Ottmar Mergenthaler invented the linotype in 1884. The machine revolutionized typesetting and with it especially newspaper publishing, making it possible for a relatively small number of operators to set type for many pages daily. This allows much faster typesetting and composition than original hand composition in which operators place down one pre-cast sort (metal letter, punctuation mark or space) at a time. The matrices are then returned to the type magazine from which they came, to be reused later. The assembled line is then cast as a single piece, called a slug, from molten type metal in a process known as hot metal typesetting. The machine assembles matrices, which are molds for the letter forms, in a line. The linotype machine operator enters text on a 90-character keyboard. The name of the machine comes from the fact that it produces an entire line of metal type at once, hence a line-o'-type, a significant improvement over the previous industry standard, i.e.,В manual, letter-by-letter typesetting using a composing stick and shallow subdivided trays, called 'cases'.

Linotype became one of the mainstay methods to set type, especially small-size body text, for newspapers, magazines, and posters from the late 19thВ century to the 1970s and 1980s, when it was largely replaced by phototypesetting and computer typesetting. It was a hot metal typesetting system that cast blocks of metal type for individual uses.

The Linotype machine ( / Л€ l aЙЄ n Й™ t aЙЄ p/ LYNE-Й™-type) is a 'line casting' machine used in printing sold by the Mergenthaler Linotype Company and related companies.

Linotype gold edition 2