Fototypsættere

Fototypsættere, also known as phototypesetters, were a crucial technological advancement in the printing industry that emerged in the mid-20th century. These machines replaced traditional lead typesetting methods, offering significant improvements in speed, accuracy, and flexibility. Instead of casting individual metal letters, phototypesetters used photographic principles to create type.

The core mechanism involved a light source shining through a stencil or film containing characters. A lens system would then project and enlarge or reduce these characters onto a photosensitive material, such as film or paper. This material, once exposed, would be developed to produce the final type image. Different machines employed various methods for selecting characters, including rotating discs, interchangeable lens matrices, or cathode ray tubes.

The adoption of phototypesetting revolutionized newspaper, book, and magazine production. It allowed for greater typographic variety, easier corrections, and a more streamlined workflow. While initially complex and expensive, their efficiency and the quality of their output made them indispensable for many decades. The development of digital typesetting and laser printers in the late 20th century eventually led to the obsolescence of most phototypesetting equipment, marking the end of an era in print production.