Print Jargon
This glossary of printing terms was created by people working in today's printing industry. It has been revised and edited to help the desktop publisher understand the printing trade. We have rewritten some technical descriptions in everyday language to help the non technical person.
Against the grain: At right angles to direction of paper grain.
Alteration: Change in copy of specifications after production has begun.
Back up: Printing the second side of a sheet already printed on one side.
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.
Bleed: Printing that goes to the edge of the sheet after trimming.
Blind embossing: An image pressed into a sheet without ink or foil.
Carbonless: Pressure sensitive writing paper that does not use carbon.
Color correction: Methods of improving color separations.
Comb bind: To plastic comb bind by inserting the comb into punched holes.
Cover paper: A heavy printing paper used to cover books, make presentation folders, etc.
Crop marks: Printed lines showing where to trim a printed sheet.
Crossover: Printing across the gutter or from one page to the facing page of a publication.
Cyan: One of four standard process colors. The blue color.
Densitometer: A quality control devise to measure the density of printing ink.
Density: The degree of color or darkness of an image or photograph.
Die: Metal rule or imaged block used to cut or place an image on paper in the finishing process.
Die cutting: Curing images in or out of paper.
Dot: An element of halftones. Using a loupe you will see that printed pictures are made many dots.
Dot gain or spread: A term used to explain the difference in size between the dot on film v paper.
Duotone: A halftone picture made up of two printed colors.
Emboss: Pressing an image into paper so that it will create a raised relief.
Foil: A metallic or pigmented coating on plastic sheets or rolls used in foil stamping and foil embossing.
Foil emboss: Foil stamping and embossing a image on paper with a die.
Foil stamping: Using a die to place a metallic or pigmented image on paper.
4-colour-process: The process of combining four basic colors to create a printed color picture or colors composed from the basic four colours.
Gang: Getting the most out of a printing press by using the maximum sheet size to print multiple images or jobs on the same sheet. A way to save money.
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.
Hairline: A very thin line or gap about the width of a hair or 1/100 inch.
Halftone: Converting a continuous tone to dots for printing.
Imposition: Positioning printed pages so they will fold in the proper order.
Magenta: Process red, one of the basic colors in process color.
Makeready: All the activities required to prepare a press for printing.
Middle tones: The tones in a photograph that are approximately half as dark as the shadow area.
Moire: Occurs when screen angles are wrong causing odd patterns in photographs.
Negative: The image on film that makes the white areas of originals black and black areas white.
Non-reproducing blue: A blue color the camera cannot see. Used in marking up artwork.
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.
Ok sheet: Final approved color inking sheet before production begins.
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 type of binding that glues the edge of sheets to a cover like a telephone book, Microsoft software manual, or Country Living Magazine.
Perfecting press: A sheet fed printing press that prints both sides of a sheet in one pass.
PMS: The abbreviated name of the Pantone Colour Matching System.
PostScript: The computer language most recognized by printing devices.
Press number: A method of numbering manufacturing business forms or tickets.
Pressure-sensitive paper: Paper material with self sticking adhesive covered by a backing sheet.
Process colours: Cyan (blue), magenta (process red), yellow (process yellow), black (process black).
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, platemakers, pressmen, and bindery personnel in processing a print order from start to finish.
Saddle stitch: Binding a booklet or magazine with staples in the seam where it folds.
Score: A crease put on paper to help it fold better.
Self-cover: Using the same paper as the text for the cover.
Specifications: A precise description of a print order.
Stamping: Term for foil stamping.
Tints: A shade of a single color or combined colours.
Trapping: The ability to print one ink over the other, usually used to overlap edges of different colours to eliminate the possibility of a white gap.
Trim marks: 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.
UV coating: Liquid laminate bonded and cured with ultraviolet light. Environmentally friendly.
Vignette halftone: A halftone whose background gradually fades to white.
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.
Wire-O binding: A method of wire binding books along the binding edge that will allow the book to lay flat using double loops.
With the grain: Folding or feeding paper into the press or folder parallel to the grain of the paper.
Against the grain: At right angles to direction of paper grain.
Alteration: Change in copy of specifications after production has begun.
Back up: Printing the second side of a sheet already printed on one side.
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.
Bleed: Printing that goes to the edge of the sheet after trimming.
Blind embossing: An image pressed into a sheet without ink or foil.
Carbonless: Pressure sensitive writing paper that does not use carbon.
Color correction: Methods of improving color separations.
Comb bind: To plastic comb bind by inserting the comb into punched holes.
Cover paper: A heavy printing paper used to cover books, make presentation folders, etc.
Crop marks: Printed lines showing where to trim a printed sheet.
Crossover: Printing across the gutter or from one page to the facing page of a publication.
Cyan: One of four standard process colors. The blue color.
Densitometer: A quality control devise to measure the density of printing ink.
Density: The degree of color or darkness of an image or photograph.
Die: Metal rule or imaged block used to cut or place an image on paper in the finishing process.
Die cutting: Curing images in or out of paper.
Dot: An element of halftones. Using a loupe you will see that printed pictures are made many dots.
Dot gain or spread: A term used to explain the difference in size between the dot on film v paper.
Duotone: A halftone picture made up of two printed colors.
Emboss: Pressing an image into paper so that it will create a raised relief.
Foil: A metallic or pigmented coating on plastic sheets or rolls used in foil stamping and foil embossing.
Foil emboss: Foil stamping and embossing a image on paper with a die.
Foil stamping: Using a die to place a metallic or pigmented image on paper.
4-colour-process: The process of combining four basic colors to create a printed color picture or colors composed from the basic four colours.
Gang: Getting the most out of a printing press by using the maximum sheet size to print multiple images or jobs on the same sheet. A way to save money.
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.
Hairline: A very thin line or gap about the width of a hair or 1/100 inch.
Halftone: Converting a continuous tone to dots for printing.
Imposition: Positioning printed pages so they will fold in the proper order.
Magenta: Process red, one of the basic colors in process color.
Makeready: All the activities required to prepare a press for printing.
Middle tones: The tones in a photograph that are approximately half as dark as the shadow area.
Moire: Occurs when screen angles are wrong causing odd patterns in photographs.
Negative: The image on film that makes the white areas of originals black and black areas white.
Non-reproducing blue: A blue color the camera cannot see. Used in marking up artwork.
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.
Ok sheet: Final approved color inking sheet before production begins.
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 type of binding that glues the edge of sheets to a cover like a telephone book, Microsoft software manual, or Country Living Magazine.
Perfecting press: A sheet fed printing press that prints both sides of a sheet in one pass.
PMS: The abbreviated name of the Pantone Colour Matching System.
PostScript: The computer language most recognized by printing devices.
Press number: A method of numbering manufacturing business forms or tickets.
Pressure-sensitive paper: Paper material with self sticking adhesive covered by a backing sheet.
Process colours: Cyan (blue), magenta (process red), yellow (process yellow), black (process black).
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, platemakers, pressmen, and bindery personnel in processing a print order from start to finish.
Saddle stitch: Binding a booklet or magazine with staples in the seam where it folds.
Score: A crease put on paper to help it fold better.
Self-cover: Using the same paper as the text for the cover.
Specifications: A precise description of a print order.
Stamping: Term for foil stamping.
Tints: A shade of a single color or combined colours.
Trapping: The ability to print one ink over the other, usually used to overlap edges of different colours to eliminate the possibility of a white gap.
Trim marks: 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.
UV coating: Liquid laminate bonded and cured with ultraviolet light. Environmentally friendly.
Vignette halftone: A halftone whose background gradually fades to white.
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.
Wire-O binding: A method of wire binding books along the binding edge that will allow the book to lay flat using double loops.
With the grain: Folding or feeding paper into the press or folder parallel to the grain of the paper.