Thanks to the successful development of the MacTronic system, designed by Harry McIntosh, it is now possible to go direct from electronic copy to metal type

 

MACTRONIC 2

FROM COMPUTER TO CASTER

InDesign - PageMaker - QuarkXpress – Word, etc. can now be used to produce Monotype hot-metal.

YOU GET WHAT YOU SEE ON YOUR OWN SCREEN!
 

 

Harry McIntosh

SPEEDSPOOLS

385 Queensferry Road

Edinburgh EH4 7AG

Scotland

machot@supanet.com

tel +44(0)131 336 2849

fax +44(0)131-336 5065

 




 

Order hot-metal type over the web

For over forty years Harry McIntosh has serviced a small nucleus of select customers with a fully comprehensive range of typesetting facilities and typefaces to suit most of their requirements. This service is now offered to a broader range of customers due, mainly, to the completion of the MacTronic software and hardware - and, of course, The Web. Harry has been using MacTronic to produce punch-tape since 1986, and later, in 1996, direct to caster – no paper tape!

The long-awaited Mark 2 has now been completed, and consists of a very compact, self-contained, clamp-on unit – no paper tape and ready to go without disturbing any caster adjustments! This means that it is easier to move the MacTronic to another caster than to change a mould. Just think – no more reliance on worn, badly adjusted pneumatic keyboards, justification drums, sticky stopbars and keybars with all their idiosyncrasies; and, of course, no need for expensive, scarce paper tape and re-keying – mistakes and revised specifications are easily rectified with a few keystrokes. It is now for sale to all interested parties. The ‘Windows’ environment is used with USB connection and, due to a long experience in computing and typecasting, there are many new features.

This unique development allows the acceptance of word-processor disks, data files, e-mail, or copy that can be either scanned or keyboarded into a computer and then converted into Monotype hot-metal or 31-channel punched tape. A hot-metal plug-in is being developed for Adobe’s InDesign, but PageMaker, QuarkXpress, Word, etc. can be used, which means complete control of accuracy, word spacing, hyphenation, line breaks, page breaks, etc. - you get what you see on your own screens! This requires the correct hot-metal character widths; no tracking or kerning; normal characters typed for ligatures; list of accents and characters used outwith hot-metal layout. It also enables PDF files to be used as proofs, and final corrections can be implemented before commitment to punched-tape or type.

An extensive selection of classical Monotype typefaces have been retained for the use of the discerning publisher, press or design studio - see the list below. Traditional skills and quality control are used throughout all services. For further information regarding spool setting, typesetting, digital setting, or even letterpress printing, please contact us.

Typefaces available

Baskerville (169) - 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 18pt
Bell (341) - 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14pt
Bembo (270) - 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14pt
Bodoni (135) - 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 11D, 12, 13pt
Bulmer (469) - 11, 12pt
Caslon (128) - 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14pt
Centaur (252) - 10, 11, 12, 14pt
Century (227) - 10, 12, 14pt
Ehrhardt (453) - 9, 10, 11pt
Fournier (185) - 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14pt
Garamond (156) - 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14pt
Gill Sans (262) - 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14pt
Gill Sans Light (362) - 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12pt
Goudy Old Style (291) - 6, 8, 10, 11, 12pt
Grotesque Light (126) - 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13pt
Grotesque (215) - 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13pt
Helvetica (765) - 6, 8, 9, 10, 12D
Imprint (101) - 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 11D, 12, 14pt
Modern (1) - 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12pt
Modern (7) - 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12pt
Old Style (2) - 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12pt
Old Style (151) - 8, 9, 10, 11, 12pt
Perpetua (239) - 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14pt
Plantin (110) - 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14pt
Plantin Light (113) - 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12pt
Poliphilus (170) - 10, 11, 12pt
Rockwell Light (390) - 6, 8, 9, 10, 12pt
Rockwell Medium (371) - 6, 8, 9, 10, 12pt
Sabon (669) - 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12D
Scotch Roman (46) - 8, 9, 10, 11, 12pt
Scotch Roman (137) - 8, 9, 10, 11, 12pt
Times (327) - 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14pt
Univers Light (685) - 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12D
Univers Medium (689) - 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12D
Walbaum (374) - 8, 9, 10, 11, 12D

We have other faces and sizes, including display type in case. And we have a large range of accents, signs, ornaments, etc. as well as Cyrillic, Greek, Fraktur and Hebrew - even 4-Line Mathematics!

 

Technical details

Any PC with Windows and a USB connection can produce text that is justified, ragged left, right or centred on any Monotype composition caster.

Any diecase layout can be used: standard or customised (16x17, 15x17 and 15x15)

Any set size

Measure up to 60 ems

Unit-adding

Letter-spacing

Unit shift

Automatic high space when character in layout requires it

Auto-generated ligatures

When word space in line is over wedge limits, extra spaces are auto-generated until within limits (usually in very narrow measures)

Galley line/page length control with galley lines auto-generated with stop quad and blank line through any length of file, usually per chapter

Due to the limitations of matrix-case layouts, punctuation, etc. can be shared between fonts or changed to deliberate wrong characters for hand alteration

Accents, pi-characters, etc. are only limited by the capacity of the matrix-case

Any layout can be generated, and, if the caster has the unit-shift facility, even 15x15 and 15x17 layouts can be unit-shifted

A ‘wrong’ normal wedge of the same set can be substituted to produce the same results as a correct wedge, utilising unit-adding and unit-shift (if available) or single justifying to obtain the correct character width. This facility can be used to kern characters: plus 1-9 units, minus 1-2 units (depending on type size).

A tabulation capability which covers most requirements

Word-spacing under three units can be implemented to accommodate, for example, a proof correction in a line slightly overset using a 3-unit space; this is automatically recalculated, the spaces dropped and the first character of each word after a space is letter-spaced with the required amount under three units down to slightly over two units minimum - this is a rare requirement, but it’s there!

Sorts casting can be done by lines of characters or number of characters of any font, size or measure – these can even be kerned plus or minus.

The latest capability is to mix any italic, Greek, etc. from different diecases – not only of the same set, but different sizes within the limits of the wedges. This is very useful in large composition where there is only one font per diecase, or where a different size or language such as Greek, Cyrillic, Fraktur, etc. is required throughout the text.

 

View MacTronic 2 in action at MacTronic.

Visit the webpage for Harry McIntosh's own Chepman & Myllar Press.

One of Harry's customers is The Old School Press.