3 ms·

"Volume 2 of The Art of Computer Programming was the first big test case [of TeX and Metafont]. I was looking forward so much to the day when I got my first cop

"Volume 2 of The Art of Computer Programming was the first big test case [of TeX and Metafont]. I was looking forward so much to the day when I got my first copy and I could open it up and I could see, “Oh, yes, my project has succeeded.” But it was maybe the worst day of my life because it looked awful to me...." As the guy who ran the Alphatype CRS phototypesetter to generate the final camera-ready copy for ACP Volume 2, 2nd edition, let me add a little color to this. Pages were (slowly) generated on large sheets of special photographic paper (maybe 2ft by 3ft), at real size (so six pages per sheet) at an effective resolution of 5000dpi. The results, after being run through a normal 3-bath b&w developer and dried out, were then shipped off to the publisher. There they were photographed and processed into metal printing plates for the offset printing press, which actually applies ink to paper, creating the pages that are bound into books. The point being that each of those subsequent steps (photography, making metal plates, applying ink, pressing into paper, plus the specs of the particular ink and paper being used) acts as a filter on the image. So, the book you get back doesn't look exactly like the camera-ready copy you provided; not only might the type look lighter or darker, but there may be other effects like "fill-in" of little crevices like the inner wedge of a "v" or where serifs are attached. Old-time punch cutters knew how to anticipate this sort of thing, but it takes experience. Of course, Knuth knew of such things, and got lots of expert assistance, but still it wasn't right on the first time through that final step that we didn't control.

svat 6y ago
Wow, thanks for that story and those details! Always exciting to hear about those times. Knuth also mentions this "worst day of my life" incident (without much detail) in his Kyoto Prize lecture[1] and Web of Stories interview[2], and (with slight details similar to what you said) in his 2007 CHM Oral History.[3] Only loosely related: just a few days ago there was a historical article posted online[4] about the Digital Typography group at Stanford in the 1980s, where much of the collaboration happened that led to the final versions of those fonts. [1] https://web.archive.org/web/20190523200235/https://www.kyotoprize.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/12kA_lct_EN.pdf https://web.archive.org/web/20190523200235/https://www.kyoto... or https://web.archive.org/web/20201111041445/https://www.kyotoprize.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/1996_A.pdf https://web.archive.org/web/20201111041445/https://www.kyoto... — search for “burned with disappointment” [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5wb9TEHkCI&list=PLVV0r6CmEsFzeNLngr1JqyQki3wdoGrCn&index=65 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5wb9TEHkCI&list=PLVV0r6CmEs... [3] Pages 44–46, especially 46 at https://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/access/text/2013/05/102658053-05-01-acc.pdf#page=44&view=FitH,700 https://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/access/text/20... transcribing roughly 1:17:00 to 1:26:00 of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqPPll3uDa0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqPPll3uDa0 [4] https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sheji.2020.08.006 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sheji.2020.08.006 (I actually suspect that the author, from the Design program at the time, may have missed/misunderstood some details, but I'm not confident enough to say what exactly, if anything, is wrong.)

svat 6y ago

Wow, thanks for that story and those details! Always exciting to hear about those times. Knuth also mentions this "worst day of my life" incident (without much detail) in his Kyoto Prize lecture[1] and Web of Stories interview[2], and (with slight details similar to what you said) in his 2007 CHM Oral History.[3] Only loosely related: just a few days ago there was a historical article posted online[4] about the Digital Typography group at Stanford in the 1980s, where much of the collaboration happened that led to the final versions of those fonts. [1] https://web.archive.org/web/20190523200235/https://www.kyotoprize.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/12kA_lct_EN.pdf https://web.archive.org/web/20190523200235/https://www.kyoto... or https://web.archive.org/web/20201111041445/https://www.kyotoprize.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/1996_A.pdf https://web.archive.org/web/20201111041445/https://www.kyoto... — search for “burned with disappointment” [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5wb9TEHkCI&list=PLVV0r6CmEsFzeNLngr1JqyQki3wdoGrCn&index=65 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5wb9TEHkCI&list=PLVV0r6CmEs... [3] Pages 44–46, especially 46 at https://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/access/text/2013/05/102658053-05-01-acc.pdf#page=44&view=FitH,700 https://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/access/text/20... transcribing roughly 1:17:00 to 1:26:00 of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqPPll3uDa0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqPPll3uDa0 [4] https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sheji.2020.08.006 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sheji.2020.08.006 (I actually suspect that the author, from the Design program at the time, may have missed/misunderstood some details, but I'm not confident enough to say what exactly, if anything, is wrong.)