unlead

To unlead is to disassemble a locked-up forme of letterpress type by removing the strips of lead, brass, and copper that were inserted between lines of type during composition. These thin metal spacers, called leads (pronounced 'ledz'), held the lines apart at precise distances and prevented the metal type itself from touching. Removing them was essential work in a print shop, done after a job had been printed and the type needed to be distributed back into the type cases for reuse.

Leads came in standard thicknesses, typically 1 point, 2 point, or 3 point, and were made of a soft lead alloy that was easy to bend and remove without damaging the type above and below. A printer or compositor would use a small tool, often a flathead screwdriver or purpose-made lead puller, to pry the leads out from between the lines. This was fiddly, repetitive work that required care: type is expensive, and careless handling would bend sorts or break off serifs, rendering them unusable.

The distinction from distribution

Unleading was distinct from, but often part of, the broader process called distribution, which involved sorting all the loose type and metal furniture from a forme, cleaning them, and returning each character to its correct slot in the type case. A large commercial print shop might employ dedicated hands to do nothing but unlead and distribute type all day. In smaller operations, compositors did it themselves between jobs.

The term survives in printing terminology even though hand letterpress has become rare. Digital and photographic typesetting eliminated the need for metal type altogether, and with it the physical labour of unleading. The word appears occasionally in historical printing manuals and in the conversation of letterpress enthusiasts and restoration specialists who still work with metal type foundries and hand presses.