Lettering
1921 to 1950: Methods of lettering
Before the Second World War, the only means of displaying text information on a map was by hand lettering. This was done on cotton linen material using crowquills, and later steel nibs. The lettering was effected strictly in accordance with in-house styles. The size of the lettering was measured in fractions of inches rather than the point size measurement of post-war times.
The lettering to publication standard was very challenging and time consuming. Generally, the standard was so high that users had difficulty believing the work was hand crafted.
New techniques were incorporated after the war. These included various forms of photomechanical and adhesive-backed lettering.
Type setter operator
This new process involved ordering specific text at certain point sizes, fonts and 'boldness' according to specifications.
The order was then processed photographically from sets of master fonts. This was then imaged onto very thin clear film backed with adhesive and paper.
Once received, the draftsman was able to cut each piece of text using a scalpel and adhere it to the correct position onto a stud-registered clear film base. This type overlay was registered with other linework and mask overlays.
Placing adhesive-backed type on clear film
Benefits of photolettering over hand lettering
- Speed of laying out type (after skills and procedures were improved)
- Consistency of fonts and sizes throughout individual maps and series of maps
- Type remained black. Hand lettering required touching up with a pen to maintain black opacity.
Computer aided lettering
The photolettering process, however, seems archaic when compared to the ease of use of the current environment of computer generated output.
Last updated: 29 September 2009