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+\title{Baskerville Production --- the horror story}
+
+\author[Robin Fairbairns]{Robin Fairbairns\\Computer
+ Laboratory\\University of
+ Cambridge\\\texttt{robin.fairbairns@cl.cam.ac.uk}}
+
+\begin{Article}
+
+\subsection*{or --- never mind the quality, feel the \protect\texttt{hsize}}
+I've been part of the \BV\ production team for three issues now; you
+may have noticed my name in Sebastian's `Colophon'. What I want to
+discuss in this article is the production business as I (and Jonathan
+Fine) see it. Sebastian's story is entirely another thing: he's the
+one that does the \emph{real} work --- we simply proof-read and get
+what he turns out onto paper.
+
+Two things prompted me to produce this article: the first was an
+actual technical production achievement, which I thought might be of
+use as a `technical tip' (there's a standing action on all of the
+\UKTUG{} Committee to produce such article for \BV). The second
+prompt came in a mail message from Allan Reese, who said ``[\ldots],
+it seems to me that there has been a substantial reduction in the
+physical quality [of
+\BV{} production]''; I hope to shed some light on the effect that
+Allan observed.
+
+\subsection*{From proof to paper}
+
+Sebastian works on \BV{} wherever he happens to be at the time; his
+domestic arrangements are such that this often means `at home'. When
+an issue is nearing completion, he (e)mails the committee to say that
+a proof \PS{} file is ready for inspection. Those of us who have an
+account on the CTAN archive \verb'ftp.tex.ac.uk' can then log in and
+retrieve the file that he's placed in his private filespace there (one
+of Sebastian's other hats is that of CTAN maintainer).
+
+The \PS{} file is typically in the range 1.5--2MB long; pulling
+several copies (as I have to do) is only really practical politics
+because I have access to plenty of free disc space. More
+significantly, the file takes anything up to an hour to print (all the
+printers I can use are connected by serial line); so I don't
+\emph{print} more often than is absolutely necessary. (Most of the
+bulk of the file is made up of downloaded copies of the fonts: early
+on in the present regime, Sebastian produced an issue as seven
+four-page files, the largest of which was 1.7MB, and took nearly an
+hour to print on its own!)
+
+Once I've printed a copy, there's a rush on to proof-read. This is
+something I tend to be good at (I've a lot of experience of
+proof-reading ISO standards, a peculiarly nit-picking way of spending
+one's time). I (and others) mail lists of perceived problems back to
+Sebastian, and we iterate until all seems right. Because everything
+happens asynchronously, this iteration can be a long process.
+
+Eventually, a week or two later, I have a revised file to print. I
+duly go ahead, using the `service' HP LaserJet~4 here. While it's a
+damned good printer, I have had unsatisfactory prints out of it~---
+among other things, the toner seems always to run out just before I
+need to do a production run!
+
+At this stage, Jonathan Fine takes the results of my efforts for
+copying. My laboratory has a very respectable print room, with a
+Xerox Docutech copier, but we don't use it because the cost is nearly
+twice what we pay the copy shop (part of the reason is that the
+price break at the copy shop is at a smaller number of copies than
+that in my laboratory's print room). To prepare the matter for
+copying, Jonathan has to paste the A4 pages from my printer onto A3.
+This game (`imposition') almost deserves an article in its own right.
+It prepares \BV{} for presentation as you see it, stapled down the
+middle of (typically) six sheets of A3 paper, and is something the
+Laboratory's Docutech would do electronically, but the copy shop can't
+do.
+
+In fact (in my opinion), the weakest part of the
+production chain is the copy shop; they are providing as cheap a
+service as they can manage, the result of which is that we
+occasionally suffer mis-stapled copies, copies with pages missing, and
+so on. (They are, at least, happy to put such problems right.)
+
+All that remains to do is to stuff and then post the envelopes. This
+isn't a trivial matter, but its `technicalities' are hardly
+significant to a group of people whose common interest is typesetting:
+I'll say no more.
+
+\subsection*{What could we do better\ldots?}
+
+Baskerville's early (somewhat irregular) issues were produced at Aston
+University on a phototypesetter, and then reproduced onto high-quality
+paper. This gave the impression of high quality\footnote{Though there
+ are those who complained that those versions of \BV{} were
+ `under-inked'}, but it bore a cost that we could probably not meet
+on the punishing publication rate of \BV{} at present.
+
+We could print onto better-quality paper: ``reprographic quality''
+paper for use in laser printers is available: its use would presumably
+improve the reproduction of what we've printed.
+
+I could find a more lightly loaded (and hence more consistent quality)
+LaserJet~4 (or other 600dpi or better printer); this may or may not be
+possible~--- if anyone in the Cambridge area has such a machine to
+offer at the right price\footnote{\relax\emph{Very} cheap!}, we'll
+gratefully accept.
+
+We could improve the imposition process and finally, we could go to a
+better copy shop.
+
+\subsection*{\ldots{} and why don't we?}
+
+I'm always willing to consider a better printer; but since I know of
+none, I can't use it.
+
+A copy shop with tighter quality controls would cost us more, and
+would probably (as a direct result of the controls) take longer.
+
+The view of the committee is that \BV's quality is (just about)
+adequate as it is. We are producing the newsletter of a (not very
+large) user group: the imperative is that we get the thing out as
+often as possible~--- our members more often comment about the content
+of \BV{} than about its presentation.
+
+\subsection*{What \emph{will} we do?}
+
+We are going to try reprographic quality paper: since the amount of
+paper used for \emph{printing} is small, the incremental cost per
+issue won't be serious. On a similar basis, Jonathan has bought some
+`professional' spray gum for use in the imposition process (it'll be
+much quicker than using PrittSticks, and the results ought to be
+better).
+
+Unless (or in any case until) we find somewhere better, we will try to
+improve our relationship with the copy shop. When they make mistakes,
+they lose money by having to redo work for us: we expect they'll be
+happy to work with us to improve their service to us (thus,
+incidentally, improving their profits).
+
+\subsection*{The technical nugget}
+
+Stuck on the wall above our LaserJet~4 are a couple of examples of
+misprinting (one is a print of the University crest with a spike
+sticking out several inches to the North-East). Notes on the examples
+suggest that the solution is ``to use another printer'' (it's evidence
+of a firmware bug in the \PS{} interpreter). In the last
+edition of \BV{} (volume 4, issue 2), some text at the bottom of page
+20 `jumped' from near the beginning of column one to just before the
+beginning of column two; the effect was to obscure the line in both
+columns by overprinting.
+
+Changing printers wasn't actually an option for me, since I was
+committed to using a LaserJet~4, and I know of none which don't have
+the bug. Some time ago there was a discussion on Usenet group
+\verb'comp.text.tex' about just this problem, and I retained a
+suggestion from Hans Visser (of the Technical University of Delft)
+on how to solve the problem within \verb'dvips'. But I don't run
+\verb'dvips' for \BV{}~--- Sebastian does, and there's a delay
+introduced by any interaction with Sebastian; so I decided to try and
+solve the problem myself.
+
+Visser's solution was to edit the definition of the abbreviated
+command `\verb;w;' in \verb;texps.pro;, one of the files \verb'dvips'
+inserts into the output of any file it produces. The change he
+suggested was to change the original \verb'/w{0 rmoveto}B' to
+\verb'/w{10' \texttt{5 rmoveto 10 sub -5} \verb'rmoveto}B'
+% line split up to allow it to wrap while I'm previewing; may not be
+% necessary when it's being printed in Baskerville...
+(the command \verb'B' is defined earlier in the file to mean
+\texttt{bind def}).
+
+My problem was caused by \PS{} that said \texttt{(er)s(ville)} (part of
+\BV{} as a font name). Remembering Visser's instructions, I traced
+the definition of \verb's' to mean \verb'/s{show 3 w}B'; wanting a
+`quick fix', I decided simply to change the offending instance of the
+\verb'w' command. My third shot,
+\texttt{(er)show 1.5 100 rmoveto 1.499 -100 rmoveto(ville)} finally
+did the job.
+
+I wouldn't recommend the game I played (locating stuff in \PS{}
+generated by \verb'dvips', and then correcting it) to anyone; but it
+\emph{did} work. I would be interested to learn if anyone else has
+encountered this same firmware bug in LaserJet~4s (I'm told it's been
+eliminated from current production machines), and if there are
+alternatives to Visser's solution. In the meantime, I'm asking
+Sebastian to change \emph{his} \verb'dvips.pro'\ldots
+
+\end{Article}
+% Local Variables:
+% mode: latex
+% TeX-master: t
+% End: