In the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...
, off stone is the moment at which an edition of a newspaper is finalised for printing and no further changes can be made. "Off stone" comes a short time after the final
deadline
Deadline(s) or The Deadline(s) may refer to:
* Time limit, a narrow field of time by which an objective must be accomplished
Arts, entertainment, and media Comics
* Deadline (DC Comics), a fictional villain
* ''Deadline'' (magazine), a British ...
for submission of images or articles for editing. The term comes from the early days of printing when an imposing stone, a slab of stone or metal on which the type was set into a layout (or ''
forme
Forme may refer to the following:
* Forme (printing), a chase with type locked up ready for printing
* Forme, Škofja Loka, a settlement in Slovenia
* Forme Tour, a professional golf tour
See also
* FORM (disambiguation)
* Form (disambiguation)
...
''), was used to align the text.
Here is an example usage from the
MediaGuardian on 29 January 2007:
Veronica Wadley (editor of the ''Evening Standard
The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format.
In October 2009, after be ...
''): "We have more stories, we have greater depth, we have comment, we have more information, and we have a later edition. Our West End final is off stone about 4pm, while the free papers are off stone at about midday."
References
{{reflist
Printing