Typesetter

Person who carries out the typesetting of the book, often a freelancer.

Typesetters have their origins as craftsmen working alongside the printer but the rise of desktop publishing has democratized this work and thus eroded the typesetter’s status. This is rather unfair as a superb layout still requires the skills of an experienced professional.

A typesetter needs to have flair and an artistic eye (hence why the jobs of typesetter and **book designer** are often combined). But the work also demands meticulous attention to detail and application of uniform standards.

This definition is extracted (and expanded on) from the book Getting Published: A Companion for the Humanities and Social Sciences by Gerald Jackson and Marie Lenstrup. It was first referred to in the blog Getting Published in a post on calculating book length.