Glossary Of Terms

We take great pride in making our clients feel confident about their jobs during the production process. To help you gain a better understanding of what’s happening to your project, we’ve compiled a glossary of terms that we commonly use in our industry.

A B C D E F G I J K L M N O P R S T

• Abrasion Resistance

  The inherent ability of a surface to inhibit deterioration or destruction by friction, also referred to as rub resistance.

• Absolute register

  High degree of exact size conformity of all image elements with the original or with position on the substrate.

• Absorbency

  The ability of a material to take up moisture

• AC

  Author's Correction

• Accessory

  Supplementary part or equipment, something nonessential but useful.

• Accordion Fold

  A type of paper folding in which each fold runs in the opposite direction to the previous fold creating a pleated or accordion effect.

• Acetate

  A transparent or translucent plastic sheet material of a variety of colors, used as a basis for artwork and overlays.

• Achromatic

  The non-colors... black, white and gray.

• Acrylic

  (1) thermoplastic resin from polymerization of acrylic or methacrylic acid esters that exhibit fairly high impact strength, rigidity, and compatibility with other plastics; (2) used as base compound in formulating ink and adhesive systems; (3) synthetic fiber created as a substitute for wool, resistant to shrinking, moths, sunlight and chlorine degradation; wool-like hand, machine washable and dryable, excellent color retention.

• Acrylic based adhesive

  A pressure sensitive adhesive based on acrylic polymers.

• Actinic Rays

  Light exposure that affects chemical changes in paper.

• Additive Colors

  In photographic reproduction, the primary colors of red, green and blue which are mixed to form all other colors.

• Airbrush

  (1) a pencil-shaped device for spraying liquid by means of compressed air, used for retouching photographic prints to improve tonal value, for spraying inks, or for producing special effects on film positives; (2) a tool found in most graphic software packages that provides the effect of spraying a paint air mixture over an image.

• Alignment

  The condition of type and or art materials as they level up on a horizontal or vertical line.

• Alkali Blue

  Also called reflex blue. A pigment used in carbon black inks and varnishes to improve luster.

• Alphabet Length

  The measured length (in points) of the lowercase alphabet of a certain size and series of type.

• Aniline

  Oil-based solvent (quick drying) used in the preparation process of dyes and inks.

• Antigua

  An eleventh century Italian script typeface.

• Antiskinning Agent

  An antioxidant agent used to prevent inks from skinning over in the can.

• Arc Light

  A light source produced by the passing of electric current between two electrodes; used in the production of plates in photolithography.

• Art Paper

  A paper evenly coated with a fine clay compound, which creates a hard smooth surface on one or both sides.

• Art Work

  Any materials or images that are prepared for graphic reproduction.

• Artwork

  All illustrated material, ornamentation, photos and charts etc., that is prepared for reproduction.

• ASA

  A number set by the American Standards Assoc., which is placed on film stock to allow calculation of the length and "F" number of an exposure. Reference, "F" numbers.

• Ascender

  Any part of a lower case letter which rises above the main body of the letter such as in "d", "b" and "h".

• Autopositive

  Any photo materials which provide positive images without a negative.

• Background

  That portion of a photograph or line art drawing that appears furthest from the eye; the surface upon which the main image is superimposed.

• Backslant

  Any type that tilts to the left or backward direction; opposite of italic type.

• Banner

  The primary headline usually spanning the entire width of a page.

• Barrier Coat

  A coating that is applied onto the non-printing side of paper to add to the opacity of that paper. Reference, opacity.

• Base Line

  This is a term used to describe the imaginary horizontal line upon which stand capitals, lower case letters, punctuation points etc.

• Bauhaus

  A design school in Germany where the Sans Serif font was originated.

• Bearoff

  The adjusting of spacing of type in order to correct the justification.

• Bending Chip

  A recycled paperboard product used for making folding cartons.

• BF

  An abbreviation for boldface, used to determine where boldface copy is to be used. Reference, boldface.

• Black Letter

  An old style of typeface used in Germany in the 15th century, also referred to as Old English (US) and Gothic (UK).

• Bleed

  Extra ink area that crosses trim line, used to allow for variations that occur when the reproduction is trimmed or die-cut.

• Blow-up

  Any enlargement of photos, copies or line art.

• Body

  The main shank or portion of the letter character other than the ascenders and descenders. Also: A term used to define the thickness or viscosity of printer's ink.

• Body Size

  The point size of a particular type character.

• Boldface

  Any type that has a heavier black stroke that makes it more conspicuous.

• Brace

  A character " }" used to group lines, or phrases.

• Bullet

  A boldface square or dot used before a sentence to emphasize its importance.

• Caliper

  The measurement of thickness of paper expressed in thousandths of an inch or mils.

• Cap Line

  An imaginary horizontal line running across the tops of capital letters.

• Caps & Lower Case

  Instructions in the typesetting process that indicate the use of a capital letter to start a sentence and the rest of the letters in lower case.

• Caps & Small Caps

  Two sizes of capital letters made in one size of type.

• Chancery Italic

  A 13th century handwriting style which is the roots of italic design.

• Coated Art Paper

  Printing papers used for printing projects that require a special treatment of detail and shading.

• Condensed Type

  A narrow, elongated type face.

• Contrast

  The degree of tonal separation or gradation in the range from black to white.

• Contre Jour

  Taking a picture with the camera lens facing the light source.

• Copy

  Refers to any typewritten material, art, photos etc., to be used for the printing process.

• Corner Marks

  Marks on a final printed sheet that indicate the trim lines or register indicators.

• Cracking

  Delamination.

• Crop

  To eliminate a portion of the art or copy as indicated by crop marks.

• Crop Mark

  Markings at edges of original or on guide sheet to indicate the area desired in reproduction with negative or plate trimmed (cropped) at the markings.

• Crossmarks

  Marks of fine lines, which intersect to indicate accurate alignment of art elements.

• Curl

  Not lying flat and tending to form into cylindrical or wavy shapes. A term to describe the differences of either side of a sheet relative to coatings, absorbency etc.; the concave side is the curl side.

• Cyan

  A shade of blue used in the four-color process; it reflects blue and green and absorbs red.

• Delete

  An instruction given to remove an element from a layout.

• Densitometer

  An optical device used by printers and photographers to measure and control the density of color.

• Density

  The degree of tone, weight of darkness or color within a photo or reproduction; measurable by the densitometer. Reference, densitometer.

• Descender

  A term that describes that portion of lower case letters which extends below the main body of the letter, as in "p".

• Die Cutting

  A method of using sharp steel ruled stamps or rollers to cut various shapes i.e. labels, boxes, image shapes, either post press or in line. The process of cutting paper in a shape or design by the use of a wooden die or block in which are positioned steel rules in the shape of the desired pattern.

• Digital Proof

  Color separation data is digitally stored and then exposed to color photographic paper creating a picture of the final product before it is actually printed.

• Dimensional stability

  The qualities of paper to stabilize its original size when undergoing pressure or exposed to moisture.

• Display Type

  Any type that stands out from the rest of the type on a page which attracts attention of the reader.

• Dot

  The smallest individual element of a halftone.

• Dot Gain

  Darkening of halftone image due to ink absorption in paper causing halftone dots to enlarge. Terms to describe the occurrence whereby dots are printing larger than they should.

• Drop Shadow

  A shadow image placed strategically behind an image to create the affect of the image lifting off the page.

• Dull Finish

  Any matte finished paper.

• Duotone

  Color reproduction from monochrome original. Keyplate usually printed in dark color for detail, second plate printed in light flat tints. A two-color halftone reproduction generated from a one-color photo.

• Electronic Composition

  The assembly of characters into words, lines and paragraphs of text or body matter with graphic elements in page layout form in digital format for reproduction by printing.

• Elliptical Dot

  Halftone screens in which the dots are actually elongated to produce improved middle tones.

• Expanded Type

  Type with width greater than normal producing a rectangular effect.

• Extender

  A white pigment added to a colored pigment to reduce its intensity and improve its working qualities.

• Finish

  The surface quality of paper.

• Finish (Paper)

  Dull - (low gloss) also matte or matte gloss.

• Flash Point

  A term given to the lowest temperature of ignitibility of vapors given off by a substance.

• Font

  The characters which make up a complete typeface and size.

• Gang

  Group of frames or impositions in the same forme of different jobs arranged and positioned to be printed together.

• Ganging

  The bundling of two or more different printing projects on the same sheet of paper.

• Italic

  Text that is used to denote emphasis by slanting the type body forward.

• Job Number

  A number assigned to a printing project used for record keeping and job tracking. Also used to retrieve old jobs for reprints or reworking by customer.

• Kerning

  The narrowing of space between two letters so that they become closer and take up less space on the page.

• Kraft

  A coarse unbleached paper used for printing and industrial products.

• Layout

  A rendition that shows the placement of all the elements, roughs, thumbnails etc., of the final printed piece before it goes to print.

• Leading

  Space between lines of type; the distance in points between one baseline and the next.

• Margin

  Imprinted space around edge of page.

• Mark-up

  To write up instructions, as on a dummy.

• Moire

  An undesirable halftone pattern produced by the incorrect angles of overprinting halftone screens.

• Mottle

  A term used to describe spotty or uneven ink absorption.

• Natural

  A term to describe papers that have a color similar to that of wood; also called cream, off-white or ivory.

• Opacity

  Quality of papers that defines its opaqueness or ability to prevent two-sided printing from showing through.

• Opaque

  A quality of paper that allows relatively little light to pass through.

• Paperboard

  Any paper with a thickness (caliper) of 12 points (.3mm) or more.

• Paste-up

  Preparation of positive materials into a layout for photographing to film negatives.

• Peeling

  Delamination.

• Premium

  Any paper that is considered better than #1 by its manufacturer.

• Primary Colors

  In printing the four primary colors are cyan (blue), magenta (red), yellow and black.

• Register

  The arrangement of two or more images in exact alignment with each other.

• Register Marks

  Any crossmarks or other symbols used on layout to assure proper registration.

• Roll To Roll

  A web press printing process where the roll of paper is printed and stored on a roll to be shipped.

• Satin Finish

  A smooth delicately embossed finished paper with sheen.

• Scaling

  The enlargement or reduction of an image or copy to fit a specific area.

• Smoothness

  That quality of paper defined by its levelness which allows for pressure consistency in printing, assuring uniformity of print.

• Step And Repeat

  A process of generating multiple exposures by taking an image and stepping it according to a predetermined layout.

• Stock

  A term for unprinted paper or other material to be printed.

• Tack

  The adhesive quality of inks.

• Trim Marks

  Marks placed on the sheet to indicate where to cut the page.