THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



Rubber Instead of Typesetting. 



Ri BBER instead of typeselting is not a mere possibility, but 

 a practical reality. In printers' circles the process has 

 been known quite a while, but somehow it never attracted 

 very much attention and was comparatively little used. Those 

 who saw possibilities in the process admitted that something or 

 other would have to happen, something quite unforeseen prob- 

 ably, before wider circles would become interested. Then, quite 

 recently the unforeseen happened. A group of compositors went 

 on a "vacation," and tied up the New York publishing industry 

 for eight weeks. Meanwhile a few men started thinking quite 

 hard, and this thinking bore fruit, various methods of doing away 

 with typesetting being tried. In one of these processes rubber 

 plays an essential part. 



A well-known New York publisher has just published a book, 

 the whole of which has been produced from photographs trans- 

 ferred to rubber without any typesetting at all. It is the first 

 book ever issued in this manner in the whole history of pub- 

 lishing. The work was done for the publishers by one of the 

 many offset printing firms of New York City. Before de- 

 scribing the process by which the book was produced, however, 

 we will briefly outline the history of offset press work. 



The first actual tin-plate rotary was conceived in 1903 and 

 was exhibited by George Mann & Co. in 1909 at the printing 

 exhibition in London. Shortly after this, Ira W. Rubel chanced 

 to be in a lithographic machine room, when the operator failed 

 to feed a sheet of paper, the impression taking place on the 

 rubber blanket. A few seconds later, on the back of the next 

 sheet fed to the press, a better impression was found than the one 

 on the front of the sheet made by the metal. The operator prob- 

 ably soon forgot the occurrence, bui not Ira \V. Rubel. 



Pl^te 

 Cylimdei 



BLflMKETJ 



Cylimder 



^ 



iMPREbblON 



Cyliuder 



The Rt-BEL Type Rot.\ry Offset Machine. 



Two years later his machine embodying the new use for rubber 

 was on the market. Offset press work was completely revolu- 

 tionized by the new machine, and it is a matter for regret that 

 Mr. Rubel only survived its introduction by about two years. 

 Since that time various machines have been invented ; they are 

 associated with the names of Mann, Harris, Waite, Potter, Scott, 

 Hall, Fuchs, Lang, Killogg, Bentley, Jackson, Saville and others 

 in the United States and Great Britain. 



Offset printing has been used for a dozen years, more or less. 

 Letter-heads, illustrations and a few other things have been quite 

 extensively produced by the process. And many firms have done 

 excellent work along these lines. But, as already stated, very 



few men thought that offset work would ever compete with 

 general typography, ordinary printing was so well established, 

 it could be done so satisfactorily and at fairly reasonable rates, 

 there being no lack of compositors, while, on the other hand, oflf- 

 sct work demanded highly skilled men, of whom there were not 



Patent Two-Color and Perfecting Press. 



many. It was indispensable to do the right thing at the right 

 moment ; a slight oversight might result in a poor job. Besides 

 which, in the early days the stone used gave a good deal of 

 trouble : it frequently broke and was expensive. 



In the present-day rotary machines stone is replaced by alumi- 

 num or zinc. Mr. Rubel, if he were alive to-day, would hardly 

 have an opportunity to catch a feeder failing to feed a sheet a.' 

 most of the larger machines have automatic feeders. All the off- 

 set machines produce prints as set-offs instead of doing so by di- 

 rect printing. The last impression can be made as clear and 

 distinct as the first. There are zinc plates in the market made by 

 manufacturers by more or less secret processes, but many firms 

 doing offset printing make their own plates at less than half the 

 cost. 



One advantage of the offset process is that any kind of paper 

 can be used advantageously. Work on cards succeeds equally 

 well, while unusually pleasing effects have been produced on 

 relluloid, as no damping of anj- stock is necessary. It has even 

 been found possible to turn out the cheaper kind of little flags, 

 which are so largely sold at parades and public celebrations, by 

 the use of one of the existing offset presses. 



Absolutely high-grade color work can be done by the process, 

 even nine-color work in perfect blending has been exhibited 

 .Salesmen of the various machines have naturally praised them 

 very highly and yet purchasers of the machines have frequently 

 been disappointed by the quality of the work turned out by their 

 men, thoughtlessly blaming the machines and the salesmen. 



The machine operators must "know how" and take pride in 

 their work. The machines respond to skilful control and fine 

 work is the result. First-class operators earn first-class incomes, 

 which are gladly paid by ihcir employers in this line of business. 

 It is the ability of offset press workers and their willingness to 

 use their ability that gives value to the machines. When the work 

 turned out is poor, the operators are probably to blame, though 

 in some cases other factors enter into consideration. 



One very striking difference between ordinary printing presses 

 and offset presses is that on the latter copper plate engraving, 

 reading matter, half-tone work, etc., can be printed at one and the 

 ?ame time. At present, reading matter produced on offset 



