Paste Up Day

It is a wonderful time to mark the prominence of pasting artisans. In the past, when computers were not common, magazines and journals were compiled by hand.

Paste-Up Day on May 7th each year remembers the time before desktop publishing and computer digital imaging when many publications were completed by hand. It also commemorates those who have worked so hard in their positions.

Why National Paste-Up Day?

Nowadays with the great development of technology, every task is done with the help of machines like computers, etc. However, almost every task is handled manually before and has been recognized; wonders how journals and magazines are designed, approved and published? There is a separate role assigned to perform this task and they are called stickers artists.

The procedure for publishing a magazine or magazine begins with the first step, creating a template. Set up an image that includes drawing columns by scrolling down the paper to style the page. The result of this step is a clean sheet of paper with the desired columns and design. Technically, "cold type" was included in the paper. This is then followed by arranging the stories on paper from above. The layout or pasting artist will cut them into pieces and stick them on paper whenever they don't fit the format. Layout artists will also align headings, main body, and other related graphics on the page. They will use adhesives such as rubber or gum made from cement, or materials made from wax. They will then arrange the pieces on a white board made of hard material. After completing all of these steps, the page was placed on the easel and shaped. This photograph was later turned negative and printed and distributed.

These techniques were followed until the invention of the Calculator and graphical programs, which made the job easier. However, imagine following the process above in printing today's magazine. That would be a huge task and workload for any publisher. National Paste-Up Day has been observed since before they were still in service. The state has declared a holiday on May 7th every year in honor of pasting artists. It was in the years 1920-30 that this day was first celebrated. Back then, the state honored a few artists who excelled in their work and celebrated with them. Today, as technology has taken its place, we honor our artists and recognize their honorable contributions on this day.

History of National Paste-up Day

Paste up refers to a method of preparing and arranging the pages of a publication. Paste artists are also known as layout artists, mechanical artists, production artists or composers. Part of the gluer's day-to-day duties would be to cut this type into pieces and arrange them carefully on multiple columns. They are also responsible for setting titles and other typographical elements. These elements are provided separately.

They have worked for newspapers, magazines, catalogs and other publishers. The pasting artists used x-acto knives and focused on precision. While a journalist could have written a detailed and engaging article, if the 327-word article doesn't fit in the column space, the paste artist will remove a line or two to make it fit. Ad space is paid for with wages and photos. Since the position requires attention for more detail, label artists are in high demand in the publishing industry, and they can also face high deadline pressure. Still, they kept their alleys straight and prepared their mechanics on time to squeeze.

Before there were programs for desktop publishing and digital imaging by computer, there was a time when newspapers, magazines, and the like were compiled by hand. The arrangement of pages for publication is done by a paste artist, who is also known as a mechanical artist, layout artist, production artist or composer. National Paste-up Day was started at a time when sticker artists were still popular and the holiday was in honor of them. Since gluing began to disappear in the 1990s, the holiday can now be seen as a day to honor the legacy of pasting work in general.

Today, we take computers for granted, but there was a time when all the work on them to create the layout of a newspaper was done by a single artist. The process goes like this: A photographic technique is used, where the so-called "cold type" is put onto photographic paper. Each newspaper story will fit on long scrolls. Since the stories won't fit on a single page of newspaper, they will have to be cut into sections so that they can be placed in columns on the page. The sticker artist will also arrange the headline, line art, photo stats, and other graphics on the page. A rubber cement binder will then be placed on the back of them, or they will be passed through a machine that will place a wax binder on them. The pieces will be placed on a board, such as one made of hard, white paper. Once completed, the page will be put on an easel and photographed. The photograph is used to make the negative, and the negative will be used to make the print.

Interesting facts about National Paste-up Day

• Paste-up techniques predate the hot and cold type techniques used for journal publishing.
• This was the most prominent technique in the 19th century, later enhanced by desktop technology.
• A few artists still use this technique. The street art of Madrid, Spain is best example. An artist named Jimbo de la Ghetto uses a pasting process to paint street walls.
• There are different areas where gluing techniques are used to create street art etc.
• Waxing became the most popular adhesive because of pasting artisans. There were some other binders used but then the wax came out very strongly.

How to celebrate National Paste-Up Day

In National Paste-Up Day, we remember our journalist heroes, the label artists who were the reason for the publication of such great magazines and journals. Moreover, there are many different ways to celebrate National Paste-Up Day.

• It is customary to honor artists who have made exemplary contributions on this day during the time when the teaching profession still existed.
• You can create stickers and mini-journals to record the day.
• Children are taught about artists and encouraged to make a few copy-pastes for the topics they want.
• You can paste some cutouts of the letters and design the front page or cover page. And for the following pages, you can design some simple pages and add script copies.
• You can browse through some old newspapers and understand how the artists worked and achieved the results.

This is the best opportunity to unleash your creativity and create some beautiful magazines using the artist's pasting technique. You can click on some of the images and post them on your various social media accounts under the hashtags #NationalPasteupDay and #pasteupday. This will encourage more people to join and create awareness of the day and you will enjoy doing this too.