Paste up
Encyclopedia
Paste up refers to a method of creating or laying out publication pages that predates the use of the now-standard computerized page design desktop publishing
programs. Completed, or camera-ready, pages are known as mechanicals or mechanical art. In the offset lithography process, the mechanicals would be photographed with a stat camera
to create a same-size film negative for each printing plate
required.
Paste up relied on phototypesetting
, a process that would generate "cold type" on photographic paper that usually took the form of long columns of text. These printouts were often a single column
in a scroll of narrow (3-inch or 4-inch) paper that was as deep as the length of the story.
A professional known variously as a paste-up artist, layout
artist, mechanical artist, production artist
, or compositor would cut the type into sections and arrange it carefully across multiple columns. For example, a 15 inch strip could be cut into 3 5-inch sections. Headlines and other typographic elements were often created and supplied separately by the typesetter, leaving it to the paste up artist to determine their final position on the page.
Adhesive was then applied to the back side of these strips, either by applying rubber cement
with a brush or passing them through a machine that would apply a wax
adhesive
. The adhesives were intentionally made semi-permanent, allowing the strips to be removed and moved around the layout if it needed to be changed. The strips would be adhered to a board, usually a stiff white paper on which the artist would draw the publication's margins and columns, either lightly in pencil or in non-photographic blue ink, a light cyan
color that would be ignored by the orthochromatic film used to make printing plates in offset lithography. For magazines, newspapers, and other recurring projects, often the boards would be pre-printed in this color.
Other camera-ready materials like photostats and line art
would also be prepared with adhesive and attached to the boards. Continuous-tone photographs would need halftoning, which would require black paper or red film (which photo-imaged the same as black) to be trimmed and placed on the board in place of the image; in the process of creating the negative film for the printing plates, the solid black area would create a clear spot on the negative, called a window. The photographs would be converted to halftone film separately and then positioned in this window to complete the page (although this process was typically performed by a different worker, known as a negative "stripper").
Once a page was complete, the board would be attached to an easel and photographed in order to create a negative
, which was then used to make a printing plate
.
Paste up was preceded by hot type
and cold type
technologies. Starting in the 1990s, many newspapers started doing away with paste up, switching to desktop publishing software that allows pages to be designed completely on a computer. Such software includes QuarkXPress
, PageMaker and InDesign. Computers give newspapers a much faster and less messy way to design pages. Mechanical paste up is today a dying or almost-dead profession, a fortunate (or unfortunate, depending on one's perspective) side effect of the advent of computerized page design.
Desktop publishing
Desktop publishing is the creation of documents using page layout software on a personal computer.The term has been used for publishing at all levels, from small-circulation documents such as local newsletters to books, magazines and newspapers...
programs. Completed, or camera-ready, pages are known as mechanicals or mechanical art. In the offset lithography process, the mechanicals would be photographed with a stat camera
Stat camera
A stat camera is a large-format vertical or horizontal stationary camera used to shoot film from camera-ready artwork. This is a large bellows-type camera which consists of the copy-board, bellows and lens, and filmboard...
to create a same-size film negative for each printing plate
Offset printing
Offset printing is a commonly used printing technique in which the inked image is transferred from a plate to a rubber blanket, then to the printing surface...
required.
Paste up relied on phototypesetting
Phototypesetting
Phototypesetting was a method of setting type, rendered obsolete with the popularity of the personal computer and desktop publishing software, that uses a photographic process to generate columns of type on a scroll of photographic paper...
, a process that would generate "cold type" on photographic paper that usually took the form of long columns of text. These printouts were often a single column
Column
A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a vertical structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. For the purpose of wind or earthquake engineering, columns may be designed to resist lateral forces...
in a scroll of narrow (3-inch or 4-inch) paper that was as deep as the length of the story.
A professional known variously as a paste-up artist, layout
Page layout
Page layout is the part of graphic design that deals in the arrangement and style treatment of elements on a page.- History and development :...
artist, mechanical artist, production artist
Production artist
A production artist is a technical and creative position in a creative profession. The job title originated at advertising agencies, assigning what was known as paste-up work to the position. Production artists work closely with the designer and art director to execute the design...
, or compositor would cut the type into sections and arrange it carefully across multiple columns. For example, a 15 inch strip could be cut into 3 5-inch sections. Headlines and other typographic elements were often created and supplied separately by the typesetter, leaving it to the paste up artist to determine their final position on the page.
Adhesive was then applied to the back side of these strips, either by applying rubber cement
Rubber cement
Rubber cement is an adhesive made from elastic polymers mixed in a solvent such as acetone, hexane, heptane or toluene to keep them fluid enough to be used. Water-based formulas, often stabilised by ammonia, are also available...
with a brush or passing them through a machine that would apply a wax
Wax
thumb|right|[[Cetyl palmitate]], a typical wax ester.Wax refers to a class of chemical compounds that are plastic near ambient temperatures. Characteristically, they melt above 45 °C to give a low viscosity liquid. Waxes are insoluble in water but soluble in organic, nonpolar solvents...
adhesive
Adhesive
An adhesive, or glue, is a mixture in a liquid or semi-liquid state that adheres or bonds items together. Adhesives may come from either natural or synthetic sources. The types of materials that can be bonded are vast but they are especially useful for bonding thin materials...
. The adhesives were intentionally made semi-permanent, allowing the strips to be removed and moved around the layout if it needed to be changed. The strips would be adhered to a board, usually a stiff white paper on which the artist would draw the publication's margins and columns, either lightly in pencil or in non-photographic blue ink, a light cyan
Cyan
Cyan from , transliterated: kýanos, meaning "dark blue substance") may be used as the name of any of a number of colors in the blue/green range of the spectrum. In reference to the visible spectrum cyan is used to refer to the color obtained by mixing equal amounts of green and blue light or the...
color that would be ignored by the orthochromatic film used to make printing plates in offset lithography. For magazines, newspapers, and other recurring projects, often the boards would be pre-printed in this color.
Other camera-ready materials like photostats and line art
Line art
Line art is any image that consists of distinct straight and curved lines placed against a background, without gradations in shade or hue to represent two-dimensional or three-dimensional objects...
would also be prepared with adhesive and attached to the boards. Continuous-tone photographs would need halftoning, which would require black paper or red film (which photo-imaged the same as black) to be trimmed and placed on the board in place of the image; in the process of creating the negative film for the printing plates, the solid black area would create a clear spot on the negative, called a window. The photographs would be converted to halftone film separately and then positioned in this window to complete the page (although this process was typically performed by a different worker, known as a negative "stripper").
Once a page was complete, the board would be attached to an easel and photographed in order to create a negative
Negative (photography)
In photography, a negative may refer to three different things, although they are all related.-A negative:Film for 35 mm cameras comes in long narrow strips of chemical-coated plastic or cellulose acetate. As each image is captured by the camera onto the film strip, the film strip advances so that...
, which was then used to make a printing plate
Offset printing
Offset printing is a commonly used printing technique in which the inked image is transferred from a plate to a rubber blanket, then to the printing surface...
.
Paste up was preceded by hot type
Hot Type
Hot Type is a Canadian television series, which airs weekly on CBC Newsworld. Hosted by Evan Solomon, the program profiles books and literature.The series also formerly aired in the United States on Trio and Newsworld International....
and cold type
Movable type
Movable type is the system of printing and typography that uses movable components to reproduce the elements of a document ....
technologies. Starting in the 1990s, many newspapers started doing away with paste up, switching to desktop publishing software that allows pages to be designed completely on a computer. Such software includes QuarkXPress
QuarkXPress
QuarkXPress is a computer application for creating and editing complex page layouts in a WYSIWYG environment. It runs on Mac OS X and Windows. It was first released by Quark, Inc...
, PageMaker and InDesign. Computers give newspapers a much faster and less messy way to design pages. Mechanical paste up is today a dying or almost-dead profession, a fortunate (or unfortunate, depending on one's perspective) side effect of the advent of computerized page design.