Identification of Letterpress and Halftone Printing
Sia Ram Gupta · The Journal of Criminal Law Criminology and Police Science · 1966
Letterpress printing, also called relief printing, is the oldest form of known to us. In spite of all modern devices of communication, has retained its pre-eminence and is still most commonly used for producing books, magazines, newspapers, catalogues, and the like. Many are inclined to believe that printing being the product of a mass type casting and mechanical reproduction does not lend itself to a scientific comparison and identification as to its source and and is therefore an effective screen for committing crime. There has accordingly been a gradual increase in the use of as a means of producing defamatory, libelous, seditious or anonymous posters and handbills, and spurious certificates, diplomas, and degrees. There has been even a fraudulent of books otherwise protected under copyrights. An inquiry in a case like this often arises to fix the responsibility of such matter with any degree of scientific accuracy upon a suspected press. The identification of is based on the general principles, viz. the existence of an adequate combination of class and individual characteristics exceeding the limits of an accidental coincidence. In the case of a human being, the class characteristics are the stature, build, complexion, etc. while the individual characters are the moles, scars, birth-marks, and other facial peculiarities or deformities. In the case of typewriting, the class features are the style and size of the type faces conforming to the specifications designed by the manufacturer while the individuality in typewriting is brought about through imperfections in the of type faces and through the wear and tear of the machine resulting in defective spacing, positioning, slant, mutilation and weight of type faces. In printing, the class characteristics may be grouped under body size and type face designs. The body size of a type is responsible for the width of a line and the depth of a column. The unit of measurement is the point which is one-twelfth of a pica, 6 picas making an inch. The body size in metallic type varies from 6 points up to 72 points, larger ones being made mainly in wood. According to the type face, the authoritative composition manual distinguishes between eight main designs. The body size and the type face design thus stamp a with its class characteristics. So far as the individual characteristics are concerned, they come into existence as a result of defective setting in the matter of relative spacing, positioning, slant and weight of type faces or are due to the mutilations and imperfections in these type faces. This applies both to the setting through hot-metal composing machines (monotype or linotype) as also to hand composition. The defects in the former, being a mechanical setting, however are less numerous.