Mergenthaler Linotype Company

The Mergenthaler Linotype Company was a company founded in the United States in 1886 to market the Linotype machine (/ˈlaɪnəˌtaɪp, -noʊ-/), a system to cast metal type in lines (linecaster) invented by Ottmar Mergenthaler. It became the world's leading manufacturer of newspaper and book typesetting equipment. Its main competitor was the American Intertype Corporation and the British-American Monotype Corporation.

Starting in the late 1950s, the Mergenthaler Linotype Company became a major supplier of phototypesetting equipment which included laser typesetters, raster image processors, scanners, and typesetting computers.

In 1987, the US-based Mergenthaler Linotype Company became part of the German Linotype-Hell AG; in the US the company name changed to Linotype Co. In 1996, the German Linotype-Hell AG was taken over by the German printing machine company Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG. A separate business, Linotype Library GmbH was established to manage the digital assets (mainly fonts).

In 2005, Linotype Library GmbH shortened its name to Linotype GmbH, and in 2006, Linotype GmbH was acquired by Monotype Imaging Holdings, Inc., the parent of Monotype Imaging, Inc. and others. In 2013, Linotype GmbH officially ends when it is renamed Monotype GmbH. In August 2023, Monotype announced that it was discontinuing Linotype.com, effectively closing the business.