Book Description

The report describes the current state-of-the-art in automation of graphic arts composition, starting from either of two sources: keyboard entry of manuscript material, or mechanized input in the form of available perforated tapes or magnetic tapes. The gamut is covered from one extreme in which a skilled keyboard operator performs all of the compositor functions required to operate a typesetting machine, to the other extreme in which the input merely provides text whether or not including designation of desired font changes, followed by a high degree of automation through all operations leading to type set for printing. Intermediate automation aids for the compositor functions, including characteristics of special-purpose digital computers and functions performed by typography programs for general-purpose digital computers, are reviewed. Characteristics of automatically operated typesetting mechanisms, including hot metal casting machines and photocomposers, slow, medium and high speed, are outlined. Applications of new techniques for typographic-quality automated composition that are of interest in scientific and technical information centers, libraries, and other documentation operations include sequential card camera listings, computer-generated KWIC indexes, photocomposition of technical journals, automatic composition of books containing both computer-produced tabular data and natural language texts, and the incorporation of mechanized processes throughout the publication cycle from the author's original manuscript preparation to the final printing. (Author).