Printing Terms
Glossary
A B C
D E F
G H I
J K L
M N O
P Q R S
T U V W X Y Z
A
Aliasing: Result
when graphics, either constructed with lines (vector) or dots (bitmap),
show jagged edges when magnified.
Artwork: A general term used
to describe photographs, drawings, paintings, hand lettering, and the
like prepared to illustrate printed matter.
ASCII:
American Standard Code for Information Interchange. ASCII text can be
recognized and understood by other computers and is useful when
importing text from a word processing program into a typesetting
system.
Author Alterations: Changes
made to the document by the author after the first proof.
Autoflow: A mode
of text placement where text flows continuously onto successive pages
or columns. Depending on the program, additional pages are created
automatically.
B
Bar code: Series
of lines printed on a book which denote indexing and publisher
information. Generating a bar code requires an ISBN number.
Baseline:
Typography term -- the imaginary horizontal line upon which typeset
characters rest.
Batch scan:
Process of scanning several halftones at one time.
Binding: Fastening
assembled sheets or signatures along an edge of a publication; e.g.
saddle-stitch, perfect bound, case bound.
Bitmap:
Representation of characters or graphics by individual pixels arranged
in row and column order. Bitmapped font: A set of dot patterns that
represent all the letters, characters and digits in a type font at a
particular size.
Bitmapped graphics:
Graphic images which are formed with sets of pixels (or dots) with a
specific number of dots each. Also referred to as raster graphics,
which are the opposite of vector images.
Blanket: A fabric
coated with natural or synthetic rubber which is clamped around the
blanket cylinder which transfers the ink from the press plate to the
paper.
Blanket cylinder: The
cylinder via which the inked litho plate transfers the image to the
paper. The cylinder is covered with a rubber sheet which prevents wear
to the litho plate coming into contact with the paper.
Bleed: A
printed image that extends beyond the trim edge of the paper. To
accommodate a bleed in book printing either the book is under-trimmed
by 1/8" or a larger press sheet is used.
Blind emboss: A raised
impression made without using ink or foil.
Blueline proof:
A type of proof made by exposing the finished film on a proofing
machine to light, which burns the image onto a special paper. It's then
folded, trimmed and checked as a final checkpoint before printing.
Brightness: In
color, the difference in range from white when compared to dark tones
and colors, or contrast. In paper, the reflectance or brilliance of the
paper.
Bullet:
A
large dot preceding text to add emphasis.
C
Calibration bars: On a
negative, proof, or printed piece, a strip of tones used to check
printing quality.
Caliper: The
thickness of sheet of paper or board expressed in microns (millionths
of a meter). Also the name of the tool used to make the measurement.
Camera ready art:
Best results achieved from a laser printer with 600 dpi or better. Art
that is ready to be shot on a camera or scanned into a computer for
printing. Usually, if any additional alterations are made, corrected
art is sent by the customer.
Caption: Also
called a cutline. The line or lines of text that refer to information
identifying a picture or illustration.
Case bound: A
hardback book made with stiff outer covers. Cases are usually covered
with cloth, vinyl or leather.
Cast Coated: Art
paper with a exceptionally glossy coated finish usually on one side
only.
Clip Art:
Copyright free photos or drawings.
CMYK:
Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black. The four colors used to create the
illusion of a full color image in printing. Also referred to as four
color process.
Coated
paper: Printing papers which after making have had a surface
coating with clay etc, to give a smoother, more even finish with
greater opacity.
Collate: To
gather separate sections or leaves of a book together in the correct
order for binding.
Color
correction: The process of adjusting an image to compensate
for scanner deficiencies or for the characteristics of the output
device.
Color
proof: A representation of what the final printed
composition will look like. The resolution and quality of different
types of color can vary greatly.
Composite:
In film terms, the negatives are stripped together and a proof
provided.
Continuous tone: A
photographic image which hasn't been screened for printing. An example
would be a developed print in either black and white or color.
Contrast: Tonal
gradation between highlights, mid tones and shadows in a graphic.
Crop: Mostly done
in a computer environment, such as Photoshop, unneeded parts of a photo
or graphic are removed to focus on the intended elements.
Cutline:
Also called a caption. The line or
lines of text that refer to information identifying a picture or
illustration.
D
Densitometer: A device
sensitive to the density of light transmitted or reflected by paper or
film. Used to check the accuracy, quality, and consistency of output.
Density:
A measure
of the relative difference between a white area and a toned or black
area.
Die: A hardened steel engraving stamp
used to print an image.
Die cutting: The process of
using sharp steel rules to cut special shapes into printed sheets.
Dithering:
Simulating gray tones by altering the size, arrangement or shape of
background dots.
Dot: The
individual element of a halftone. Its size (or density) can be related
to the density of the original used to produce the halftone dot. The
dots are what the press sees when it prints a photo.
Dot gain: An
increase in the size of halftone dots that may occur as a result of
imperfections in any of the steps between screening an image and
printing it onto paper. Common causes of mechanical dot gain are
incorrect plate exposure, excessive tack or incorrect viscosity of
printing ink, excessive ink film thickness, internal reflection of the
ink or too much pressure between the blanket roller and the impression
cylinder.
DPI: Dots Per
Inch. A measurement of output device resolution and quality. Actually
it measures the number of dots a printer or imagesetter can create per
inch both horizontally and vertically.
Double
page spread:
Two
facing pages where the textual material on the left hand side continues
across to the right hand side.
Dummy: A
preliminary layout before proofing.
Duotone: A two
color halftone from a one color photograph.
E
Emulsion side: The
side of the film coated with the silver halide emulsion which faces the
lens during exposure. Most US printers use film that has emulsion down.
Encapsulated Postscript (EPS):
EPS translates graphics and text into descriptions to a printer of how
to draw them.
F
Film: A negative
or positive, photographic or lithographic record made on a light
sensitive material.
Flop: Turning a
negative over to create a mirror image. Folio: A page number.
Foil stamping: The
process of applying a thin film of colored foil to paper or cover material for decorative
purposes.
Footer: Most often
a publications name with a page number that appears on the bottoms of
the pages of a publication.
Font: A graphical
design applied to all numerals, symbols and characters in the alphabet.
Also referred to as typeface.
FTP: File Transfer
Protocol. Using an FTP site, you can upload and download information
faster than any current method on the Internet. It's a format commonly
used by printers to receive files from customers.
Four Color Process: The
four basic colors of ink (CMYK--yellow, magenta, cyan, and black) which
reproduce full-color photographs or art.
G
Galley proof: Text
copy shown to a customer before it's formatted to a page.
Gathering:
The operation of inserting the printed pages, sections or
signatures of a book in the correct order for binding.
Graduate screen:
A smooth transition between black
and white, one color and another, or color and the lack of it.
Grayscale:
A
range of luminance values for evaluating shading through white to
black. Also, a term used when referring to a black and white photograph.
GIF: Graphics
Interchange Format. Commonly used for graphics on the Internet because
the compressed size creates a smaller file. They are not suitable for
printing because of that smaller size.
Grayscale: The
range of shades of black in an image.
Gripper: The
unprintable black edge on which the paper is gripped as it passes
through the printing press.
Gutter: The two
inner margins of facing pages in a publication.
H
Hairline: A
.25-point rule.
Halftone: The
production of continuous tone artwork, such as a photograph, through a
screen that converts the image into dots of various sizes.
Hardback:
A case bound book with a separate stiff board cover.
Hard copy: A
printed rendition of what the final artwork should look like. Many
printers require a hard copy to accompany a submitted disk so their
pre-press operators will have something to follow.
Header: Text that
appears at the top of every page.
Hickies: A
dust particle sticking to the printing plate or blanket which appears
on the printed sheet as a dark spot surrounded by an halo.
High resolution:
Increasing the dots or pixels to create a better quality image. Also
referred to as high res.
Highlight: The
lightest or whitest part in a photograph represented in a halftone
reproduction by the smallest dot or absence of dots in the highlight.
I
Imagesetter: An
imaging device used to create film and sometimes plates. Capable of
producing very high resolution output and a cornerstone in many
pre-press environments.
Imposition: Laying
out pages in a press form so that they will be in the correct order
after the printed sheet is folded.
Insert: A printed
piece usually independent of the original publication that will be
merged in the finishing/binding stage.
ISBN:
International Standard Book Number. The US agency, R.R. Bowker, assigns
a publisher prefix number with a block of ISBN's. The ISBN is converted
to a Bookland EAN number whereby a bar code can be generated and
printed on the book. The bar code, then, acts as a standard cataloging
system for the book for Internet, retail and library systems.
Italic: Type with sloping letters.
J
JPEG: Joint
Photographic Experts Group. Another file extension used primarily on
the Internet for graphics. As it's highly compressed, it's not ideal or
recommended for printing.
Justify: The
process by which a line of text is spaced between specified right and
left hand margins.
K
Kerning: The
amount of space between characters.
Keyline: An
outline drawn or set on artwork showing the size and position of an
illustration or halftone.
Knockout: A shape or object
printed by eliminating (knocking out) all background colors. Contrast
to overprinting.
L
Laminate: A
thin transparent plastic coating applied to paper or board to provide
protection and give it a glossy or
matte finish.
Layout:
The
drawing or sketch of a proposed printed piece.
Leading: The
distance between baselines of printed text, or the space between the
lines.
Line screen: The
resolution of a halftone expressed in lines per inch.
Lines per inch: A
measurement of resolution.
M
Margins: The
non printing areas of page.
Matchprint:
A
color proof created from the final film.
Mechanical
binding: A method of binding which secures
pre-trimmed leaves by the insertion of wire or plastic spirals through
holes drilled in the binding edge.
Mock-up: (or
layout dummy). The rough
visual of a publication or design.
Moire
pattern: The
undesirable pattern which exists because of one screen angle
overprinting another or several other screen angles.
Mylar: A polyester
based film specifically suited for stripping film upon because of its
mechanical strength.
N
Negative: Film
containing an image in which values of the original are reversed to
that the dark areas appear light and vice versa.
O
OPI: Open Prepress
Interface. A viewing file which provides a link between the image
placed in a page layout program and the high resolution separation
needed by the imagesetter. It is automatically swapped out when the
file is prepped for output.
Overprinting:
Printing over an area that has already been printed. Often used to
enhance a particular color.
P
Pagination:
Typesetting term which copy, page numbers and other elements of a
printed page are assembled. Pantone colors: Also referred to as PMS
colors. A series of over 1200 colors which have become standard inks in
the printing business.
PDF
file: Portable
Document Format, is a file format created by Adobe Systems, Inc. PDF
uses the PostScript printer description language and is highly portable
across computer platforms. PDF documents have a .pdf
file extension.
PICT: A
picture file format developed by Apple. It stores the image with a
lower resolution.
Pixel: When an
image is defined by many tiny dots, those dots are pixels.
Positive: A film
or pint containing an image in which the light and dark values are the
same as the original. The reverse would be negative.
Postscript: A page
definition language commonly used in the printing industry. Postscript
files are necessary for creating PDF files. Postscript is unique
because it is platform independent and doesn't rely on a specific
program.
PPD file:
Postscript Printer Description file. A file that contains information
on screen angle, resolution, page size and device-specific information
for a file to be printed on a postscript device.
Pre-Press: A
department within a printing company where film, plates and proofs are
assembled.
Proof: A
representation created either with finished film or from a laser
printer to be approved before committing ink to paper.
R
Raster image: An
image displayed as a series of lines of dots or video "blips."
Reader's spread:
Two sequentially numbered pages of a document placed side by side.
Register: The
fitting of two or more images on the same exact spot either on paper or
mylar thereby insuring exact alignment with each other.
Resolution:
Measure of image output capability usually expressed in dpi (dots per
inch). Measure of halftone quality usually expressed in lpi (lines per
inch).
RGB:
Red,
green, blue. The additive primary colors used for computer monitor
displays; also a color model. Cannot be used for printing. All RGB
files must be changed to CMYK to be printed.
Right reading:
Normal left to right image reproduction. Usually referred to as right
reading, emulsion down in terms of film.
RIP: Raster Image
Processor. The RIP converts data which has been stored in a computer
into a series of lines of tiny dots which are output on film or paper.
S
Sans serif:
Typefaces that have the same weight and thickness throughout.
Scan: To convert
photos or graphics into files that can be placed into a page layout
program or manipulated by a graphics program.
Screen angles: it
is necessary to rotate the angles of the screens in order to create a
rosette pattern. Using a horizontal line as a base plane, the first
angle would be found at 45 degree angle from the base, 75 degrees would
be the next, 90 degrees and finally 105 degrees.
Screen font: A
raster font designed to duplicate a printer font on the screen. When
submitting Type 1 fonts it's vital to include both the screen and
printer versions of the fonts.
Serif: Short cross
lines appearing at the ends of the main strokes of characters in a
typeface.
Signature: A
printed sheet containing several pages in such an order that when
folded comes out in sequential order.
T
Tack: The property
of cohesion between particles in printing inks.
TIFF: Tag Image
File Format. The file format of choice for photographs.
Trapping: The
ability to print wet ink film over previously printed ink. Improper
trapping will cause color changes.
Trim marks: guides
that show where a document will be cut.
True type: A font
format where all the elements are contained in one file.
V
Varnishing:
A finishing process whereby a transparent coating is applied over the
printed sheet to produce a glossy finish.
Vector:
Images
defined by sets
of straight lines, defined by the locations of the end points. At
larger magnifications, curves may appear jagged.
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