The first phototypesetters quickly project light through a film negative image of an individual character in a font, then through a lens that magnifies or reduces the size of the character onto photographic paper, which is collected on a spool in a light-proof canister. The photographic paper or film is then fed into a processor—a machine that pulls the paper or film strip through two or three baths of chemicals—where it emerges ready for paste-up or film make-up. Later phototypesetting machines used alternative methods, such as displaying a digitised character on a CRT screen.