Bindery term, two or more parallel folds which open like an accordion.
Against the grain
At right angles to direction of paper grain.
Artboard
Alternate term for mechanical art.
Back up
Printing the second side of a sheet already printed on one side.
Banding
Method of packaging printed pieces of paper using rubber or paper bands.
Bind
To fasten sheets or signatures with wire, thread, glue. or by other means.
Bindery
The finishing department of a print shop or firm specializing in finishing printed products.
Blanket
The thick rubber mat on a printing press that transfers ink from the plate to paper.
Bleeds
Bleed is the term for printing that goes right to the edge of the paper. The way to do this is to make your document .25" too big in both dimensions. For instance, if the final size is 8.5" x 11" then make your document 8.75" x11.25". Draw guides on the layout that are .125" from the edge all the way around. Now create your design with the idea that the layout will be cut off where those guides are....because that is precisely what is going to happen. Make sure that any photographs or backgrounds that you want to bleed go clear out to the perimeter of the document, past the guidelines. Then after we have printed your piece we will trim off that extra .125" all the way around and voila! You have color all the way to the edges of your piece. It looks professional....
Brightness
The brilliance or reflectance of paper.
Caliper
Paper thickness in thousandths of an inch.
Chrome
A term for a transparency.
Collate
A finishing term for gathering paper in a precise order.
Color correction
Methods of improving color separations.
Color matching system
A system of formulated ink colors used for communicating color.
Color separations
The process of preparing artwork, photographs, transparencies, or computer generated art for printing by separating into the four primary printing colors.
Comp Card/Zed Card
The Composite Photo Card (Comp Card or Zed Card) helps to get you noticed and considered for projects. A comp card provides a small collection of pictures and basic stats on card stock or rigid paper. It is a standard marketing tool that has been around for many years and is still very essential to have today. A comp card is a relatively inexpensive and versatile sales tool.
Contrast
The tonal change in color from light to dark.
Copy
All furnished material or disc used in the production of a printed product.
Cover paper
A heavy printing paper used to cover books, make presentation folders, etc.
Cromalin
Trade name for DuPont color proofs.
Crop
To cut off parts of a picture or image.
Crop marks
Printed lines showing where to trim a printed sheet.
Cyan
One of four standard process colors. The blue color.
Densitometer
A quality control devise to measure the density of printing ink.
Density
The degree of color or darkness of an image or photograph.
Die
Metal rule or imaged block used to cut or place an image on paper in the finishing process.
Die cutting
Curing images in or out of paper.
Dot
An element of halftones. Using a loupe you will see that printed pictures are made many dots.
Dot gain or spread
A term used to explain the difference in size between the dot on film v paper.
Drop-out
Portions of artwork that do not print.
Dummy
A rough layout of a printed piece showing position and finished size.
Duotone
A halftone picture made up of two printed colors.
Emulsion
Light sensitive coating found on printing plates and film.
Film rip
See Rip film.
Flat
An assembly of negatives taped to masking materials for platemaking.
Flood
To cover a printed page with ink, varnish, or plastic coating.
Flop
The reverse side of an image.
4-color-process
The process of combining four basic colors to create a printed color picture or colors composed from the basic four colors.
Gang
Getting the most out of a printing press by using the maximum sheet size to print multiple images or jobs on the same sheet. A way to save money.
Generation
Stages of reproduction from original copy. A first generation reproduction yields the best quality.
Gloss
A shiny look reflecting light.
Grain
The direction in which the paper fiber lie.
Grippers
The metal fingers on a printing press that hold the paper as it passes through the press.
Halftone
Converting a continuous tone to dots for printing.
Hard copy
The output of a computer printer, or typed text sent for typesetting.
Highlight
The lightest areas in a picture or halftone.
Image area
Portion of paper on which ink can appear.
Imposition
Positioning printed pages so they will fold in the proper order.
Impression
Putting an image on paper.
Indicia
Postal information place on a printed product.
Knock out
To mask out an image.
Laminate
To cover with film, to bond or glue one surface to another.
Lines per inch
The number of rows of dots per inch in a halftone.
Lossy/Lossless Format
Photographic images can be saved in different file formats. The format of choice is one that does not lose color quality, contrast or file size. TIF or EPS files are examples of lossless file formats. They are designed to print clear and crisp at a resolution of 300dpi at their final size in the layout. JPEG/JPG or GIF files are examples of lossy file formats. They were originally designed for easy file transmission and internet use, not for printing.
When a lossy file format is saved over and over again, the jagged edges are exaggerated. The process creates extra pixel garbage that you do not want printed. Therefore, if you start with a JPEG file that then needs edits, save it as an EPS or TIF file. This way, additional information will not get lost and the quality of the original JPEG image will be maintained.
Magenta
Process red, one of the basic colors in process color.
Makeready
All the activities required to prepare a press for printing.
Mask
Blocking light from reaching parts of a printing plate.
Matte finish
Dull paper or ink finish.
Micrometer
Instrument used to measure the thickness of different papers.
Negative
The image on film that makes the white areas of originals black and black areas white.
Opacity
The amount of show-through on a printed sheet. The more opacity or the thicker the paper the less show-through. (The thicker/heavier the paper the higher the cost.)
Overrun or overs
Copies printed in excess of the specified quantity. (Printing trade terms allow for + - 10 % to represent a completed order.)
Page count
Total number of pages in a book including blanks.
Perfect bind
A type of binding that glues the edge of sheets to a cover like a telephone book, Microsoft software manual, or Country Living Magazine.
Pica
Unit of measure in typesetting. One pica = 1/6 inch.
Picking
Printers nightmare that occurs as the surface of a sheet lifts off during printing. Generally a paper manufactures quality control problem.
PMS
The abbreviated name of the Pantone Color Matching System.
Point
For paper, a unit of thickness equaling 1/1000 inch. for typesetting, a unit of height equaling 1/72 inch.
PostScript
The computer language most recognized by printing devices.
Type that is justified to the right margin and the line lengths vary on the left.
Ragged right
Type that is justified to the left margin and the line lengths vary on the right.
Ream
Five hundred sheets of paper.
Register
To position print in the proper position in relation to the edge of the sheet and to other printing on the same sheet.
Reverse
The opposite of what you see. Printing the background of an image. For example; type your name on a piece of paper. The reverse of this would be a black piece of paper with a white name.
Saddle stitch
Binding a booklet or magazine with staples in the seam where it folds.
Score
A crease put on paper to help it fold better.
Self-cover
Using the same paper as the text for the cover.
Side stitch
Binding by stapling along one side of a sheet.
Skid
A pallet used for a pile of cut sheets.
Specifications
A precise description of a print order.
Spine
The binding edge of a book or publication.
Spot varnish
Varnish used to hilight a specific part of the printed sheet.
Step-and-repeat
A procedure for placing the same image on plates in multiple places.
Stock
The material to be printed.
Substrate
Any surface on which printing is done.
Text paper
Grades of uncoated paper with textured surfaces.
Tints
A shade of a single color or combined colors.
Transparency
A positive photographic slide on film allowing light to pass through.
Transparent ink
A printing ink that does not conceal the color under it.
Trapping
The ability to print one ink over the other.
Trim marks
Similar to crop or register marks. These marks show where to trim the printed sheet.
Trim size
The final size of one printed image after the last trim is made.
Under-run
Production of fewer copies than ordered. See over run.
Up
Printing two or three up means printing multiple copies of the same image on the same sheet.
Upsampling
Upsampling is when a low resolution image is saved to a higher resolution with no changes in dimensions. This process adds more pixels squares in an inch (dpi), but creates blurry images, ugly blocks of color, and high contrast in images. Upsampling will not produce clear and crisp printing results on a printing press
UV coating
Liquid laminate bonded and cured with ultraviolet light. Environmentally friendly.
Varnish
A clear liquid applied to printed surfaces for looks and protection. (UV coating looks better.)
Web Images
Jpeg and Gif files are Internet images, saved with a compression process designed to remove color and visual quality to achieve small file sizes. Internet images are usually saved at a resolution of 72 dpi for quick screen loads and will not print clear and crisp on a printing press.
With the grain
Folding or feeding paper into the press or folder parallel to the grain of the paper.
Work and tumble
Printing one side of a sheet and turning it over from the gripper to the tail to print the second side using the same side guide and plate for the second side.
Work and turn
Printing one side of a sheet and turning it over from left to right ussing the same side guides and plate for the second side.
