Although no reader of this issue of TIME will notice anything unusual about the design of the Medicine section, it is, in fact, quite special. Its look is the product of a revolutionary electronic editorial tool that computerizes the makeup of a magazine page, replacing the X-acto knife and paste pot used by almost all magazine art and layout departments.

The new system, called the Vista, was developed by Scitex Corp. Ltd. of Herzlia, Israel, at the behest of TIME Operations Director Gerard Lelievre, and is the only such machine in the world. "We were seeking a kind of missing link between our computerized systems for processing copy and for preparing and transmitting completed pages," explains Lelievre. "Without electronic technology, the Art Department could have been left behind."

Working with TIME, Scitex evolved a complex machine that has two adjoining video screens. One of the monitors displays, in symbolic form, the story, headlines, art and pictures that the designer wants to place on a page. He can then move the elements around, altering their sizes and positions. The other monitor shows, in color, what the completed page will look like. "With the Vista," says Lelievre, "we can save a great deal of time by putting electronic technology to work much earlier in the production process."

The Vista arrived at TIME last fall and became the pride of a development team consisting of Systems Manager Steve Demeter and Technical Supervisor Suzi Romanik. They began fine-tuning the machine and figuring out which unique software they would need from Scitex. Says Demeter: "Since this is the first machine of its kind, we didn't know what we were getting until we actually started producing pages on it. As we increase the number and types of pages produced, we have to keep coming up with solutions to new problems."

This week, in addition to the six columns of Medicine, the Design and Sexes sections and part of the World section were created on Vista. Assistant Art Director Anthony J. Libardi and Deputy Layout Chief John F. Geist, who were among the first to train on the machine, are both enthusiastic converts. "It gives you the freedom to revise and adapt quickly," says Libardi. "It can turn the work of hours into as little as 20 minutes." Adds Geist: "It's also great fun to work on." Sums up Lelievre: "All in all, it's an appropriate innovation for the magazine that named the computer Machine of the Year." This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.