Editing Typesetting (section)

{{Short description|Composition of text by means of arranging physical types or digital equivalents}}
{{Redirect|Typesetter|the desktop publishing software|Typesetter!}}
{{Redirect|Text formatting||Formatted text}}
{{Redirect|Booksetting|a multi-volume work|Volume (bibliography){{!}}Bookset}}
{{Broader|Typography}}

[[Image:Metal movable type.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.35|[[Movable type]] on a [[composing stick]] on a [[type case]]]]
[[Image:A Specimen by William Caslon.jpg|thumb|bottom|A specimen sheet issued by [[William Caslon]], letter founder, from the 1728 edition of ''[[Cyclopaedia, or an Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences|Cyclopaedia]]'']]
[[Image:Metal type.svg|thumb|right|Diagram of a cast metal [[Sort (typesetting)|sort]]]]

'''Typesetting''' is the composition of [[Written language|text]] for publication, display, or distribution by means of arranging [[metal type|physical ''type'']] (or ''sort'') in mechanical systems or ''[[glyphs]]'' in digital systems representing ''[[character (symbol)|characters]]'' (letters and other symbols).<ref name="typesetting random house dictionary definition">Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. 23 December 2009. [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/typeset Dictionary.reference.com]</ref> Stored types are retrieved and ordered according to a language's [[orthography]] for visual display. Typesetting requires one or more [[font]]s (which are widely but erroneously confused with and substituted for [[typeface]]s). 
One significant effect of typesetting was that authorship of works could be spotted more easily, making it difficult for copiers who have not gained permission.<ref>Murray, Stuart A., ''The Library: An Illustrated History'', ALA edition, Skyhorse, 2009, page 131</ref>