Abstract: The phototypesetting machine of this invention includes a character carrier bearing a group of characters arranged for projection by a projection unit. The character carrier is driven at a constant speed so that the characters move consecutively past the projection unit. Position marks and width marks are placed on the character carrier to control the projection of the characters and to provide the width information necessary to set the characters. The character carrier as segmented into replaceable sections, each section bearing at least one distinct alphabet or character group with the width information therefor.