A font disc for the Harris-Intertype Fototronic. As the disc spun at 3600 rpm, a strobe light would flash at the correct moment to expose the desired character onto photopaper or film. The Fototronic 400 was introduced in 1964 and the Fototronic 1200 in 1968. The Fototronic 1200 could hold five discs at one time on a turret that allowed the operator to switch between fonts without removing and reloading discs (Johnson 2019). Font sizes from 5 to 72 pts. were provided by a zoom lens.

Photon Inc. and Harris-Intertype engaged in protracted patent litigation, ultimately decided in Photon's favor, concerning the storage of characters on a rotating disc and the use of a strobe to expose them (Romano 2014, 170).

Intertype Corporation had been around since 1911 rebuilding Linotype machines and manufacturing their own version of the Linotype, the Intertype. They merged with Harris-Seybold in 1957 to become Harris-Intertype. Before the Fototronic, they had produced the first commercial phototypesetting machine, which was based closely on their line-casting machine, with the matrices holding character images.