| A/W - An abbreviation for Artwork. |
|
| Align - To line up typeset or other graphic
material as specified, using a base or vertical
line as the reference point. |
|
| Art paper - A smooth coated paper obtained
by adding a coating of china clay compound
on one or both sides of the paper. |
|
| Bit map - Computer image made up of dots
(pixels). Each dot represents one bit. For
high-quality publishing, bit map refers primarily
to a graphic image as it appears on screen.
Bit map graphics, when printed, have a distinctly “computerized” look
to them, as they suffer badly from aliasing. |
|
| Bleed - Printed image extending beyond the
trimmed edge of a page, usually 5mm. |
|
| Blow up - An enlargement, most frequently
of a graphic image or photograph. |
|
| Calendered finished - Produced by passing
paper through a series of metal rollers to
give a very smooth surface. |
|
| Caliper - Thickness of paper, usually expressed
in thousandths of an inch. |
|
| Carbonless - Paper coated with chemicals
and dye which will produce copies without carbon
paper. Also referred to as NCR (No Carbon Required). |
|
| Cast coated - Art paper with exceptionally
glossy coated finish usually on one-side only. |
|
| Chalking - A powdering effect left on the
surface of the paper after the ink has failed
to dry satisfactorily due to a fault in printing. |
|
| Coated - Printing papers which after making
have had a surface coating with clay etc, to
give a smoother, more even finish with greater
opacity. |
|
| Colour Separations - The process of separating
full-colour photographic transparencies or
prints into the four colour components needed
to create printing plates in the four process
ink colour of black, cyan, magenta, and yellow.
Most colour separations are now done by computerized
scanning of the original image. |
|
| Colour Transparency - A full-colour transparent
positive image. Also called a chrome, or slide. |
|
| Concertina fold - A method of folding in
which each fold opens in the opposite direction
to its neighbour, giving a concertina or pleated
effect. |
|
| Continuous tone - An image in which the subject
has continuous shades of colour or grey without
being broken up by dots. Continuous tones cannot
be reproduced in that form for printing but
must be screened to translate the image into
dots. |
|
| Creep - Phenomenon of the middle pages of
a folded signature extending slightly beyond
the outside pages. To adjust for the creep,
pages can be shingled in stripping to slightly
different page widths. |
|
| Cromalin - Trade name for a colour proofing
material consisting of transparent layers laminated
in one piece to a backing. Each layer represents
the film for one colour. The result is a crisp,
bright simulation of the printed product. |
|
| Crop Marks - Lines near the edges of an image
showing portions to be eliminated. |
|
| Die - A hardened steel engraving stamp used
to print an inked image. Used in the production
of good quality letter headings. |
|
| Die cut - To cut irregular shapes in paper
using a metal die. |
|
| Dot gain - Phenomenon of halftone dots printing
larger on paper than they are on films or plates,
reducing detail and lowering contrast on the
final printed piece. This is primarily due
to the fact that ink has a tendency to bleed
when it hits paper. The type of ink and paper
can affect the amount of dot gain dramatically.
Newsprint suffers from heavy dot gain due to
the coarseness of the paper fiber. |
| DPI - Dots per inch. Referring to the output
resolution of a device like a laser printer,
ink jet printer or imagesetter. Devices can
range from low resolution (300 dpi laser printer)
to very high resolution (2400 – 4000
dpi imagesetter). Generally, the higher the
resolution the higher the quality of the output. |
|
| DPI (Dots per inch) - The measurement of
resolution for page printers, phototypesetting
machines and graphics screens. Currently graphics
screens reproduce 60 to 100dpi, most page printers
work at 300dpi and typesetting systems operate
at 1,000dpi and above. |
|
| Dummy - Replica of the finished piece, marked
with colour breaks and folds, made with the
paper selected for the job. |
|
| Dyeline - Proof made from stripped-up negatives
or positives, used as a final proof to check
position of image elements, folding, colour
breaks, etc. All colours are indicated by different
shades of blue. |
|
| Emboss - A raised image created by stamping
a paper sheet with a metal die. |
|
| End papers - The four page leaves at the
front and end of a book which are pasted to
the insides of the front and back covers (boards). |
|
| EPS Files - Files saved in Encapsulated PostScript
format. PostScript files, which contain both
the page elements and the page description
language for the printer, are both input and
output-device independent; however, they cannot
be edited or modified in this format. |
|
| Face - An abbreviation for typeface referring
to a family in a given style. |
|
| Film - The material produced by prepress
houses to allow a printing plate to be made
for press. It takes the form of thin sheets
of plastic, at first glance looking like acetate
sheets, with a negative image of the artwork
on it. Film can hold a higher resolution than
paper and produces a completely opaque black
that is necessary for the photographic process
for producing printing plates. |
|
| Flexography - A rotary letterpress process
printing from rubber or flexible plates and
using fast drying inks. Mainly used for packaging. |
|
| Flop - To reproduce a photograph or illustration
so that its image faces opposite from the original. |
|
| Font - All of the characters and associated
spacing of one size of one typeface. |
|
| Form - One side of a press sheet. |
|
| Four-colour process printing - Technique
of printing that uses process colours – cyan,
magenta, yellow and black – to simulate
full colour images. Use a magnifying glass
or a photographic loupe to examine the lighter
areas of the cover and you will see the individual
halftone dots that make up a four-colour image. |
|
| French fold - A sheet which has been printed
on one side only and then folded with two right
angle folds to form a four page uncut section. |
|
| Gatefold - An oversize page where both sides
fold into the gutter in overlapping layers.
Used to accommodate maps into books. |
|
| Gravure - A rotary printing process where
the image is etched into the metal rplate attached
to a cylinder. The cylinder is then rotated
through a trough of printing ink after which
the etched surface is wiped clean by a blade
leaving the non-image area clean. The paper
is then passed between two rollers and pressed
against the etched cylinder drawing the ink
out by absorption. |
|
| GSM - Grams per square metre. The unit of
measurement for paper weight. |
|
| Gutter - Space between columns of type where
pages meet at the binding. |
|
| Halftones - Continuous-tone photographs or
artwork that have been photographed through
a screen to convert the image into dots for
reproduction. Halftones can be positive or
negative and on film or paper. |
|
| Hardback - A case bound book with a separate
stiff board cover. |
|
| Head - The margin at the top of a page. |
|
| Hickies - A dust particle sticking to the
printing plate or blanket which appears on
the printed sheet as a dark spot surrounded
by a halo. |
|
| Image Area - Portion of a negative or plate
corresponding to inking on paper; portion of
paper on which ink appears. |
|
| Imposition - Refers to the arrangement of
pages on a printed sheet, which when the sheet
is finally printed on both sides, folded and
trimmed, will place the pages in their correct
order. |
|
| Insert - An instruction to the printer for
the inclusion of additional copy. |
|
| Kerning - The adjustment of spacing between
certain letter pairs, A & V for example,
to obtain a more pleasing appearance. Not all
DTP systems can achieve this. |
|
| Keyline - An outline drawn or set on artwork
showing the size and position of an illustration
or halftone. |
|
| Laid - Paper with a watermark pattern showing
the wire marks used in the paper making process.
Usually used for high quality stationery. |
|
| Laminate - A thin transparent plastic coating
applied to paper or board to provide protection
and give it a glossy finish. |
|
| Landscape - Work in which the width used
is greater than the height. Also used to indicate
the orientation of tables or illustrations
which are printed ‘sideways’. |
|
| Letterpress - A relief printing process in
which a raised image is inked to produce an
impression; the impression is then transferred
placing paper against image and applying pressure. |
|
| Lines per inch - Measure of screen ruling
expressing how many lines of halftone dots
are contained in one inch. The higher the lines
per inch (line screen) of a publication, the
greater the sharpness of the images. Compare
the photographs in a newspaper (generally around
85 lines per inch) with the photographs of
a magazine (about 150 lines per inch). It is
possible to run out an image with a high resolution
(dpi) and a low line screen (lpi). |
|
| Lithography - A printing process based on
the principle of the natural aversion of water
to grease. The photographically prepared printing
plate when being made is treated chemically
so that the image will accept ink and reject
water. |
|
| Makeready - All the activities required to
set up the press for a pressrun, including
running test sheets of paper. |
|
| Make-up - The assembling of all elements,
to form the printed image. |
|
| Making ready - The time spent in making ready
the level of the printing surface by packing
our under the forme or around the impression
cylinder. |
|
| Moiré - Undesirable pattern in printed
halftones and screen tints, usually caused
by incorrectly aligned screen angles. |
|
| Negatives (negs) - A film negative version
of an image area, obtained either by shooting
the mechanical page with a process camera,
or by running out film through an imagesetting
system. |
|
| Offsett Printing - Offset printing is a printing
is a printing process that uses metal plates
and ink; it is characterised by the use of
a blanket cylinder, a rubber plate that picks
up the image from the metal plate itself and
then transfers that image onto the sheet of
paper. In offset printing, the actual plate
never directly touches the paper. |
|
| Overprinting - Printing over an area already
printed. Used to emphasise changes or alterations. |
|
| PMS, Pantone Colours - Pantone Matching System,
a commercial system for specifying colours
by means of numbered colour samples provided
in swatch books. |
|
| Perfect Binding - A common method of binding
paperback books. After the printed sections
having been collated, the spines will be ground
off and the cover glued on. |
|
| Perfecting Press - Press capable of printing
both sides of the paper during a single pass. |
|
| Photogravure - A printing process where the
image is etched into the plate cylinder. The
main advantage of this method of printing is
the high speed, long run capability. Used mainly
for mail order and magazine work. |
|
| Plate - Piece of paper, metal, plastic, or
rubber carrying an image to be reproduced using
a printing press. Produced photographically
using film negatives to control the photographic
exposure of the plate. Exposed areas of the
plate hold ink on press, thereby reverting
the negative image back into a positive. |
|
| Portrait - An upright image or page where
the height is greater than the width. |
|
| Prepress - Camera work, colour separating,
stripping, platemaking and other services provided
prior to printing. Typically used these days
to refer to the process of having film run
out to an imagesetter. |
|
| Process colour - The four standard ink colours
used in full-colour printing: black, yellow,
cyan, and magenta. |
|
| Progressives - Colour proofs taken at each
stage of printing showing each colour printed
singly and then superimposed on the preceding
colour. |
|
| Proof - Test sheets run at all stages of
the printing process to check for and reveal
potential flaws or errors before they are committed
to a final press run. Keep a copy of each stage
of the proofing process to track down when
and where an error on press has occurred. Errors
that were caught by you on a printer’s
proof, but not changed by the printer, will
not be your financial responsibility. |
|
| Proof correction marks - A standard set of
signs and symbols used in copy preparation
and to indicate corrections on proofs. Marks
are placed both in the text and in the margin. |
|
| Pulp - The raw material used in paper making
consisting mainly of wood chips, rags or other
fibres. Broken down by mechanical or chemical
means. |
|
| Raster Image Processor (RIP) - The hardware
engine which calculates the bit-mapped image
of text and graphics from a series of instructions.
It may, or may not, understand a page description
language but the end result should, if the
device has been properly designed, be the same.
Typical RIPs which aren’t PDL-based include
the Tall trees JLaser, the LaserMaster and
AST’s TurboLaser controller. A basic
page printer comes with a controller and not
a RIP which goes some way to explaining the
lack of control. |
|
| Ream - 500 sheets of paper. |
|
| Register - To place printing properly with
regard to the edges of paper and other printing
on the same sheet. Items out of register seem
to be out of place, skewed or blurry. |
|
| Register Marks - Used in colour printing
to position the paper correctly. Usually crosses
or circles. |
|
| Resolution - The measurement used in typesetting
to express quality of output. Measured in dots
per inch, the greater the number of dots, the
more smoother and cleaner appearance the character/image
will have. Currently Page (laser) Printers
print at 300, 406 and 600dpi. Typesetting machines
print at 1,200 dpi or more. |
|
| Reverse out, knock out - Type or other image
defined by printing the background rather than
the image itself, allowing the underlying colour
of paper or previously printed ink to show
in the shape of the image. |
|
| Right reading - A positive or negative which
reads from left to right. |
|
| S/S (Same size) - An instruction to reproduce
to the same size as the original. |
|
| Saddle stitching - A method of binding where
the folded pages are stitched through the spine
from the outside, using wire staples. Usually
limited to 64-page size. |
|
| Scale - To identify the percentage by which
images should be enlarged or reduced. |
|
| Scanner - A digitizing device using light
sensitivity to translate a picture or typed
text into a pattern of dots which can be understood
and stored by a computer. To obtain acceptable
quality when scanning photographs, at least
64 grey scales are required. |
|
| Score - To mechanically crease paper along
a line so it will fold more easily used on
paper stocks 170 gsm or over. |
|
| Screen Tint (also called Benday) - A tint
of either black or another ink colour, specified
as a percentage of black or another ink colour,
printed as dots of uniform density. |
|
| Security paper - Paper-incorporating special
features (dyes, watermarks etc) for use on
cheques. |
|
| Self-Cover - Publication made entirely from
the same paper so that cover is printed simultaneously
with inside pages. |
|
| Set off - The accidental transfer of the
printed image from one sheet to the back of
another. |
|
| Sheetfed Press - Press that uses pre-cut
sheets of paper, rather than rolls. |
|
| Showthrough - Printing on one side of the
paper that can be seen when looking at the
other side. |
|
| Specifications - Complete and precise descriptions
of paper, ink binding, quantity, and other
features of a printing job. |
|
| Spot Colour - Colours specified in PMS inks
other than the four standard process colours. |
|
| Stripping - The assemblage of film for platemaking.
Stripping involves correcting flaws in film,
assembling pieces of film into forms, and ensuring
that the film and forms register correctly. |
|
| Swatch - A colour sample. |
|
| Text Paper - Paper grade characterized by
textured surfaces, such as laid, cockle, wove,
etc. May also be used to describe paper used
for the text portion of a publication, as opposed
to cover stock. |
|
| Thermography - A print finishing process
producing a raised image imitating die stamping,
The process takes a previously printed image
which before the ink is dry is dusted with
resinous powder. The application of heat causes
the ink and powder to fuse and a raised image
is formed. |
|
| Tint - The effect of adding white to a solid
colour or of screening a solid area. |
|
| Tip in - The separate insertion of a single
page into a book either during or after binding
by pasting one edge. |
|
| Transparency - A full colour photographically
produced line art from a continuous tone original. |
|
| Trap - The tiny amount of overlap between
two printed areas that ensures a “butt
fit” between those areas without white
paper showing through. |
|
| Trim - The cutting of the finished product
to the correct size. Marks are incorporated
on the printed sheet to show where the trimming
is to be made. |
|
| Trim Size - Size of the printed product after
the last trim is made. |
|
| Twin wire - Paper which has an identical
smooth finish on both sides. |
|
| Typo (US) - An abbreviation for typographical
error. An error in the typeset copy. |
|
| Typography - The design and planning of printed
matter using type. |
|
| Up - Printing two-up or three-up means printing
the identical piece two or three times on one
sheet of paper in one impression. |
|
| UV Coating - Liquid laminate bonded and cured
to the sheet with ultraviolet light. |
|
| Varnish – Clear finish applied like
ink on a press that provides additional protection
and sheen to a printed piece. A varnish may
have a dull or glossy appearance, and may be
tinted with coloured ink. A flood varnish is
applied to the entire page; a spot varnish
is applied only to selected image areas and
requires a printing plate to apply. |
|
| Vignette - A small illustration in a book
not enclosed in a definite border. |
|
| Washup - The process of cleaning a press
after a press run. |
|
| Watermark - An impression incorporated in
the paper making process showing the name of
the paper and/or the company logo. |
|
| Web - A continuous roll of printing paper
used on web-fed presses. |
|
| Web Press - Press that uses paper in rolls,
rather than cut sheets. |
|
| Weight - The degree of boldness or thickness
of a letter or font. |
|
| Wire stitching - see saddle stitching. |
|
| Work & Turn - A method of printing where
pages are imposed in one forme or assembled
on one film. One side is then printed and the
sheet is then turned over and printed from
the other edge using the same forme. The finished
sheet is then cut to produce two complete copies. |
|
| Work and Tumble - A method of printing where
pages are again imposed together. The sheet
is then printed on one side with the sheet
being turned or tumbled from front to rear
to print the opposite side. |
|
| Wove - A finely textured paper without visible
wire marks. |
NO
HIDDEN FEES!
