United States Government Printing Office

“ Nothing should be left for conjecture. Measurable perfection can be secured by first transcribing copy on the typewriter, and before releasing it for publication giving it as careful revision as is afterwards given proof sheets. In the end this will not only save time, but Department printing funds frequently exhausted in making author’s corrections in proof will be available for other work. Typewritten copy is always preferable, when not on paper too thin, but plain copy is absolutely essential to good work. ”

“ There is a growing tendency to provide for the publication of masses of documents for which there is no public demand and for the printing of which there is no real necessity. Large numbers of volumes are turned out by the Government printing presses for which there is no justification. Nothing should be printed by any of the Departments unless it contains something of permanent value, and the Congress could with advantage cut down very materially on all the printing which it has now become customary to provide. ”

“ Legislative, judicial, and executive agencies of the Federal Government may obtain additional copies of the Manual, at cost, for official use, by submission, before the press run, of a printing and binding requisition to the Government Printing Office on Standard Form 1. (c) After the press run, each request for extra copies of the Manual must be addressed to the Superintendent of Documents, to be paid for by the agency making the request. ”

“ For the successful maintenance of a high standard of workmanship and for the correctness of the work done in the office, not a little depends upon the care, judgment, skill, and intelligence of the compositors. Indifferent, careless men are not in demand in an office where important publications are constantly being prepared for press, and where the slightest neglect on the part of those handling the work may cause serious delay and confusion in some other division of the office. ”

“ The use of computers has dramatically altered every phase of the printing industry beginning with the basic planning of each new job. New publications are evaluated by application specialists who review their requirements and design the necessary formats. Each format is made to conform exactly to the copy's specifications for page dimensions, line length, indentions, typefaces, etc. ”

“ In the event that a title page is not used, the imprint is printed on the last page and positioned flush left below the text.
For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office
• Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free 866-512-1800
• DC area 202-512-1800 -Fax: 202-512-2250
• Mail: Stop SSOP, Washington, DC 20402-0001
• www.gpoaccess.gov
2.125.
Outside-purchase publications are identified by an open star at the beginning of the imprint line. These lines are positioned 4 ems from the right margin.
☆ U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 2008—456–89⁠
2.126. ”

“ Information The rules of grammar, spelling, punctuation, and related matters, as stated in this Manual, will serve well when preparing documents for electronic dissemination. Most of the documents currently available via GPO Access are derived from databases used in the printing of Government publications. However, as electronic dissemination of Government information continues to grow, the rules as stated in this Manual will continue to be the GPO's standard for all document preparation, electronic or otherwise. ”

“ GPO recognizes that a Federal author today often begins the content creation process at a personal computer, and frequently publishes the final document on the Web, without creating a print version that will make its way to a user's hands or a library's shelves. Many Government publications are now born digital and published to the Web, with few if any copies printed for traditional public access via bookstores or libraries. ”

“ In sending bills to press there are points to be watched which do not appear in other work. The open character of the pages makes the form peculiarly liable to accident, and each page must be closely scanned for faults. A press reviser must be fully conversant with all the details and peculiarities of bill work and be ready to correct or take counsel upon any seeming error of style or apparent fault. ”

“ Government Paper Specifications The purpose of these standards is to achieve compliance with relevant statutes regarding printing papers; address environmental, workplace safety, and paper longevity issues; and achieve maximum savings in the Government's paper purchases. 2008.
GPO Paper Samples This publication is a supplement to Government Paper Specification Standards. It includes samples of papers used by GPO. Used as a planning aid and guide in selecting an adequate grade, weight, and color of paper for a job of printing. 2008. ”

“ All signatures are designated by consecutive numbers—2, 3, 4, etc.—from the first to the last. The distinguishing feature is usually the jacket number, preceding the signature number and connected with it by a 2-em dash. For some works contractions of the title are used, especially in annual or other periodical reports, forms for which can be had upon reference to the last one issued. House and Senate documents take the following signature forms:
Signatures are usually worked in sixteens, but with large pages the form of eights is the standard when printed from type. ”

“ Indicate on copy if separate or self-cover. When reverse printing in whole or in part is required, indicate if solid or tone.
1.14.
Avoid use of oversize fold-ins wherever possible. This can be done by splitting a would-be fold-in and arranging the material to appear as facing pages in the text. Where fold-ins are numerous and cannot be split, consideration should be given to folding and inserting these
into an envelope pasted to the inside back cover.
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Every effort should be made to keep complete jobs of over 4 pages to signatures (folded units) of 8, 12, 16, 24, or 32 pages. ”

“ Details of capitalization and punctuation may be safely left to the printers and proof readers. It is part of their profession; they make a study of the subject, and will generally meet the author’s taste.
6. Write only on one side of the paper. When printed matter covering more than one side of a sheet is used as copy, a DUPLICATE should be furnished; otherwise much trouble is caused in cutting.
7. When, as an afterthought, new matter making more than a line is inserted, it should be written on a separate sheet and the place for its insertion clearly indicated. ”

“ Matter printed in compliance with the Ramseyer rule. [1] 4. All leaderwork and lists of more than six items to be set in 8-point type.
5. All tabular work to be set in 7-point gothic type.
6. An amendment in the nature of a substitute to be set in 8-point type, but quotations from such amendment later in the report to be treated as excerpts, but set full measure (see paragraph 10 below) .
7. Any committee print having a report head indicated on original copy to be set in report type and style. ”

“ The Public Printer shall sell, under regulations of the Joint Committee on Printing to persons who may apply, additional or duplicate stereotype or electrotype plates from which a Government publication is printed, at a price not to exceed the cost of composition, the metal, and making to the Government, plus 10 per centum, and the full amount of the price shall be paid when the order is filed. ”

“ Sen. rep. no. 18; 52d Cong., 1st sess.
—— Report from the committee on printing to accompany bill (S. 1549) providing for the public printing and binding and the distribution of public documents. April 15, 1892. 21pp.
H.R. rep. no. 1092: 52d Cong., 1st sess.
PUBLIC PRINTER. Annual report for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1891. Washington, 1891. 103pp. .50
Sen. mis. doc. no. 30; 52d Cong., 1st sess.
—— Communication from the public printer, submitting estimates of deficiencies for public printing. February 19, 1892. 2pp.
H.R. ex. doc. no. 137 ”

“ When a bill is reprinted on account of some error or change, an asterisk is used at the foot of the first page. When more than one signature is reprinted, the asterisk follows the signature number.
20. Committee bills are always confidential. If of more than eight pages the distinguishing signature must be invented and placed on the first as well as succeeding forms. There are usually several prints of committee bills, each of which must be distinguished by serial additions to the signature, as A, B, C, etc. ”

“ Where a table with footnotes falls at the bottom of a page containing footnotes to text, print the table footnotes above the text footnotes, separated by a rule 50 points long, flush left, with spacing on each side of the rule. (See also rule 13.77.)
Press revising
2.99.
Press revising calls for the exercise of utmost care. The press reviser must be thoroughly familiar with the style and makeup of Government publications. He or she is required to OK all forms that go to press—bookwork, covers, jobwork, etc.—and must see that all queries are answered. ”

“ The Director may require papers filed in the Patent and Trademark Office to be printed, typewritten, or on an electronic medium.
Source (July 19, 1952, ch. 950, 66 Stat. 795; Pub. L. 93-596, Sec. 1, Jan. 2, 1975, 88 Stat. 1949; Pub. L. 106-113, div. B, Sec. 1000 (a) (9) [title IV, Secs. 4732 (a) (10) (A) , 4804 (a) ] , Nov. ”

“ Art. 4th. The Governments signing this Convention, whenever they shall receive the publications sent them by others, shall insert, in due time, a list of the same in the respective official journals, so that the public may be able to consult them in the office or library in which they are placed for inspection, stating at the same time the place and the printing office from which each work was issued, for the information of those that may desire to acquire said work. ”

“ We have also the Washington and Smith hand-presses, which are generally used for country newspaper printing, and which have obtained so much celebrity, and are in such exclusive and constant use in almost every printing office in the United States and other countries, during the last twenty years, as to render any remarks upon their superiority unnecessary. They are elegant in appearance, simple, quick and powerful in operation, and combine every facility for the production of superior printing. Each press is tried in the manufactory and warranted for one year. ”

“ And be it further enacted, That the Congressional
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Printer shall charge himself in a book, to be kept for
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that purpose, with all paper and other articles or material
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received for the public use, and he shall furnish the same to
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the foremen of printing and binding, and to the officers of
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the executive and judicial departments, and of the Senate and
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House of Representatives authorized to receive them, on
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their written requisitions as the public service may require
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them, taking a receipt from each officer for such article, which
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shall be entered to his credit ”

“ A printed or processed document may be accepted for filing for public inspection and publication if it is on bond or similar quality paper, legible, and free of adhesive or correction tape.2 2 Agencies with computer processed data are urged to consult with the Office of the Federal Register staff about possible use of the data in the publication process. ”

“ Petersburgh, this mode of Printing has been adopted in the Government Offices. All Resolutions, Edicts, Orders, &c., agreed to at the Cabinet meetings, are written down on paper, by the Secretary, with Chemical Ink, and in the space of an hour, an ample supply of copies is obtained. For Circulars, and in general, all such orders of Government as must be rapidly distributed, an invention like this is of the utmost consequence, and it is probable that eventually it will be universally employed. ”

“ And no part of this appropriation shall be applied to any printing other than of such documents or papers as are connected with the ordinary proceedings of either of the said Houses, ordered during its session, and executed by the public printer, agreeably to his contracts, excepting such as may have been ordered by the joint committee for preparing a digest of the laws of the District of Columbia, or such printing and books as have heretofore been ordered by the House. ”

“ Each publication has been compiled by a competent author or group of authors, and carefully edited, the purpose being to provide the printers of the United States—employers, journeymen, and apprentices—with a comprehensive series of handy and inexpensive compendiums of reliable, up-to-date information upon the various branches and specialties of the printing craft, all arranged in orderly fashion for progressive study. ”

“ There is more involved here than realigning the wheels and smoothing the gears of administrative machinery. The Congress rightfully-expects the Executive to take the initiative in discovering and removing outmoded functions and eliminating duplication.
One agency, for example, whose head has promised early and vigorous action to provide greater efficiency is the Post Office. One of the oldest institutions of our Federal Government, its service should be of the best. Its employees should merit and receive the high regard and esteem of the citizens of the Nation. ”

“ Certifying officers of the Library of Congress; accountability; relief by Comptroller General On and after June 13, 1957, each officer and employee of the Library of Congress, including the Copyright Office, who has been duly authorized in writing by the Librarian of Congress to certify vouchers for payment from appropriations and funds, shall
(1) be held responsible for the existence and correctness of the facts recited in the certificate or otherwise stated on the voucher or its supporting papers and for the legality of the proposed payment under the appropriation or fund involved ”