Glossary of Terms

Printionary:  Printing industry specific glossary

A

Absorbency: The ability of a material to take up ink and coating solutions.

Accordion Fold:  A type of paper folding in which each fold runs in the opposite direction to the previous fold creating a pleated or accordion affect.  As known as a "fan-like" fold.

Aqueous Coating: A clear, nontoxic finish used to add brilliance and durability to many products. Aqueous coating is available in four forms: Gloss, Satin, Matte, and Pen&Pencil.  Pen&Pencil aqueous coating is made specifically to be written on by all inks and lead. Aqueous coating is not as durable or glossy as UV coating.

Artwork: Any images, fonts,

film, color separations, special dies, tapes, disks, or other

materials that are prepared for graphic reproduction.

Ascender: Any portion of a lower case letter which rises above the main body of the letter such as in "d", "b" and "h".

B

Binding: Securely gluing, stitching, or wiring folded sections together and or fastening them to a cover, to form single copies of a book.

  There are six type of binding: Perfect Binding, Saddle Stitching, Side Stitching, Hard Cover Binding, Comb Binding and Spiral Binding.

Bleed: The area of an image which extends past the trim area of a printed piece. Artwork requiring the image to extend to the edge of printed piece, requires the image to extend 1/8" past the trim line on all sides applicable. Blind Shipping: Drop shipments from the manufacturing plant directly to the end-user with Purchaser's information as the "shipper" on all shipment documentation. Border: The area between the edge of the image and the edge of the paper. Bundling: To sort into a specific manner, then band, wrap or shrinkwrap.  Postage Bundling: In order to receive postal discounts, your mail must be grouped according to postal zone, boxed in special containers according to postal standards. A bar-coded label attached tells the post offices equipment where the mail piece goes.

Bulk Rate: The process of preparing and sorting mail to qualify for reduced postage rates. The lowest postage rates are available if you sort and automate the addresses on your mailing list. Bulk-Rate postage is lower than First-class, but Bulk-Rate has a longer delivery time.

C

Camera-Ready Art: Hard copy originals or film supplied for a printing job that are prepared such that the printer can photograph or scan and print.

Coated: Papers that have clay slurry applied to their surface. These papers can range from extremely shiny to very dull. The chief benefit of these papers is that less ink is absorbed into the paper making for brighter colors and greater detail. Glossy papers are all coated papers.

Cast Coated: A paper coated by a process that creates a very glossy surface on the paper.

CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black): The standard color model used in the printing process. These are the colors referred to in "four color process printing".

Color Bar: A standard used to compare color accuracy and ink density of an image for output.

Color Correction: Adjusting an image to optimize overall output color.

Color Separations: The process of separating CMYK into film layers, each layer is than printed separately one on top of the other to give the impression of full color image.

Continuous Tone: An unlimited range of color and shades of grays.

  Also known as "photographic" printing.

Contrast: An image with light tones (highlights) and dark tones (shadows).

Copy: Originally newspaper slang, it refers to the words that are used in your design.

Crop: To trim or remove unwanted portions from the image in order to make it the proper dimensions for your job.

Crop Mark: A small mark outside the printed area used as a target for cropping/trimming, diecutting, scoring, folding and binding.

D

Direct Imaging: A printing process where a digital image is impressed or burned directly desired matter, plates or film.

Direct-to-Plate: A process where a digital image files is converted into CMYK bitmaps (ripped) and burned directly into the plates by a laser, eliminating the costly and environmentally questionable film step.

Dot Pattern: A series of dots that make up a printed image.

  There are several patterns found in the industry, such as rose and staccato.

DPI (Dots Per Inch): A measurement of how many dots that are composed in a one square inch area. The higher the amount of dots the sharper the image will be, and the larger the file size will be.

Duotone: A halftone that prints in two colors to create greater visual interest or more subtle detail and gray tones.

E

EPS (Encapsulated Postscript File): A file format for high-resolution images that is commonly used when you need to be move an image from one program to another.

F

5pt:  0.005 inches in thickness

14pt:  0.014 inches in thickness

File Extensions: Three-digit designations at end of a file name that tell the computer what format the file has been saved in. (Examples: .doc, .txt, .pdf, .psd)

File Format: Each type of file has a file format. A file format specifies how information is organized. (Examples: .doc, .txt, .pdf, .psd)

Four Color Process: A process (CMYK) by which full-color photographs and artwork is reproduced.

FTP (File Transfer Protocol): A protocol or method used to transfer or copy files from computer to computer by way of the Internet.

G

Grayscale: 256 levels of gray from black to white.

H

Halftone: A color that derived from a percentage or screen of a solid color.

High Resolution: The resolution of an image indicates the number of dots per inch (dpi). High resolution is usually anywhere from 300 dpi to 2,500dpi. Hole drilling: A process of creating holes into a sheet of paper for future use; such as inserting into a 3 ring binder.

I

Imagesetting: A system that takes digital design file and produces film negatives, positives and press plates for pressing.

Inkjet: A type of printer that works by spraying ionized ink at a sheet of paper. Inkjet printers are capable of producing high quality print resolutions up to 2400 dots per inch. Newer models offer even higher resolutions.

J

JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group): A common file format used for color images that retains a higher degree of color and files are generally smaller in size. Uncompressed JPEG can be used for high-quality printing.

K

Kilobyte (KB): A measurement of data equal to 1,024 bytes.

L

Layers: In most graphic design programs like Adobe Photoshop, there a layers within each design.  The layers are automatically placed in chronological order. You can manage the layers logically by placing common features or colors together on to the same layer.  When creating a "spot" layer for Spot U.V. Coating or a PMS color, it is highly recommended to place all of the information on to one common layer. Line Screen: The number of dot lines created per inch, or lines per inch (LPI).

Low Resolution: An inadequate resolution for reproduction. Low resolution is usually anywhere from 72 dpi to 250 dpi.

LPI: Lines Per Inch.  The number of dots that can be found in one linear column.

M

Mask: This is a process used to delete unwanted areas of an image while maintaining a unique shape and property.

Match Print: A color proof made from the printing negatives for a four-color process piece. This is the most accurate color proof available for analog presses.

Mockup: A piece that is handmade by the graphic artist to demonstrate how your finished piece will look. It generally will be scored, folded, trimmed and bound the exact way it will be done in production. Sometimes also referred to as a "comp".

Moire: An undesirable result in an image when a texture or screen is placed one on top of another. The image will appear fuzzy or wavy.

N

Negative: A reverse of an image created when processing film. Dark areas will appear light and light areas will appear dark.

Nexpress: A high speed digitial color printing machine made by Kodak.  A Nexpress is produces full color images within minutes

O

Offset Lithography: Also known as Offset Printing, is a process in printing where ink is spread on an imaging cylinder, then tranferred to a blancket cylinder,  then transferred to paper.  The use of the blanket cylinder is the "offset", as compared to Direct Imaging, where the image is placed directly onto the media.

Offset Printing: The process of offset lithography.

P

PDF (Portable Document Format): The industry standard method of formatting documents so they can be viewed and printed on multiple platforms without need for conversion. PDF is a modified postscript format developed by Adobe as a standard for the web and for printing.

Pixel: The smallest element of a digital display. A number of pixels displayed is referred to as the image's resolution.

Plates: A sheet of coated material that transfers ink from cylinder to cylinder in offset printing.

Plus Cover: A plus cover booklet refers to booklets that utilize a heavier paper stock for the outside cover.

PMS (Pantone Matching System): The ink color standard system. This is virtually the universal standard for printing color selection. PMS books contain samples of more than a thousand colors and their mixing formulas.

PostScript: Is a language for printing, that translates fonts, images, and graphics as mathematical expressions.

Presort First Class Mail: The process of preparing and sorting mail to qualify for reduced postage rates. The lowest First-class postage rates are available if you sort and automate the addresses on your mailing lists.

Primary Colors: Red, Green and Blue, which are Additive Primaries, which create white light; and Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black, which are Subtractive Colors, which are used for printing.

Process Colors: Overlapping dots of Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black (CMYK) used to simulate a large number of different colors.

Proof: A physical, calibrated representation of the desired print. Also called a "hard copy proof."

R

Raster: Graphics composed of pixels on a bitmap, allowing for solid colored objects and graphics as we see them.

Resolution: A group of dots or pixels in one squre inch that determines the sharpness and quality of an image. Computer monitors are 72-96 DPI while most printed jobs are 300 DPI or above.

RGB (Red, Green, Blue): A common color display found on computer monitors, desktop inkjet printers and television.

Rule Up: A press sheet with lines manually drawn on it to verify where the piece will be cut, perforated and folded.

S

16pt:  0.016 inches in thickness

Scoring: Using a letterpress and a metal blade to make an indent in paper for easy, crack-free folding or bending. This step is mandatory when folding cover stock.

Self Cover: A self cover booklet utilizes the same paper stock on the cover and the inside pages.

Split Run: A press run with common major impression, that composes two or more different variations that require a minor plate change. Spot Color: A commonly used term referring to a specfic pms color.  If your job requires "Fire Engine Red", then your spot color is Fire Engine Red. Spot Gloss U.V. Coating: A process using a silk screen machine to apply the liquid plastic coating on to the media.  Utilizing the screen enables the designer and operator to apply the uv substance to specific areas or "spots".  The area and design is limited in size and shape due to the pore size of the silk screens.

T

10pt:  0.010 inches in thickness

TIFF (Tagged Image File Format): A TIFF is commonly used file format for storing images on a computer. It can handle a range from one bit to 24 bits of photographic image, but as an older format, images saved as TIFF files tend to be larger than JPEG or .PSD formats.

Typesetting: To layout words, text and logos for printing.

U

Uncoated: The standard paper used in society for writing and copying. This paper stock is untreated, and has a high ink absorbency. Most copier paper, laser printer paper and stationery is uncoated paper.

UV Coating: Liquid plastic coating that is applied after the printing process, and then instantly cured by ultrviolet lamps. This yields a very durable, semi-moisture resistant coating.  UV coating is available in several forms, such as High Gloss, Matte, Raised Gloss, Gloss Glitter, and many more.

V

Vector Images: Object-oriented graphics of defined curves and line segments; these are resolution independent and can be stretched or resized.  Vector images maintain perfect properties at any size.