National Paste Up Day
Each year, National Paste Up Day on May 7th commemorates the days before desktop publishing and computerized digital imaging, when many journals were printed by hand before desktop publishing and computerized digital imaging. Many that worked so ardently in their positions were also remembered on the day.
Paste-up refers to a process of preparing and laying out pages of a magazine. In addition to being a layout artist, mechanical engineer, production artist, or compositor, a paste-up artist was also known as a compositor. The paste-up artist's regular duties would be to divide the type into sections and arrange it carefully across multiple columns. They were also responsible for inserting the headlines and other typographical elements. These parts were not sold separately.
They worked for newspapers, magazines, catalogs, and other publishers. They worked for newspapers, magazines, catalogs, and other publishers. Artists in Paste-up used x-acto knives and concentrated on precision rather than precision. Although a journalist may have written an article with detail and gusto, if the 327-word column space didn't fit, the paste-up artist would cut a line or two to make it fit. Ad space was paid for salaries and photos often needed cropping. Paste-up artists were in high demand in the publishing industry, and they could also face deadline pressures. Nevertheless, they kept their alleys straight and assembled their mechanicals on time for the presses.
#nationalpasteupup is a hashtag that should be tracked. Here's how to celebrate #nationalpasteup
Paste-up artists obtained their training in a variety of ways, from small presses evening papers to university presses. Though word processing technologies have stifled the art of paste-up, the eye for precision and organization in the printing industry persists. Use #NationalPasteUp on social media to show how paste-up artists have influenced the art of printing today.
