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 It is an amazing resource for older, out-of-date, archival works and records.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

Small Caps

By Carl Shank • August 4, 2026
small capitals (often called small caps) are specially designed uppercase letterforms that have the proportions and stroke weight of lowercase letters while retaining the shapes of capitals. They are not simply reduced full capitals; true small capitals are drawn specifically for the typeface. Small capitals originated during the Renaissance as printers sought a harmonious way to incorporate the dignity of Roman capitals into continuous lowercase text. Over five centuries, they became a hallmark of fine typography, especially in books, Bibles, scholarly editions, legal documents, and reference works. When properly designed as true small capitals rather than scaled-down capitals, they provide elegant emphasis, improve textual hierarchy, and contribute to the refined appearance that has characterized high-quality typography since the sixteenth century.

All About Romans

By Carl Shank • August 1, 2026
All About Romans. No, not the Roman Empire, or the Caesars, or Christ, but the typographic distinction between Old Style Roman and Modern Roman typography. Roman typefaces are among the most influential developments in the history of typography. Although all Roman types descend from the humanist writing of the Italian Renaissance, they evolved into distinct stylistic categories over several centuries. Two of the most important are Old Style (Old Face) and Modern (Didone) Roman typefaces. They differ not only in appearance but also in their historical origins, methods of production, readability, and aesthetic philosophy. Old Style and Modern Roman typefaces represent two major stages in the evolution of Western typography. Old Style typefaces preserve the humanist ideals of Renaissance calligraphy, emphasizing warmth, balance, and readability. Modern (Didone) typefaces embody the Enlightenment pursuit of precision and refinement, using strong contrast, vertical stress, and delicate serifs to create a dramatic, sophisticated appearance. Together, they established the foundation for later serif classifications—including Transitional, Slab Serif, and Contemporary designs—and continue to influence typography in publishing, branding, and digital media today.
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