What was the output of the Linocomp II machine? Did you get a piece of paper with text already composed out of it? Or was it film? Or was it a perforated card or strip to be taken to another machine such as an image setter? I am also intrigued by why did it have that look with those big square blue doors above the keyboard, was it like a typewritter or a computer without a screen? It would be very helpful if all these photosetter manufacturers produced videos of their devices in use in the past, for us to understand them better in the future, information on their basic functioning and operation gets lost easily.
The images attached, a picture from a Linocomp type catalog plus a functioning diagram, suggest a paper output, but it's still unclear to me about what exactly came out of the machine. L. W Wallis also mention the Linocomp II being used in 1977 as an output for the Linoterm direct entry phototypesetter/MVP Editing Terminal as frontend, so I suppose it had a paper output at the top, with its width limited to the paper roll width inside?
Thanks
The normal output from the machine would have been bromine photographic paper, which would be pasted up to complete a page. This would then be photographed to make a negative to make a printing plate for either letterpress or offset printing.
I don't know the particular machine. The description was for all machines of that period. Later machines could produce full broadsheet pages. Either bromides, negatives and eventually the printing plates.
Absolutely spot on George. The bromide paper was exposed inside the machine using a cathode ray tube. Maximum line length was determined by the width of the CRT and corresponding paper, I seem to remember that it had generous margins.
Many thanks for these clarifications. Interesting to know about the machine having generous margins – the length of the paper roll already doesn't look so great in that image above!
The bromide film roll was quite long. When a take (item being typeset) was finished, the film was cut loaded into a light proof cassette and processed in a processor or darkroom ready to be pasted onto page layout.
When I was doing my apprenticeship, and had block release at college, they had a Linocomp 1. When I finished my apprenticeship and left in 1978 I began working at ECG Reprographics who had two Linocomp 2's.
As I remember the bromide paper was supplied in black plastic bags and had to be inserted into a cassette in the dark room. It would then be fed past a slot and into a receiver cassette. When the job was complete a "cheesewire" draw string would be pulled to cut the paper.
The cassette was then taken into the dark room to go through the processor. I think The Linocomp 2 had 5 lenses in a turret which could be changed for the different type sizes and 4 font strips, whereas the Linotype 1 had 2 lenses?
Further to the story. When typesetting the only view the setter had was a single line marching character screen. The actual setting would be as a galley, not too dissimilar to a monotype caster, although you would get varying typefaces (limited to 4) and varying sizes (limited to 5). This was all in the days before WYSIWYG typesetting ie Macs!
The Linocomp preceded the CRTronic series of digital "desktop" typesetters. It used a 1" cathode ray tube on a carriage mechanism to output onto photo paper. US $22,000 back in early 1980s. Unique feature was capability to draw horizontal and vertical lines, making it well-suited for business forms. No wisiwig display. You needed to be good at coding.
There are details of the first Linocomp system here: Linocomp 1 (https://metaltype.co.uk/wpress/the-whittaker-collection/linotype-linocomp-1/)
Many thanks for all your replies! It's fascinating to learn more about these machines from the perspective of someone who has never seen one in operation. As I mentioned, solely from reading the information on that specimen above, it was impossible to deduce that the final output was on bromide paper, even though a paper roll was indicated.
Alan, when you mention that the setting would be "as a galley," similar to a Monotype caster, could you clarify what you mean precisely? Are you referring to having proofs made, or that lines of type were generated sequentially on the paper roll? I've seen a Monotype caster producing lines of type a few times, but I don't fully understand the use of the term 'galley' in this context (apologies for my lack of knowledge on the subject).
Many thanks again!