Justifying

Spacing out a line so that it fits with a proper degree of tightness in the measure of the composing stick; placing a woodcut or a block in a page and tilling up the vacancies with leads, quadrats, quotations or furniture, so that when the forme is locked-up the whole shall be fast and firm. In regard to ordinary justifying in the stick, and to avoid the trouble of putting in many thin and hair spaces, or changing those already in for narrower ones—which is at all times an exceedingly delicate operation, and frequently attended with great annoyance and trouble, owing to the danger of breaking the line, various mechanical means have been employed, in vain so far. Several systems of mechanical or automatic justification have been invented, but none of them have come into general use. One of them is intended exclusively for Mackie’s composing machine.

His plan is to use corrugated, or grooved, spaces made I of lead. A stickful of matter is spaced with his spaces in the ordinary way as near the proper length as convenient, but at least as long as each line should be, the setting-stick being an ordinary one with the sides slotted on the right hand side moveable by a screw, to the extent of one or two ems. The setting-rules (each line has its own) are left in until the stick is full, so that the matter may slide one line along another. The effect of the compression is to elongate the quads to their length before corrugation, and produce a uniformity in length and spaces which no hand setting can equal. Twenty lines set to within one, or even two ems, are “justified” instantly, and the spaces can be re-corrugated by any boy as wanted. They seem no worse for their squeezing, neither is the type injured. For the composing machine Mr. Mackie uses a “stick,” or rather “galley,” which holds one hundred lines, and by a screw pressure a sidestick compresses all the lines to one lengh in an instant. The following will give an idea of the operation:—

Accurate justification is absolutely necessary in composition. If the line is short the letters will not stand properly on their feet, and it is then impossible to get a fair impression from the line. Besides, the letters are liable to drop out in lifting the forme, and a column or a page may be easily broken through carelessness in this respect. Even if badly-justified matter is got safely to the stone, the suction of the roller is liable, if not almost sure, to draw out the letters, by which means many letters or perhaps a valuable wood-block may be battered, and ruined completely. Indeed, carelessness in justifying is a fruitful cause of accident and damage of all kinds. Many chases, for instance, are broken by being locked-up too tight, to obviate the results of bad justifying and loose lines.

Apprentices should be strictly cautioned against allowing themselves to fall into the bad habit, for when once acquired it becomes actually irksome to take the proper amount of care to justify a line properly. Some compositors adopt the plan of justifying their lines slackly, others tightly; but the latter is far preferable; for what compositor can judge, in slack spacing, whether he has justified each line precisely the same as the previous one? whereas, if he adopts the principle of spacing each line as tight as the measure will admit reasonably, he is sure to have every line alike,—especially is this necessary in table-work.

An American writer says:—"

“In all modern printing offices there is an inexorable requisition that all matter shall be truly justified. The page or column must be perfectly squared. No superiority in speed, no excellence in clean proof on the part of the compositor will ever atone for his neglect of justification. The demand for carefulness in this branch of work is more stringent now than it was during the last generation. There is reason for it. The formes that we send to press are twice as large, and the machines that we use are ten times as quick as those in use years ago. Instead of lying flat on slowly-moving beds, the formes are sometimes put on the periphery of quickly-revolving cylinders, are sometimes inclined at vertical angles, sometimes stand upright, and, in one press, are completely reversed, with face downward. In all cases, the types are inked by rapidly-moving rollers, with a clinging suction that is sure to withdraw type from a badly-justified line. The loose justification of a small octavo forme that could be corrected by damp ‘scaleboards’ (a word unknown in modern offices) or a vigorous locking-up is no longer tolerated. The modern compositor is required not only to make his formes lift, if ever so large and complex, but to make them tight enough to resist the suction of the roller. Not all compositors are equal to this requisition, it is true, but the requisition is never relaxed. No matter what may be his age or experience, he is adjudged no workman who cannot or does not justify his matter truly.”

See Spacing.