Printing Definitions
Accordion fold a method of folding in which each crease opens in the opposite direction to give the printed piece a pleated effect.
Account # - a number used for billing purposes when the job is complete.
Acrobat Adobe software suite used to convert electronic documents into Adobe PDF files that can be viewed, annotated, and printed on any computer.
Air an amount of white space in a layout.
Align to line up typeset or other graphic material as specified, using a base or vertical line as the reference point.
Art in graphic arts usage, all matter other than text material e.g. illustrations and photographs.
ASCII American Standard Code for Information Interchange. A standard format for representing digital information in 8-bit pieces.
Authorized signer and individual who has been specifically authorized by his/her business office, to sign for printing to be done.
Autoflow in some computer applications, the ability to flow text automatically from one page to another, or one column to another.
Backing up to print the second side of printed sheet. Also, to make a duplicate of a computer file as a precaution against losing the original.
Backslash character used when creating a path to a file (\) example: C:\Windows\ProgramFiles\Adobe.exe
Balloon a circle or bubble enclosing copy in an illustration. Used in cartoons.
Banding a visible stair stepping of shades in a gradient.
Banner a large headline or title extending across the full-page width.
Bar code a pattern of vertical lines of varying thickness-identifying details of a product, conforming to the Universal Product Code (UPC).
Base film the basic material for contact film in plate making for photomechanical reproduction, to which film positives are stripped.
Baseline the line on which the bases of capital letters sit.
Binding the various methods used to secure loose leaves or sections in a book; e.g. saddle stitch, perfect bind, GBC, spiral binding, etc.
Bitmapped also referred to as pixilated and used to refer to an image that has a resolution or line screen too low for the output resolution. (That image looks bitmapped.), or line art scanned at 72 dpi (typical web site graphics) when it is to be printed at 2540 dpi will be very coarsely bitmapped.
Bitmapped font a font made up of bitmapped letters, characterized by jagged edges, as opposed to the smooth edges of an outline font.
Bleed layout, type or pictures that extend beyond the trim marks on a page. Illustrations that spread to the edge of the paper without margins are referred to a bled off'.
Blow up an enlargement, most frequently of a graphic image or photograph.
Blueline proof is an accurate representation of what your finished job will look like graphically (not in color) (This is a good time to make sure everything is showing up right and that nothing has shifted. (At this point, film has been made and stripped, so this is NOT the best time to make corrections on spelling, and punctuation because of the cost to make new film and re-strip such changes).
Blurb a short description or commentary of a book or author on a book jacket.
Body the main text of the work but not including headlines.
Body size the height of the type measured from the top of the tallest ascender to the bottom of the lowest descender. Normally given in points, the standard unit pf type size.
Bold type type with a heavier darker appearance. Most typefaces have a bold face.
Bond paper with or without a watermark pattern showing the wire marks used in the paper making process. Watermarks are usually associated with high quality stationary.
Border a continuous decorative design or rule surrounding the matter on the page.
Box a section of text marked off by rules or white space and presented separately from the main text and illustrations. Longer boxed sections in magazines are sometimes referred to as sidebars.
Bullet a large dot preceding text to add emphasis.
Caliper the thickness of sheets of paper or the thickness of a book to determine spine width. Also the name of the tool used to make the measurement.
Camera ready artwork, hardcopy or pasted up material that is ready for reproduction.
Cap line an imaginary line across the top of capital letters. The distance from the cap line to the baseline is the cap size.
Caps an abbreviation for capital letters.
Caption the line or lines of text that refer to information identifying a picture or illustration.
Carbonless paper coated with chemicals and dye which will produce copies without carbon paper. Also referred to as NCR (no carbon required).
Case bind results in a hard cover book.
CMYK cyan, yellow, magenta, black. The subtractive primaries, or process colors, used in color printing. Black (K) is usually added to enhance color and to print a true black. See four-color process.
Coated printing papers, which after making have had a surface coating with clay, etc. to give a smoother, more even finish with greater opacity.
Coil binding also known as spiral binding, is a method of binding that secures pre-trimmed sheets by the insertion of wire or plastic spirals through holes drilled in the binding edge.
Collate to gather separate sections or leaves of a book together in the correct order for binding.
Color may refer to the color of the paper or ink. (see Pantone for inks)
Color correction the process of adjusting an image to compensate for scanner deficiencies or for the characteristics of the output device.
Composite color proof is an accurate representation of how you color will fall on your finished job. This is a good time to make sure everything is showing up right and that nothing has shifted. (At this point, film has been made and stripped, so this is NOT the best time to make corrections on spelling, and punctuation because of the cost to make new film and re-strip such changes).
Color laser proof color proof output by our color laser printer. If the final product is not going to be printed on the color printer, do not consider the color to be absolute. This is the best time to check for and make corrections on spelling, and punctuation, font substitution and graphic problems with the layout.
Color printer 600 dpi color printer used for proofing and certain production jobs. Best for smaller runs with a quick turn around.
Color proof a representation of what the final printed composition will look like. The resolution and quality of different types or color can vary greatly.
Color separations the division of an image into its component colors for printing. Each color separation is a piece of negative or positive film. Four color or process separations result in 4 pieces of film (CMYK); Spot color separations result in 1 piece of film for each spot color.
Color transparency a photographic image transparent film used as artwork. 35 mm, 4 x 5 and 8 x 10 formats are commonly used.
Comp comprehensive artwork used to present the general color land layout of a page. See proof.
Compose to set copy into type.
Composing proof refers to a black and white laser proof: (this is the best time to check for spelling, punctuation errors, font substitution, graphic problems and layout).
Condensed a style of typeface in which the characters have an elongated appearance.
Contact person that individual responsible for proofing a job in process.
Continuous tone an image in which the subject has continuous shades of color or gray without being broken up by dots. Continuous tones cannot be reproduced in that form for printing, but must be screened to translate the image into dots.
Contrast the relationship between the lightest and darkest areas of an image.
Copyright the right of copyright gives protection to the originator of material to prevent use without express permission or acknowledgement of the originator.
Copy Center fast turnaround, 600 dpi Docutech printers create documents printed in black ink on paper (white or colored).
Crop marks lines printed showing the dimensions of the final printed page. These marks are used for final trimming.
Cropping the elimination of parts of a photograph or other original that are not required to be printed. Cropping allows the remaining parts of the image to be enlarged to fill the space.
Cursive used to describe typefaces that resemble written script.
Cut flush a method of trimming a book after the cover has been attached to the pages.
Cutout a halftone where the background has been removed to produce a silhouette.
Cutting a function of the bindery.
Densitometer a devise sensitive to the density of light transmitted or reflected by paper or film. Used to check the accuracy, quality, and consistency of output.
Density the degree of opacity of a photographic image on paper or film.
Die a hardened steel engraving stamp used to print, stamp or emboss and image.
Die cut the trimming or cutting of a document into a pattern or shape.
Disk media upon which composed electronic files can be stored
Dot gain a printing defect in which dots print larger than intended, causing darker colors or tones; due to the spreading of ink on stock. The more absorbent the stock is, the more dot gain. Can vary by type of ink as well.
dpi dots per inch. A measure of output resolution produced by printers, image setters, or monitors.
Downloadable fonts Typefaces that can be stored on a disk and then downloaded to the printer when required for printing. These are, by definition, bit mapped fonts and, therefore, fixed in size and style.
Elliptical dot a type of halftone screen dot with an elliptical rather that circular shape, which sometimes produces better tonal gradations.
EPS Enhanced PostScript. A file format used to transfer PostScript image information from one program to another. The preferred file format for saving images, as it is resolution independent, as opposed to TIFF.
Face an abbreviation for typeface referring to a family in a given style.
Filler extra material used to complete a column or page, usually of little importance.
Film a transparent material coated with a light-sensitive substance.
Film negative a piece of film with a reversed image, in which dark areas appear white, and vice versa.
Flat size the dimensions of a finished print job before folding or binding.
Floppy disk (see disk)
Flush left copy aligned along the left margin.
Flush right copy aligned along the right margin.
Flyer an inexpensively produced circular used for promotional distribution.
Foil stamping a process for stamping a design on a book cover or other matter without ink by using a colored foil with pressure from a heated die.
Font a complete set of characters in a typeface.
Four color process printing in full color using four-color separation negatives yellow, magenta, cyan, and black. When blended, these four colors reproduce only a small portion of all the colors found in nature, but they can reproduce the widest range with the fewest types of ink when printing.
Forward slash (/) used when attempting to reach a web-site (example://www.ncsu.edu)
Freehand Macromedia vector based illustration software, commonly used when creating logos and other graphically based images. Similar to Adobe Illustrator.
Gatefold an oversize page where both sides fold into the gutter in overlapping layers. Used to accommodate maps into books, brochures, etc.
Gradation a smooth transition between black and white, one color and another, or color and the lack of it.
Grayscale a range of luminance values for evaluating shading through white to black. Frequently used in discussions about scanners as a measure of their ability to capture halftone images. Basically, the more levels the better, but with correspondingly larger memory requirements.
Grid a systematic division of a page into areas to enable designers to ensure constancy. The grid acts as a measuring guide and shows text, illustrations and trim sizes.
Gutter the central black area between left and right pages.
Hairline rule the thinnest rule that can be printed.
Halftone an illustration reproduced by breaking down the original tone into a pattern of dots of varying size. Light areas have small dots and darker areas or shadows have larger dots. Simulating a continuous tone photograph using dots.
Handwork bindery procedures that cannot be completed by a machine. This usually adds to the cost of your job.
Hard disk also known as your C: drive (PC) the hard disk holds all the local computer data.
Hardback a case bound book with a separate stiff board cover.
Head the margin at the top of a page.
Hickies a dust particle sticking to the printing plate or blanket which appears on the printed sheet as a dark spot surrounded by a halo.
Highlight the lightest area in a photograph or illustration.
High Resolution 300+ DPI
Hue the wavelength of light of a color in its purest state.
Icons pictorial images used on screen to indicate utility functions, files, folders or applications software.
Illustrator Adobe vector based illustration software, commonly used when creating logos and other graphically based images.
Imagesetter a devise used to output a computer image or composition at high resolution onto photographic paper or film.
Imposition refers to the arrangement of pages on a printed sheet, which when the sheet is finally printed on both sides, folded and trimmed, will place the pages in their correct order.
Italic type with sloping letters.
Justify the alignment of text along a margin or both margins. This is achieved by adjusting the spacing between the words and characters as necessary so that each line of text finished at the same point along the margins.
Job# - number assigned to a job as it is entered into production. Also used to track jobs. It is very important to refer to this number in case you have questions, or reordering.
Knockout a shape or object printed by eliminating (knocking out) all background colors.
Laminate a thin transparent plastic coating (gloss or matte) applied to paper or board to provide protection.
Landscape layout in which the width used is greater than the height.
Laser printer a high quality image printing system using a laser beam to produce an image on a photosensitive drum. Then image is transferred on to paper by a convention xerographic printing process.
Layout a sketch of a page for printing showing the position of text and illustrations and giving general instructions.
Lead or leading space added between lines of type to space out text and provide visual separation of the lines.
Letterspacing the addition of space between the letters of words to increase the line-length to a required width or to improve the appearance of a line.
Light table a table with an illuminated top used for preparing and checking alignment of page layouts and paste-ups.
Line gauge a metal rule used by printers. Divided into Picas it is 72 picas long (11.952 in)
Linen tester a magnifying glass designed for checking the dot images in printing.
Lines Per Inch (LPI) a measure of the frequency of a halftone screen. Originally, halftones were made by placing an etched glass plate over an image and exposing it to produce dots. LPI refers to the frequency of the horizontal and vertical lines.
Logo a word or combination of letters set as a single unit. Also used to denote a specially styled company name designed as part of a corporate image.
Loose leaf a method of binding which allows the insertion and removal of pages for continuous updating.
Lower case the small letters in a font of type.
MS Word Microsoft word processing software used in the creation of text documents. Not reccommended for layout print job preparation.
MS PowerPoint Microsoft slide/presentation software used in the creation of digital slide shows. Not reccommended for layout print job preparation.
MAC - Short for Macintosh Computer and refers to a platform (language) used by Apple & Macintosh computers.
Masthead details of publisher and editorial staff usually printed on the cover.
Matte a coated printing paper with a dull surface.
Metallic Ink printing inks that produce an effect: gold, silver, bronze or metallic colors.
Mock up the assembling of all elements, to form the printed image. (Shows the printer what the job should look like when it is complete).
Moiré pattern the result of superimposing half-tone screens at the wrong angle, thereby giving a checkered effect on the printed half tone.
Monochrome a black and whiter display with no gray tones.
Montage a single image formed from the assembling of several images.
Multi binding also known as Saddle Stitching consists of a booklet folded in half and stitched or stapled, in the fold.
Negs negatives representing each color of ink needed for the printing job. Used in offset printing.
Opacity term used to describe the degree to which paper will show print through.
Outline a typeface in which the characters are formed with only the outline defined rather than from solid strokes.
Overlay a transparent sheet used in the preparation of multi-color artwork showing the color breakdown.
PC (Personal Computer) refers to a computer platform (language) used by the Windows, Unix and Linux operating systems.
PDF (Portable Document Format) electronic document that can be output by any printer.
Padding adding an adhesive compound to the edge of sheets to form a pad.
PageMaker graphical layout software (created by Adobe) used for projects that will be printed. It is highly recommended that you use PageMaker or Quark Xpress for layout.
Pantone a registered name for an ink color matching system.
Parallel fold a method of folding; i.e. two parallel folds will produce a six panel sheet: 3 panels per side of the sheet = 6 panels.
Perfect binding a common method of binding paperback books. After the printed sections are collated, the spine with be ground off and the cover glued on.
Perforate tiny holes punched into a sheet, often used with tear-out cards.
PhotoShop Adobe image manipulation and retouching software commonly used for color correction and clean-up of photos and artwork.
Pica a printing unit of measurement. There are 12 points to a pica, one pica is approximately 0.166.
Pigment the substance that gives ink its color.
Pixel the smallest distinct unit of a bitmapped image displayed on a screen. If an item is considered pixilated the resolution is too low.
Plates metal plates used in the offset printing process.
Plastic binding similar technique to Spiral/Coil binding, however, it involves larger coils (not continuous) and is more cost efficient.
PMS Pantone Matching System. A commonly used system for identifying specific ink colors.
Point the standard unit of type size of which there are 72 to the inch. Point size is measured from the top of the ascended to the bottom of the descender.
Portrait an upright image or page where the height is greater than the width.
Positive a true photographic image of the original made on paper or film.
PostScript a page description language developed by Adobe Systems, often used when pre-flighting jobs.
Process colors See four-color process.
Progressives color proofs taken at each stage of printing, showing each color printed singly and then superimposed on the preceding color.
Proof a copy of the project obtained from laser or color printer, blueline or composite color, for checking consistency and accuracy.
Quark Xpress layout software used for creating documents that will be printed. It is recommended that you use this or Adobe PageMaker.
Ragged right/left successive lines of type which are of unequal length and which are aligned at either the right or left hand column.
Ream 500 sheets of paper.
Registration marks small cross hairs on film used in the alignment of negatives.
Register the correct positioning of an image especially when printing one color on another.
Retouching a means of altering an image to correct faults or enhance the image.
Reset refers to a job that is partially complete (i.e. needs to be re-designed, graphics or text added, or needs new layout).
Rerun term used when film/plates are in University Graphics possession and the customer request more finished documents to be printed.
Resolution quality of an image, measured in ppi (pixels per inch) or dpi (dots per inch).
Reverse to reproduce as a white image out of a solid background.
Revise indicates the stages at which corrections have been incorporated from earlier proofs and new proofs submitted. (i.e. first revision, second revision, etc.)
RGB red, green blue. The additive primary colors use for computer monitor displays. Not good for printing purposes.
Rosette the pattern created when all four color halftone screens are placed at the traditional angles.
Rough a preliminary sketch of a proposed design.
Run-a-round the ability within a program to run text around a graphic image within a document, without the need to adjust each line manually.
Saddle stitching also called multi-binding, a method of binding where the folded pages are stitched through the spine from the outside, using wire staples. Must layout in 4 page spreads in order to bind.
Scaling a means of calculating the amount of enlargement or reduction necessary to accommodate a photograph within the area of a design.
Scanner a digitizing device using light sensitivity to translate a picture or typed text into a pattern of dots which can be understood and stored by computer.
Score crease needed before folding to create an accurate and neat fold line.
Serif a small cross stroke at the end of the main stroke of a letter.
Soft back/cover a book bound with a paper back cover.
Spell check a facility contained within a word processing and page layout program to enable a spelling error to be caught in most cases before printing.
Spine the binding edge at the back of a book.
Spread two facing pages of a multi-paged document.
Stock refers to the kind of paper.
Stripping the preparation and assembling of film prior to plate making.
Swatch a color sample, either ink or paper.
Tabloid 11 x 17 page size.
Tagged Image File Format (TIFF) a common format for interchanging digital information, generally associated with grayscale or bitmap data.
Template a standard layout usually containing basic details of the page dimensions.
Text wrap see Run-a-round.
Text the written or printed material that forms the main body of a publication.
Text type typefaces used for the main text of written material. Generally, no larger than 14 points in size.
Thesis Binding bound like a hard cover book.
TIFF Tagged Image File Format. A resolution-dependent file format for exchanging bitmapped images between applications.
Tint a screen of a solid color.
Transparency a full color photographically produced image on transparent film.
Trapping a prepress technique that allows for variation in registration during the press run. This is done primarily by allowing an overlap between abutting colors.
Trim the cutting of the finished product to the correct size. Marks are incorporated on the printed sheet to show where the trimming is to be made.
Typo an abbreviation for a typographical error in the typeset copy.
Varnish a gloss or dull transparent coating applied over the printed sheet to produce a glossy or dull finish.
Velo binding a flat unobtrusive binding consists of a black plastic ¼ wide strip on the outer edge of the bound copy. (does not allow the document to lie flat.)
Watermark an impression incorporated in the paper making process showing the name of the paper name or manufacturer.
Weight refers to the thickness of paper, typical weights are 50#, 60#, 70# in offset papers and 20# and 24# in Bond papers.
Word break the division of a word at the end of a line.
Zip Disk removable storage media. Comes in 100 and 250 MB capacity.
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