Accordian Fold
A term used for two or more parallel folds which open like an accordion.

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

Antique Finish
A paper surface with a natural rough finish.

Aqueous Coating (AQ Coating)
A clear, non-toxic finish used to add brilliance and durability to many products. Aqueous coating is not as durable or glossy as UV coating.

Bandwidth
The amount of information that can be transmitted over a network such as the Internet in a certain amount of time.

Bit
The smallest unit of measuring information on the computer. A single bit can only hold two values, 0 and 1, by combining bits together you can get more information.

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

Bleed
When an image extends off all four sides of the printed area without a border. If you want the image to extend to the edge of the paper, then we must cut 1/8 inch off the printed original to allow for the tolerance of the printing process. Design full-bleed projects with the cutting process in mind.

Book Paper
Generic term for coated and uncoated papers. Basic size is 25 x 38.

Bond Paper
A grade of writing or printing paper generally manufactured for letterheads, or forms.

Border
The area between the edge of the image and the edge of the paper.

Bulk
Paper thickness. Sometimes used as the number of pages per inch.

Bulk Rate
The process of preparing and sorting mail to qualify for reduced postage rates. The lowest postage rates are available if you sort and automate the addresses on your mailing list. Bulk-Rate postage is lower than First-class, but Bulk-Rate has a longer delivery time.

Bundling
In order to receive postal discounts, your mail must be grouped according to postal zone, boxed in special containers according to postal standards. A bar-coded label attached tells the post offices equipment where the mail piece goes.

Burn
Exposing the photosensitive media to light, as in burning a plate in offset printing or making a dylux.

Byte
A measurement of digital data capable of holding a single charter. 1 byte=8 bits.

Blind Embossing
A design which is stamped without metallic leaf or ink, giving a bas-relief effect.

Camera-Ready Art
Originals for a printing job that are prepared such that the printer can scan and print.

Card Stock
A heavyweight paper also known as Cover. Used as covers of catalogs, brochures, books or business cards.

Cast Coated
Paper coated and dried against a polished cylinder for a high-gloss finish.

Coated Paper
Paper with a coating to produce various smooth finishes.

Cockle
A paper surface created by air drying, giving the paper a wavy look.

Cover Paper
Heavyweight stock used for covers of catalogs, brochures, books or business cards.

Curl
Misshaping of a sheet due to moisture absorption or differences between sides of a two sided sheet.

Dandy Roll
In papermaking, the cylinder that creates a laid, wove, or watermark effect.

Choke (Choking)
When a publication is printed with several interacting spot colours, gaps or colour shifts may appear between objects. Choking closes this gap by slightly overlapping a dark colour over the boundary of a light colour.

Coated Paper
Paper with a layer of coating applied to one or both sides, such as gloss, dull or matte finish. Dot gain is significantly less on coated papers providing sharper images and they are used frequently in 4 colour process work as well as in black and white halftones.

Color Bar
A standard used to compare color accuracy of an image for output.

Color Correction
Adjusting an image to improve overall output color.

Colour Key
A printer's proof that consists of four layers of coloured acetate that represents the colour separation process for a particular job.

Colour Matching
A colour sample book is used to match colours with standard inks used by most printers. The printer will then prepare separate printing plates for each colour. The colours are chosen from those provided by a colour matching system, such as Pantone. Use of a colour matching system permits consistency of the colour of time and among diffrent jobs.

Colour Separation
The separation of a full-colour image into the four primary printing ink colours (CMYK).

Composite Image
A photograph or other image that is created by a combination of multiple images on a single sheet.

Copy
The words (text) that are used in printed material.

Composed Film
Print ready film that requires no other work than "stripping" for plating. 

Continuous Tone
An unlimited range of color and shades of grays.

Cover ink
If different from the text. 

Cover stock
This is the paper you require for the outside 4 pages of your periodical and differs in either weight or printing style from the inside text.

4/0 is 4 colors one side only:

4/4 is 4 colors both sides:

Contrast
An image with light tones (highlights) and dark tones (shadows).

Cookie
A message is given to a web browser then stored as a text file called cookie.txt. These files contain information to identify you as the user.

Copy
Originally newspaper slang, it refers to the words that are used in your design.

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

Crimping
Puncture marks holding business forms together.

Cromalin
Trade name for DuPont color proofs.

Crop
To trim or remove unwanted portions from the image in order to make it the proper proportion for your job.

Crop Mark
A small mark outside the printed area used to show how a product should be cut.

Description
What type of printing item do you need the printing quote for? (book printing, brochure printing, catalog printing) 

Design
Combining your type, images, colors logo and other items into a finished eye pleasing piece. 

Desktop Publishing
The use of a computer to create documents that can be printed. Specialized software is used to add copy and graphics to the document, which is then output to a printer or imagesetting equipment.

Die
Metal rule or imaged block used to cut or place an image on paper in the finishing process.

Die score or cut
To die score a piece is to make a "steel rule" die, composed of thin pieces of steel that will stamp a line or rule where your piece needs to fold. This action compresses the paper and allows for ease of folding and prevents cracking. To die cut is to create a steel rule die and to cut the printed piece like a cookie. The most common example of this is a "presentation folder with pocket".

Digital Camera
A type of camera that stores the photographed images electronically rather than on film. The images are downloaded into a computer where they can be manipulated in a manner similar to scanned images.

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 with ink.

Digital Printing
New printing technology in which electronic files are used to create images on press. Typically used for on-demand printing and to personalize documents. Generally used for short runs of 500 copies or less.

Direct Imaging
A process where a digital image files is converted into CMYK bitmaps (ripped) and burned directly into the plates by a laser, eliminating the costly and environmentally questionable film step.

Direct-to-Plate
This is a process where no film is used. A job will go direct to plate and then print eliminating an extra step, producing better quality.

Dot Gain
The spread of ink on paper, causing the dots which make up the image to print larger then they where on film or plate. The images may become distorted, appearing darker with less clarity.

Dot Pattern
A series of dots that make up a printed image.

Dots per Inch (DPI)
A measure of computer screen and printer resolution that is referred to as the number of dots that a device can print or display per inch. The more dots per inch, the sharper the image.

DPI stands for dots per inch. The more dots per inch, the higher quality your image will be. Don't go higher than 300-400 dpi though because more dpi also means bigger files and longer transfer time. Also stay away from under 300 dpi. Images found online are commonly viewed at 72 dpi, and they aren't meant to be printed. For optimum results, make sure your image is at 300 dpi resolution.

Drill
The drilling of holes into paper for ring or comb binding.

Duotone
A two-color halftone of the same image created by using two screens, two plates, and two colours.

Dummy
A sample layout that shows the position of graphics and text for the final printed piece. Also, a blank layout showing general look and size of a piece.

Dylux/Blueline
A proof of final film using a light sensitive paper. Its purpose is to verify accuracy of film before burning plates.

English Finish
A book paper term for sheets that are smother and more consistent than machined sheets.

Embossing
Impressing an image in relief to achieve a raised surface.

Emulsion
Light sensitive coating found on printing plates and film.

Engraved Printing
A printing process using recessed plates. Ink sits in the recessed wells of the plate, and when pressure is applied, raised letters and images appear on the front of the page.

EPS (Encapsulated PostScript)
A computer graphics file format developed by Adobe Systems that usually contains object-oriented files.

Eurobind
A patented method of binding perfect bound books so they will open and lay flatter.

File Extensions
Three-digit designations at end of a file name that tell the computer what format the file has been saved in. (Examples: .doc, .txt, .pdf, .psd)

File Format
Each different type of file has a different file format. A file format specifies how information is organized. (Examples: .doc, .txt, .pdf, .psd)

Finish
Term describing the characteristics of a paper's surface Free Sheet
Paper made without mechanical wood pulp.

Flat/spread size
This is the size of your piece before folding. (Example: and 8 1/2 x 11" 4 page brochure spread out as a 2 page "spread" would be 17 x 11 ") NOTE: IN PRINTING THE WIDTH IS ALWAYS THE FIRST DIMENSION GIVEN. 

Foil Stamping
The application of foil to paper. May also be combined with embossing for added interest or effect.

Fold type
The type of fold you require in order to finish your piece. A letter fold is a paper folded in thirds with each end folding towards the center.

4/0 is 4 colors one side only:

4/4 is 4 colors both sides:

4/4 is 4 colors both sides:

French fold
Two folds at right angles to each other.

FTP (File Transfer Protocol)
File Transfer Protocol, or FTP, allows computers to speak to each other. FTP is used to make files available for transfer over the Internet. Anyone with access to the internet can use FTP. In some cases you may need network access and/or username and password information. The primary benefit of FTP, as opposed to E-Mail, is the size/speed at which files can be sent and received.

Ghosting
A faint printed image that appears on a printed sheet where it was not intended. More often than not this problem is a function of graphical design. It is hard to tell when or where ghosting will occur. Sometimes you can see the problem developing immediately after printing the sheet, other times the problem occurs while drying. However the problem occurs it is costly to fix, if it can be fixed. Occasionally it can be eliminated by changing the color sequence, the inks, the paper, changing to a press with a drier, printing the problem area in a separate pass through the press or changing the racking (reducing the number of sheets on the drying racks). Since it is a function of graphical design, the buyer pays for the increased cost.

Gloss
A shiny look reflecting light.

Grain
The direction in which the paper fiber lie.

Graphic
An item to be printed that is not copy (text); includes photographs and illustrations.

Graphic Design
The use of graphic elements and text to communicate an idea or concept.

Graphic Designer
The person who develops the graphic designs using computer software.

Graphic File Format (GIF)
A graphic file format commonly used by computer bulletin boards, not appropriate for printing.

Grayscale
256 levels of gray from black to white.

Grippers
The metal fingers on a printing press that hold the paper as it passes through the press.

Ground wood Pulp
Wood pulp made by machine for newsprint and magazine papers

Halftone
The way that tints or grays are printed is by breaking the solid color down into a pattern of dots so small that they cannot be seen by the unaided eye. When this technique is used to created a uniform area of lighter color, it is called a "screen tint." When it is used to reproduce a photograph it is called a "halftone."

Hickey
Reoccurring unplanned spots that appear in the printed image from dust, lint, dried ink.

High Res
The resolution of an image indicates the number of dots per inch (dpi). High resolution is usually anywhere from 300 dpi to 2,500dpi.

Holdout
Coated paper with low ink absorption has good holdout. The ink sets on the surface of the paper and tends to be sharper.

Holes Punching or drilling
To allow for insertion to a binder or other use. 

Image area
Portion of paper on which ink can appear.

Imagesetting
A system that takes digital design file and produces film negatives that older processes require to make the printing plates. Sometimes this is referred to as Lino, after one of the first brands of imagesetters.

Imagesetter
A high resolution output device for producing film used to create plates for a printing press, in computer imaging, a device that outputs type, line art and photos.

Imposition
The process of arranging the pages of a document so that when the sheets are printed and later folded for binding, the pages will be in the proper order.

Imposition
Positioning printed pages so they will fold in the proper order.

Impression
Putting an image on paper.

Imprint
Adding copy to a previously printed page.

Indicia
Postal information place on a printed product.

Ink fountain
The reservoir on a printing press that hold the ink.

Inkjet
A type of printer that works by spraying ionized ink at a sheet of paper. Inkjet printers are capable of producing high quality print resolutions up to 2400 dots per inch. Newer models offer even higher resolutions.

Kilobyte (KB)
A measurement of data equal to 1,024 bytes.

Kiss cut
To cut the top layer of a pressure sensitive sheet and not the backing.

Knock out
To mask out an image.

Laid paper
A watermark, giving a closely lined look in the finish.

Laminate or Lamination (Gloss or matt)
To cover with film, to bond or glue one surface to another.

Laser Papers
Papers with special coatings or hard finishes that are optimized for laser printers and copiers.

Lines per inch
The number of rows of dots per inch in a halftone.

Leading
The space between lines of type, measured from the baseline of one line to the baseline of the next. The quantity is measured in points, such as 6 point type, 8 point, etc. Each point equals approximately 1/72th of a inch.

Line Screen
The number of dot lines created per inch, or lines per inch (LPI).

Low Res
The resolution of an image indicates the number of dots per inch (dpi). Low resolution is usually anywhere from 72 dpi to 250 dpi.

LPI
See Line Screen.
Match print
A multiple piece of contact proofing that is pieced together and laminated as a single piece. This is the most accurate proofing method. 

Lupe
A magnifying lens used by printers to examine the details of printed materials. Use of a Lupe permits an individual to see the individual colour halftone dots used in process colour printing.

Matte finish
Dull paper or ink finish.

Mask
This is a process used to delete unwanted areas of an image while maintaining its shape.

Match Print
A color proof made from the printing negatives for a four-color process piece. This is the most accurate color proof available for analog presses.

Mechanical Pulp
Same as ground wood pulp. Pulp produced by grinding logs and wood chips into pulp.

Megabyte (MB)
A measurement of data equal to 1,024 kilobytes.

Mock-up
A piece that is handmade by the graphic artist to better show you how your finished piece will look. It generally will be folded and bound the exact way it will be done in production. Sometimes also referred to as a "comp".

Moiré
An undesirable result in an image when a texture or screen is placed one on top of another. The image will appear fuzzy or wavy.

Newsprint
Paper made primarily from ground wood pulp.

Number of pages
How many pages does your book or printed brochures have? This is different from how many sheets of paper (a sheet of paper has two sides and is therefore two pages). 

Offset Printing
Also called Offset Lithography,  it is a process in printing where ink is spread on a plate then transferred to paper by using a blanket and pressing down.

Offsetting
Using an intermediate surface used to transfer ink. Also, an unpleasant happening when the images of freshly printed sheets transfer images to each other.

Optical Character Recognition (OCR)
Software that translates images of scanned text characters into characters that can be manipulated in a computer as text but not as images.

Opacity
The amount of show-through on a printed sheet. The more opacity or the thicker the paper the less show-through. (The thicker/heavier the paper the higher the cost.)

Outline halftone
Removing the background of a picture or silhouetting an image in a picture.

Output ready disk
A disk that is complete and does not require any further production 

Overlay
The transparent cover sheet on artwork often used for instructions.

Overrun or overs
Copies printed in excess of the specified quantity. (Printing trade terms allow for + - 10 % to represent a completed order.)

Perfect bind
A squared off edge, with scored hinges for ease of opening and glued in pages define this type of bindery. An example would be your standard "pocket" or "soft cover" in book printing. 

Perforate
To perforate or die score in holes that allow one to cleanly remove a coupon or page from the piece with ease. 

Picking
Printers nightmare that occurs as the surface of a sheet lifts off during printing. Generally a paper manufactures quality control problem.

Pin register
A standard used to fit film to film and film to plates and plates to press to assure the proper registration of printer colors.

Plate gap
Gripper space. The area where the grippers hold the sheet as it passes through the press.

PMS (Pantone Matching System)
An ink colour matching system created by Pantone.

Point
Equivalent to 1/72th of a inch, points are the units of measurement of type, such as 6 point, 10 point, etc.

Postscript
Postscript fonts have very smooth edges and are used in most printing applications. Writing Postscript is similar to sending files to an office printer, but the information is collected in an electronic file that can be read by prepress computers which RIP files prior to output. Postscript files can be converted to PDF format.

Pre-Press
The processes performed on a printing order prior to its going to the press to be printed. Examples are file preparation, file modification, preparing film, stripping, creating proofs and making plates. Most up to date prepress operations have or are converting to all digital processes and work with customer provided electronic files.

Printing Plate
A thin object (plate) made of either metal or paper which is light sensitive and causes an image to be transferred to paper while on a printing press. The image is burned onto the plate from film by the use of high intensity light. The surface of the plate is treated or configured so that only the printing image is receptive to the ink which transfers to the printed object.

Proofing
A method of checking for errors prior to printing an order. A press proof is used by the printing press operator to ensure the correctness of the finished product during the production of the order.

Pica
Unit of measure in typesetting. One pica = 1/6 inch.

Process Colours
The subtractive primaries: yellow, magenta and cyan, plus black in four-colour process printing.

Process Printing
The printing from a series of two or more halftone plates to produce intermediate colours and shades.

Photocopy
A reproduction process that uses a light sensitive printing element, toner, and heat to fuse the toner to the paper producing the copy.

Photo Illustration
An image produced by the use of one or more photographs.

Pixel
Short for picture element. These are the dots that form the picture on a monitor. The smaller the pixel, the more detail in the picture.
PostScript
The computer language most recognized by printing devices.

Pressure-sensitive paper
Paper material with self sticking adhesive covered by a backing sheet.

Pixel Depth
The amount of data used to describe the coloured dots on a computer monitor.

Plates
A metal sheet of coated material that transfers ink from the printing press to paper.

PostScript
Is a language for printing, meaning it describes fonts, images and graphics as mathematical expressions that do not require fonts or other dependent files.

Presort First Class Mail
The process of preparing and sorting mail to qualify for reduced postage rates. The lowest First-class postage rates are available if you sort and automate the addresses on your mailing lists.

Primary Colors
Are made up of red, green and blue, which are Additive Primaries, which create white light; and cyan, magenta, yellow, and black, which are Subtractive Colors, which are used for printing.

Process Colors
Overlapping dots of Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black (CMYK) used to simulate a large number of different colors.

 

Raster
Graphics composed of pixels on a bitmap, allowing for solid colored objects and graphics as we see them.

Ream
Five hundred sheets of paper.

Recto
Right-hand page of an open book.

 

Recycled Paper
Paper consisting of some amount of previously discarded paper.

Reflective copy
Copy that is not transparent.

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

Register marks
Cross-hair lines or marks on film, plates, and paper that guide strippers, plate makers, pressmen, and bindery personnel in processing a print order from start to finish.

Registration
Putting two or more images together so that they are exactly aligned, and the resulting image is well defined.

Resolution
The number of pixels that can fit into one inch determines the sharpness and quality of an image. Computer monitors are 72-96 DPI while most printed jobs are 300 DPI or above.

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.

RGB (Red, Green, Blue)
When mixed together these colors create a white light. Computer monitors display color in RGB.

Right-angle fold
A term used for two or more folds that are at 90 degree angles to each other.

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

Rule Up
A flat proof with lines drawn on it to show where the piece will be cut, perforated and folded.

Scans
Scanning is the process that records your images as a digital file from a photograph. 

Scoring
Using a letterpress and a piece of metal to make an indent in paper. This step is necessary when folding cover stock.

Screen angles
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.

Self-cover
Using the same paper as the text for the cover.

Service Bureau
An organization that provides specialized graphics services to printers. Service bureaus often provide film and proofs to their customers that are then delivered to printers.

Scoring
To crease paper with a metal rule for the purpose of making folding easier.

Self cover
A cover that is the same paper stock as the internal sheets.

Side stitch
The stapling of sheets or signatures on the side closest to the spine.

Signature
A printed sheet with multiple pages on it that is folded so that the pages are in their proper numbered sequence, as in a book.

Specifications
A precise description of a print order.

Spine
The binding edge of a book or publication.

Spiral bind
A type of binding where a metal or plastic wire is spiraled through holes drilled along the binding side of a document.

Split Run
An order with the same front side but may have two or more different backsides.

Spoilage
Planned paper waste for all printing operations.

Spot Colour
A single colour ink or varnish applied to printed material, primarily used when process colours are not appropriate. The effective use of spot colour can add heightened interest to printed materials without incurring the cost of process colours.

Spot varnish
Varnish used to hilight a specific part of the printed sheet.

Spread
When a publication is printed with several interacting spot colours, gaps or colour shifts may appear between objects. A spread closes the gap by overlapping a light foreground object to a dark background.

Stamping
Term for foil stamping.

Standard Mail
The process of preparing and sorting mail to qualify for reduced postage rates. The lowest postage rates are available if you sort and automate the addresses on your mailing list. Standard Mail postage is lower than First-class, however Standard Mail has a longer delivery time.

Step-and-repeat
A procedure for placing the same image on plates in multiple places.

Stet
A proof mark meaning let the original copy stand.

Stock
A term for unprinted paper.

Stripping
The positioning of film on a flat prior to plate making.

Tagged Image File Format
A file format for exchanging bitmapped images between applications.

Text paper
Grades of uncoated paper with textured surfaces.

Text ink
The ink you require for the inside of your piece. This is described by the number of inks you require and the two numbers used are separated by a slash sign /. If the front of your piece has 4 colors and the back has 1, then your piece would be described as 4/1 or "four over one". There are 2 main kinds of inks, CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow and black) for process printing, such as color photos and Pantone inks also known as spot color. 

Text stock
The paper you require for the inside of your periodical. or entire piece if there is not a different cover paper. 

Thermography/Raised Printing
A finishing technique applied to wet inks that raises the ink and gives the effect of embossed printing without using costly dies.

TIFF (Tagged Image File Format)
A TIFF is one of most widely supported file format for storing images on a computer. It can handle a range from one bit to 24 bits of photographic image, but as an older format, images saved as TIFF files tend to be larger than JPEG or .PSD formats.

Transfer tape
A peel and stick tape used in business forms.

Transparency
A positive photographic slide on film allowing light to pass through.

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

Trapping
The overlapping of one color over a different, adjacent color to ensure that no white space is visible where the two colors meet, especially when there are slight variations in the registration of the two colors during the printing process. Or the process of printing wet ink over wet or dry previously printed ink.

Tree-free
Some papers are now made from renewable resources other than trees, such as bamboo, cotton, or hemp.

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

Trim size folded
What is the size of your final piece once folded. (Example: if you fold a letter to fit an envelope, the folded size is the "trim size folded="3" 2/3 x 8 1/2"
Saddle stitch The binding of booklets or other printed materials by stapling the pages on the folded spine.

Trim Marks
Marks placed on the copy to indicate the edge of the page.

Typesetting
To layout words, text and logos for printing.

Twelve Point Stock (12pt Cornwall )
The standard stock used on all cards printed at Ultra X-Press is 12 point Cornwall. "12pt" signifies the thickness of the stock. The higher the number, the thicker the stock. "Cornwall" is the type of paper used. Some of our competitors print on standard 8pt. stock but we feel this stock is too flimsy for card printing and doesn't produce the high quality, professional results we demand.

Under-run
Production of fewer copies than ordered. See over run.

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

 

UV Coating
Plastic coating that is applied after the printing process. This yields a very tough, almost un-scratchable surface that is more durable than aqueous coatings.

 

Varnish
A thin, protective coating applied to a printed sheet for protection or appearance, available in gloss or matt finishes.

Vector Images
Object-oriented graphics of defined curves and line segments; these are resolution independent and can be stretched or resized.

Vellum
A toothy surface, relatively absorbent for good ink penetration.

Verso
The left hand page of an open book.

 

Waste
A term for planned spoilage.

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.

Web
A roll of printing paper.

Web press
The name of a type of presses that print from rolls of paper.

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
Printing one side of a sheet and turning it over from left to right using the same side guides and plate for the second side.

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

Web Press
A printing press that prints on rolls of paper passed through the press in one continuous piece, as opposed to individual sheets of paper.

 

Zip file
Zipping a file compresses one or more files into smaller archive. It takes up less hard drive space and less time to transfer across a network or the internet