Digitizing the Past

Carl Shank • February 2, 2023

I subscribe to what is called Internet Archive (archive.org). The Internet Archive, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, is building a digital library of Internet sites and other cultural artifacts in digital form. Like a paper library, they provide free access to researchers, historians, scholars, people with print disabilities, and the general public. Their mission is to provide Universal Access to All Knowledge. They boast a growing library of  735 billion webpages, 41 million books and texts, 14.7 million audio recordings, 8.4 million videos, 4.4. million images and 890,000 software programs. It is an amazing resource for older, out-of-date, archival works and records.


Recently, they posted old turn-of-the-century calendars as we enter 2023 ourselves. I took two of the public domain calendars, one published in 1893 and the other in 1901, and sought to digitize them, not just take a picture of it and post it, like the Archive does, but rather recreate them using modern digital means. I am no expert at this, but I did the best to retain the overall sense of the artwork and texting. I used a combination of Adobe InDesign, Adobe Photoshop, and Tobias Saul's Kittl (kittl.com) for the work. The faded  patterns remain and the work took several days of playing around with settings and cut-and-paste and tweaking the color schemes and so forth. The results are below.


Enjoy the remade 1893 and 1901 calendar covers!


ORIGINAL 1901 CALENDAR COVER

Calendar for the year 1901 (Toronto art league)

by Toronto art league

Publication date: 189?

Publisher: Toronto Art Students League, Musson Book Co

Collection: Queens University Toronto

Digitizing sponsor: Ontario Council of University Libraries & Member Libraries

With verses by some of the Canadian writers of verse, and drawings by members of the Toronto art students' league

This is the redone digitized cover. While not exactly the same as the 1901 edition, I tried to stay true to the overall colors and fanciful artwork.


The lettering was especially challenging. I used Garamond Premier Pro, Bold Caption for the text. I used the "create outline" function of InDesign on the text to then enhance the capital "E" lower serif to match the original drawing text.


The background art work was done in the very excellent graphics program provided by Kittl and tweaked in InDesign. The background color was matched to the original, with clouds added and then sun with rays that had to be drawn individually and rotated in place. It is certainly clearer than in the original and I could have tweaked it more to make it fade more into the background.

This is the newly redone 1901 Calendar front. The vines and flowers were copied and newly colored in Photoshop. The rest of the artwork was done in Kittl with the import of the revised Adobe Garamond Bold from Fontographer for the elongated "R" and "E."


Note the clarity and sharpness of the newly minted image.

Ninety-three: a calendar for the year of our Lord MDCCCXCIlI; with verses by some of the Canadian writers of verse and drawings by members of the Toronto Art Students' League

By: Toronto Art Students' League

Published: 1893

Collections: Dorothy H. Hoover Library - Ontario College of Art & Design

The publication contains the latin moto: "Non clamor sed amor" which translates as "Not clamour, but love" which is a line by Tommaso da Celano (13th century)

Courtesy: Internet Archive

This is the digitized 1893 Calendar. I used Photoshop to capture the interior artwork and coloring, and Kittl to print out the distorted "ninety-three" and add the Victorian flourishes. Text is Bellefair Regular. Note the flourishes are not exactly like the original.

Successful Layout & Design

A Cross Inspired Typeface

By Carl Shank • July 24, 2025
A Cross Inspired Typeface. CARE Typography has been able to craft a typeface of Christian crosses from the history of the Christian Church throughout the world. We named it CrossesTwo to simply distinguish it from other writings. It is a FREE font, available to all who ask. Christian crosses are used widely in churches, on top of church buildings, on bibles, in heraldry, in personal jewelry, on hilltops, and elsewhere as an attestation or other symbol of Christianity. Crosses are a prominent feature of Christian cemeteries , either carved on gravestones or as sculpted stelae . Because of this, planting small crosses is sometimes used in countries of Christian culture to mark the site of fatal accidents. Not far from where we are, there is a huge Christian cross built by a Virginia church marking not merely the site of the church building, but announcing the central message of the Bible there. Christian crosses are powerful symbols that convey theological meaning, cultural identity, and historical legacy. Over centuries, many distinct styles of the cross have developed across Christian traditions, regions, and periods. Some of the most prominent crosses are the traditional Latin Cross (Letter "L" in CrossesTwo typeface), where the vertical beam extends beyond the horizontal cross bar, the Greek Cross , a cross with four arms of equal length (Letter "V" in the typeface), the Orthodox (Eastern) Cross (Letter small "o" in typeface), with three horizontal bars — the top for the inscription (INRI), the middle for the hands, and the slanted bottom bar for the footrest, the Celtic Cross (Letter "1" in the typeface), which is a Latin cross with a circular ring connecting the arms. The traditional Latin cross symbolizes the crucifixion of Jesus, with the empty cross signaling that He rose again from the dead, and is used in Western Christianity, Roman Catholic, Protestant, and many global Christian contexts. The Greek Cross is common in early Christian art and Byzantine Christianity and used in Eastern Orthodox, Byzantine, and early Christian monuments and mosaics. In the Orthodox Eastern Cross the slanted bar represents the two thieves crucified beside Christ — one rose to heaven, the other descended. It is used in Russian, Greek, Serbian, and other Eastern Orthodox Churches. The Celtic Cross had its origins in early medieval Ireland and Britain, associated with Celtic Christianity. It has been used in Irish Christianity, Anglican, some Protestant denominations, and decorative gravestones. The Coptic Cross (Letter "5" in the typeface and note Letter "e" where the Ethiopian Cross is a close match to the new Coptic Cross) is a a variation with intricate, symmetrical designs — sometimes with equal arms or surrounded by circles. It is used by Christians in Ethiopia and Eritrea. The Jerusalem Cross (Letter "j" in the typeface) has a large central cross surrounded by four smaller Greek crosses, used by the Crusades in the eleventh century, is the Heraldic symbol of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem and used by Franciscans and in modern Jerusalem-related contexts. The Russian Orthodox Cross (Letter "o" in the typeface) Features three horizontal bars — top (INRI), middle (hands), and slanted bottom (feet). The Tau Cross (Letters "T" and "t" in the typeface) is shaped like the Greek letter tau and has been adopted by St. Anthony and Franciscans to symbolize Old Testament sacrifices and God's protection (Ezekiel 9:4). St. Andrew's Cross (Saltire) (Letter "s" in the typeface) is an X-shaped cross from the tradition that Andrew the Apostle was crucified on a diagonal cross. It is the symbol of Scotland and the Eastern Orthodox Church. The Papal Cross (Letter "P" in the typeface) is a vertical staff with three horizontal bars, decreasing in length, representing the pope’s triple office: bishop of Rome, patriarch of the West, and successor of Peter. The Cross of Lorraine (Letter "l" in the typeface) is a vertical bar crossed by two horizontal bars — the lower one longer, has been used in Western Europe during the Crusades and was a symbol of French resistance in World War 2. The Patriarchal Cross (Letter "p" in the typeface) is similar to the Cross of Lorraine, but primarily associated with ecclesiastical hierarchy, and used by archbishops and patriarchs in Eastern and Western churches. Each cross reflects regional theological emphases, cultural aesthetics, and historical developments. While the Latin Cross remains the universal Christian emblem, the variety in form reveals Christianity's global and historical richness. Note the CrossesTwo typeface below with the description of these and many other crosses. (Credit for the opening image is given to Matteo Corti - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Muiredach_s_Cross.jpg, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1393567)

Slab Serif Font History

By Carl Shank • July 21, 2025
Slab Serifs. Born in Great Britain in the Industrial Revolution of the 1800s, slab fonts, or slab serif fonts, provided a beefy and starkly bold contrast to text fonts that were popular. Found on just about every billboard, poster, pamphlet and advertising vehicle of the day, slabs were designed to stand out from the crowd, a type that shouted, "look at me!" Slab serifs, also called Egyptian, antique, mechanistic or square serif, are characterized by usually thick, block like serifs. Slab serifs possess thick serifs, which are squared-off or slightly rounded, and almost the same weight as the main strokes. From a typographical standpoint, they have low contrast, with minimal difference between thick and thin strokes. Slab serifs can have a geometric or humanist structure, and can range from mechanical-looking to more organic. They are sturdy and legible, designed for impact and readability even at large sizes. Early examples were Antique and Clarendon.
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