Glossary Of Printing Terms
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Accordion fold: Bindery term, two or more parallel folds which open like an accordion.

Against the grain: At right angles to direction of paper grain.

Alteration: Change in copy of specifications after production has begun.

Artboard: Alternate term for mechanical art.

Backside printing: Printing the second side of a sheet already printed on one side.

Banding: Method of packaging printed pieces of paper using rubber or paper bands.

Basis weight: Weight in pounds of a ream of paper cut to the basic size for its grade.

Bind: To fasten sheets or signatures with wire, thread, glue. or by other means.

Bindery: The finishing department of a print shop or firm specializing in finishing printed products.

Blanket: The thick rubber mat on a printing press that transfers ink from the plate to paper.

Bleed: Printing that goes to the edge of the sheet after trimming.

Blind embossing: An image pressed into a sheet without ink or foil.

Blueline: A blue photographic proof used to check position of all image elements.

Bond & carbon: Business form with paper and carbon paper.

Bond paper: Strong durable paper grade used for letterheads and business forms.

Break for color: Also known as a color break. To separate mechanically or by software the parts to be printed in different colors.

Brightness: The brilliance or reflectance of paper.

Bulk pack: Boxing printed product without wrapping or banding.

Burn: Exposing a printing plate to high intensity light or placing an image on a printing plate by light.

Butt: Joining images without overlapping.

Carbonless: Pressure sensitive writing paper that does not use carbon.

Camera-ready copy: Print ready mechanical art.

Case bind: A type of binding used in making hard cover books using glue.

Cast coated: Coated paper with a high gloss reflective finish.

Coated paper: A clay coated printing paper with a smooth finish.

Collate: A finishing term for gathering paper in a precise order.

Color bar: A quality control term regarding the spots of ink color on the tail of a sheet.

Color correction: Methods of improving color separations.

Color key: Color proofs in layers of acetate:

Color matching system: A system of formulated ink colors used for communicating color.

Color separations: The process of preparing artwork, photographs, transparencies, or computer generated art for printing by separating into the four primary printing colors.

Comb bind: To plastic comb bind by inserting the comb into punched holes.

Composite film: Combining two or more images on one or more pieces of film.

Continuous-tone copy: Illustrations, photographs or computer files that contain gradient tones from black to white or light to dark.

Contrast: The tonal change in color from light to dark

Copy: All furnished material or disc used in the production of a printed product.

Cover paper: A heavy printing paper used to cover books, make presentation folders, etc.

Crash number: Numbering paper by pressing an image on the first sheet which is transferred to all parts of the printed set.

Cromalin: Trade name for DuPont color proofs.

Crop: To cut off parts of a picture or image.

Crop marks: Printed lines showing where to trim a printed sheet.

Cyan: One of four standard process colors. The blue color.

Densitometer: A quality control devise to measure the density of printing ink.

Density: The degree of color or darkness of an image or photograph.

Die: Metal rule or imaged block used to cut or place an image on paper in the finishing process.

Die cutting: Curing images in or out of paper.

Double burn: Exposing a plate to multiple images.

Drop-out: Portions of artwork that do not print.

Dummy: A rough layout of a printed piece showing position and finished size.

Duotone: A halftone picture made up of two printed colors.

Emboss: Pressing an image into paper so that it will create a raised relief.

Foil: A metallic or pigmented coating on plastic sheets or rolls used in foil stamping and foil embossing.

Foil emboss: Foil stamping and embossing a image on paper with a die.

Foil stamping: Using a die to place a metallic or pigmented image on paper.

4-color-process: The process of combining four basic colors to create a printed color picture or colors composed from the basic four colors.

French fold: Two folds at right angles to each other.

Galley proof: Text copy before it is put into a mechanical layout or desktop layout.

Generation: Stages of reproduction from original copy. A first generation reproduction yields the best quality.

Gloss: A shiny look reflecting light.

Grain: The direction in which the paper fiber lie.

Grippers: The metal fingers on a printing press that hold the paper as it passes through the press.

Hairline: A very thin line or gap about the width of a hair or 1/100 inch.

Halftone: Converting a continuous tone to dots for printing.

Hard copy: The output of a computer printer, or typed text sent for typesetting.

Hickey: Reoccurring unplanned spots that appear in the printed image from dust, lint, dried ink.

High-bulk paper: A paper made thicker than its standard basis weight.

Highlight: The lightest areas in a picture or halftone.

Image area: Portion of paper on which ink can appear.

Imposition: Positioning printed pages so they will fold in the proper order.

Impression: Putting an image on paper.

Imprint: Adding copy to a previously printed page.

Indicia: Postal information place on a printed product.

Keylines: Lines on mechanical art that show position of photographs or illustrations.

Kiss die cut: To cut the top layer of a pressure sensitive sheet and not the backing.

Knock out: To mask out an image.

Laid finish: Simulating the surface of handmade paper.

Laminate: To cover with film, to bond or glue one surface to another.

Line copy: High contrast copy not requiring a halftone.

Magenta: Process red, one of the basic colors in process color.

Makeready: All the activities required to prepare a press for printing.

Matchprint: Trade name for 3M integral color proof.

Matte finish: Dull paper or ink finish

Mechanical: Camera ready art all contained on one board.

Mechanical separation: Mechanical art overlay for each color to be printed.

Negative: The image on film that makes the white areas of originals black and black areas white.

Non-reproducing blue: A blue color the camera cannot see. Used in marking up artwork.

Offsetting: Using an intermediate surface used to transfer ink. Also, an unpleasant happening when the images of freshly printed sheets transfer images to each other.

Offset paper: Term for uncoated book paper.

OK sheet: Final approved color inking sheet before production begins.

Outline halftone: Removing the background of a picture or silhouetting an image in a picture.

Overlay: The transparent cover sheet on artwork often used for instructions.

Page count: Total number of pages in a book including blanks.

Perfect bind: A type of binding that glues the edge of sheets to a cover like a telephone book, Microsoft software manual, or Country Living Magazine.

Pica: Unit of measure in typesetting. One pica = 1/6 inch

PMS: The abbreviated name of the Pantone Color Matching System.

PMT: Abbreviated name for photomechanical transfer. Often used to make position prints.

PostScript: The computer language most recognized by printing devices.

Press number: A method of numbering manufacturing business forms or tickets.

Pressure-sensitive paper: Paper material with self sticking adhesive covered by a backing sheet.

Process blue: The blue or cyan color in process printing.

Process colors: Cyan (blue), magenta (process red), yellow (process yellow), black (process black).

Ragged left: Type that is justified to the right margin and the line lengths vary on the left.

Ragged right: Type that is justified to the left margin and the line lengths vary on the right.

Ream: Five hundred sheets of paper.

Reflective copy: Copy that is not transparent.

Register: To position print in the proper position in relation to the edge of the sheet and to other printing on the same sheet.

Register marks: Cross-hair lines or marks on film, plates, and paper that guide strippers, platemakers, pressmen, and bindery personnel in processing a print order from start to finish.

Reverse: The opposite of what you see. Printing the background of an image. For example; type your name on a piece of paper. The reverse of this would be a black piece of paper with a white name.

Rip film: A method of making printing negatives from PostScript files created by desktop publishing.

Saddle stitch: Binding a booklet or magazine with staples in the seam where it folds.

Scanner: Device used to make color separations, halftones, duo tones and tri tones. Also a device used to scan art, pictures or drawings in desktop publishing.

Score: A crease put on paper to help it fold better.

Screen angles: Frequently a desktop publishers nightmare. The angles at which halftone, duo tones, tri tones, and color separation printing films are placed to make them look right.

Self-cover: Using the same paper as the text for the cover.

Shadow: The darkest areas of a photograph.

Show-through: Printing on one side of a sheet that can be seen on the other side of the sheet.

Side guide: The mechanical register unit on a printing press that positions a sheet from the side.

Side stitch: Binding by stapling along one side of a sheet.

Signature: A sheet of printed pages which when folded become a part of a book or publication.

Silhouette halftone: A term used for an outline halftone.

Spoilage: Planned paper waste for all printing operations.

Spot varnish: Varnish used to hilight a specific part of the printed sheet.

Stamping: Term for foil stamping.

Stat: Term for inexpensive print of line copy or halftone.

Step-and-repeat: A procedure for placing the same image on plates in multiple places.

Stock: The material to be printed.

Stripping: The positioning of film on a flat prior to platemaking.

Text paper: Grades of uncoated paper with textured surfaces.

Tints: A shade of a single color or combined colors.

Transparent copy: A film that light must pass through for it to be seen or reproduced.

Transparent ink: A printing ink that does not conceal the color under it.

Trapping: The ability to print one ink over the other.

Trim size: The final size of one printed image after the last trim is made.

Up: Printing two or three up means printing multiple copies of the same image on the same sheet.

UV coating: Liquid laminate bonded and cured with ultraviolet light. Environmentally friendly.

Varnish: A clear liquid applied to printed surfaces for looks and protection. (UV coating looks better.)

Vignette halftone: A halftone whose background gradually fades to white.

Washup: Removing printing ink from a press, washing the rollers and blanket. Certain ink colors require multiple washups to avoid ink and chemical contamination.

Waste: A term for planned spoilage.

Watermark: A distinctive design created in paper at the time of manufacture that can be easily seen by holding the paper up to a light.

Web: A roll of printing paper.

Web press: The name of a type of presses that print from rolls of paper.

With the grain: Folding or feeding paper into the press or folder parallel to the grain of the paper.

Work and tumble: Printing one side of a sheet and turning it over from the gripper to the tail to print the second side using the same side guide and plate for the second side.

Work and turn: Printing one side of a sheet and turning it over from left to right using the same side guides and plate for the second side

Wove paper: A paper having a uniform unlined surface with a smooth finish.