GLOSSARY OF COMMON TERMS

A

Acid-free Paper

Neutral pH paper. Paper made from pulp containing no acid.

Against the Grain

At right angles to the grain direction of the paper being used, instead of with the grain. Also called cross grain. See grain direction.

Aqueous Coating

Coating made with a water-based liquid which is applied like ink by a printing press in order to protect and enhance the printing underneath.

Author's Alterations (AA's)

Changes that the client requests at the proofing stage concerning original art provided. AA's are considered an additional cost to the client.

B

Back Up

To print on the second side of a sheet already printed on one side.

Balance

The adjustment between water and ink on a printing press that maximizes the amount of ink transferred to the paper.

Basis Weight

In the United States and Canada, the weight, in pounds, of a ream (500 sheets) of paper cut to the basic size. Also called ream weight and substance weight (sub weight). In countries using ISO paper sizes, the weight, in grams, of one square meter of paper. Also called grammage and ream weight.

Bitmap

A set of bits that represent the graphic image of a document. Bitmapped images have a ragged edge, not a smooth straight line.

Black and White

Originals or reproductions in single color. Also referred to as a B & W halftone.

Blanket

A rubber-coated pad that is wrapped around a cylinder of an offset press. The blanket takes the inked image from the plate and transfers it to the paper.

Bleed

Printing area that extends past the trim edge of a page. Bleeds should extend at least 1/8" beyond the trim mark.

Blind Stamp

Image or text debossed, embossed or stamped, without using ink or foil.

Bluelines

A type of low resolution proof showing page layout and composition. These proofs are not representative of color. Also known as ozalids or plotters.

Book Block

Sewn folded signatures that are trimmed but not covered.

Bulk

Thickness of paper relative to its basic weight.

C

C1S and C2S

Abbreviations for coated one side and coated two sides. Usually refers to art board used for paperback covers or to card stock.

Caliper

Thickness of paper in thousandths of an inch (mils or points), pages per inch (ppi), thousandths of a millimeter (microns), or pages per centimeter (ppc).

Case

The cover of a hard back book

Case Binding

The process of applying a hard cover.

CIF (Cost Insurance and Freight)

A shipping term which indicates delivery to destination port including ocean freight and insurance charges (does not include customs, terminal charges, or inland trucking).

CMYK

The four process colors: cyan, magenta, yellow, and black used to print 4-color images.

Coated Paper

Paper that has a thin coating of clay; it is most commonly used for 4-color printing.

Collating Marks

Marks or numbers on the back of signatures indicating their position for collating.

Color Control Bar

A strip of small colored blocks on a proof or press sheet. These strips help to evaluate density and dot gain. Also known as a color bar.

Color Correct

To adjust the values of process colors in the image file to improve color rendition during printing

Color Curve

Settings in software that allow operators to adjust or correct colors. Adjusting the color curve during plate output will affect all the images and colors on that plate. The color curve cannot be adjusted for an individual image or page.

Color Gamut

The range of hues possible to reproduce (for monitors, presses, etc).

Color Separation

Process of separating color originals, either transparent or reflective art, into the primary printing color components, CMYK.

Color Sequence

The order in which inks are printed on a press.

Color Transparency (C/T)

Any original art, such as a transparency or 35mm slide, through which light can pass through.

Comb Bind

A type of binding in which flexible plastic comb teeth are inserted through holes punched along the edge of the book block.

Composite Proof

Proof with color separations, graphics, and type in position.

Computer to Plate (CTP)

A process in which images and text are sent directly from pdf output to a printing plate without using film.

Contrast

The degree of tones in an image from highlight to shadow.

Coverage

Extent to which ink covers the surface of paper (light, medium or heavy)

Crash

Gauze material embedded in the glue along the spine of a book to increase strength of binding.

Crop

To select a specific part of an image for reproduction

Crop Marks

Marks printed near the edge of an image that indicate where the image will be cropped.

Crossover

Image or type that continues from one page across the gutter to the opposite page.

Cyan

One of the four process colors. Also known as process blue.

D

Deboss

A recessed impression on a surface. The opposite of emboss.

Densitometer

An instrument used to measure density. Reflection densitometers measure light reflected from paper.

Density Range

Difference between the darkest and lightest areas of an image.

Die

A metal plate used for cutting, scoring, stamping, embossing, or debossing. Dies are made from magnesium or brass.

Die Cut

To cut shapes in paper or artboard using a die.

Digital Proofing

Page proofs produced from computer to paper via laser or inkjet.

Dot Gain

A defect in which halftone dots print larger on paper than they are on films or plates, reducing detail and lowering contrast.

DPI

Dots per inch. Refers to the resolution size of an image.

Drawdown

Sample of inks applied to the substrate specified for a job.

Dropout

Halftone dots or fine lines eliminated from highlights by overexposure during camera work.

Dry Back

Phenomenon of printed ink colors becoming less dense as the ink dries.

Dummy

A blank item that is handmade from materials quoted which represents the final product. Also known as bulking dummy.

Duotone

Two color image reproduction from a one color transparency or reflective art.

E

Emboss

A raised impression on a surface. The opposite of deboss.

Encapsulated PostScript (EPS)

A file format that contains all the code necessary to print a file. EPS files contain both images and PostScript commands.

End Papers

Sheet that attaches the inside pages of a hard bound book block to its case. The ends are not part of the book block pagination; they are paginated separately. Also called ends, fly sheets, or end sheets.

Extent

A list of all the items that will make up the finished product

F

Fifth Color

An ink used in addition to the four process colors: (CMYK). Most often the 5th color is a PMS ink.

File Transfer Protocol (FTP)

Used to move large files over the internet.

Film Laminate

Thin sheet of plastic bonded to a printed product for protection. Laminates come in matte or gloss finish.

FIS (Free in Store)

A shipping term which indicates door-to-door delivery and includes ocean freight, customs clearance charges, and inland trucking.

Flat Back

Case binding that has a piece of board running along the spine

Flood Varnish

The process of applying varnish to an entire printed sheet as opposed to spot varnish, which is applied to specific areas of a sheet or page.

FOB (Free on Board)

A shipping term which indicates delivery to port of export only and does not include ocean freight, customs charges, or inland trucking.

Foil Stamp

Special technique which applies foil material to a cover or case using a heated die.

Folded and Gathered Sheets (F&Gs)

Collated signatures prior to binding.

Folio

A page number. Folios are printed on each page as set up by the designer in the final files.

Font

A collection of letters, numbers, punctuation marks, and other typographical symbols with a name and consistent appearance. Usually includes a complete family appearing in different weights and styles such as bold, italic, small caps, etc.

For Position Only (FPO)

Refers to low resolution images used for layout to indicate placement and scaling, but not intended for reproduction.

Form

Each side of a signature. Often called a forme.

Four-color black and white

A black and white image that uses all four process colors and has more detail and shape than a duotone or halftone B&W image.

Four-color Process Printing

Technique of printing that uses black, magenta, cyan, and yellow to simulate full-color images. Also called color process printing or full color printing.

French Fold Jacket

A printed book jacket which has the top and bottom edges folded underneath for greater strength.

G

Gatefold

A sheet that folds in overlapping layers to show a wider image than the trimmed page size allows. These pages are tipped into the book block.

Ghosting

A faint image appearing on a printed sheet where it was not intended to appear.

GIF

An acronym for Graphic Interchange Format. An image of 8 bits for use by web browsers but not for printing

Gilding

Applying foil to the edges of a book (often used for bibles). There are limited colors available for this technique.

Graduated Screen Tint

Screen tint that changes densities gradually and smoothly, not in distinct steps. Also called a vignette.

Grain Direction

Direction which fibers in paper become aligned during manufacturing.

Grammage (GSM)

Basis weight of paper in grams per square meter.

Gravure

Method of printing using metal cylinders etched with millions of tiny wells that hold ink. Used to print wrapping paper for example.

Gray Balance

Printed cyan, magenta, and yellow halftone dots that reproduce a neutral gray image.

Grayscale Image

A single channel image consisting of up to 256 levels of gray with 8 bits of information per pixel.

Groundwood Paper

Newsprint and other inexpensive paper made from pulp created when wood chips are ground mechanically, and not refined chemically.

H

Halftone

Reproduction of a continuous tone image; usually refers to a 1-color image

Head and Tail Bands (H/T Bands)

Cloth strips used in case binding that cover the folded signatures along the spine. They are purely for decoration and provide no added strength to the binding.

Hickey

Spot or imperfection in printing most visible in areas of heavy ink coverage. A hickey is caused by dirt on the plate or blanket.

Highlight

The lightest part of an image. Area with the smallest dots or the absence of dots.

Hue

The main attribute of a color which distinguishes it from other colors.

I

ICC Profiles

International Color Consortium (ICC) established set of profiles that define the key characteristics for scanners, monitors, proofing systems as well as papers and press equipment that will produce the printed product.

Imposition

Arrangement of pages on a signature so that after printing, folding, and trimming, all pages will appear in proper order.

J

Jacket

An outer covering for a case bound book.

Japan 2001

The ICC profile available in design programs to be used if the printer profiles are not available.

JPEG

An acronym of Joint Photographic Experts Group that provides a 24-bit compression format for images.

K

K

Abbreviation for black in four-color process printing. Hence the 'K' in CMYK.

Kiss Die Cut

To die cut the top layer of self-adhesive paper to make stickers.

L

Landscape

Horizontal format in which width is greater than height.

Leaf

One sheet of paper in a book. One leaf is two pages.

Lignin

Substance in trees that holds cellulose fibers together. Papers for book production have most lignin removed. Groundwood or newsprint paper contains lignin.

Line Drawing

An illustration that consists of a single density without and shading. Line drawings should be set up as a vector files not halftone files.

Loose Proof

Proof of a color separation that is not assembled with other elements from a page, as compared to composite proof.

Loupe

Lens used to inspect proofs, plates, and printing.

LPI

Lines per inch. A measure of resolution.

M

M Weight

The weight in pounds of one thousand sheets of paper in a particular size.

Magenta

One of the four process colors.

Makeready

Preparing a press for printing or bindery

Mask

To prevent light from reaching part of an image, isolating the remaining part. Also called knock-out (K/O).

Match Print

A brand name of a four-color-process proofing system, which outputs digital proofs.

Metallic Ink

Ink containing powdered metal or pigments that simulate metal.

Metallic Paper

Paper coated with a thin film or pigment whose color and gloss simulate metal.

Midtone

The tonal values of an image between the highlight and the shadow; dots between 30 to 70 percent of coverage

Mock Up

A blank dummy wrapped using wet proofs or press proofs. Mock ups are used to check how a design wraps or placement of art.

Moiré

An undesirable pattern caused by incorrect screen angles during scanning or printing.

N

Neutral Gray

Gray with no hue or cast.

News Print

Paper used for printing newspapers.

O

Offset Printing

Printing technique that transfers ink from a plate to a blanket to paper instead of directly from plate to paper.

Onlay

An appliqué printed paper that is glued on cloth or paper case.

Opacity

Characteristic of paper that prevents print on one side from showing through the other side.

Over Run

Additional printed copies beyond the order quantity. Also called run on.

Overprint

To print one image over a previously printed image, such as printing type over a screen tint.

Ozalid

A type of low resolution proof showing page layout and composition. These proofs are not representative of color.

 

P

Page Count

The total number of pages in a book block.

Page Proof

Proof of type and graphics as they will look on the finished page.

Pagination

The order of pages or folios.

Pantone

The color matching system that is used to achieve consistent specific colors. Also known as PMS color.

PDF

An acronym of Portable Document Format which locks and compresses the Postscript information of a file.

Perfect Bind

To bind sheets that have been ground at the spine and are held to the cover with glue. Also called adhesive bind.

Pica

A unit of measurement containing twelve points and approximating one sixth of an inch.

Picking

Unprinted spots on the image area caused by ink pulling bits of fiber away from the surface of paper as it travels through the press

Pixel

The smallest single dot capable on a computer display or in a digital image.

Plate

A metal sheet with one of the four color printing images used to transfer ink from the blanket of the printing press to the paper.

Point

Paper: a unit of thickness equating 1/1000 inch. Type: a unit of measure equaling 1/12 pica and .013875 inch (.351mm).

Portrait

Vertical format in which the height is greater than the width.

Postscript

A language used to describe a document mathematically so that it can be accurately reproduced at a specific size.

Press Guidance

Digital or press proof used during printing to match approved color to the printed sheets.

Press Proof

Proof made on a proofing press using the plates, ink, and paper specified for the job. Also known as wet proofs.

Price Break

The quantity at which unit cost of paper or printing drops.

Printed Laminated Case (PLC)

Paper wrapped over board used as a cover for case bound books.

Printer Profile

The ICC profile from the specific printing press the job will be printed on.

Process Color

The four standard offset pigments - cyan, magenta, yellow, and black - used in full color printing.

R

Ream

500 sheets of paper

Reflective Art

Original art viewed and scanned flat, such as photographs or drawings.

Register

The alignment of colors on a printed piece.

Register Marks

Crosshair marks that appear outside the printed area to assist in the alignment of printing plates.

Resample

To change the resolution size of an image.

Resolution

The number of pixels per inch in an image. Also refers to the number of dots per inch used by an output device.

RGB Image

The primary colors used in display devices or scanners-- red, green, and blue. RGB color needs to be converted to CMYK before sending to the printer.

RIP (Raster Image Processor)

A process that interprets the printing file for a document and prepares specific hardware to receive and print the file.

Round Backed

To casebind with a rounded spine instead of square or flat back binding.

Run on

Additional printed copies beyond the order quantity. Also called over run or overs.

S

Saddle Stitch

To bind using staples in the spine.

Scale

The percentage by which art should be enlarged or reduced to achieve the correct size for printing.

Screen Angles

The angles at which CMYK screens are placed in relation to one another to avoid moiré patterns.

Screen Printing

Method of printing in which a squeegee is used to force ink through a mesh material and a stencil.

Screen Tint

A color created by dots instead of solid ink coverage.

Setoff

The transfer of ink from one page to a facing page. Flood varnish can be used to prevent setoff.

Shadow

The darkest part of an image represented in a halftone by the largest dots.

Sheet Fed Press

A printing press that uses trimmed sheets. These presses can use varying sheet sizes and provide less wastage of paper during the makeready.

Signature

A printed sheet that has been folded.

Silhouette

An image in which the background has been removed

 

Soy-based Inks

Inks made with vegetable oils instead of petroleum products.

Spiral Bind

A method of binding using a continuous spiral of wire or plastic looped through holes punched in the book block.

Split Run

Printing both hardback and paperback copies in one print run.

Spot Varnish

The application of varnish to specific areas, such as images or type on a printed sheet.

Stochastic Screening

A process of representing a continuous tone image by converting shading and colors into a random pattern.

SWOP

Abbreviation for specifications for web offset publications. These specifications are recommended for web printing. Do not use these settings for printing in Asia.

T

Tagged Image File Format (TIFF)

Computer file format used to store images from scanners and video devices.

Target Ink Densities

Densities of the four process inks recommended for various printing processes and grades of paper.

Template

Basic details indicating dimensions for the various components of a project.

Tint

Screening a solid color in order to lighten that specific color.

Tip In

An additional page that separately inserted.

Trap

The overlap of color between two images that prevents a gap from appearing due to misalignment or movement on the press.

Trimmed Page Size (TPS)

The actual size of the page in a finished book.

TrueType Font

Fonts that can be displayed or printed at any size.

U

Uncoated Paper

Paper that has not been coated with clay. Also known as woodfree paper.

UnderColor Removal (UCR)

The technique of reducing the cyan, magenta and yellow inks from the darkest neutral shadow areas in an image and replacing them with black.

Unsharp Masking

Adjusting dot size to make a separation appear sharper than the original photo or the first proof.

UV Coating

A durable, high gloss finish applied to a sheet and cured with ultraviolet light.

V

Varnish

A liquid coating used to seal an image. Some varnishes may contain additives to create gloss and mattee finishes.

Vector Files

A solid rule used to create line drawings.

Vignette

Decorative design or illustration which fades to white. The background of a vignette gradually fades away.

W

Wet Proof

Proof made on a proofing press using the plates, ink, and paper specified for the job. Also known as press proofs.

Wire-o Binding

A type of binding in which wire comb teeth are inserted through holes punched along the edge of the book block.

Woodfree Paper

Paper made with chemical pulp only, containing no lignin. Also used as a description for uncoated paper.