Lettering Aids, Continued
Photolettering
Photomechanical lettering devices use the principles of photography to
devices
produce uniform letters. Most photolettering machines control font selection,
letter size, line length, letter density, word, line, and letter spacing, type
position, and leading. Some devices produce display as well as body type.
The output of photolettering devices is strips or pages of black letters on
white paper or film.
Computer-
generated
letters
Letters produced by computers are uniform and dense when printed with
laserjet printers. Letters produced on dot matrix printers are not suitable as
finished lettering. You may compose the layout of the finished product on
the computer screen, or you may cut and paste the letters together later.
Difficulty arises when your requirements exceed the capability of the
software in the computer. Remember, the definition of point size in the
printing industry is very different from the definition of point size in the
computer arena. Computers may also refer to letter size in pixels. Both
points and pixels in the computer language are much smaller and do not
equate to the printing industry definition.
Figure 5-56 illustrates the great difference between a 72-point letter and a
computer version of a 72-pixel/point letter.
Figure 5-56.—The difference between a 72 pixel/point letter and a
72 point letter.
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