Category Archives: Typesetting

Kerning in letterpress typesetting

July 7, 2009 – 11:54 pm

Apologies for the absence of new posts on my blog recently but I have had my shirt sleeves permanently rolled up whilst out in my letterpress workshop (the ‘Typoretum’), working on many and varied bespoke printing projects.
One of these recent projects involved typesetting a wedding invitation in Garamond Italic with swash capitals and alternate terminal [...]

By Justin Knopp | Also posted in letterpress, typography | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments (5)

Bill’s Linotype

June 2, 2009 – 12:10 pm

I couldn’t resist posting this beautifully shot and rather enchanting movie, by  J. Shimon & J. Lindemann, that explores a craftsmans’ relationship with the machinery of his trade. Although this film features Bill Malley (1938-2004) and his Linotype machine, I have met a great many craftsman who, like Bill, developed a great affinity for their [...]

By Justin Knopp | Also posted in craft, hot metal, letterpress, typecasting | Tagged , , | Comments (2)

Old English type body sizes

May 11, 2009 – 8:43 pm

Prior to 1737, little standardisation existed in the sizes of printing types and typefounders cast types to their own sizes and dimensions. In this year, the Parisian typefounder  Pierre Simon Fournier introduced a new system that he derived from dividing two inches of the pre-metric French foot into one hundred and forty-four equal parts. Fournier [...]

By Justin Knopp | Also posted in letterpress, typecasting, typography | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (2)

How to use a Composing Stick movie

April 27, 2009 – 12:52 pm

I am grateful to Johno over at  We Love Typography for letting me know about this movie. Enjoy!

By Justin Knopp | Also posted in craft, letterpress | Tagged , , | Comments (3)