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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 |
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MACTRONIC 2 FROM
COMPUTER TO CASTER InDesign
- PageMaker - QuarkXpress – Word, etc. can now be used to produce Monotype
hot-metal. |
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Harry
McIntosh SPEEDSPOOLS 385
Queensferry Road Edinburgh
EH4 7AG Scotland tel
+44(0)131 336 2849 fax
+44(0)131-336 5065
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Order hot-metal type over the web For over forty years Harry McIntosh has serviced a nucleus of select customers with a fully comprehensive range of typesetting facilities and typefaces to suit all of their requirements. Due to MacTronic, this service is now offered to everyone. Harry has been using MacTronic to produce punch-tape since 1986, and later, in 1996, direct to caster – no paper tape! After a great deal of testing and extra features, the long-awaited Mark 2 has now arrived. It is for sale to all interested parties who want a well-tested, reliable, self-contained unit that is customised to their requirements – no coding or DIY! Open Office and InDesign (CS2 to CS5) are used to input text in conjunction with very versatile software and an easy-to-install, clamp-on unit – no paper tape and ready to go without disturbing any caster adjustments! 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. The ‘Windows’ environment is used with USB connection and, due to a long experience in computing and typecasting, there are many new features – all rigorously tested! This development allows word-processor disks, data files, e-mails, or copy that can be either scanned or keyboarded into a computer to be converted into Monotype hot-metal or 31-channel punched tape. Open Office, which accepts Word and other wordprocessing files, is now used to control text input. There is also a plug-in for Adobe’s InDesign (CS2 to CS5), which gives access to PageMaker and QuarkXpress. This means complete control of accuracy, word spacing, hyphenation, line breaks, page breaks, etc. – you get what you see on your own screens! THE ‘MACTRONIC’ SYSTEM The MacTronic system comprises of a text output from Open Office, InDesign (CS2 to CS5), Word and other programs. Special hot-metal fonts are used to control line-endings, hyphenation, etc. When a satisfactory result has been achieved, a PDF file is generated to give a hot-metal facsimile. This PDF can be sent to customer for checking, and any last-minute alterations can be done before commitment to caster. After any corrections, the file is processed through a Justification Program (including diecase) to produce a final hot-metal file with complete control of galley length by line/page and auto-generated galley lines with stop quads. This is sent to caster, through Cast Driver Program and Interface, to create perfectly justified galleys of 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 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! |
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Technical details MacTronic uses Open Office and InDesign (CS2 to CS5) with all their text functions to produce hot-metal text that is justified, ragged left, right or centred on any Monotype composition caster. This means instant on-screen text recognition – no coding!
Any layout can be used (16×17, 15×17, and 15×15). Any set size; measure up to 60 ems; unit-adding, letterspacing, 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).
There are various left and right indents, including hanging left, etc.
The table facility of Open Office and InDesign (CS2 to CS5) has been utilised to produce hot-metal tables automatically.
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 15×15 and 15×17 layouts can be unit-shifted.
A ‘wrong’ normal wedge 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 sorts galley can be produced by number of lines or characters of any font, size or measure – these can even be kerned.
The latest capability is to mix 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, Fraktur, etc. is required throughout the text.
Due to the ease Open Office and InDesign can create PDFs, these ‘proofs’ can show customers how a job will look in hot-metal and enabling any changes to be made before commitment to casting.
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. |