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A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 A
Accordion Fold - a series of two or more parallel
folds in which each fold opens in the opposite direction of
the previous fold, that open like an accordion
Adobe® - Adobe Systems Incorporated, a
company that builds graphics software
Acrobat® - a software program from Adobe®
that allows you to create and view PDF files. PDF files can
be viewed and printed on any computer platform
Against the Grain - at right angles to the
grain of the paper
Aliasing - when raster images show jagged
edges when magnified. Anti-Aliasing is when the jagged edges
are masked with surrounding lighter pixels to create a smooth
edge.
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B
Bindery - additional work needed to complete
the job after the job has been printed. Includes binding, collating,
cutting, drilling, folding, packaging, stitching, trimming,
tabbing, and wrapping
Bit -Mapped Image- an image made up of pixels,
also called a rasterized image
Blanket - a covering on the printing cylinder
of a printing press. The blanket transfers the ink from the
printing plate to the paper.
Bleed - When the printed inks run all the
way to the edge of the paper.
Blind Embossing - embossing without printing.
The design is stamped without ink and gives a bas-relief effect.
Brightness - the ability of a paper to reflect
light.
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C
C1S - paper coated on one side.
C2S - paper coated on both sides.
Caliper - a measure of a paper's thickness
expressed in thousandths of an inch (mils).
Camera-Ready Art - graphic art that has been
assembled in place and is ready to be photographed or digitally
scanned to make a printing plate.
Card Stock - also called cover stock. This
paper is used for postcards, business cards, catalog covers
and other items that need a heavy weight.
CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow and black) - these
are the colors used for full color process printing. These four
inks when mixed together can reproduce a wide range of colors
and shades.
Collate - to organize, gather, and assemble
the various parts of a printed piece or business form.
Color Bars - a series of control targets on
the press sheet that allow the press operator to maintain consistency
and accuracy throughout the press run.
Color-Correct - to retouch or enhance color
levels in a digital file before output to color separate.
Color Proofs - progressive in color process
work, proofs made from the separate plates to show the sequence
of printing and the result after each additional color has been
applied.
Color Separation - the photographic or electronic
means of separating artwork into the different colors used to
reproduce the image. Each color is then made into a plate to
be run on press
Compression - a software process by which
images or files are condensed so that they occupy less storage
space. Compressed files transmit faster over the internet due
to their reduced file size.
Continuous Tone - all camera and scanner input
exhibiting a range of gray tones formed by photography, not
dots or screens. All basic photographs, prints and transparencies
fall under this category.
Contrast - in photography (either color or
black and white), the range of tonal gradation between highlights
and shadows- in other words, the comparative density of certain
areas of the image. The farther apart the tones are, the higher
the contrast.
Crop Marks - lines positioned outside the
corners of the sheet showing where you want the job to be trimmed
or folded.
Cropping - eliminating portions of copy so
that it better fits the page design. It is usually done by trimming
the image.
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D
Densitometer - a sensitive photoelectric instrument
that measures the density of photographic images or colors.
Density - in the graphic arts, the relative
light absorption in a given area of an image, whether photographic,
typed, printed, or carbon.
Desktop Publishing (DTP) - the process of
creating fully composed pages using a computer, off-the-shelf
software and an output device such as a laser printer.
Die - a sharp metal rule used for die cutting,
or a block of metal used for embossing or foil stamping.
Die Cutting - cutting irregular shapes in
paper using metal rules mounted on a letter press.
Dot - a single element of a halftone printing
surface.
Dot Gain - the phenomenon of dots printing
larger on paper than their actual size on negatives or plates.
Double-Burn - in production, exposing two
or more films onto a printing plate or a new film to create
a single image. The images are "burned" in register
onto the sensitized plate.
DPI - A 300 dpi printer, for instance, is
capable of printing 300 dots across and 300 down within one
inch square. DPI is a measurement of resolution of any output
device.
Duotone - a two-color halftone reproduction
made from a monochrome original.
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E
Embossing - raised letters or designs created
by squeezing the paper between two metal dies.
EPS (Encapsulated Postscript) - this format
of computer file is the preferred format for printing. It allows
your graphics to be imaged at the resolution of the final output
device. EPS files can be either raster or vector.
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F
Finish Size - size of printed product after
production is complete.
Flush - the lining up of image or copy to
the left or right with another image or copy.
Foil Stamping - a process of stamping foil
designs or lettering on book covers or other materials.
Fold Marks - short lines printed on a document
to show where it should be folded.
Font - the carrier for a typeface style. Foot-
the bottom of a page, book or column.
Format - all elements that make up the individual
character of a publication. Format includes size, style, type,
page margins, printing requirements, binding, etc.
Four-Color Process - a technique of printing
that uses the three process colors of ink (yellow, cyan, magenta)
and black to simulate color photographs or illustrations.
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G
GIF - this file format is mainly used for Web
graphics. It makes a very small file, but is not extremely accurate.
GIF, which is limited to 256 colors, is not acceptable for quality
reproduction in printing.
Ghosting - phenomenon of a faint, unintended
image on a printed sheet.
Grain - in paper, grain is the direction in
which most wood pulp fibers lie within the sheet as the paper
is made. Folding paper against the grain breaks more wood fibers
than folding with the grain, resulting in an uneven, less precise
fold.
Gripper Edge - in sheet-fed printing, the
amount of space needed for the grippers (i.e., the devices that
pull the paper through the press) to grasp the leading edge
(i.e., the gripper edge) of the paper. Although the amount of
gripper space might vary from one press to another, it usually
ranges from 1/4" to 5/8".
Gutter - the inner margin of a page, from
the edge of the printing area to the binding edge.
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H
Halftone - the process of converting a continuous
tone photograph into a pattern of different size dots that simulate
shades of gray. When viewed with a magnifying glass you will
see a series of dots but at normal viewing distances appears
continuous tone.
Hard Copy - a printed or written document
on film or paper.
Head - the top of a page or book.
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I
Impression - the results of one rotation of
a plate cylinder on a printing press.
Imprint - a secondary printing over a limited
area, whether performed by a small imprinting unit or by a press
prior to delivery to the client. Also, an imprint can be a name
or trademark printed in a document margin by the printer.
InDesign™ - the latest page layout software
from Adobe® for publication design and layout.
Indicia - postal permit information printed
on objects to be mailed; accepted by the US Postal Service in
lieu of stamps.
Ink Absorption - extent and rate of penetration
of printing ink into the surface of a paper. Influences ink
drying time and degree of ink holdout. Inks printed on uncoated
text papers dry by absorption
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J
JPEG - a file format used for good quality
photographic reproduction on the Web. JPEG graphics are capable
of reproducing a full range of color while still remaining small
enough for Web use. Most of the photographs you see on the Web
are JPEG format.
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K
Kerning - an effort to eliminate excessive
white space in a document by reducing the space between certain
letters.
Knockout - part of an image that is purposely
eliminated so another image can be printed.
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L
LAN - abbreviation for "Local Area Network."
A LAN is used to physically link workstations with a file server,
allowing the hardware and software to work together. The LAN
also allows users to share peripheral devices such as magnetic
drives and printers.
Landscape - page orientation in which width
is greater than depth.
Laser Printer - a printer that uses a laser
light beam to create a latent image on an intermediate photoconductive
surface. The conductive surface is placed in contact with a
toner, and the resultant image is transferred to plain paper
and fused with heat and/or pressure.
Layout - the basic elements of a design shown
in their proper positions on a layout sheet, with specifications
of type, spacing, and general style.
Lithography - a printing process in which
both the image and non-image areas are on the same plane. It
is based on the principle that oil (ink) and water do not mix.
The image is first transferred to a rubber blanket and then
to paper.
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M
M - abbreviation for a quantity of 1,000. ("M"
is the Roman numeral for 1,000.)
Matte Finish - a paper surface having a level,
smooth coat exhibiting little or no gloss.
Moiré - with halftone screens, an undesirable
wavelike or checkered geometric pattern caused when two screened
images are superimposed at certain angles. This can also occur
when a halftone is photographed through a screen.
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O
Offset Printing - a printing process in which
the inked image is transferred (i.e., "offset") from
the plate to an intermediate blanket before being printed on
the substrate.
Overprinting - printing an image over another
impression. In addition, in graphic arts work, overprinting
refers to printing a secondary color over a primary color in
order to achieve a special tint or pattern.
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P
PageMaker® - an older page layout program
by Adobe®. InDesign® is the newest page layout program
by Adobe® and is expected to replace PageMaker®
Pantone® Matching System - trade name
for a color-matching system used by printers to specify inks
for printing. A specific formula is used to produce each shade,
and each shade is assigned a specific number. Often referred
to as "PMS.".
Parent Sheet - the original sheet from which
press size sheets are cut.
Perfect Bound - a style of binding in which
all pages are held together by adhesive at the back or binding
edge.
Perforation - a series of cuts or holes manufactured
on a form to weaken it for tearing.
PhotoShop® - The premier photo manipulation
program created by Adobe®, used to color correct and sharpen
scans.
Pica - a typographic measurement. There are
approximately 6 picas in an inch and 12 points in a pica.
Pixel - abbreviation for "picture element."
The smallest, most basic component of an image on a display
screen. A pixel is comparable to an individual dot in a printed
photograph. The number of pixels in an image determines its
resolution.
Plate - the surface from which a print is
made and that bears the image to be reproduced.
Point - a unit of measurement designating
either type size or the thickness of paper. With type size,
one point equals .0138", and there are 12 points in one
pica. With paper thickness, one point equals 0.001".
PostScript® - A page description language,
created by Adobe®, for medium to high resolution printing
devices. PostScript® describes points and lines in space
to accurately render type and pictures yielding rich content
and appearance.
PreFlight - In digital prepress, the test
used to evaluate or analyze every component needed to produce
a printing job. Preflight confirms the type of disk being submitted,
the color gamut, color breaks, and any art required (illustrations,
photographs, etc.) plus layout files, screen fonts, printer
fonts, EPS or TIFF files, laser proofs, page sizes, print driver,
crop marks, etc.
Press Check - event at which test sheets are
examined before the production run is authorized to begin.
Process Color - any of the three subtractive
primary colors- yellow, magenta, and cyan- that are used in
combination with one another to reproduce the entire visible
spectrum.
Proof - a sheet of printed copy that is a
representation of a printed piece.
Proofreading - examining a printed piece for
typesetting errors.
Publisher - a software package produced by
Microsoft for simple office and home publishing.
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Q
QuarkXPress® - a professional quality desktop
publishing program. It is the program of choice for many designers
and advertising agencies.
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R
RAM - abbreviation for "Random Access
Memory." RAM is the working memory of a computer; information
stored in RAM can be modified and written to.
Raster Image Processor (RIP) - the process
of interpreting a page description language, such as Postscript,
to a raster format at the resolution and in the format required
for a printer or imagesetter. May also refer to the hardware
and/or software used in the process of ripping a file.
Ream - five hundred sheets of paper. The weight
per ream cut to a standard size for a particular grade of paper
is that paper's basis weight.
Registration Marks - marks outside the printing
area that help to make sure colors are lined up or "registered"
together. Registration- in printing, registration refers to
the alignment of printed images. Resolution- the measure of
detail in an image.
RGB - red, green and blue. These are the primary
colors which make white light. For printing, secondary colors
(cyan, magenta and yellow) are used to simulate the colors required.
Black (K) is added to help CMY reproduce rich blacks and shadows.
When preparing color files for output, please ensure that all
placed graphics and colors are separated for four-color CMYK
and not RGB.
ROM - abbreviation for "Read Only Memory."
ROM cannot be written to- only read.
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S
Saddle Stitching - a method of binding in which
wire staples are inserted through the fold at the spine and
clinched in the center of the center spread, so that the pages
lie flat when the piece is opened.
Scaling - figuring the proportions of artwork
so that it can be either enlarged or reduced to fit into a particular
area.
Scanning - a process by which images are optically
sensed by a scanner and converted by special software into binary
code that corresponds to the image's dark and light spots.
Score - to impress or indent a mark in the
paper to make folding easier.
Serif - a short line or adornment that crosses
the main strokes of characters in a typeface.
Sheet Fed - a press that prints on sheets
of paper that are fed into the press one at a time.
Signature - a sheet of printed pages (in multiples
of four, eight or sixteen) that, when folded, become part of
a publication.
Solid - any area of the sheet that has received
100% ink coverage.
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T
Tint - a general shading applied to a form.
A tint is usually a low-percentage flat screen or a very light
color printed solid.
Trapping - a technique in which touching colors
are slightly overlapped to cover any misregistration of the
printing plates.
Typography - the design, style, appearance
or arrangement of matter printed from type.
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U
Uncoated Paper - paper that has not had a final
coating applied for smoothness. Uncoated paper is absorbent
and soft in appearance.
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V
Varnish - a clear, liquid coating, either matte
or glossy, that is applied to a printed product for protection
and appearance.
Vellum - a paper finish that makes the paper
strong, toothy, and absorbent.
Vignette - a halftone with a gradually fading
background.
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W
Watermark - a design, pattern, or symbol impressed
in paper while it is being formed on the wet end of the paper
machine, usually from a wire design attached to a dandy roll.
When the paper is held up to light, the watermark appears as
either a lighter or darker area than the rest of the paper.
Web Press - a press that prints images on
rolls of paper.
Work-and-Turn - printing on both sides of
a sheet, using the same lead edge for both passes through the
press.
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