This, it appears, was said before the mechanical process block was much used or even known; but what was true in principle in the old wood-engraving days is as true now that we have new and rapid means of reproduction.
Having, in any given case, decided what is the purpose of the illustration required, it will next be necessary to determine by which of the methods at our disposal the scheme can best be carried out, both as regards the method of producing the original, and the method of reproducing it in print. And this naturally brings us to the subject of our next chapter.
CHAPTER IV.
REPRODUCTION BY HALF-TONE PROCESS.
From the processes with which I propose to engage my reader's attention, wood and steel engraving, and kindred methods, stand apart.
Were we dependent upon these alone, not one-thousandth part of the illustration matter of to-day could ever have been produced, encumbered as the older methods are with the two things which, in the production of anything "for the million," are serious drawbacks, namely, time and expense of production.
Whilst these older methods undoubtedly possess characteristics which will always give them a peculiar value, and secure for them immunity from extermination (and make them, indeed, essential for certain purposes), there was long ago felt a need for a method of rapid reproduction unattended with individual artistic skill on the part of each worker employed, and, above all, free from heavy expense. Such a need has been more than met by what we now know as the mechanical processes. I say more than met, because, gradual improvement in the processes themselves, and an increased knowledge of the particular requirements of these processes on the part of the draughtsmen or artists, has resulted in giving us a process which is not only rapid and cheap, but which produces prints of high quality and merit.