The Production Revolution
03 Mar 2010 | Liz ThomsonThe talk is always of digital publishing. But, over the past 25 years, digital technology has transformed traditional book-making. Liz Thomson reports
Slugs. Cow Gum. Scalpel. Em rule. Paste-up. PMT. CRC. Letraset. Bromide. Ox Blood…
Twenty-five years ago, such items and terms would have been familiar to anyone working in book production – and, primitive as they now seem, they would have signified a pretty modern production department. Why, only a few years earlier, books were still set using hot metal, a long and laborious process which meant that the time from edited manuscript to plates – “pre-press” – was at least three months, as couriers sped back and forth collecting and delivering manuscripts, galley proofs, films and camera-ready-copy.
“Everything was much...
Twenty-five years ago, such items and terms would have been familiar to anyone working in book production – and, primitive as they now seem, they would have signified a pretty modern production department. Why, only a few years earlier, books were still set using hot metal, a long and laborious process which meant that the time from edited manuscript to plates – “pre-press” – was at least three months, as couriers sped back and forth collecting and delivering manuscripts, galley proofs, films and camera-ready-copy.
“Everything was much...
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