What is typesetting?

Typesetting is a presentation of text on paper or some other material, in a printed form. The word ‘type’ is used to denote a small block of metal or wood, bearing a raised letter or number on the upper end that leaves a printed impression when inked and pressed on paper. We know that by the middle of the 15th century, movable type had been invented in Europe by the German printer, Johann Gutenberg. By 1462, Gutenberg’s invention became accepted and the use of it spread throughout Europe.  Movable type is also called foundry type or hot type. In foundry type, each piece of type was cast into a precise size from metal which was an alloy of lead, tin, and antimony. Each piece contained a raised image of a single letter, number, or other character.  In setting type, letters were selected one at a time, and lined up in what was called a composing stick until it was almost full. Then, by using pieces of type with no face on them, spaces between words were adjusted to bring the line to the required length.  Each line of type was placed by hand in a larger box made especially for housing the type. The individually lines were laid out exactly like the page should look except that the type was backwards as if looking at it in a mirror.   The type was then inked and copies made directly from the type. When printing was finished, the type was taken apart, cleaned, and returned to the distribution box to be used again another time