Block · one region of the page, as the scanner read it. It may hold a whole story, part of one, several, or an advertisement; stitching blocks into articles is the next step. Text is supplied OCR.
Page 6 · column 5 of 6 · from the scan, no model involved
with their slightly raised impressions which correspond to the type and other images, are fastened to metal rollers. As the press spins, the rollers and plates run through a trough containing an oil-based ink. Another machine adds water to the mix.
The plates, covered with ink which sticks only to the raised impressions which correspond to the type and other images, press against fiber-covered rollers called blankets. They, in turn, press against the paper, which runs through the presses in continuous sheets called webs.
Through constant adjustments to the ink and oil mixture, the pressmen assure the quality of the images - making sure that the photographs are not too dark while keeping the type a true black.
As the webs wind through the presses, the newspaper comes together, until at the folder the pages are combined and each copy is cut, at the rate of several hundred each minute. Once the presses are set up and the ink mixture properly adjusted, each week’s Rappahannock News press run of3,500 copies can be printed in just 15 . minutes.
After the printing is completed, it is just a short trip to the Democrat's mailroom where advertising inserts are added and each copy is run through an addressing machine — assuring that each subscriber will receive their copy through the mail.
After the papers are bundled according to which post office or store they go to, Circulator Pat Raynor is off on her own journey, which carries her from Castleton to Front Royal, delivering the newspapers in bundles and bags to each post office, newsstand and general store along the way.
Meanwhile, after advertising orders are verified, the Rappahannock News staff takes a deep breath, exhales a sigh of relief, and returns to Washington, another week’s paper “put to bed.”
And, on Thursday morning, as our subscribers are opening their papers to read of the week’s events in Rappahannock County, the Rappahannock News staff is already planning what will appear in next week’s paper!
96.6%