Printing and Graphics Glossary

Apron - White space added to margins of text area on a page to accommodate a foldout

Author's Alterations (AAs) - In composition, changes and additions in the copy or layout after it has been typeset. Generally any changes to mechanicals after going to the printer are considered AAs, and are charged back to the customer.

Back Up - To print the reverse, or back side, of a sheet

Binding - Method of holding together a finished book

Blanket - In offset litho printing, the rubber-coater sheet that transfers the inked impression from printing plate to paper. In gravure printing, a similar rubber sheet covers the impression cylinder of a printing press.

Bleed - An extra amount of printed image that extends 1/8" to 1/4" outside the final trim area of a sheet or page. This allows for tints, images, or other matter to print to the edge of the page. If sheets are printed without the bleed, it is generally not possible to print matter up to the edge of the page.

Blueline -In offset printing, a photo print made from stripped-up negatives or positives, used as a proof to check position of image elements

Bright White -A paper stock, particularly in reference to letterheads and envelopes, etc., of pure brilliant white; as opposed to "off-white"

CMYK -Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black; core colors used in 4-color process printing

Coated Paper - Paper with a coating of clay and other substances that improve reflectivity and ink holdout. Coated papers come in four finishes - cast coated, gloss, dull and matte.

Color Bar -Quality control mechanism consisting of small strips of color and patterns on press sheets. Used to check color registration, dot gain, ink density and evenness.

Color Correction - Any digital or traditional method such as imaging, masking, dot etching or retouching used to improve color rendition

Color printing - Strictly speaking, multicolor printing in inks other than black. However, the term is used more generally describe any printing process that uses colored inks -- including black --and this encompasses four color printing. The major printing processes today are offset lithography (either sheet or web-fed) and web gravure.

Color Separation - In printing, the process of separating color photographic originals into the 4 primary color components

Composite Color Proof -Proof that shows all type and images as they will be printed. Generally limited to four-color process and several representative colors for spot colors.

Die press - Machine that is used to die cut or emboss a shape into paper or board

Die stamping - A technique that uses a die to emboss a relief image onto a surface. Ink or metallic foil is generally used to add color, but if not the surface is said to be blind-stamped or blind embossed. Also known as relief stamping.

Dot gain (physical) - The increase in the size of a halftone dot caused by the spread of ink during printing - can result in darkening or loss of detail

Dummy - A set of blank pages made up in advance to show the paper stock and format of a printed piece

Duotone - Halftone image made up from two ink colors by laying down differing screen angles

Folio - The page number

Font - A typographic term meaning a complete set of all letters, numbers and characters of the same typeface

Grain - Direction of paper fibers in a sheet

Grain direction - Predominate direction of paper fibers in a sheets

Gutter - The blank space or inner margin from printing area to binding

Halftone - The reproduction of continuous tone artwork, such as photography, through a contact screen, which converts the image into dots of various sizes

Hickeys - In offset printing, spots or imperfections in the printing due to dirt on press, dust or paper particles, etc.

Holdout - In printing, a property of coated paper with low ink absorption which allows ink to set on the surface with high gloss

Imposition - Arrangement of pages in a press form to ensure the correct order after the printed sheet is folded and trimmed

Imaging agent (toner) - Typically used for large format printing.

Ink - A fluid comprising solving and oils (called a "medium" or "vehicle") in which a finely ground pigment of plant dyes, minerals, or synthetic dyes is suspended to provide color. The re are many different types of inks for the various printing processes.

Ink - (Gloss ink) - Printing ink usually containing varnish or synthetic resin base and drying oils -- ink dries quickly, and does not penetrate far into the paper and is normally used on coated and low-absorbency papers

Ink - (Opaque ink) - Ink that is not transparent and does not allow the paper to show through

Ink transparency - The degree to which substrate/paper will show through a printed ink

Knockout - Type or images that reverse out of a solid or tint

Layout - Arrangement of elements on a page including visuals, body text and headlines

Logo - Another term referring to corporate identity, including a symbol or mark and logotype

M - Abbreviation for a quantity of 1000 sheets of paper

Make Ready - The process of preparing a printing press before a new run, to establish register, ink density, consistent impression, and so on

Mechanical - Term for a compilation of artwork, including type, photos/scans, line art, etc., on art board or on disk

Mock Up - A preliminary layout showing the design, position of illustrations and text prior to the final reproduction

Offset - Printing technique in which the ink is transferred from the printing plate to a "blanket" cylinder and then to the paper or material on which it is to be printed (short for offset lithography)

Offset blanket - The rubber-coated blanket used in offset litho printing that transfers the inked imaged from plate to paper

One-up - Single printing of a single signature or image on a press sheet

Over-run - Printing of more pieces than specified. Make-ready sheets and spoilage play into every press run, so more sheets are run to account for this. Industry standards allow for 10% over-run or under-run. Duke allows 5% over-run billed at a lower rate.

Pantone®, Pantone® Matching System (PMS) - The standard ink color matching system used to specify colors; Duke Blue is PMS 287

Paper Stock - Term used to describe specifications for paper, often designated by the manufacturer or mill's name and weight

Pass sheet - A printed sheet of optimum print quality that is removed from the run, so subsequent sheets can be compared with it in quality control

Perfecting press - In offset printing, a configuration in which a continuous web or sheets of paper are fed between two blanket cylinders, printing both sides at once

Photomechanical - The preparation of printing plates involving photographic techniques

Plate cylinder - The cylinder on a printing press onto which the plate is fixed

Platemaking - The process of making an image on a printing plate by whatever means

Plugging - A printing problem where dot areas become filled in, resulting in loss of detail and contrast

Pre-press - Preparatory work by the printer to get a project ready to print. Includes scanning, computer work, output of files, and proofing.

Preprint - An item printed in advance of a publication, later inserted loosely into bound copies. Also called a blow-in.

Press - Any machine that transfers (prints) an impression, traditionally from a former block, plate, or blanket onto paper or other material

Positive Vs. negative - a black or color rendition of the identity printed on a white background

Press proof - A printed proof run on a the same or similar press to the one on which it will be printed using the actual inks, images and paper that will be used for the job

Process Color - Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and black - the primary colors used in four-color process printing. Process inks are transparent.

Process Built Color - The approximate duplication of a spot color, such as PMS 287, using specific percentages of the 4 process colors: cyan, magenta, yellow and black

Production press - The actual press used for a printing a job, as opposed to the one used for proofing it; it is sometimes impractical to use the production press for proofing

RGB - Red, green, blue- additive primary colors; designation for most computer monitors

Random Proofs - Pre-press proof showing the scan quality of a halftone, duotone or color separation that is not yet assembled with type and other elements. Also called loose or scatter proofs.

Register - In printing, fitting of two or more printing images in exact alignment with each other

Register sheet - A sheet used to obtain correct position and register when printing

Reversed Out - White rendition of an image printed on a black or dark color background in "negative" form

Sans Serif - A typeface without the short cross-lines at the ends of the main strokes of many letters; example: Universe Condensed

Screen Tint - A device used in printing that decreases color intensity by reproducing fine dots of the color; example: a 50% screen of black produces a medium gray

Serif - A typeface with short cross-lines at the ends of the main strokes of many letters; example: Times New Roman

Signature - In printing or binding, the name given to a printed sheet after it has been folded; each signature is composed of 4 pages

Silhouette - An image with all of the background removed

Single printing - The process of printing a sheet of paper first on one side and then on the other

Spot color - Any color used for printing that has been "custom mixed" for the job, as opposed to one of the four standard process colors.

Stet - A proofing mark, written in the margin, signifying that copy marked for corrections should remain as it was

Template - A computer file set up to be used by others indicating layout grid and typography specifications

Typeface - Another term for font, a set of typographic letters, numbers and characters all of the same family or style

Two-up - Printing two copies of each page on a single sheet. They are eventually trimmed into separate entities after binding.

Uncoated - Paper that has not been coated. Also called offset paper.

Vegetable ink - An ecologically sound printing ink made from vegetable oils

Wet printing process inks - Quick-drying inks used in multicolor printing; the last color seals the surface.

Web offset press - A rotary printing press that uses continuous paper from a large roll that is fed through a series of rollers (cylinders) on which the plates are mounted. The impression from the plate is offset onto a blanket before being printed onto the paper


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