Printing Films

Monotype made this film to showcase their newer, computer technologies that were finally coming to the market in the late 1960s. Based on the idea of modules which could be interchanged as needed for printers’ and typesetters’ specific needs, Monotype is desperate to show they are using modern circuit boards and tape-reading “computers” and are not behind the times. Even though they are doing their best to talk about computers and modern technology, this film still has a great deal about their mechanical keyboards, composition casters, and non-digital machinery. At the very end of the film, they literally walk over to their R&D department to show a preview of their Monophoto 600 Film Setter, which is their first truly-electronic typesetting machine. Ca. 1968

Has your Monotype ever produced low-quality type and you can’t figure out why? This film was created to show you how to properly maintain your Monotype Casting Machine to cast perfect type, every time. The film features an easy-to-understand series of diagrams showing how the Monotype casts type from molten metal as well as the correct way to clean dross out of your type metal. It is as exciting as it sounds! Year: 1958

This film was created to convince printing and typesetting shops to send their employees to the school to learn Monotype skills. After a strange—and quite romantically awkward—beginning, this film showcases the Monotype School in London where students can learn the skills required to operate a Monotype keyboard for casting or photo typesetting. We see typing and keyboarding practice using light-up keyboard boards, very close-up shots of a student’s eyes, and students listening to tapes of people speaking to test their speed of typing. Year; 1968

The Monotype is a wonder of mechanics and engineering and in this film you will see the process of manufacturing the Monotype keyboard and composition caster from beginning to end. The film starts by showing the Salfords, UK train station and entrance into the Monotype factory, then shows all of the milling, drilling, cutting, and casting required to make the casting machine. After that, we see the keyboard and paper-punch apparatus being constructed. The film ends with footage of testing and calibrating the machine and images of the Monotypes being shipped all over the world. Ca. 1955

This film was created to explain how to properly care and maintain a Monotype Casting Machine mould block (where the molten hot-metal is cast into the matrices). For anyone interested in the inner-workings of the Monotype Casting Machine, there is a great, slow-motion explanation with parts of the machine in clear plastic so you can see how it functions. Year: 1965

If you ever wondered how a typeface went from a designer’s drawing to a finished, cast piece of type from the Monotype; this is the film for you. Starting with an original drawing, this film goes through the painstaking and multi-step process of creating a single typeface in a single style in a single size for the Monotype composition caster. It shows the entire process of type design and creation at Monotype including tracing using custom-made projectors, making a technical drawing (showcasing the drawing office with many women workers), making a pattern plate using a pantograph, creating a brass pattern, using a pantograph to engrave a punch, punching the brass to make matrices for the full matrix case, and finally casting the letters in type metal using a composition caster. Ca. 1955

The Linotron is a very early CRT exposure machine. It creates a page (not just a line) of text at one time. Using a film grid of characters, it can create up to 1,000 characters per second. The film starts with a great animated sequence showing the speed of change and the overwhelming mass of communication. The Linotron 1010 is a CRT machine in three parts; the control unit, the character generator, and the output/display unit. It no longer uses tape input, but now uses magnetic tape from computers. Year: 1966

“In the age of jet speed, Mergenthaler presents the Elektron: fully automated typesetting that is jet fast and all new from the base up.” This film showcases the completely re-designed Elektron Linotype. Fed by perforated tape, the Elektron can cast up to 15 lines per minute without an operator at the machine. With many electronic and hydraulic parts, the Elektron was Linotype’s last hot-metal type casting machine. Although many improvements were made, the limits of mechanical type setting had been reached and the Elektron was too little too late for the market that had moved on to photo and computer composition. Year: 1962

Made for the 75th anniversary of the Linotype in 1961, this film shows the impact that the invention of the Linotype had on the printing industry and the world. There are excellent sections on typeface design, cutting steel punches, using the Benton engraving machine, and the manufacture of Linotype matrices. The film showcases various models of Linotypes, machines running via tape and Teletypesetting, as well as Linofilm machines and the process of producing film type matrices. (note: audio is missing for the first 10 seconds) Year: 1961

A film created by Carl Schlesinger and David Loeb Weiss documenting the last day of hot metal typesetting at The New York Times. This film shows the entire newspaper production process from hot-metal typesetting to creating stereo moulds to high-speed press operation. At the end of the film, the new typesetting and photographic production process is shown in contrast to the old ways. There are interviews with workers at NYT that are for and against the new technology. In fact, one typesetter is retiring on this final day as he does not want to learn the new process and technology. This is the first time the film has ever been available in HD from the original 16mm master film. Ca. 1978