Wikijunior:How Things Are Made/Wood/Newspaper

Raw Material
Newspaper consists of two main raw materials that are paper and ink.

Process
Step 1 - Phototypesetting is the transfer of the dummy to the page layout section of the newspaper. The composing room receives the story in electronic format, typeset file. In a typeset file,the characters are of the same "type"-style, size, and width - as they appear on the pages of the newspaper. There, an operator transfers the instructions on the dummy into a rough page prototype. A printed version maybe looked over and adjusted several times by one of the reporters whose story is featured as well as by the copy editor. If another breaking story comes in, this page layout can be altered in a matter of minutes. The final version of the page is then approved by the editor on duty. The page is taken in its computer format and transferred via laser beams onto film in an image setter apparatus.

Step 2 - The operator then takes the film to a processor in another section of the paper, who develops it and adjusts it for its final look. Photographs are scanned into another computer terminal and inserted into the page layout.

Step 3 - At the printing center, the pages arrive at the laser room and are put through a laser writer, another scanning device that makes a negative image of them.

Step 4 - The commonly used method of printing newspapers is called web-offset. The "web" refers to the large sheets of blank news print that are inserted in rolls, sometimes weighing over a ton,into the actual printing press.