the reader's imagination, he has
accomplished what he set out to do and has proved himself worth his
hire.

So the aims of illustration are set forth, but whether the laborer
completes his work well or ill, whether he brings great ability or
only honest intention to its accomplishment, he is engaged in a
business as fascinating as it is uncertain. Failure only drives him to
another try, and success is always just around the corner. The
illustrator who would live by his work must live with it. If he has a
thought in his mind that does not deal in some form with illustrations
and half-tone plates, he is wasting that thought and his time besides.

HALF-TONE, LINE, AND COLOR PLATES

By Emlyn M. Gill.

Practically all book illustrations, as well as those in catalogues and
periodicals of all kinds, are made by some method of photo-engraving.
Wood engraving is almost a thing of the past, and many who are in a
position to know predict that after the present generation of wood
engravers has passed out of existence, artistic wood engraving will be
a lost art. It is certain that there is now no younger school of wood
engravers growing up to take the place of the engravers whose work in
the leading magazines, up to a few years ago, made them famous.

The quickly made and comparatively inexpensive process plates have not
only taken the place of wood engraving, but have increased the field
of illustration to a very large extent. They have made possible
hundreds and even thousands of publications which could not have
existed in the old days of expensive wood engraving. The use of
photo-engraved plates has increased enormously each year during the
past twenty years, and with this increased use has come the inevitable
decrease in cost, so that illustrations are no longer much of a
luxury to the publisher.

Photography is the basis of all the mechanical processes that come
under the general head of photo-engraving. These processes are
generally called mechanical, yet, as in photography, great skill is
required to produce the best results. The higher grades of half-tone
work require much careful finishing, which is all done by hand, and
which, moreover, must be done by a skilful, intelligent, and artistic
engraver. Practically all things may be reproduced successfully by
photo-engraving, but the vast majority of subjects that go to the
photo-engraver are either photographs or drawings.

All methods of relief plate photo-