Rag Paper 

Paper containing a minimum of 25% rag or cotton fiber pulp.

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.

Ragged 

Lines of type that don't start or end at the same position as the rest.

Type that is not justified on the right or left side.

Rainbow Fountain 

Technique of putting ink colors next to each other in the same ink fountain and oscillating the ink rollers to make the colors merge where they touch, producing a rainbow effect.

Rainbow ™

3M's digital, high resolution, thermal dye sublimation, desktop color proofing system.

Random Proof 

A color proof consisting of many images ganged on one substrate and randomly positioned with no relation to the final page imposition. This is a cost-effective way to verify the

Raster 

To convert mathematical and digital information into a series of dots by an imagesetter or recorder as digital data that will be used for output.

RC Paper 

The photosensitive resin-coated paper generally used to record the output of typesetters and imagesetters.

Reader's Spread 

Keylines of two facing pages in correct numerical order, e.g., pages 2 and 3.

Ream 

500 sheets of printing paper. Stacks and skids of paper often include slips of paper (ream markers) marking the division of the stack into reams.

Recto Page 

The right-hand or odd-numbered page of an open book or spread.

Recycled Paper 

New paper made entirely or in part from old paper.

Reflection Copy 

Any opaque color artwork submitted for reproduction such as photos, sketches or paintings.

Reflective Copy 

Any painting, artwork or photograph (not transparencies) that reflects light off its surface.

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.

Crosses or some other design that are pasted outside your keyline on the board. Everything done to the job through printing must have these marks to prevent the separations, film or plates from being misaligned or out of register.

Register 

The fitting of two or more printing images on the same paper in exact alignment with each other.

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

Registration 

The correct positioning of one color over another during the printing process.

Relief Printing 

Printing method whose image carriers are surfaces with two levels having inked areas higher than non-inked areas. Types include block printing, flexography and letterpress.

Remote proofing 

Digital transmission of a proof to a remote office or customer location for output and evaluation at the remote site.

Repeatability 

The precision with which a device can position an image, usually measured in microns. For example, a capstan imagesetter has low repeatability compared with a drum imagesetter which is more accurate in its operation.

Replicate 

In the manufacturing of a CD-ROM, to mold the actual disc by injecting molten polycarbonate into the mold cavity (stamper), then quickly cool the plastic to harden it, a process which takes less than 15 seconds. After replication of the disc, art is printed onto the non-data side of the disc via silk-screen or offset printing.

Reprint 

An ad which is printed and then sent to a magazine for insertion. Also refers to a reprint of ads supplied by the publication before the publication is issued.

Resolution 

Measured in dots per inch (dpi), resolution measures the quality of output in typesetting. The greater the number of dots per inch, the smoother and less jagged the appearance of the typeface or the image.

Resolution 

Sharpness of an image. Also quantification of laser print quality using number of dots per inch.

Retouch 

To correct flaws in an image or make design changes.

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.

Type, graphic or illustration produced by printing ink around its outline, thus allowing the underlying color or paper to show through and form the image. The image "reverses out" of the ink color. Also called knock out or liftout.

RGB 

Red, green and blue. The additive primaries which are used in video monitors.

Right Reading 

Copy that reads correctly in the language in which it is written. Also describes a photo whose orientation looks like the original image.

Right-angle Fold 

A folding succession in which each succeeding fold is made at right angles to the preceding one.

Rip film 

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

RIP 

Abbreviation for raster image processing, a hardware and/or software system that translates page description command into bitmaps for output to a laser printer or imagesetter.

Rosette Pattern 

The desirable minute circle of dots that is formed when two or more process color screens are overprinted at their appropriate angle, screen ruling and dot shape.

RRED 

Right reading, emulsion side down.

Rub Proof 

Ink that has reached its maximum dryness and does not mar with normal abrasion.

Rubylith 

A red acetate masking film used in stripping to make an opening.

Rule 

A straight line of any thickness or a line used as a graphic element to separate or organize copy.

Run Around 

Type that is made to fit around a picture of art.

Run of Paper (ROP) 

Printing full color in newspaper but using the same paper and press as the balance of the newspaper.

Saddle stitch 

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

Saddle-sewn 

A form of binding that stitches thread through the gutter fold of a publication.

Saddle-stitched 

A form of binding that uses staple-shaped wires through the gutter fold; also called saddle-wired.

Safelight 

A lamp for use in the darkroom that gives light of a color that will not affect the photographic material within a reasonable time. Different photographic materials require different safelight filters.

Sans Serif Type 

Any type style that does not have cross strokes on the ends of the letters.

Scale 

Calculate the amount a photo is to be reduced or enlarged.

The ability to reduce or enlarge an image. To avoid distortion, some programs can maintain the ratio between width and height when you scale the image.

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. Used to digitize an image.

Score 

To compress paper along a straight line so it folds more easily and accurately.

Scoring 

This process involves partially cutting through cardboard so it will fold more neatly.

Screen Angles 

Angles at which the halftone screens are placed with relation to one another to avoid undesirable moire pattern. The most common angles are black 45ø, magenta 75ø, yellow 90ø and cyan 105ø.

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.

Screen Frequency 

The number of rows (lines) and columns of dots per inch or centimeter of a halftone screen.

Screen Printing 

A printing method often used for non-flat goods. This method is best equipped to print on items such as mugs and clothing. Also known as silk screening, this process forces ink through a screen, like a stencil pattern.

Method of printing by using a squeegee to force ink through an assembly of mesh fabric and a stencil.

Screen Ruling 

Sometimes confused with resolution, screen ruling is the number of printing dots per millimeter or per inch on the exposed film. The screen ruling is a critical factor in determining the resolution need. The finer the screen ruling, the higher the resolution needs to be, due to the amount of information required to generate the printing dots.

Screen Tint 

A halftone screen pattern of all the same size dots that creates an even tone.

Screen 

Plastic sheets that have cross-hatched lines. These screens are placed between the camera and the original photo or continuous tones to break the image into dots to create a halftone image.

Secondary Colors 

Colors created by combining two primary colarants of a color system. Example; red would be the secondary color produced with magenta and yellow. Also referred to as overprint colors.

Selective Binding 

Placing signatures or inserts in magazines and catalogs according to demographic or geographic guidelines.

Self Cover 

A cover made from the same paper as the inside text pages.

Serif Type 

Any type style that has cross strokes on the ends of the letters.

Serigraphics Printing 

Printing method whose image carriers are woven fabric, plastic or metal that allows ink to pass through some portions and blocks ink from passing through other portions. Types include screen and mimeograph.

Service Bureau 

A business that provides manipulation and output of digital files, usually to a PostScript imagesetter.

Set-off 

Ink from a printed sheet rubs off or marks the next sheet as it is being delivered. Also called offset.

Shadow 

The darkest areas of an image or photograph; represented as the largest dots in a halftone.

Sharpen 

Reducing the size in halftones or separations.

Sheetfed Press 

A printing press that uses sheets of paper, rather than a continuous paper roll or web.

Sheetwise 

To print one side of a sheet of paper with one form or plate, then turn the sheet over and print the other side with another form using the same gripper and side guide. This method is used for printing signatures.

Shingling 

A technique used to compensate for creep. The gutter margin on a page is gradually narrowed from the outside pages to the middle pages of the signature.

Show-through 

Printing on one side of a sheet that can be seen on the other side of the sheet.

The undesirable condition in which the printing on the reverse side of a sheet can be seen through the sheet under normal lighting conditions.

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.

To bind by stapling through all sheets along one edge.

Signature Proof 

Kodak's proofing system, negative/positive, on most stocks.

Signature 

A group of images that appear on a printing plate. The signature is arranged in such a way that the pages will appear in the right order after they are folded and trimmed.

A group of pages brought together into proper sequential order and alignment after it has been folded.

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

Silhouette Halftone 

A halftone with all of the background removed.

A term used for an outline halftone.

Silverprint 

A proof that is made of the negative film to ensure that all elements are accurate and in correct position before the plate is made.

Sizing 

Treatment of paper which gives it resistance to the penetration of liquids (particularly water) or vapors.

Skid (also pallet) 

Wooden platform that supports piles of paper during shipping and storage. Skids usually accommodate from 2500 to 4000 pounds of paper.

A pallet used for a pile of cut sheets.

Slit 

To cut printed sheets or webs into two or more sections by means of cutting wheels on a press or folder.

Slur 

A smearing of ink that occurs in printing when there isn't enough pressure on the blanket.

Soft Dot 

Halftone dot with a weak fringe density or halo surrounding a solid core.

Soft Proof 

A proof that is viewed on a color-calibrated video monitor as opposed to a hard proof on paper.

Solid 

Any area of the sheet receiving 100 percent ink coverage.

Specifications 

A precise description of a print order.

Specs 

Complete and precise written description (or specifications) of features of a printing job such as type size and leading, paper grade and quantity, printing quality or binding method.

Spine 

The back of a bound book connecting the two covers. Also called backbone.

Spiral Bind 

To bind using a spiral of continuous wire or plastic looped through holes. Also called coil bind.

Split fountain 

Putting more than one ink in a printing fountain to achieve special color affects.

Split Run 

Different images, such as advertisements, printed or bound in different editions of a publication. Also, two or more binding methods used on the same print run.

Spoilage 

Planned paper waste for all printing operations.

Spooler 

A device by which a computer can store data and feed it gradually to an external device, such as a printer, which is operating more slowly than the computer.

Spot color 

If your project only uses one, two or three colors - including black - you'll want to use spot color process. This uses custom mixed inks to reproduce specific colors (like Pantone colors) rather than a full-color process used to reproduce photographs through color separations.

Individual color or colors that are utilized to highlight illustrations or type. Spot color is frequently printed with non-process color inks, although process inks can be used.

Spot Varnish 

Varnish applied only to certain portions of a sheet to highlight those areas.

Spread 

Two facing pages. They can be a reader's spread or a printer's spread.

Square Halftone 

A halftone that has four right-angle corners.

Stamping 

Term for foil stamping.

Standard Viewing Condition 

An area surrounded by a neutral gray and illuminated by a light source of 5000K both for viewing transparencies and reflection prints. Large format transparencies should be surrounded by approximately 2-4 inches or 5-10 centimeters of white surround and should not be viewed with a dark surround.

Stat 

Short for photostat, a photographic print of line copy or halftones.

Term for inexpensive print of line copy or halftone.

Static Neutralizer 

A device on a printing press designed to remove static from the paper and avoid ink set-off and trouble with feeding the paper.

Step-and-repeat 

A procedure for placing the same image on plates in multiple places.

The procedure of exposing an image repeatedly in different places on the printing plate.

Stet 

A proof mark meaning let the original copy stand.

Stochastic Screening 

A digital screening process that converts images into very small dots (14-40 microns) of equal size and variable spacing.

Stock 

The material to be printed.

Strip 

To assemble images on film for platemakeing. Stripping involves correcting flaws in film, assembling pieces of film into flats and ensuring that film and flats register correctly.

Stripping 

The positioning of film on a flat prior to platemaking.

The process of manually creating composite films and fully imposed flats for platemaking. Most of this work is now done electronically, bypassing the traditional artisan.

Substance weight 

A term of basis weight when referring to bond papers.

Substrate 

Any surface on which printing is done.

Supercalender 

A finishing device consisting of alternate metal and resilient rollers used to produce a smooth, thin sheet of paper.

SWOP 

Abbreviation for the revised Specifications for Web-Offset Publications; a set of specifications for color separation films and color proofing to insure the consistency of the printed color.

Tack 

The amount of stickiness in printing inks that makes them adhere to the substrate while minimizing dot gain. Too much tack can cause surface picking.

Tagged Image File Format (TIFF) 

A common format for interchanging digital information, generally associated with grayscale or bitmap data.

Tear Sheet 

Actual ad removed from a publication and sent to the advertiser, often with the invoice.

Terabyte 

Tb or TB. Equal to approximately one billion kilobytes and often used to measure optical disk storage capacity.

Text paper 

Grades of uncoated paper with textured surfaces.

Text 

The body matter of a page or book as distinguished from the heading and art.

Thermography 

A print finishing process that produces a raised image. This process dusts a previously printed image with a powder before the image's ink has been allowed to dry. Applying heat makes the powder and the ink fuse and form a raised image.

Method of printing using colorless resin powder that takes on the color of underlying ink.

TIFF 

Tagged Image File Format. A graphics and page layout file format for desktop computers. Used as an intermediary file format for both color and black and white images. TIFF is used to transfer documents between different applications and computer platforms.

Tile 

A method used when a page is too large to be output in its entirety by the output device. The page is divided into pieces that allow for overlap so that it can be reassembled as a whole.

Tint 

A solid color reduced either by screening or by adding white ink. Also, a halftone of a specified dot percentage, but less than 100%.

Tints 

A shade of a single color or combined colors.

Tissue Overlay 

A thin, translucent paper placed over artwork (mostly mechanicals) for protection and used to indicate color breaks and corrections.

Usually a thin transparent paper placed over artwork for protection uses for marking color breaks and other printer instructions.

Tonal Compression 

The reduction of an original's tonal range to a tonal range achievable though the reproduction process.

Tonal Range 

The difference between the brightest and the darkest tone in a photograph or offset lithographic print.

Tone 

The character of a color, its quality or lightness.

Tooth 

A characteristic of paper, a slightly rough finish, which permits it to take ink readily.

One eighth of an inch.

Trade Shop 

Service bureau, printer or bindery working primarily for other graphic arts professionals, not for the general public.

Traditional Color Angles 

The screen angles used most often in color separation, considered to be optimal for reducing moire patterns-yellow at 0ø, cyan at 15ø, black at 45ø and magenta at 75ø.

Transfer tape 

A peel and stick tape used in business forms.

Transparency 

Positive photographic image on film allowing light to pass through.

An area of an image that allows an image behind it to show through.

Transparent copy 

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

Transparent Ink 

A printing ink which does not conceal the color beneath. Process inks are transparent so that they will blend to form other colors.

Trapping 

A method of overlapping adjoining colors or inks that helps minimize the possibility of a fine white line appearing between two colors, caused by misregistration of color negatives. Also, the ability to print a wet ink film over previously printed ink.

The ability to print one ink over the other.

Trim Marks 

Marks on the outside of a keyline to indicate where the piece is to be cut.

Similar to crop or register marks. These marks show where to trim the printed sheet.

Trim size 

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

Trim 

To cut the excess paper from the edges of a publication after it has been printed and bound.

Two-up 

Having two images of each item (see one-up).

Typeface 

The complete set of characters that form a family in a particular design or style. Originally referred to the raised surface.

Typeset 

The type style and size of words must be set and composed into columns and pages.

Typesetting 

Words must be typeset before they can be printed on a commercial printing press, that is, their type style and size must be set and composed into columns and pages. Traditionally done manually or mechanically, typesetting is now mainly digital.

Uncoated Paper 

Paper that has not been coated with clay.

Under-run 

Production of fewer copies than ordered. See over run.

Undercolor Addition (UCA) 

A technique used to add cyan, magenta and yellow printing dots in dark neutral areas of the reproduction to give them more density.

Undercolor Removal (UCR) 

The technique of reducing the cyan, magenta and yellow content in neutral areas of the reproduction and replacing them with black ink so the reproduction will appear normal but will use less ink.

Unit 

One inking, plate and impression station on a press. A four-color press has four units.

Up 

In printing, two-up, three-up, etc., refers to imposition of material to be printed on a larger size sheet to take advantage of full press capacity.

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

UV Coating 

Liquid laminate applied to a printed sheet, then bonded and cured with ultraviolet light.

Value 

The degree in a color or gray that varies from light to dark.

Varnish 

A thin, protective liquid coating applied to the printed sheet for protection or appearance.

Velox 

This is the brand name for a screened print of a photo which is pasted on the keyline; thus showing exactly how it will look when printed.

Verso Page 

The left-hand or even-numbered page of an open book or spread.

Vignette halftone 

A halftone whose background gradually fades to white.

Vignette 

An illustration in which the background fades gradually away until it blends into the unprinted paper.

Virgin Paper 

Paper made exclusively of new pulp from trees or cotton. No recycled materials are included.

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.

Waterless lithography sheetfed 

Water-free offset lithographic capability on a sheetfed press that allows ultrafine reproduction and improved, almost continuous-looking halftones.

Waterless lithography web 

Water-free offset lithographic capability on a web press that allows ultrafine reproduction and improved, almost continuous-looking, halftones.

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.

Translucent logo in paper created during manufacture by slight embossing while paper is still approximately 90 percent water.

Web Press 

A printing press that prints on paper from a continuous roll and outputs it onto another roll, as a folded signature or as cut sheets.

Designed for large volume jobs of over 200,000 impressions, web presses use a continuous roll of paper. They tend to be difficult and expensive to set up, but are very fast once they are running.

Web 

A roll of paper used in web or rotary printing.

Weight 

The degree of boldness or thickness of a letter, font or paper. For paper, it's usually given in terms of grams per square meter.

Widow 

An undesirable layout where the last line of a paragraph is carried over to the next column, or a single word carries over to the last line of a paragraph.

Wire O 

A bindery trade name for mechanical binding using double loops of wire through a hole.

Wire-O binding 

A method of wire binding books along the binding edge that will allow the book to lay flat using double loops. See Wire O.

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 

To print one side of a sheet of paper, then turn the sheet over from left to right and print the second side. The same gripper and plate are used for printing both sides.

WORM 

Write once/read many. It refers to the permanent, unalterable nature of data in certain kinds of storage media.

Wove paper 

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

Wove 

A finely textured paper with a cloth-like appearance and no visible wire marks, unlike laid paper.

Wrong Reading 

An image that is backwards when compared to the original.

WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) 

(pronounced "wizzywig") A term used to describe systems that preview full pages on the screen with text and graphics. The final result can vary slightly because of differences in the resolution of the computer screen and the page printer.

X-height 

The height of the main body of a typeface, measured by the height of its letter 'x,' without measuring any ascending or descending elements. Also called body height.