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Planning A Print Project Cost Effective Print Environmental Aspects Of Print Purchase Paper Sizes Folding Options Jargon Explained A-Z |
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Jargon Explained
A-Z To help you understand more about the printing process here is a quick reference guide to print terminology. 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 
(back to top)A series An International Standards Organisation range of sizes of paper. Absorbency The extent to which a paper will take up and hold a liquid. Absorption The first stage of drying of an ink when printed. Acid-Free Paper Paper which does not contain acid. Airmail Paper Very light paper made with extra strength to reduce postage costs. Art Paper Paper which has received a special coating to give it a smooth gloss finish. It's meaning is often confused but it is more easily termed as a gloss coated paper. Artwork Original illustrative copy or layout ready for reproduction at pre-press stage. Author's Corrections Corrections made by the author on page proofs, that alter the original copy. The cost of making such alterations are charged by the printer, in contrast to printer's errors or house corrections.  (back to top)B Series An International Standards Organisation range of Paper Sizes. Back-up To print on the reverse side of a printed sheet. Bale Solid, compressed stack of pulp or paper sheets. Binding methods Methods of securing the leaves of a book or brochure. Blade Coated Paper Paper coated by a process in which the freshly applied wet coating is smoothed and the excess removed by a thin, flexible metal blade. Blanket The cylinder on a lithographic printing press which is covered with a rubber blanket that conveys the image from a plate to a sheet of paper. Bleaching A chemical treatment used to whiten, brighten and improve paper pulp prior to papermaking. Bleed The part of an image that extends beyond the Trim Marks on a page. Blind Embossed A logo, text or design which has been relief stamped into a sheet of paper or board. Boards Paper weight beyond a certain weight usually over 170gsm Bromide A black and white proof on photographic paper. Bulk The substance, feel and thickness of a paper. Bulky Paper Paper which seems to be thick in relation to its weight.  (back to top)C Sizes Paper sizes used for envelopes, designed to take A size paper. Camera Ready Finished artwork that is ready, without further artwork preparation, to be photographed. Carbon Paper A thin woodfree or part mechanical paper coated on one side with colouring agent of carbon. It is transferred to a sheet of paper underneath when pressure is applied. Cartridge Paper Slightly rough coated or uncoated paper. Chromalin A registered trade mark of Agfa. An accurate colour proof that is made from imaged film using a powder instead of ink. CMYK Letters which stand for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black (K). K is used for black to eliminate confusion with blue. Full colour printed images are made up of these component colours. Colour Mark Up Specifications on a piece of artwork to a printer, showing the required colours for the item to be printed. Coated Paper Material coated on one or both sides with a mixture of china clay and latex to fill up surface pits and improve the printing surface. A variety of coating methods exists including roll coating, blade coating, air-knife coating and brush coating, or combinations of these types. Coating A special water based coating which is applied to printed matter to protect literature from ink smudging or finger marking or to enhance appearance. The main types are sealer, gloss, matt and silk. Coatings are commonly used on matt or silk coated paper as these types are more prone to smudging than gloss coated paper. The main difference between a varnish and a coating is that coatings are faster drying and therefore jobs can be turned around quicker. They tend to be more scuff resistant than varnishes and there is also less risk of yellowing paper. However, oil based varnishes are better if specific areas of a document need to be coated. (spot varnish). Colour Separation Division of colour into basic elements eg CMYK or flat pantone by a process of scanning or page make-up from a computer. Separate printing plates are needed for each colour. Contact Frame Equipment which converts film to printing plates. Creasing An indentation made in thick paper to prevent cracking. Crop Marks Small lines that show the document edge essential for register and trim. Cyan A shade of blue used in four-colour printing.  (back to top)Damping The process of applying water to the lithographic plate on a lithographic printing machine. Damping Roller The roller on a printing press which applies the moisture directly to the printing plate. Debossing Printing or stamping in which dies are used to depress an image below the surface of paper or board. Density (ink) The measure of tonal values. Densitometer A digital precision instrument used to measure the quantitative colours or density in colour work. Desktop Publishing (DTP) The creation of artwork and print from your computer. Requires special software and a fairly powerful PC or Apple Macintosh. Die stamping To cut paper, card or board to a particular size and design with a metal die, for packaging and display work. DL Envelope A standard envelope size measuring 110mm x 220mm. They take A4 sheets, folded into three. Dot The basic element of halftone. Dot Gain An aberration when during the making of halftone film or plates, the dots become slightly enlarged. Double Page Spread Two facing pages of a publication. Double Coating Coating paper or board twice on one side or both sides Drop Shadow A shadow behind an image or type to help bring the image forward and stand out. Duct The ink reservoir in a printing machine. Dummy The prototype of a brochure or book in the correct size, layout and sometimes paper. Duotone A photograph printed using two colours.  (back to top)Embossing Relief printing or stamping in which metal dies are used to raise an image above the surface of paper or board. Emulsion The light sensitive coating of a photographic material such a film. Encapsulation A fully sealed polyester or polypropylene film to both surfaces of a sheet to enhance its durability.  (back to top)Feeder Equipment for feeding and positioning paper sheets in printing presses. Fit The alignment and registration of individual images or plates within a page. Film Transparent material made of plastic acetate with a light-sensitive emulsion for recording an image. Film Negative A photographic image on film in which the highlights and shadows are reversed. Film Positive A black image on a background of clear film. Finishing All operations after printing. Flexography A method of Letterpress printing from flexible rubber or polymer plates. Fluorescent Ink Ink that has bright and luminous colour because of the phosphorous chemicals in it. Fluorescent Paper and Board A white base paper or board coated with a mixture of fluorescent pigments and binders. The coating is activated by ultraviolet light, usually natural light. Folio Page numbers Font A set of letters, numbers and symbols that share a unified design. The design is called a typeface. Four Colour process A method of printing in full colour by colour separation producing four colour plates for printing in cyan, magenta, yellow and black. French fold A sheet of paper that has been printed on one side only and then folded twice to form an uncut four-page section.  (back to top)Gatefold A paper fold in which both sides are folded across the middle of the sheet in overlapping layers. Gathering Placing the sections of a book in the correct order for binding. Ghosting An image which appears as a lighter area on a subsequent print due to local blanket depressions from previous image areas. Gloss Gloss refers to the reflectivity of paper or of the printed matter on it. Graduation The smooth transition from one tone or colour to another, or the range of values between black and white. Grain The pattern of fibres in a manufactured sheet of paper. Gripper On printing presses these are fingers that keep the sheet in place and carry it during the impression. Gripper Edge The edge, which is caught by the grippers as a sheet of paper is fed into a press. GSM, grams per square metre, grammage Unit of measurement used to measure paper weight (and so thickness) in printing. Guillotine A machine used to cut or trim a large number of sheets of paper accurately.  (back to top)Halftone Process by which continuous tone is simulated by a pattern of dots of varying size. Hexachrome This is a colour system that uses a set of six inks, made up of a modified four-colour set plus orange and green. The objective of hexachrome is to improve the printed colour gamut. Using hexachrome allows about ninety per cent of Pantone's special colours. Hickey A spot on a printed sheet caused by dust, lint or ink imperfections. It is particularly noticeable on solids or halftones.  (back to top)Impose or Imposition To arrange pages so that when the sheet is folded the text will read continuously. Impression Cylinder A cylinder of a printing press which supports one surface of the sheet or web while the other surface receives its printed image from the blanket cylinder. Ink Duct The fountain supplying the ink to the printing press. Inking Roller A printing machine roller that carries ink from the fountain to the plate. Ivory Board High quality board made in white or colours with a bright, clear appearance particularly used for invitations and other quality printed material.  (back to top)Knocking up The adjustment on one or two edges of a pile of sheets so that they can be cut squarely.  (back to top)Laminate To protect paper or card and give it a matt or gloss surface by applying a transparent plastic coating through heat or pressure. Laid Paper Printing or writing paper with a ribbed appearance. Lay Edges The edges of a sheet which are placed flush with the side and marks on a printing press to ensure that the sheet will be held properly by the grippers and have uniform margins when printed. Layout Overall design of a piece of printed work. Linen Finish Imitation linen texture on a paper surface. Lithography Printing from a dampened, flat surface using greasy ink based on the principle of the mutual repulsion of oil and water.  (back to top)Machine Proof A proof of the job from the printing press. Magenta The name of the shade of red from the standard four colour printing inks. Manilla Paper formally produced from manilla hemp but now produced from softwood kraft pulp. Marbling Paper with strongly stained fibres to give the paper a marble effect. Matt Art A clay coated printing paper with a dull finish. Metallic Ink A printing ink, which produces an effect of gold, silver, bronze or copper. Moiré A Printing fault where halftones appear as patterns of dots, also known as cross-screening. Moisture Content The amount of moisture in paper. It is expressed as a percentage of its weight. Typically, a moisture content of around 7-8% is recommended for printing on paper. Monochrome An image made up of varying tones in one colour (also duotone) Mottle The appearance of irregular spots or blotches in a printed area that should be even in colour.  (back to top)NCR No Carbon Required. Common name for carbonless paper. Negative Film that has been exposed and processed to fix a reverse tone or image. Newsprint The low grade paper used for printing newspapers and wrapping fish and chips. Numbering Printing a unique number on a job (i.e. tickets)  (back to top)Offset Lithography A method of lithography by which the image is not printed direct from the plate but offset first onto a rubber covered cylinder, the blanket that performs the printing operation. Opacity Description of non-transparency in printing papers. OPI A process in which low resolution files are replaced automatically by high resolution files at pre-press stage. Original Any matter or image intended for reproduction Overprint Printing over an already printed area.  (back to top)Pagination The term given to numbering the pages of a book. Pantone matching system A registered trade name, system of colour matching used in computer software, paper and inks. Perfecting Printing the second side of a sheet simultaneously (backing up). Perforate Broken slotted cuts or rules to enable the paper to be torn in the correct place. Plate A sheet of metal holding the image from which an impression is produced. Plate Cylinder The cylinder that holds the inked printing plate in position. Platesetter A machine where the printing plate is produced directly from data without the need for film. Postscript A registered trade mark of Adobe Inc., It is a page description language which describes the content and layout of a page. Press Run In the printing of a job, the total number of copies produced in one printing. Process Colours The printing inks Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black Pulp The basic material used in papermaking, broken down mechanically or chemically.  (back to top)RIP Raster Image Processing. Making the dots that make up a halftone from a page description language such as postscript. Ream 500 sheets of paper of the same size, quality and grammage. Reel A continuous length of paper wound on a core, irrespective of diameter, width or weight. Reflectivity Ability of paper or board to reflect light, a measure of gloss. Register The accurate positioning of images on a sheet using register marks. Register Marks A set of fine line crosses or other suitable devices added to original artwork to provide reference points for accurate subsequent multi-colour printing or finishing. Relief Printing method using a raised image, e.g. letterpress or flexography. Resolution The efficiency of a computer graphic in reproducing fine detail. Retouching Methods of altering the image on a computer or physical artwork, photography to change or alter an image. Repro Pre-press camera work, scanning and film make-up. Reversed Out Printing White text (or coloured) reversed out of a background of solid colour. Runnability The ability of a paper or board to perform on a printing press without problems.  (back to top)Saddle Stitch or Wire A method of stitching brochures in which they are opened over a saddle shaped support and stitched through the back. Sans Serif Term used to classify a wide range of typefaces as those which are devoid of finishing strokes. Satin Finish A smooth finished paper with a sheen to the surface. Score A crease made in paper or card so that folding will not damage it. Screen A screen is a thin transparent film onto which is printed a very fine matrix. A screen enables a continuous tone image such as a photograph or transparency, which cannot be reproduced by most printing process, to be broken down into tiny dots which can be printed and which from a normal viewing distance give the illusion of continuous tone. Screens are also used to print tints of solid colours by altering the size or spacing of the dots. Screens are referred to in terms of DPI (dots per inch) or dots per centimetre and the finer the screen, the better the quality of reproduction. Screen Ruling The number of lines per inch (or centimetre) on a halftone or tint screen, equal to the number of dots per inch on the printed image. Section A sheet folded to create four or more book pages. Serif Short stroke at the ends of stems, arms and tails of characters. Set-Off Term for the unwanted transfer of printing ink from a printed sheet to a surface facing it. Sheet A single sheet of paper. Sheet Fed A printing press into which sheets are fed. Side Perfs A perforated line running down the sides of a form. Spot Colour A colour that is printed not using four colour printing, but printed using self-coloured inks such as Pantone. Stochastic Screening (Frequency Modulated) Unlike conventional the screen is made up of dots which are randomly distributed to create a tonal change illusion. The greater the number of dots located within a specific area the darker the tone. The dots are usually smaller than conventional screening so the definition tends to be better. Swatch A colour specimen.  (back to top)Thermography The process in which new printed sheets are dusted with a resin powder, which forms a raised surface when fused with heat. Thumb Index An index where the divisions or chapters are cut into the edge of the publication. Tint The effect of the mixture of white to a solid colour or the effect achieved by breaking up colour into a percentage using dots, which allow white paper to show through. Trim Marks Marks incorporated on a printed sheet, which indicate where the paper is to be cut or trimmed. Two up, three up, etc Printing where one or many images are printed on the same side of a sheet. Typography The design and layout of type.  (back to top)UV Varnishing A machine printed varnish, hardened by ultra-violet light.  (back to top)Varnish A transparent solution mixed with ink or printed over ink to produce a glossy surface finish. Vellum Paper Used mainly for certificates. The paper is tough and strong and has a good quality appearance. Virgin Fibre Paper or board pulp fibre which is being used for the first time and not recycled fibre.  (back to top)Watermark A distinctive design incorporated into paper during manufacture which is visible when viewed under a light or a contrasting background Web A continuous roll of paper. Web Fed A printing press with paper supplied by a web rather than single sheets. Wire-O Binding A mechanical binding which uses a series of double wire loops formed from a single continuous wire running along its length. Woodfree A paper which contains no mechanical wood pulp. In practice it usually contains a small percentage of mechanical fibre. Work and Tumble To print one side of a sheet and turn it from front to back to print the second side, keeping the same alignment of the side edges on the press. Work and Turn When both sides of a sheets is set on one plate. After one surface of the sheet has been printed it is turned over side to side and backed up from the same plate. Work and Twist To print the same plate twice on the same side of a sheet turning the sheet through 360 degrees between print runs. Wove Paper This is made on a roll of closely woven, finely textured wire, and leaves no marks on the surface of the paper.  (back to top)X-height The mean height of lower case letters, such as c, e, o and of course x. |
