Forme Sentence Examples
Usually three or four such rollers are required to ink the forme.
It is then brought under the second or left-hand drum, and so on to the other large impression cylinder, with the blank side of the sheet exposed to the type of the outer forme on the table underneath.
Now, supposing the forme to be dealt with consists of thirty-two pages to be printed on quad crown paper, measuring 40X30 in., on a suitable size of single cylinder machine of the Wharfedale class, it would be found, although both the machine and type were fairly new (that is, not much worn), that there was some amount of inequality in the impression given to the whole sheet.
It may even be necessary for fine printing to repeat this a third time, especially if the forme includes blocks of any kind.
If the forme to be printed consists of both type and blocks mixed, a somewhat different treatment has to he employed in order to put the blocks into a relative position with the type for printing.
After underlaying, and to emphasize the respective degrees of light and shade in the illustrations, a separate and careful overlaying is required for the blocks before anything is done to the main forme.
After another reading or revision in the reading closet it is sent to the compositors, who make the final corrections in the type and hand the forme to the printing department to deal with.
To make the department pay, the machines must be kept fully employed with the many classes of work that a large concern has to deal with; the wheels must be kept running as much as possible, and the time for making-ready curtailed as far as is consistent with the proper preparation of the forme.
In his machine the stereotype plates were not made to fill the whole periphery of the forme cylinders so as to allow of the sheets being cut before printing, a difficulty w'iich the first machines did not satisfactorily overcome.
Single proofs of type, stereotype, electrotype or blocks of any description can often be struck off without making-ready with fairly good results, but if precision of " colour " (that is, inking) and uniformity of impression throughout a volume are desired, it is necessary to put the forme, whether type or blocks or both, into a proper condition before starting the printing of an edition, whatever its number.
AdvertisementIn rotary printing from the curved stereotype plate and from the endless web of paper much can be done to assist the printer if good stereotype plates are supplied to him, and, if the forme contains any illustrations, both the artist and the engraver can help him if they keep in mind the particular character of illustration which they are preparing for the press.