The
linotype machine ( ) is a "line casting" machine used in
printing. Along with
letterpress printing, linotype was the industry standard for newspapers, magazines and posters from the late 19th century to the 1960s and 70s, when it was largely replaced by
offset lithography printing and computer typesetting. The name of the machine comes from the fact that it produces an entire line of metal
type at once, hence a
line-o'-type, a significant improvement over the previous industry standard,
i.e., manual, letter-by-letter typesetting using a composing stick and drawers of letters.