A4 

ISO paper size 210mm x 297mm used for letterhead.

4-color-process 

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

Accordion fold 

Bindery term, two or more parallel folds which open like an accordion.

Achromatic 

Having no color or hue.

Acrobat files 

Preparing cross-platform Acrobat PDF files of customer-supplied materials as alternative or value-added sales opportunity.

Actinic Light 

Light that exposes a coating or emulsion.

Additive Color Theory 

The mixture of red, green and blue light, the primary colors of light, to produce white light.

Against the Grain 

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

Airbrush 

A function of a color imaging system to add or remove printing ink of any value in a designated picture area.

Aliasing 

A "staircase" or jagged effect that occurs when display resolution is too coarse to minimize the broken or crooked appearance of certain electronic design elements. Aliasing is more visually pronounced in diagonal lines, curves and circles.

Alpha Test 

Conducted internally by the manufacturer, it takes a new product through a protocol of testing procedures to verify product functionality and capability.

Alteration 

Any change made by the customer after copy or artwork has been given to the service bureau, separator or printer. The change could be in copy, specifications, or both. Also called AA, author alteration or customer alteration.

Change in copy of specifications after production has begun.

Amberlith 

The orange or red acetate material that artists cut into elements or shapes to put on areas of keylines indicating where halftones, tints, etc., are to be positioned. Also called rubylith.

Analog 

A mechanism in which data is represented by continuously variable physical quantities such as voltage or density.

Anilox 

This inking system is commonly used in flexographic presses. An elastomer-covered fountain roller runs in the ink pan and is adjustable against a contacting, engraved metering roll. Ink is flooded into the engraved cells of the metering roll, excess is doctored off by the wiping or squeezing action of the fountain roll or a doctor blade, and that which remains beneath the surface of the metering roll is transferred to the printing plates.

Anti-offset Powder 

Finely powdered starch sprayed on the printed surface of coated paper as sheets leave the press to prevent wet ink from transferring from the top of one sheet to the bottom of the next sheet.

Aqueous Coating 

Water based coating applied like ink by a printing press to protect and enhance the printed surface.

Archival Storage 

Copies of digital information stored on magnetic tape, floppy disks, optical disk, CD-ROM or other medium used to ensure against loss in case the original materials are deleted or damaged.

Artboard 

Alternate term for mechanical art.

Artwork 

All original type, photographs, illustrations, and digital files intended for publication.

Ascender 

The part of a lower case letter which rises above the main body, as in "b" or "d".

ASCII 

Acronym for American Standard Code for Information Interchange, the international standard codes that are used by most computers to symbolize letters, numbers, punctuation and certain special commands.

Asynchronous Communication 

Also known as serial communication. A way for one computer to send data to another without requiring precisely synchronized data pulses.

Author's Alteration (AA) 

A code name for a change made by you, the buyer, once a job is already at the printer's. You can be charged for these changes.

Author's corrections 

Also know as "AC's". Changed and additions in copy after it has been typeset.

Automatic Picture Replacement (APR) 

Scitex's implementation of the process in which a low resolution image is automatically replaced by the high resolution version of the image.Automatic plate changing

Back Up 

In printing; to print the second side of a sheet already printed on one side. In computers; to make a copy of your work on a separate disk in case something happens to the original.

Back up 

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.

Base color 

The first color used as a background on which other colors are printed.

Basic Size 

25" x 38" for book papers, 20" x 26" for cover papers, 22 «" x 28 «" or 22 «" x 35" for bristols, 25 «" x 30 «" for index.

Basis Weight 

Weight in pounds of a ream (500 sheets) of paper cut to a given standard size for that grade; example; 500 sheets of 17" x 22" 20 lb. bond paper weighs 20 pounds. In countries using ISO paper sizes the weight, in grams, of one square meter of paper.

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

Baud 

A measure of the rate by which data are transmitted; expressed in bits per second, one baud equals one bit per second.

Bearers 

The flat surfaces or rings at the ends of press cylinders that come in contact with each other during printing and serve as a basis for determining packing thickness.

Beta Test 

The second stage test version of a newly developed piece of hardware and/or software which is distributed free to a limited sampling of users so that they can subject it to daily use and report any problems to the manufacturer before release to the public.

Bezier Curves 

Curved lines, defined by anchor points, used in software for drawing and type rendering.

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.

Binding 

The fastening of the assembled sheets or signatures along one edge of a publication.

Bitmap 

A series of individual dots or pixels that define graphics. Each dot or pixel in the image is recorded as either on or off.

Blanket 

In offset printing, a rubber-surfaced fabric that is clamped around a cylinder. The image is transferred from the plate to the blanket, and from there, transferred to the paper.

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

Bleed 

Pictures or text that extend to the edge of the page without leaving a margin. To get a "bleed," you have to print the image on a larger paper and then trim the paper down to size. Printed image which extends beyond the trim edge of the sheet or page.

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

Blind embossing 

An image pressed into a sheet without ink or foil.

Blind Image 

Image that is debossed, embossed or stamped, but not printed with ink or foil.

Blocking 

Sticking together of printed sheets causing damage when the surfaces are separated.

Blueline 

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

A proof where all colors, perforations and scorings show as blue images on white paper. Used to evaluate image and page geometry inexpensively. Prepress photographic proof made from stripped negatives where all colors show as shades of a single color on white paper. Also called brownline, silverprint, Dylux.

Board 

Alternate term for mechanical.

Bond & carbon 

Business form with paper and carbon paper.

Bond Paper 

A grade of writing or printing paper where strength, durability and performance are essential requirements; used for letterheads, business forms, etc. The basic size is 17" x 22".

Strong durable paper grade used for letterheads and business forms.

Bond 

A writing or printing paper that weighs 50 grams or more and is treated with a glue-like substance to make it stiffer and shinier.

Book Paper 

A general term for coated and uncoated paper. The basic size is 25" x 38".

Bottling 

The process of skewing pages to compensate for paper thickness as it is folded. Primarily used on signatures designed for large web or large sheetfed presses.

Break for color 

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

In artwork and composition, to separate the parts to be printed in different colors.

Brightness 

In paper, the reflectance or brilliance of the paper.

Bristol 

Type of board paper used for post cards, business cards and other heavy-use products.

Bronzing 

Printing with a sizing ink and then applying bronze powder while still wet to produce a metallic luster.

Bulk pack 

Boxing printed product without wrapping or banding.

Bulk 

Thickness of paper stock in thousandths of an inch or number of pages per inch.

Bump 

Ink applied from a fifth or higher plate in four-color process printing, usually to strengthen a specific color; also referred to as a touchplate.

Burn 

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

Exposure of a plate to light through a negative to create an image for printing.

Burnish 

The term used to describe the rubbing down and securing of copy to a keyline.

Burnthrough 

Condition existing when enough light penetrates a masking sheet to expose the film or plate beneath the sheet. Masking sheeting should prevent light from penetrating to the film, but accumulated exposures-as in step-and-repeat exposures-sometimes sensitize the film, causing burnthrough.

Bus 

The main "data pathway" inside a computer, enabling the CPU to communicate with other devices, such as the video monitor or the disk drive(s).

Butt fit 

Printed colors that overlap one row of dots so they appear to butt.

Butt Register 

Register where ink colors meet precisely without overlapping or allowing space between. Also called butt fit and kiss register.

Butt 

Joining images without overlapping.

CAD/CAM 

Acronym for computer-assisted design/computer-assisted manufacturing, the catch-all category for the use of computers in the design and engineering processes.

Calender 

To make the surface of paper smooth by pressing it between rollers during manufacturing.

Caliper 

Paper thickness in thousandths of an inch.

The thickness of paper, usually expressed in thousandths of an inch (mils). Also, a device on a sheetfed press that detects double sheets or on a binding machine that detects missing signatures or inserts.

Camera Ready 

Copy and/or artwork which is ready for the graphic arts camera.

Camera-ready art 

Artwork or type that is fully ready to be printed, especially according to the technical requirements of the printing process being used.

Camera-ready copy 

Print ready mechanical art.

Carbonless 

Pressure sensitive writing paper that does not use carbon.

Carload 

A truck load of paper weighing 40000 pounds.

Case bind 

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

To bind using glue to hold signatures to a case made of binder board covered with fabric, plastic or leather. Also called cloth edition, hard bind or hard cover.

Cast Coated Paper 

Paper dried under pressure against a heated, polished cylinder to produce a high-gloss enamel finish.

Coated paper with a high gloss reflective finish.

CCD (charged coupled device) 

An array of light-sensitive solid-state measuring devices that react electronically to exposure of light. It is the technology used most often in desktop scanners.

CD-E 

Compact disk-erasable.

CD-G (compact disk-graphics) 

An audio CD with graphics.

CD-I (compact disk-interactive) 

A computer system that allows users to interact with the program by responding to prompts generated by the software.

CD-ROM 

Acronym for compact disk read-only memory, a storage media for information, such as application software, that can be read but not altered or written to.

Centimeter 

Metric measurement of length. 2.54 centimeters = 1 inch.

CEPS 

Color Electronic Prepress System.

Chalking 

Refers to improper drying of ink. Pigments dust off because ink has been absorbed too rapidly into the paper.

Character Set 

Describes the character symbols that a system can recognize. The character set is defined by the system software and the font library.

Character 

All the letters, punctuation marks, accent marks, and numbers in a particular font or type.

Choke 

A slight size reduction of an opening into which an image will print.

Chroma 

The attribute of color that specifies its amount of saturation or strength.

Chrome 

A slang term meaning the color transparency used as the original copy.

A term for a transparency.

CIE 

International Committee on Illumination. A standards institute most well known in the graphic arts for its work in color space definition.

Clipping region 

As set by the printer, this is the unprintable space around the edge of the paper.

Cloning 

A function on a CEPS used to duplicate a pixel or many pixels in another area of a picture. It can be used to add or remove detail. Some manufacturers call this function "pixel swopping".

CMYK 

Refers to the basic printing process colors - cyan, magenta, yellow, black - with K standing for black.

Coated paper 

A clay coated printing paper with a smooth finish.

A paper treated to give it a smooth, shiny surface for quality printing. Designated as C1S for coated one side, or C2S for coated two sides.

Paper with a coating of clay or other substances that improves reflectivity and ink holdout.

Collate 

A finishing term for gathering paper in a precise order.

In binding, the gathering of sheets or signatures.

Color Balance 

Maintaining the ratio of cyan, magenta and yellow ink to produce a picture with the desired color and without an unwanted color cast or color bias.

Color bar 

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

The color strip on proofs that is used as a guide for the printer in determining the amount and density of ink needed.

Color Cast 

Discoloration of an entire image or portion of an image caused by an overabundance of one color.

Color correction 

Methods of improving color separations.

The deliberate adjustment of one or more colors to achieve a desired result. With inks, process colors are not pure colors; each is contaminated with the other two colors and has a hue error that requires compensation in the separation images.

Color electronic prepress systems (desktop) 

Computer systems using microcomputers and software for high-quality color manipulation and preparation.

Color electronic prepress systems (high-end) 

Dedicated computer work stations and systems designed exclusively for highest-quality color manipulation and preparation.

Color filter 

Filters uses in making color separations, red, blue, green.

Color key 

Color proofs in layers of acetate.

3M's negative overlay proofing films which visually simulate process printing inks. Color management systems -- Electronic characterization, calibration and control systems that help to assure color consistency and accuracy throughout the print production process from scanning through previewing on screen and proofing to reproduction on press.

Color matching system 

A system of formulated ink colors used for communicating color.

Color Proof 

A visual impression of the expected final reproduction produced on a substrate with inks, pigments or dyes. 3M Match Print, DuPont Cromacheck and Kodak Double Check are examples of color proofing systems. 

Color Scanner 

An electronic piece of equipment that utilizes a laser or other high intensity light to make color separation negatives from either reflective prints or transparencies.

Color separations 

The division of a multicolored original into the basic printing colors of yellow, magenta, cyan andblack.

The four-color negatives or positives which are the result of changing full color photos or art into the four process colors (yellow, magenta, cyan andblack) by the use of filters.

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

Color Sequence 

The order in which the four-color process inks are printed on the plate.

Colorimeter 

An instrument for measuring color the way the eye sees it.

Comb Bind 

To bind by inserting the teeth of a flexible plastic comb through holes punched along the edge of a stack of paper.

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

Communications Protocol 

The preliminary signals and settings (handshake) that must be shared by two computers before data can be exchanged between them, usually via a modem. A typical communications protocol will establish the speed of the data flow in bps, error-correction methods that will be used (if any) and data compression systems (if any).

Complementary colors 

Colors directly opposite each other on the color wheel, such as blue and orange, or red and green. Such pairs contain one primary and one secondary color (made up of two primary colors), so together each pair has all three primary colors.

Composite Art 

Mechanical on which copy for reproduction in all colors appears on only one surface, not separated into overlays. A tissue overlay is used to indicate color breaks.

Composite File 

A PostScript file that represents color pages containing picture elements specified in terms of RGB (red, green and blue) color space as opposed to black and white "gray level" pages which represent separations.

Composite film 

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

Composite Proofs 

Single test sheet showing position and color of all elements as stripped up.

Comprehensive 

A detailed dummy or sketch of a design, intended to give a clear sense of how the finished piece should look.

Computer to plate (metal) 

Producing metal plates directly from digital files without producing a set of film negatives.

Computer to plate (polyester) 

Producing polyester plates directly from digital files without producing a set of film negatives.

Computer-to-plate (C2P) 

Describes a system in which the use of desktop publishing software, electronic prepress workstations and platesetters allows the imaging of metal plates for any format of press without the use of film, stripping or traditional platemaking. This process results in lower costs while shortening the amount of time needed to get a job on the press. Sometimes also called C2P to distinguish it from CTP, or computer-to-press.

Computer-to-press (CTP) 

Describes a printing system that includes desktop publishing software, electronic prepress workstations and a new type of press which is capable of rapidly changing the images it is printing without the use of removable plates. Sometimes called CTP, to distinguish it from C2P, or computer-to-plate.

Condensed Type 

Type whose width has been reduced without affecting its height.

Condition 

To keep paper in the pressroom for a few hours or days before printing so that its moisture level and temperature equal that in the pressroom.

Contact Print 

A photographic print made from a negative or positive in contact with a sensitized paper, film or printing plate.

Continuous Tones 

Commonly identified as the film for the four colors of a separation before it is broken into dots.

Continuous-tone copy 

Illustrations, photographs or computer files that contain gradient tones from black to white or light to dark.

Continuous-tone digital proofing 

Producing a proof with reliable color but no halftone pattern (photorealistic) directly from a digital file, usually by inkjet or dye sublimination process, without producing a set of film negatives.

Contrast 

The amount of difference between the lightest and the darkest areas in a photo or artwork.

The tonal change in color from light to dark.

Control Character 

In an alphanumeric code, it alters the meaning of the codes that follow it until another control character is used. Usually this signifies what follows should be regarded as a command rather than data.

Conventional Dot 

A halftone dot with the classic square format; middle tone dots are square, while the extremely small black dots or white openings are round.

Copy 

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

Original job material (paste-ups, film, photos and other graphics) furnished for the print job.

The written text to be printed. Sometimes also used to refer to the artwork.

Corn starch 

Fine dust sprinkled on sheets as they come off the press, which dries the ink and prevents smudging.

Cover paper 

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

Cover stock 

A term used by paper manufacturers for a heavy paper that is suitable for catalogs and other folders. Cover stock can come in "coated" which has a smooth surface, or "uncoated" in its original rough surface.

Coverage 

The amount of ink on a page or sheet, usually given in percentages.

CPU 

Central Processing Unit; in a modern microcomputer, it is generally a single silicon chip which acts as the "brain" of the computer by performing fundamental arithmetic operations and moving bytes of data inside the computer's memory.

Crash number 

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

Crash 

Coarse cloth embedded in the glue along the spine of a book to increase strength of binding.

Creep 

The shifting position of the page in a saddle-stitched bind. Creep moves the inside pages or signatures away from the spine.

CREF 

Computer-ready electronic files.

Crimping 

Puncture marks holding business forms together.

Cromacheck ® 

DuPont's negative overlay color proof.

Cromalin ® 

Trade name for DuPont's one piece proofing system in both positive and negative forms.

Crop marks 

Printed lines showing where to trim a printed sheet.

Symbols placed in the margin outside the image area that indicate to the printer and bindery the area to be printed and/or trimmed from the image.

Crop 

To cut off parts of a picture or image.

To eliminate portions of copy or a photograph.

Cropping 

Taking out parts or edges of an image so you can enlarge or better frame the rest of the image for printing.

Cross Direction 

In paper, the direction across the grain. Paper is weaker and more sensitive to humidity in its cross direction.

Crossover 

A reproduction that extends across two facing pages in a book or magazine and crosses over the binding.

Printing across the gutter or from one page to the facing page of a publication.

CTP 

Computer-to-plate.

Cure 

To dry inks, varnishes or other coatings after printing to ensure good adhesion and prevent set-off.

Curl 

The distortion of paper due to differences in structure or coatings from one side to the other or from absorption of moisture on the press.

Customer-supplied files on disk 

Receiving desktop published files from customers on disk for output.

Customer-supplied files via Internet 

Receiving desktop published files from customer via Internet.

Customer-supplied files via telephone 

Receiving desktop published files from customers over the telephone computer to computer via modem for output.

Cutoff 

Circumference of the impression cylinder of a web press, therefore, the length of the printed sheet on roll to sheet presses or the length of the repeat pattern on roll to roll presses.

Cyan 

One of four standard process colors. The blue color.

One of the three subtractive primary colors used in process printing. 

Press Definitions D - F

Dampening System -- Fuzz

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