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Electronic composition and the typesetter
American Journal of Economics and Sociology, The, April, 1993 by Fred A. Long
The electronic revolution in publishing has altered some of the traditional relationships in the industry. Today, computers are the common link between authors, publishers, and compositors. Consider how computers have revolutionized the way authors prepare their manuscripts. Computers not only make revising and rewriting a lot easier, they also provide a way for an author's keystrokes to be stored and used by the compositor. Most of the typesetting systems used by today's compositors can read and translate files from virtually any word-processing program. Some of these typesetting systems can even preserve the author's formatting--the bold and italic and superscript and subscript that computers allow authors to use.
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At TAPSCO we try to use author-created files whenever possible, even when copyediting and coding have not been added to the disk. If, however, the editing on the hard copy is heavy, or if the author has sent a print file that is difficult to convert, or if the data contains a large number of elements that are not tagged, then it's usually more practical to rekey the edited and marked-up manuscript using a double-key, electronic-verify process. The double-key, electronic-verify process is another innovation brought about by the electronic revolution. At TAPSCO it works like this: two different operators key the same manuscript, then we electronically compare those two separate files to catch inconsistencies. This method results in an accuracy rate of better than 99%. That 99% includes all the editorial changes and computer codes. Proofreaders only have to check the hyphenation and justification created by the composition system. The content does not need to be proofread. If data is not double keyed, then proofreading must be done, but manual comparison proofreading only averages 85% accuracy compared with the 99% accuracy of the electronic-verify process.
Many publishers also rely on the double-key, electronic-verify method to convert traditional paper manuscripts to an electronic medium for the purpose of electronic editing. The raw manuscript is double-keyed as a mirror image. An editor calls the file to his or her computer screen and copyedits the material electronically--on the computer.
The editor also tags all the elements in the electronic manuscript with generic codes. The publisher then sends the copyedited, coded version back to the typesetter where the edited disk data is converted to a typesetting system that will output pages.
So, with generic coding the publisher takes on a responsibility that used to be the compositor's: adding the typesetting codes. The advantages for the publisher are shorter schedules, control of the content, and a reduction in typesetting costs.
Right now, there is no standard for generic coding structure. Customers usually custom design their own, but I strongly recommend that publishers work closely with their compositor during the designing process. You will resolve most of the potential problems before the actual work starts and save yourself a lot of time.
Standard Generalized Markup Language, as its name implies, is becoming a standard markup language and is a common basis for hypertext tagging. Hypertext--the electronic enhancement and delivery of documents--is becoming increasingly important to companies that want documents that are more versatile to use and less expensive to distribute and maintain. If you want material in SGML, you will spend a lot of time and effort to convert it from non-SGML.
A program called |T.sub.E~X represents a significant advance in technology for publishers of math and physics books. It allows authors to create complex mathematical formulas and tables on a P.C. (personal computer) and output to a low-resolution device for proofreading.
|T.sub.E~X enables the compositor to output the supplied type exactly as the author arranged it, without rekeyboarding and without converting the data to another typesetting system. Assuming that the author typed and arranged his or her material correctly and with the proper macros, the accuracy of the final type is virtually guaranteed. (That is the theory anyway. In our experience, we have never found the practice to live up to the theory. So far, every author-prepared |T.sub.E~X file has needed additional updates). One potential drawback with |T.sub.E~X is its standard typeface, which is Computer Modern. Computer Modern is usually unacceptable to publishers. At TAPSCO we can update the macros to output in Times Roman and other typefaces instead of the standard Computer Modern typefaces. This is important when |T.sub.E~X and conventional chapters are mixed.
|T.sub.E~X is difficult to learn, especially for authors unfamiliar with a code-intensive language. With |T.sub.E~X an author must add a lot of code, in exactly the right places.
Math and physics authors are the primary users of |T.sub.E~X, but many other authors are familiar with desktop publishing WYSIWYG applications. WYSIWYG is an acronym for "What You See Is What You Get." Desktop Publishing is an electronic system that merges text and graphics in a WYSIWYG environment. Desktop publishing programs provide a method of composing pages that can be output as complete mechanicals or film, with graphics and color separations included. The WYSIWYG environment also offers book designers a lot of flexibility. A designer can experiment with type sizes, spacing, column width, etc. and see, right on the screen, exactly what the design looks like.
