Justification

From Fancyclopedia 2, ca. 1959

The process of putting even right-hand edges on typewritten matter in a fanzine. The second paragraph below is justified, at least in this sense. Iconoclasts like Laney and puristical users of real printing like Bill Danner object to the idea on the ground that typewriter typeface just doesn't look like letterpress and trying to use it to imitate the latter is Vulgar Ostentation. Ecco la: The usual method is to write up what you want to say, in the spacing you plan to use -- i.e. make a dummy copy -- and, reaching the end of a line, fill in the space between the end of the written line and the edge of your printing area with some mark that won't be mistaken for text. This indicates how many spaces you must skip, when cutting the stencil, to get even right-hand margins. But it's a lot of work and adds little to the appearance of a magazine as compared to other factors such as good stencil-cutting and even inking, so many fans refuse to fool with it.

The usual method is to write up what you want to say, inXXX
the spacing you plan to use -- i.e. make a dummy copy --XXX
and, reaching the end of a line, fill in the space betweenXXXX
the end of the written line and the edge of your printingXXXX
area with some mark that won't be mistaken for text. ThisXX
indicates how many spaces you must skip, when cuttingXXX
the stencil, to get even right-hand margins. ButXXXXXXXXXX
it's a lot of work and adds little to the appearance of a magazine
as compared to other factors such as good stencil-cuttingXXX
and even inking, so many fans refuse to fool with it.

Metacomment: The paragraph above, however, was set with the "text-align=justify" html style. Damn, our tools are easy to use these days. --Jim Caughran

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Publishing