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Glossary of Printing Terms

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To list all terms connected with the graphic arts would fill a book. Many would be too technical and of little value. In this section only the most common terms used in graphic arts production and the new technologies are defined

A - B - C - D - E - F - G - H - I - J - K - L - M - N - O - P - R - S - T - U - V - W - Y

accordion fold
In binding, a term used for two or more parallel folds which open like an accordion.

alkaline paper
Paper make with a synthetic alkaline size and an alkaline filler like calcium carbonate which gives the paper over four times the life (200 years) of acid-sized (40 - 50 years) papers.

art
An illustration copy used in preparing a job for printing.

backing up
Printing the reverse side of a sheet already printed on one side.

bad break
In composition, starting a page or ending a paragraph with a single word, or widow.

basic weight
The weight in pounds of a ream (500 sheets) of paper cut to a given standard size for that grade; e.g., 500 sheets, 25 x 38 in. of 50-lb. book paper weighs fifty pounds.

bit map
In computer imaging, the electronic representation of a page, indicating the position of every possible spot (zero or one).

bitmap graphics
any visual matter containing pixels that has a bit depth of one. In other words, the pixel is either 100 percent black or 100 percent white.

black-and-white
Originals or reproductions in single colour, as distinguished from multicolour.

blanket
In offset printing, a rubber-surfaced fabric which is clamped around a cylinder, to which the image is transferred from the plate, and from which it is transferred to the paper.

bleed
A printed image that extends beyond one or more of the finished page margins that is later trimmed off.

blind embossing
A design which is stamped into the paper without metallic leaf or ink.
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blueline
A photoprint made from stripped-up negatives or positives, used as a proof to check position of image elements.

bond paper
A grade of writing or printing paper where strength, durability and permanence are essential requirements; used for letterheads, business forms, etc. The basic size is 17 x 22.

book paper
A general term for coated and uncoated papers. The basic size is 25 x 38.

break for colour
In artwork and composition, to separate the parts to be printed in different colours.

brightness
In photography, light reflected by the copy. In paper, the reflectance or brilliance of the paper.

caliper
The thickness of paper, usually expressed in thousandths of an inch (mils).

camera-ready
Copy which is ready for photography.

case
In bookbinding, the covers of a hardbound book.

cast coated
Coated paper dried under pressure against a polished cylinder to produce a high-gloss enamel finishing.
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CD-ROM
Acronym for Compact Disc-Read Only Memory. A CD-ROM drive uses the CD format as a computer storage medium.

chokes and spreads
Overlap of overprinting images to avoid colour or white fringes or borders around image detail. Called trapping in digital imaging systems.

CMYK colour space
The four process colours used in full colour offset printing. Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black inks are used to create a wide gamut of other colours.

coated paper
Paper having a surface coating which produces a smooth finish. Surfaces include matte dull, & gloss.

collate
In binding, the gathering of sheets or signatures.

colour balance
The correct combination of cyan, magenta, yellow and black to reproduce a photograph without a colour cast, produce a neutral gray, or reproduce the colours in the original scene or object.

colour correction
Any method such as masking, dot-etching, re-etching and scanning, used to improve colour rendition.

colour separation
In photography, the process of separating colour originals into the primary printing colour components in negative or positive form.

continuous tone
A photographic image which contains gradient tones from black to white.

contrast
The tonal gradation between the highlights, middle tones and shadows in an original or reproduction.
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copy
Any furnished material (typewritten manuscript, pictures, artwork etc.) to be used in the production of printing.

cover paper
A term applied to a variety of papers used for the covers of catalogues, brochures, booklets and similar pieces.

crop
To eliminate portions of the copy, usually on a photograph, indicated on the original by cropmarks.

cyan
Hue of a subtractive primary and a 4-colour process ink. It reflects or transmits blue and green light and absorbs red light.

die-cutting
The process of using sharp steel rules to cut special shapes for labels, boxes and containers, from printed sheets.

digital colour proof
A colour proof produced from digital data without the need for separation films.

digital printing
Printing by plateless imaging systems that are imaged by digital data from prepress systems.

dot gain
In printing, a defect in which dots print larger than they should, causing darker tones or stronger colours.

dots per inch (dpi)
A measure of the resolution of a screen image or printed page.
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dummy
A preliminary layout showing the position of illustrations and text as they are to appear in the final reproduction. A set of blank pages made up in advance to show the size, shape, form and general style of a piece of printing.

duotone
A term for a two-colour halftone reproduction from a one-colour photograph.

elliptical dot
In halftone photography, elongated dots which give improved gradation of tones particularly in middle tones and vignettes - also called chain dots.

embossed finish
Paper with a raised or depressed surface resembling wood, cloth, leather or other pattern.

EPS (encapsulated postscript file)
An alternative picture file format that allows PostScript data to be stored and edited and is easy to transfer between Macintosh, MS-DOS and other systems.

filling in (or filling up)
In letterpress or offset lithography, a condition where ink fills the area between the halftone dots or plugs up (fills in) the type.

flush left (or right)
In composition, type set to line up at the left (or right).

flush paragraph
A paragraph with no indention.

folio
The page number.

font
In composition, a complete assortment of letters, numbers, punctuation marks, etc. of a given size and design.
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format
The size, style, type page, margins, printing requirements etc., of a printed piece.

FPO
For Position Only - a low resolution image positioned in a document to be replaced later with a higher resolution version of the same image.

gathering
In binding, the assembling of folded signatures in proper sequence.

grain
In papermaking, the direction in which most fibers lie which corresponds with the direction the paper is made on a paper machine.

graphics
Any visual matter—such as an illustration, photograph, symbol, etc.—included on a page or within a document.

gray scale
A strip of standard gray tones, ranging from white to black, placed at the side of original copy during photography to measure tonal range and contrast (gamma) obtained.

gripper edge
The leading edge of paper as it passes through a printing press. Also, the front edge of a lithographic or wraparound plate that is secured to the front clamp of the plate cylinder.

gripper margin
Unprintable blank edge of paper on which grippers bear, usually 1/2" or less.

grippers
In sheetfed printing presses, metal fingers that clamp on paper and control its flow as it passes through.

gutter
The blank space or inner margin from printing area to binding.

halftone
The reproduction of continuous-tone images, through a screening process, which converts the image into dots of various sizes and equal spacing between centres.

hard copy
The permanent visual record of the output of a computer or printer. Also, the material sent to a typesetter in typed form, for conversion into typeset material.
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head margin
The white space above first line on a page.

hickeys
Spots or imperfections in the printing due to dirt on the press, dried ink skin, paper particles, etc.

highlight
The lightest or whitest parts in a photograph represented in halftone reproduction by the smallest dots or the absence of dots.

hue
In colour, the main attribute or a colour which distinguishes it from other colours.

imagesetter
In computer imaging, a device that outputs type, line art and photos in position.

imposition
Positioning of pages on a signature so that after printing, folding and cutting, all pages will appear in the proper sequence.

impression cylinder
The cylinder on a printing press against which the paper picks up the impression from the inked plated in direct printing, or the blanket in offset printing.

insert
A printed piece prepared for insertion into a publication or another printed piece.

italic
The style of letters that slant, in distinction from upright, or roman, letters. Used for emphasis within the text.

jog
To align sheets of paper into a compact pile.

justify
In composition, to space out lines uniformly to the correct length.
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kerning
In typesetting, subtracting space between two characters, making them closer together.

kraft
A paper or board containing unbleached wood pulp (brown in color) made by the sulfate process.

lacquer
A clear resin/solvent coating, usually glossy, applied to a printed sheet for protection or appearance.

landscape
A booklet or catalogue bound on the shorter dimension.

laid paper
Paper with a pattern of parallel lines at equal distances, giving a ribbed effect.

lamination
A plastic film bonded by heat and pressure to a printed sheet for protection or appearance.

layout
The drawing or sketch of a proposed printed piece. In platemaking, a sheet indicating the settings for a step-and-repeat machine.

logotype (or logo)
The name of a company or product in a special design used as a trademark in advertising.
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magenta
Hue of a subtractive primary and a 4-colour process ink. It reflects or transmits blue and red light and absorbs green light.

makeready
In printing, all work done to set up a press for printing.

makeup
In composition, the arrangement of lines of type and illustrations into sections or pages of proper length.

matte finish
Dull paper finish without gloss or luster.

metal plate
In lithography, a plate used for long runs in which the printing image base is usually copper and the non-printing area is aluminum, stainless steel or chromium.

moiré
In colour process printing, the undesirable screen pattern caused by incorrect screen angles of overprinting halftones.

mottle
The spotty or uneven appearance of printing, mostly in solid areas.

native application
The original program, or application used to create a document.

negative
In photography, film containing an image in which the values of the original are reversed so that the dark areas appear light and vice versa. (See positive.)

offset (see setoff)
In printing, the process of using an intermediate blanket cylinder to transfer an image from the image carrier to the substrate. Short for offset lithography.

opacity
The property of paper that minimizes or prevents the passage of light through the sheet. A term often used in reference to the amount of "show-through" – when printed areas on the reverse or adjoining page can be observed. Less show-through will occur on papers with high opacity.

overhang cover
A cover larger in size than the pages it encloses.

overprinting
Double printing; printing over an area that already has been printed.

overrun
In printing, copies printed in excess of the specified quantity.
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page makeup
In stripping, assembly of all elements to make up a page. In computerized typesetting and CEPS, the electronic assembly of page elements to compose a complete page with all elements in place on a video display terminal and on film or plate.

pagination
In computerized typesetting, the process of performing page makeup automatically.

perfecting press
A printing press that prints both sides of the paper in one pass through the press.

pica
Printer’s unit of measurement used principally in typesetting. One pica equals approximately 1/6 of an inch.

PICT
A standard data format in which most Macintosh illustrations are encoded.

pigment
In printing inks, the fine solid particles used to give colour, transparency or opacity.

pixel
In electronic imaging, a basis unit of digital imaging.

point
Printer’s unit of measurement, used principally for designating type sizes. There are 12 points to a pica, approximately 72 points to an inch.

positive
In photography, film containing an image in which the dark and light values ar the same as the original. The reverse of negative.

postscript fonts
PostScript fonts are based on the Adobe PostScript language. Type one fonts are the most commonly used postscript font. Postscript fonts are comprised of two parts. A screen font, which uses bitmap information, for on-screen display, and a font outline information file which is sent to the printer. Both of the .pfm and .pfb files must be sent to the commercial printer for the font to be used.

preflight
In digital prepress, evaluating submitted files before entering production. To verify that all document items are present, accounted for, properly formatted, and available for collection to output to film. Checked for layout files, linked image files, screen fonts, printer fonts, EPS or TIFF files, etc.

press proofs
A proof of a colour subject made on a printing press during the production run.

print driver (PPD)
PostScript Printer Description. Software that allows your computer to talk to our printer when outputting submitted files.

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process colours
In printing, the subtractive primaries, yellow, magenta and cyan, plus black (cmyk) in four-colour process printing.
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rasterized graphics (raster data)
The information used to represent a computer image as a grid of pixels. Rasterized graphics are made up of rows of pixels, so any change in size of the picture or graphic itself results in a change of pixel size as well. Typical file formats include tiffs and jpegs.

raster image processor (RIP)
In computer imaging, the computerized process that results in an electronic bit map which indicates every spot position on a page in preparation for an actual printout.

ream
Five hundred sheets of paper.

register
In printing, fitting of two or more printing images in exact alignment with each other.

register marks
Crosses or other targets applied to original copy prior to photography. Used for positioning films in register, or for register of two or more colours in process printing.

resolution
In electronic imaging, the quantification of printout quality using the number of spots per inch.

RGB colour space
Collective term for the red, green, and blue signals produced by a computer monitor. The RGB signals are the additive colour primaries.

run-around
The term describing type set to fit around a picture or other element of the design.

saddle stitch
In binding, to fasten a booklet by wiring it through the middle fold of the sheets.

scaling
Determining the proper size of an image to be reduced or enlarged to fit an area.

scanner
An electronic device used in the making of colour and tone-corrected separations of images.

score
To impress or indent a mark with a string or rule in the paper to make folding easier.

screen angles
In colour reproduction, angles at which the halftone screens are placed with relation to one another, to avoid undesirable moiré patterns. A set of angles often used is: black 45°, magenta 75°, yellow 90°, cyan 105°.
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screen ruling
The number of lines or dots per inch on a halftone screen.

scum
In offset lithography, a film of ink printing in the non-image areas of a plate where it should not print.

self cover
A cover of the same paper as inside text pages.

set-off
In presswork, when the ink of a printed sheet rubs off or marks the next sheet as it is being delivered. Also called offset.

sharpen
To decrease in colour strength, as when halftone dots become smaller, opposite of dot spread or dot gain.

show-through
In printing, the undesirable condition in which the printing on the reverse side of a sheet can be seen through the sheet under normal lighting conditions.

side wire
In binding, to wire the sheets or signatures of a magazine or booklet on the side near the backbone.

signature
In printing and binding, the name given to a printed sheet after it has been folded.

software
QuarkXPress, PageMaker, InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, Freehand, Microsoft Word, Corel Draw, Publisher,
Where available, we have both Mac and PC versions.

spiral binding
A book bound with wires in spiral form inserted through holes punched along the binding side.

spreads
In page layout and printing, any two facing pages of a book, magazine, or other publication.

stet
A proofreader’s mark, written in the margin, signifying that copy marked for corrections should remain as it was.

stock
Paper or other material to be printed.

stripping
The positioning of negatives (or positives) on a flat to compose a page or layout for platemaking.

style attributes:
Appearance changing attributes applied to text in a page layout program to create a stylized font. ie. using manual bold or italics changes a fonts appearance. The bold or italic font itself must be used to maintain these characteristics through a RIP.
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tagged image file formate (TIFF)
A file format for exchanging bitmapped images (usually scans) between applications.

text
The body matter of a page or book, as distinguished from the headings.

transparent ink
A printing ink which does not conceal the colour beneath. Process inks are transparent so that they will blend to form other colours.

trapping
Refers to how much overprinting colours overlap to eliminate white lines between colours in printing.

trim marks
Marks placed on the copy to indicate the edge of the page.

up
In printing, two-up, three-up, etc., refers to imposition of material to be printed on a larger size sheet to take advantage of full press capacity.

varnish
A thin, protective coating applied to a printed sheet for protection or appearance.

warm colour
In printing, a colour with a yellowish or reddish cast.

washup
The process of cleaning the rollers, form or plate, and sometimes the ink fountain of a printing press.

wire-o-binding
A continuous double series of wire loops run through punched slots along the binding side of a booklet.

yellow
Hue of a subtractive primary and a 4-colour process ink. It reflects red and green and absorbs blue light.
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