Card

When several bodies of letter are set in a page, compositors to justify that page to an exact length, put a card to some white line, or other break, and lengthen out the page the thickness of a card. Pressmen also use a card for an underlay. — M.

Cards are rarely used now for these purposes; in making up pages, leads and scaleboards are used, and, where great nicety is required, a careful compositor will cut slips of smooth even paper and use them where a lead or a scaleboard would be too much. At press, underlays are not used for types; and where an engraving on wood is much too low, the pressman will underlay it with thick wrapper paper. In fact, cards are an article that neither composing rooms nor press rooms are supplied with.