PRINTING

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XVII, 7 December 1927, Page 7

PRINTING

REVOLUTIONARY INVENTION COMPOSING BY CAMERA. London. That the wonderful August-Hun-ter camera composer has passed the experimental and has reached the production stage was impressed on a representative of The Christian Science Monitor when shown three machines which were part of an order of 10 for a big printing firm in the West of England. When the invention was in the experimental stage it was claimed that it would revolutionise printing by doing away with metal type and the ordinary compositor’s methods connected therewith. Since then little has been heard ■ - except perhaps in the printing trade. FOOL-PROOF AND SOUND COMMERCIALLY. A conversation with J. R. C. August revealed the fact that during the last two years steady nrogress has been made. Five separate stages have been gone through, each one showing a drastic simplification of the machinery, until now, said Mr August, “I regard the machine as fool-proof and a sound commercial proposition. The possibility of operator’, mistakes has been reduced to a minimum, as have also the chances of the breakdown of any part of the machinery. The whole of the working parts are standardised, and a new part can be fitted in a very short space of time.” Asked whether he anticipated his invention coming into use for the daily press, Mr August said he had no doubt that it would knock at least an hour off the time now required to produce a paper, thus allowing them to go to press an hour later, but the daily press would probably be. the last to give up present methods. CAPITAL OUTLAY REDUCED. For the rest of the printing trade the main claims of the invention are as stated two years ago; (1) Composing rooms instead of being great halls fitted with costly machinery will consist of offices with their camera composers. Capital outlay by the printing industry must be enormously reduced' owing to the elimination of the composing plant. (2) Tho • application of telegraphy, either by wire or wireless, to the invention will enable a machine installed in London, say, to set up the same matter simultaneously in many provincial towns. (3) Books and magazines and printing of all kinds must become cheaper; and they should also become more beautiful because of the great variety of type available and the avoidance of intermediate processes European and American companies under the name of “Thothmic” have been formed to deal with the production of the camera composer. The name Thothmic is well chosen, for Thoth is the Greek name for the Egyptian god of letters’.