Matrix (printing)

The template is called in the context of hand and mechanical typesetting and font foundry a metal mold to produce letters or lead type lines.

Foundry

The matrices were produced by wrapping steel dies ( male ), which reproduced the typeface of the later letter, in copper. At larger sizes, the matrices were also generated on galvanoplastic way from the 19th century. They were used in a manual casting instrument, then poured from typecaster with liquid metal letters, taken after cooling and further processed ( peeled, brought up to standard height, see also: Font Foundry ). The resulting single letters found use in the hand set. From 1853 onwards the manual work was supplemented and replaced by casting machines.

Machine set

With increasing automation of the activities of writing and casting of the pleading were merged. The matrices (now mostly brass) were brought together by pressing mechanically fixed to a mold and then filled with metal letters. Products were either single letters (eg Monotype typesetting machine ) or on a corpus together cast lead type lines ( system Linotype, Ludlow Zeilengießmaschine and others).

Die of a Linotype machine ( continuous matrices were with two letters )

Linotype Matrizenzeile ( word spacing was usually formed by special word spacing wedges )