disposed to drop out. If all is right, carry it to the proof-press, and pull a good proof. Then rub it over gently with a ley-brush, rinse it well, and place it in a rack, and deliver the proof, with the copy, to the proof-reader.

MEMORANDA.

Each part of the furniture should be in one piece where it is practicable,—as, for instance, the gutters, the backs, and the heads; but sometimes pieces will be wanted of a width that is not equal to any regular size, and then two must be used.

All the gutters of one sheet should be cut of a precise length; so also with the backs and the heads; but each sort should be of a different length from that of the others: thus they can be easily distinguished from each other, and mistakes be prevented.

The sheet being imposed, the stone should be cleared; the saw and saw-block put in their places, the shears, the mallet, planer, and shooting-stick, the surplus furniture, the leads, the quoins, and every other article. The compositor will tie up his page-cords, and, if he has any companions, will return to them their proportion.

The chase and furniture of one form should always be used for a similar form; that is, the chase and furniture of the outer form should be again used for an outer form, and the chase and furniture of the inner form should be again used for an inner form; they should also be put round the pages in the same order in which they were put about those of the preceding forms. For want of care or thought in these apparently trifling circumstances, trouble, inconvenience, and loss of time frequently occur; for the register will be almost sure to be wrong when this is neglected, and then the forms must be unlocked and the leads changed, to correct the fault.

Before the form is printed, a proof should be taken and the sheet folded, to make sure of the correctness of the imposition.

The preceding rules and directions were intended for type-forms, and were formerly of universal necessity. Now most books are printed from stereotyped or electrotyped plates. The same instructions, however, are generally as applicable to plate as to type pages.

NOMENCLATURE OF SHEETS.

When a sheet of paper of Medium or larger size is folded in two leaves, like most newspapers, it is called a folio; when folded in four leaves, it is named a quarto or 4to; when folded in eight leaves, an octavo or 8vo; in twelve leaves, a duodecimo or 12mo; in sixteen leaves, sextodecimo or 16mo; in eighteen leaves, octodecimo or 18mo; in twenty-four leaves, vigesimo-quarto, or 24mo, and so on. The Latin names beyond duodecimo are seldom used.