Glossary - Where The Trade Buys

This glossary of printing terms can help you understand some of the jargon printers use. You can also ask us for an explanation in plain English!

4/0: Full colour printing on 1 side of the paper stock, no printing on reverse.
4/4: Full colour printing on both sides of the paper stock.
ALTERATION: Change in copy of specifications after production has begun.
BASIS WEIGHT: Weight in pounds of a ream of paper cut to the basic size for its grade.
BIND: To fasten sheets or signatures with wire, thread, glue, or by other means.
BINDERY: The finishing department of a print shop or firm specialising in finishing printed products.
BLEED: Printing that goes to the edge of the sheet after trimming.
BOND PAPER: Strong durable paper grade used for letterheads and business forms.
BRIGHTNESS: The brilliance or reflectance of paper.
BUTT: Joining images without overlapping.
CARBONLESS: Pressure sensitive writing paper that does not use carbon. Often abbreviated as NCR – no carbon required.
CARD ORIENTATION: There are two types of orientation, vertical (up and down) and horizontal (left to right).
COATED PAPER: Clay coated printing paper with a smooth finish.
COLLATE: A finishing term for gathering paper in a precise order.
COLOUR SEPARATIONS: The process of preparing artwork, photographs, transparencies, or computer generated art for printing by separating into the four primary printing colours.
CONTINUOUS TONE COPY: Illustrations, photographs or computer files that contain gradient tones from black to white or light to dark.
CONTRAST: The tonal change in colour from light to dark.
COVER PAPER: A heavy printing paper used to cover books, make presentation folders, etc.
CROP: To cut off parts of a picture or image.
CROP MARKS: Printed lines showing where to trim a printed sheet.
CYAN: One of four standard process colours. The blue colour.
DENSITY: The degree of colour or darkness of an image or photograph.
DESIGN: The assembled group of pictures, logos and/or artwork.
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 loop 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 to paper.
DUMMY: A rough layout of a printed piece showing position and finished size.
EMBOSS: Pressing an image into paper so that it will create a raised relief.
FEATHERING: Softening the edge of an image.
FOIL EMBOSS: Foil stamping and embossing an image on paper with a die.
FOIL STAMPING: Using a die to place a metallic or pigmented image on paper.
FOUR COLOUR PROCESS: The process of combining the four primary colours to create a printed colour picture or colours 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.
GLOSS: A shiny look reflecting light.
GRAIN: The direction in which the paper fibers 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.
HARD COPY: The output of a computer printer, or typed text sent for typesetting.
HIGHLIGHT: The lightest areas in a picture or halftone.
IMAGE AREA: Portion of paper on which ink can appear.
IMPRESSION: Putting an image on paper.
IMPRINT: Adding copy to a previously printed page.
INDICIA: Postal information place on a printed product.
KNOCK OUT: To mask out an image.
LAID FINISH: Simulating the surface of handmade paper.
LAMINATE: To cover with film, to bond or glue one surface to another.
LINES PER INCH: The number of rows of dots per inch in a halftone.
MAGENTA: Process red, one of the basic colours in process colour.
MATTE FINISH: Dull paper or ink finish.
MIDDLE TONES: The tones in a photograph that are approximately half as dark as the shadow area.
NCR: Abbreviated “no carbon required”, referring to carbonless paper – pressure sensitive writing paper that does not use carbon.
NEGATIVE: The image on film that makes the white areas of originals black and black areas white.
OFFSETTING: An intermediate surface used to transfer ink. Also, an unpleasant happening when the images of freshly printed sheets transfer images to each other.
OFFSET PAPER: Term for uncoated book paper.
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.
OVERRUN OR OVERS: Copies printed in excess of the specified quantity. (Printing trade terms allow for + – 10 % to represent a completed order.)
PAGE COUNT: Total number of pages in a book including blanks.
PERFECT BIND: A type of binding that glues the edge of sheets to a cover like a telephone book or magazine.
PMS: The abbreviated name of the Pantone Color Matching System.
POINT: For paper, a unit of thickness equaling 1/1000 inch. For typesetting, a unit of height equaling 1/72 inch.
POSTSCRIPT: The computer language most recognized by printing devices.
PROCESS BLUE: The blue or cyan colour in process printing.
PROCESS COLOURS: Cyan (blue), magenta (process red), yellow (process yellow), and black (process black).
RGB: Stands for Red Green Blue, the three-colour format used for computer and television screens, and not printing.
REAM: Five hundred sheets of paper.
REGISTER: To position print in the proper position in relation to the edge of the sheet and to other printing on the same sheet.
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.
SADDLE STITCH: Binding a booklet or magazine with staples in the seam where it folds.
SCANNER: Device used to make colour separations, halftones, duo tones and tri tones. Also a device used to scan art, pictures or drawings in desktop publishing.
SCORE: A crease put on paper to help it fold better.
SCREENING: Lightening an image.
SELF COVER: Using the same paper as the text for the cover.
SHADOW: The darkest areas of a photograph.
SIDE STITCH: Binding by stapling along one side of a sheet.
SIGNATURE: A sheet of printed pages which when folded become a part of a book or publication.
SILHOUETTE HALFTONE: A term used for an outline halftone.
SPECIFICATIONS: A precise description of a print order.
SPOILAGE: Planned paper waste for all printing operations.
SPOT VARNISH: Varnish used to highlight a specific part of the printed sheet.
STAMPING: Term for foil stamping.
STOCK: The material to be printed.
SUBSTRATE: Any surface on which printing is done.
TEXT: Words used in your design.
TEXT PAPER: Grades of uncoated paper with textured surfaces.
TINTS: A shade of a single colour or combined colours.
TRANSPARENCY: A positive photographic slide on film allowing light to pass through.
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.
UNDER RUN: Production of fewer copies than ordered. See over run.
UV COATING: Liquid laminate bonded and cured with ultraviolet light. Environmentally friendly.
VARNISH: A clear liquid applied to printed surfaces for looks and protection. (UV coating looks better.)
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.
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.