Printing Dictionary
A0 - A10 - A 1975 international ISO 216 standard paper size that defines the following:
A0 841 × 1189
A1 594 × 841
A2 420 × 594
A3 297 × 420
A4 210 × 297
A5 148 × 210
A6 105 × 148
A7 74 × 105
A8 52 × 74
A9 37 × 52
A10 26 × 37
Absorbency - The ability of paper to absorb and hold ink or other liquids is absorbency. Papers with less absorbency may smear more easily but may also provide more vibrant color and crisp text than papers with greater absorbency.
Acid Free Paper - is paper that has a neutral or basic pH (7 or slightly greater). It addresses the problem of preserving documents for long periods. Acid free paper is commonly used for fine art prints and limited edition printing, as well as permanent records where contact with paper acidity could harm the documents.
Accordian Fold - Typically accordian folds are simple zig-zag folds with 6-panels and two parallel folds that go in opposite directions. Each panel of the accordian fold is about the same size. See here for illustrations
ADD File Format - PageMaker by Adobe
AI File Format - Illustrator by Adobe
B0 - B10 - A 1975 international ISO 216 standard paper size that defines the following:
B0 1000 × 1414
B1 707 × 1000
B2 500 × 707
B3 353 × 500
B4 250 × 353
B5 176 × 250
B6 125 × 176
B7 88 × 125
B8 62 × 88
B9 44 × 62
B10 31 × 44
Barrel Fold - See *Spiral Fold
Binders Creep - See *Creep
Black Wire Spiral Bound - A type of binding commonly used for notepads and presentation or working booklets. It consists of a thin piece of metal wound around punched holes on the edge of a paper booklet.
Bleed - The term bleed is used for all objects overlapping the border of your document. Let's say your working on a brochure with images against the sides of your pages. You'll supply the printer with a document somewhat larger then the final document will be. After the brochure is printed it will be cropped to it's correct size. The bleed in your document gives the cropping some room for error. The paper itself can expand or contract, the cropping machine could setup wrong or the person working on the brochure could make a mistake. There are a lot of factors that could go wrong with the cropping, if you wouldn't be using bleed the images wouldn't be neatly aligned with the side of your printed document. SK Print Design require at least 3mm full bleed on all your documents. Also see Full Bleed, Partial Bleed, Crop Marks
Brochure Fold - See *Spiral Fold
C Fold - See *Spiral Fold
C0 - C10 - A 1985 international ISO 269 standard paper size that defines the following:
C0 917 × 1297
C1 648 × 917
C2 458 × 648
C3 324 × 458
C4 229 × 324
C5 162 × 229
C6 114 × 162
C7/6 81 × 162
C7 81 × 114
C8 57 × 81
C9 40 × 57
C10 28 × 40
Calendering - calendering is the process of smoothing the surface of the paper by pressing it between rollers. Uncalendered papers have a less smooth texture.
CDR File Format - Corel Draw by Corel or Corel PhotoPaint by Corel
Cellophane Coating - See *Lamination
CMS - A Color Matching System, or CMS, is a method used to ensure that colors remain as consistent as possible, regardless of the device/medium displaying the color. Keeping color from varying across mediums is very difficult because not only is color subjective to some extent, but also because devices use a wide range of technologies to display color. Also see *PMS
CMYK - (short for cyan, magenta, yellow, and key (black),and often referred to as process color or four color) is a subtractive color model, used in color printing, also used to describe the printing process itself. Though it varies by print house, press operator, press manufacturer and press run, ink is typically applied in the order of the abbreviation.The CMYK model works by partially or entirely masking certain colors on the typically white background (that is, absorbing particular wavelengths of light). Such a model is called subtractive because inks “subtract” brightness from white.
CNV File Format - Canvas by Deneba
Color Matching System - See *CMS
Comb Binding - is one of many ways to bind pages together into a book. This method utilizes round plastic spines and a hole puncher that makes rectangular holes.
Creasing - Thicker papers may need to be creased before folding in order to prevent the cracking of the spine.
Creep - In a saddle stitched booklet the bulk of the paper causes the inner pages to extend or creep further out than the outer pages when folded. When trimmed the inner pages are narrower than the outer pages, counteracting the creep. Also see *Creep Allowance
Creep Allowance - Adjusting the page layout of inner spreads to maintain a constant outer margin when the saddle stitched booklet is trimmed to counteract creep is known as creep allowance or shingling. If there is no creep allowance, when pages are trimmed the outer margins become narrower toward the center of the booklet and there is the possibility that text or images may be cut off. Also see *Creep
Crop Marks - These are marks on your document which show where your document should be cut. If you have a 3mm bleed, then your crop marks will be 3mm away from the edge of the bleed. Also see Bleed
Crossfold - Paper with crossfolds have two or more folds going in different directions, typically at right angles. See here for illustrations
CUT File Format - Debabelizer by Equilibrium
Debossing - In debossing an image such as a logo, a title, or other design is heat-pressed into the surface of the paper with a die, creating depressions rather than raised impressions as in embossing. The same technques used for embossing — blind, foil, and ink — can be used with debossing to create visual effects and texture. Debossing can be done on hard and soft covers.
Deckle Edge - The ragged edge of the paper as it comes from the papermaking machine is the deckle edge. Handmade paper normally has 4 deckle edges while machinemade paper has two. Normally it is cleanly cut. Left in place, the deckle edge becomes a decorative, textured edging. An imitation or fake deckle edge can be created by tearing or sawing the edge of the paper.
Densitometer - A densitometer is a device that measures the degree of darkness (the optical density) of a photographic or semitransparent material or of a reflecting surface. The densitometer is basically a light source aimed at a photoelectric cell It determines the density of a sample placed between the light source and the photoelectric cell from differences in the readings. Modern densitometers have the same components, but also have electronic integrated circuitry for better reading. Also see *Transmission Densitometers, *Reflection Densitometers
Digital printing - is the reproduction of digital images on a physical surface. It is generally used for low quantity print runs, and for the customization of print media. When used correctly digital printing can greatly impact an overall communication campaign. It can be differentiated from litho, flexography, gravure or letterpress printing in many ways, some of which are;
Every printed impression made onto the paper can be different, as opposed to making several hundred or thousand impressions of the same image from one set of printing plates, as in traditional methods. It requires less waste in terms of chemicals used and paper wasted in set up (bringing the image "up to colour" and checking registration or position). The Ink or Toner does not absorb into the substrate, as does conventional ink, but forms a thin layer on the surface and may in some systems be additionally adhered to the substrate by using a fuser fluid with heat process (toner) or UV curing process (ink). Because of the lack of a need to make plates or run up to colour, it is useful for rapid prototyping, and cost effective for small print runs.
Digital Proof - A digital proof is a color prepress proofing method where a job is printed from the digital file using inkjet, color laser, dye sublimation, or thermal wax print technologies to give a good approximation of what the final printed piece will look like. The digital proof is generally less expensive than other prepress proofs. Digital proofs can often be produced on the actual paper stock of the job adding another element of accuracy.
DL Size – DL is a form of paper size that is 105 x 210 mm or 1/3 A4. A popular ‘finished’ size for folded leaflets.
Dots per inch - See *DPI
Dot Matrix - A dot matrix is a 2-dimensional array of dots used to generate characters, symbols and images. Typically the dot matrix is used in older computer printers and many digital display devices. In printers, the dots are usually the darkened areas of the paper. Almost all modern computer printers also create their output as matrices of dots, but use a different technology like laser printing or inkjet printing, and are not called Dot Matrix printers. Dot Matrix printers survive where multi-part forms are needed, as the impact can make a carbonless copy, for security purposes. Also see *Laser Printers, *Inkjet Printers
Double Gatefold - In double gatefolds there are three parallel folds. The left and right edges of the paper fold and meet in the middle, without overlapping, along a center fold. See here for illustrations
Double Parallel Fold - In double parallel folds the paper is folded in half and then folded in half again with a fold parallel to the first fold. See here for illustrations
DPI - Dots per inch (DPI) is a measure of spatial printing dot density, in particular the number of individual dots that can be placed within the span of one linear inch (2.54 cm.) The DPI value tends to correlate with image resolution, but is related only indirectly.
Duotone - Duotone is the generic name for multitone printing, which can be done with two, three or four inks. This process requires that the press be set up with special inks, usually PANTONE-designated colors, instead of the standard CMYK inks used for process color printing. Usually the images are printed with a dark base color and a lighter second color, overprinted to fill in, tint and tone the photo or graphic.
DVI File Format - DVI by Open Source
Embossed Finish - See *Linen Finish
EPS File Format - Freehand by Adobe
Feather Edge - See *Deckle Edge
Feathering - See *Creep
FM File Format - Framemaker by Adobe
Folding - For all illustrations of folds see here.
French Fold - With French folds the paper is folded with crossfolds or right angle folds, often with a short first fold. The shorter portion or head in french folds may be folded to the inside (heads in) or outside (heads out). See here for illustrations
Full Bleed - Documents with full bleed have objects running on all sides of the document. Also see *Bleed, Partial Bleed
Gate Fold - In a gatefold the left and right edges fold inward with parallel folds and meet in the middle of the page without overlapping. See here for illustrations
Gloss - A shiny finish.
Gloss Laminate - A shiny finish with a thin plastic coating.
Gravure Printing - With gravure printing an image is etched on the surface of a metal plate, the etched area is filled with ink, then the plate is rotated on a cylinder that transfers the image to the paper or other material.
Grooving - See *Creasing
GSM - Grams per square metre (gsm). Typically used as a standard measurement of the weight of paper. Also written as g/m2.
Gutter - The inside margins or blank space between two facing pages is the gutter.
Halftone - To simulate shades of gray using only black ink a printer prints varying sizes and patterns of halftone spots (spots are made up of many dots of ink/toner). Small halftone spots (fewer dots) create the visual illusion of a light gray while larger halftone spots (more dots) appear darker, blacker.
HKS - The HKS is a colour system which contains 120 spot colours and 3250 tones for coated and uncoated paper. HKS is an abbreviation of three German colour manufacturers: Hostmann-Steinberg Druckfarben, Kast + Ehinger Druckfarben und H. Schmincke & Co. HKS colours, similar to the Pantone colours, are used for any kind of print publication to produce predictable colours. Like in the Pantone colour system, there are HKS colours that can't be reproduced using the CMYK colour space, like bright orange or certain tones of blue.
IMG File Format - DICOM by Open Source
INDD or INDX File Format - InDesign by Adobe
Inkjet Printers - Also see *Laser Printers, *Dot Matrix printers
Intaglio Printing - invented in Germany by the 1430s, Intaglio Prinitng is a family of printmaking techniques in which the image is incised into a surface, known as the matrix or plate. Normally, copper or zinc plates are used as a surface, and incisions are created. To print an intaglio plate ink is applied to the surface and then rubbed with tarlatan cloth to remove most of the excess leaving ink only in the incisions. A damp piece of paper is placed on top and the plate and paper are run through a printing press that, through pressure, transfers the ink from the recesses of the plate to the paper.
JPEG - JPEG is a commonly used method of compression for photographic images. The degree of compression can be adjusted, allowing a selectable tradeoff between storage size and image quality. JPEG typically achieves 10 to 1 compression with little perceptible loss in image quality. The name "JPEG" stands for Joint Photographic Experts Group, the name of the committee that created the standard. The group was organized in 1986, issuing a standard in 1992, which was approved in 1994 as ISO 10918-1.
Lamination - A thin plastic coating that prevents the paper from becoming creased, sun damaged, wrinkled, stained, smudged, abraded and/or marked by grease, fingerprints. It also makes the finished product look and feel of a better quality.
Laser Printers - Also see *Inkjet Printers, *Dot Matrix printers
Letter Fold - See *Spiral Fold
Linen Finish - is a text paper finish with a pattern simulating the look of linen cloth. The look is achieved with an embossed finish in a specific pattern of lines.
Litho Printing - The litho printing process can print 4 to 5 colours at one time and extra colours such as gold or silver can be added too. Litho printing is fast, efficient and good value for money. For most printing projects it’s the perfect solution. Litho printing is also known as lithography or lithographic printing or planography or planographic printing. Litho printing works on the basic principle that oil and water do not mix. Unlike relief printing and intaglio where the image and non-image areas are at different levels, in lithography there is only one surface. Litho printing is best for print runs over 1000; anything under this would be more cost effective to be printed by the digital printing process.
Line Screen - A Line Screen is the measure of how many halftone lines are printed in a linear inch. The value is expressed as Lines Per Inch (LPI). This important measurement related to the way printers reproduce photographic images also defines the necessary resolution of an image. The LPI is dependent on the output device and the type of paper. Countries using the metric system may use lines per centimeter (L/cm). The simple formulas below will help you determine if your image has sufficient resolution for your print needs. The general rule of thumb is to have images with a resolution of 2 times the line screen.
133 lpi requires images at 266dpi (133 lpi x 2 = 266dpi)
150 lpi requires images at 300dpi (150 lpi x 2 = 300dpi)
Matte Laminate - The paper is coated with a thin layer of plastic that has a dull, no-gloss finish. Colors often appear softer on a matte finish. Text can be easier to read on matte finish papers than on glossier finishes.
MML File Format - Math Player by Design Science
MMT File Format - Math Type by Design Science
Mottled Finish - An uneven finish characterized by both dull and glossy areas on the same sheet of paper is a mottled finish.
Multitone Printing - See *Duotone Printing
Natural Finish - Paper manufactured with a soft, slightly fuzzy surface is natural finish.
Offset printing - Offset printing is a commonly used printing technique where the inked image is transferred (or "offset") from a plate to a rubber blanket, then to the printing surface. When used in combination with the lithographic process, which is based on the repulsion of oil and water, the offset technique employs a flat (planographic) image carrier on which the image to be printed obtains ink from ink rollers, while the non-printing area attracts a water-based film (called "fountain solution"), keeping the non-printing areas ink-free.
Advantages of offset printing compared to other printing methods include a consistent high image quality. Offset printing produces sharp and clean images and type more easily than letterpress printing because the rubber blanket conforms to the texture of the printing surface. Quick and easy production of printing plates. Longer printing plate life than on direct litho presses because there is no direct contact between the plate and the printing surface. Properly developed plates running in conjunction with optimized inks and fountain solution may exceed run lengths of a million impressions. The more you print, the less you pay per page, because most of the price goes into the preparation undergone before the first sheet of paper is printing and ready for distribution. Any additional paper print will only cost the client paper price (and ink), which is very minimal.
Disadvantages of offset printing compared to other printing methods include a slightly inferior image quality compared to rotogravure or photogravure printing and propensity for anodized aluminum printing plates to become sensitive (due to chemical oxidation) and print in non-image/background areas when developed plates are not cared for properly.
Outpush - See *Creep
Pantone Matching System - See *PMS
Parallel Fold - The folds in paper with parallel folds all run in the same direction, parallel to each other. *Accordian, *Zig Zag, and *Gatefold are types of paper folds that are parallel folds. See here for illustrations
Partial Bleed - With a partial bleed your objects will run on only a few sides of the document. Also see Bleed, Full Bleed
PDF File Format - Acrobat by Adobe
Perforation - Perforation is the puncturing of a material with a harder (usually sharp) object to create a hole or aperture.
Photogravure Printing - registers an extraordinary variety of tones, through the transfer of etching ink from an etched copperplate to special dampened paper run through an etching press. The unique tonal range comes from photogravure's variable depth of etch, that is, the shadows are etched many times deeper than the highlights. Unlike half-tone processes which merely vary the size of dots, the actual quantity and depth of ink wells are varied in a photogravure plate and are often blended into a smooth tone by the printing process. Photogravure continues to be used for very fine printing.
Pica - A pica is a typesetting unit of measurement. One pica equals 12 points. There are 6 picas to an inch.
Plano - See *Litho Printing
PLT File Format - PSI-Plot
PMS - Pantone Matching System is a "solid-color" matching system, used primarily for specifying second or third colors in printing, meaning colors in addition to black. Certain PMS colors have to be purchased because they cannot be mixed, such as the Pantone metallics and fluorescent inks.
PRISM File Format - Prism
Progressive Margins - See *Creep Allowance
Proof - Printing proofs are used for checking that all text and graphics and colors come out as expected before going to press. Also see *Digital Proof
PS File Format - GhostScript by Open Source
PSD File Format - Photoshop Elements by Adobe
Push Out - See *Creep
QXD File Format - QuarkXPress by Quark
Reflection Densitometers - A reflection densitometer measures the amount of light being reflected from a surface, such as a reflection original. The reflection readings are also used to calculate total dot gain, hue error, grayness, and other characteristics in printed pieces. Also see *Transmission Densitometers, *Densitometer
Relief Printing - A relief print is an image created by a printmaking process, such as woodcut, where the areas of the matrix (plate or block) that are to show printed black (typically) are on the original surface; the parts of the matrix that are to be blank (white) having been cut away, or otherwise removed. Printing the image is therefore a relatively simple matter of inking the face of the matrix and bringing it in firm contact with the paper; a printing-press may not be needed as the back of the paper can be rubbed or pressed by hand with a simple tool. Rubber stamps are an example of this kind of printing.
Ring Binding - See *Comb Binding
Rotogravure - (roto or gravure for short) is a type of intaglio printing process, in that it involves engraving the image onto an image carrier. In gravure printing, the image is engraved onto a copper cylinder because, like offset and flexography, it uses a rotary printing press. The vast majority of gravure presses print on reels of paper, rather than sheets of paper. (Sheetfed gravure is a small, specialty market.) Rotary gravure presses are the fastest and widest presses in operation, printing everything from narrow labels to 12-feet-wide rolls of vinyl flooring. Additional operations may be in-line with a gravure press, such as saddle stitching facilities for magazine/brochure work. The rotogravure process is still used for commercial printing of magazines, postcards, and corrugated (cardboard) product packaging.
Roll Fold - See *Spiral Fold
Screen Proof - Proof used for layout and color information control, and to check the screen structures of a print. Screen proofs are intended to eliminate moiré, rosette and other undesired effects. As the printing data contain no screen information before screening of the images in the RIP (raster image processor), screening must be performed before a screen proof is printed.
Shingling - See *Creep Allowance
Silk - A finish that gives paper a silk feel.
Spadea Fold - is a separately printed, unbound broadsheet that is folded around a newspaper or other periodical, or around one of its sections, appearing as a partial page or flap over the front and back. Spadeas have been an advertising mechanism for publishers for centuries, particularly for magazines and comics. They have become popular for other publishing forms as well; in 2007 the New York Times implemented a spadia ad campaign for the first time.
Spiral Fold - A piece of paper folded in spiral folds has two or more parallel folds that fold in on each other.
SPW File Format - SigmaPlot by SPSS
Stair Stepping - See *Creep Allowance
Staple Binding - Staples are used to bind the papers together.
TEX File Format - Tex and LaTeX by Open Source
TGF File Format - ChemDraw by Cambridge Software
Thrust - See *Creep
TIFF File Format - Tagged Image File Format (abbreviated TIFF) is a file format for storing images, including photographs and line art. It is now under the control of Adobe Systems. Originally created by the company Aldus for use with what was then called "desktop publishing", the TIFF format is widely supported by image-manipulation applications, by publishing and page layout applications, by scanning, faxing, word processing, optical character recognition and other applications.
TPL File Format - Canvas by Deneba
Transmission Densitometers - A transmission densitometer measures the amount of light transmitted through a transparent material. It determines the opacity for different areas of an original transparency or of the processed film negative or positive. Also see *Reflection Densitometers, *Densitometer
Tri Fold - See *Spiral Fold
Trim Size - The final size of a printed page after excess edges have been cut off is the trim size.
Trimming - The process by which the pages of a book, brochure or magazine are smoothed or evened out.
Vector - Vector graphics is the use of geometrical primitives such as points, lines, curves, and shapes or polygons, which are all based upon mathematical equations, to represent images in computer graphics. This is a very effective way of reducing image size used by *Adobe Flash CS3 / CS4.
VSD File Format - Visio by Microsoft
WBMP File Format - Fireworks by Adobe
z-Fold - See *Zig Zag Fold
Zig Zag Fold - a zig zag fold has two or more parallel folds, each folding in opposite directions. See here for illustrations
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