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 H I K L N O P R S T V W

• 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.

• Art Work

  Any materials or images that are prepared for graphic reproduction.

• Ascender

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

• Back To Back

  Print applied to both sides of a sheet of paper.

• 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.

• Base Line

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

• Basis Weight

  Basis or basic weight refers to the weight, in pounds, of a ream (500 sheets) of paper cut to a given standard size for that particular paper grade.

• Binding

  Various methods of securing folded sections together and or fastening them to a cover, to form single copies of a book.

• Bleed

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

• Blind Embossing

  Embossed forms that are not inked, or gold leafed.

• Boldface

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

• Bond

  A grade of durable writing, printing and typing paper that has a standard size of 17x22 inches.

• Bristol Board

  A board paper of various thickness; having a smooth finish and used for printing and drawing.

• Brochure

  A pamphlet that is bound in booklet form.

• 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.

• Camera Ready

  A term given to any copy, artwork etc., that is prepared for photographic reproduction.

• Cast Coated

  A paper that is coated and then pressure dried using a polished roller which imparts an enamel like hard gloss finish.

• Coated Stock

  Any paper that has a mineral coating applied after the paper is made, giving the paper a smoother finish.

• Color Bars

  This term refers to a color test strip, which is printed on the waste portion of a press sheet. It is a standardized (GATF-Graphic Arts Technical Foundation) process which allows a pressman to determine the quality of the printed material relative to ink density, registration, and dot gain. It also includes the Star Target, which is a similar system designed to detect inking problems.

• Contrast

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

• Copy

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

• Cover

  A term describing a general type of papers used for the covers of books, pamphlets etc.

• 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.

• 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.

• Drop Shadow

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

• Embossing

  To raise in relief a design or letters already printed on card stock or heavy paper by an uninked block or die.

• Fold Marks

  Markings at top edges that show where folds should occur.

• Font

  The characters which make up a complete typeface and size.

• Grain

  Direction of fibers in a sheet of paper governing paper properties such as increased size changes with relative humidity, across the grain, and better folding properties along the grain.

• Gripper Edge

  The grippers of the printing press move the paper through the press by holding onto the leading edge of the sheet; this edge is the gripper edge.

• Gutter

  Space between pieces printed multiple up on a page. Commonly used to allow for bleed.

• House Sheet

  This is a term that refers to a paper that a printer keeps on hand in his shop.

• Image Area

  That portion of the printing plate that carries the ink and prints on paper.

• Indicia

  Markings pre-printed on mailing envelopes to replace the stamp.

• Inserts

  Extra printed pages inserted loosely into printed pieces.

• Italic

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

• Kerning

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

• Layout

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

• Leaders

  The dots or dashes used in type to guide the eye from one set of type to the next.

• Linen

  A paper that emulates the look and texture of linen cloth.

• Natural

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

• Offset Paper

  A term for uncoated book paper.

• Opaque

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

• Over Run

  Surplus of copies printed.

• Perfect Binding

  Binding process where backs of sections are cut off, roughened and glued together, and rung in a cover.

• Perforating

  Punching small holes or slits in a sheet of paper or cardboard to facilitate tearing along a desired line.

• Pica

  Standard of measurement, 1/6 inch. 1 pica = 12 points 72 points = 1 inch

• Point

  A measurement unit equal to 1/72 of an inch. 12 points to a pica, 72 points to an inch.

• Press-Proof

  Actual press sheet to show image, tone values and colors as well as imposition of frame or press-plate.

• Process Inks

  Printing inks, yellow, magenta, cyan, and black, which are printed, one over another allowing for full color reproduction, including photos.

• Proof

  Impression from composed type or blocks, taken for checking and correction, from a lithographic plate to check accuracy of layout, type matter, tone and color reproduction.

• Ream

  500 sheets of paper.

• Register Marks

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

• Right Angle Fold

  A term that denotes folds that are 90 degrees to each other.

• Saddle Stitching

  Stitching where the wire staples pass through the spine from the outside and are clinched in the center. Only used with folded sections, either single sections or two or more sections inset to form a single section.

• Score

  Impressions in flat material to facilitate bending or folding.

• Signature (Section)

  Printed sheet (or its flat) that consists of a number of pages of a book, placed so that they will fold and bind together as a section of a book. The printed sheet after folding.

• Spiral Bind

  A wire or plastic binding that is spiraled through holes punched along the binding side.

• Spot Color

  Small area printed in a second color.

• Stock

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

• Trim Marks

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

• Varnish

  An opaque substance applied after printing to add various finishes to a printed piece. Can be used to coat an enture sheet or "spot varnished" to target specific areas.

• Washup

  The cleaning of an ink color from a press.

• Watermark

  A translucent logo that is embossed during the papermaking process.