absolute page number |a page’s actual position in a document; to go to or print a page using it’s position, use a plus (+) sign before the numeral
acid free paper |paper made from pulp which contains little or no acid. this property causes the paper to resist deterioration from age. Also known as archival paper, alkaline paper, neutral pH paper, permanent paper and thesis paper
A4 paper | International Organization for Standardization (ISO) paper size 210x297mm. most commonly used for letterhead. against the grain | at right angles to the grain direction of the paper being used, as opposed to with the grain. AKA across the grain and cross grain. also see grain direction.
ascender | the part of a lower case character which rises above the x height, i.e., the stem on b, d, f, h, k, l and t
ASCII | acronym American Standard Code for Informational Interchange, an industry-standard text-only format
attribute | see character
authors alteration | any change made by the customer after files have been delivered to the printer. The change could be in copy, artwork, specifications or all three. also commonly called AA, customer alteration, and alteration.
aqueous coating | a water base coating applied like ink by a printing press to protect and enhance the printing underneath.
backbone | the bound end, spine, of a book backing up | to back up • printing the second side of the stock (paper)
benday | one or more shades of black (or other color)
binary file | a file of formatted text, data, images, sound, movies or program code
bind | the joining of leafs or signatures together with either wire, glue or other means, term usually used in book publishing, but not exclusively
bleed | when an element extends to the trim edge of a page, the area printed beyond the sheet’s trim marks is the bleed (most often .125”)
blowup | an image which is reproduced larger than its original size
blueline | a generic term used in the modern computer-to-plate printing work-flow this is a full sized inkjet contract proof which is produced so that the customer can check all copy, image placement, size, pagination, binding, folding, and all printing specifications. This proof is not used to check for image color and quality. (formerly a prepress photographic proof made from stripped negatives where all colors show as blue images on white paper) body type | (or text) type face used for the bulk of the text in a document
booklet | a pamphlet of eight of more pages, stitched
brochure | a small booklet
CAPS | capital letters coated paper | printing paper which has a surface coating to give it a particular finish
continuous tone | gradations as in a halftone (photographic) print as well as raster images and files
copy | the basic text and images intended for reproduction
crop | cropping selecting (and marking or positioning) a particular area of an image for reproduction crop marks | pairs of short lines used to trim printed materials, trim marks
Csc | Cap/small cap type style descender | the part of a lower case character which falls below the baseline; the tails on g, j, p, q and y
dot | the basic component of halftones and raster images double page | two facing pages, also called a spread dpi | the resolution of an image in dots per inch
drop cap | a large initial capital letter which extends one or more lines below the top line of a paragraph
dropout | a visual element that blocks printing of an area, a white logo
drop shadow | a shape (or text) which has been duplicated, tinted and placed behind text or a picture to create a shadow effect
dummy | a page by page physical model (mockup) of a job to be printed duplex paper | paper with different finishes on each side
elipsis | (…) three points which indicate an omission of words; type Option-; to set as a single character
embossing | a raised, printed image (a raised image which is not printed is blind embossing)
em dash | this is an hyphen which measures 1 em space wide. To set and em dash type Shift-Option-hyphen
em space | typesetting measure: an em is the square of the type point size, i.e., for 12pt type an em is 12 x 12 pts; to set use 2 en spaces (Option-space)
en dash | this is an hyphen which measures 1 em space wide. To set and en dash Option-hyphen
en space | half the width of an em space (6 pt for 12 pt type); to set Option-space
eps | acronym Encapsulated Postscript, a digital format for mathematically defined images
facing pages | alternating left and right pages; a spread consists of a left and right page
field | an area of a dialog box for modifications figure space | a numerical space the width of the zero (0)
flip | to flop a picture to create a mirror image
flop | an image which is turned to create a mirror image
flush type | a column of type with no indentations; flush left - left aligned; flush right - right aligned
foil stamp | printing method that releases foil from its backing when pressure is applied through a heated die. Also know as stamping, hot foil stamp or block print.
fold marks | dashed pairs of marks which indicate where the document or publication gets folded
foldout | gatefold sheet bound into a publication, often used to display a map or a chart. sometimes referred to as a gatefold or a pullout.
folio | a page number in a publication; or a single folded sheet
font | the characters and letters of a single type face
font family | the characters and letters of all the variations (light, roman, bold, ital, et al) of a type face
footer | type that prints on the bottom of each page, often the page number, publication or section name and date
form | each side of a signature. Sometimes spelled forme
format | the shape, style, layout and other printing specs of any printed product
four color process printing | The printing technique that uses four halftone plates: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black (CMYK) to simulate full-color reproduction of images and elements.
fpo | the abbreviation of “For Position Only”. The is used as a label for placeholder images and/or rough text which is placed into a layout but is not intended for use in final reproduction.
frame | a border around a text of picture area
french fold | a sheet printed on one side only then folded with two right angle folds to form a four page uncut section.
full range haltone | a image who's tonal value ranges from 0% in the highlights to 100% coverage in the shadows.
grayscale | shades of gray ranging from black to white printing in grayscale uses only the black image plate
grippers | metal press device for holding the paper in position during printing
gripper edge | the edge of the stock which is held by the grippers
gutter | the inside (or center) margin of pages in a book; also the space between columns of type on a single page
halftone | a continuous-tone image comprised of varying sized dots (or other shapes) header | text that prints on top of each page which may include the name of the document or section, page number, and the date
headline | the lead line of text of a manuscript or page
highlight | the lightest part of a continuous-tone image
imposition | the order in which pages are assembled on the sheet for printing so they will be in the correct numerical sequence after folding
impression | the image printed on stock
insert | a special section (single page, tearoff, return envelope folio or multiple pages) bound into a book after printing invisible characters | characters which do not print that can be displayed on screen including tab, return, soft return, space
italic | a slanted variation of a font
jacket | a protective paper cover for a book which wraps from inside front to inside back cover
justify | (justified) • type which is aligned flush on both the right and left side of the column
kerning | adjusting the space between letters
knockout | same a dropout, a defined area with no printing where the stock color is the image
layout | a mechanical or rough sketch of a potential printed piece indicating the size and position of all the visual elements
lc | lower case type
lead | (leading) • space between lines of type, e.g. 10/12pt is 10 pt type on 12 pt baselines Please do not use ‘auto’ as each default is different
leaders | rows of dots (or dashes)
letter spacing | the space between letters (see tracking)
ligature | a single typographic character that is a combination of two individual letters
line art | graphic elements made up of any solid area of black or color that can be printed without halftones
logo | a special design displaying a company or product name (usually having very specific rules for use in printed material)
lpi | lines per inch, the resolution of a halftone printing screen, as opposed to dpi which is the resolution of an image
luminousity | the relative lighness/brightness of a color
mechanical | the digital (or mechanical) assembly of all the art elements correctly sized and in position for generating the separations for printing
mechanical requirements | the detailed specifications for digital file (or mechanical) preparation for separations for any given publication (page size: trim & bleed; margin, safety, colors, resolution, accepted file types) moiré | an unexpected image pattern created by overprinting two or more dot images at conflicting angles
negative | an photo image which is the reverse color(s) of the original
nonprinting characters | same as invisible characters
orphan | a single line of a paragraph at the bottom of a column
overflow | text which does not fit into the area allotted
overlay | a transparent or translucent layer over another image
overprinting | printing on an already printed area
pantone colors | this is an index of standardized colors that can
be communicated and consistently mixed by printers whenever specified by designers for spot colors in multicolor projects
pasteboard area | nonprinting area surrounding a document page or spread
pasteup | see mechanical
pdf | portable document format
pica | the standard measure for type, approximately 1/6th of an inch (12 points per pica, 72 points per inch)
platemaking | making plates for any type of printing
pms colors | acronym for pantone match system. this is an index of premixed standardized colors that can be specified by designers for spot colors in multicolor projects
point | units of a pica, 12 points/pica; 72 points/inch the space from one baseline of type to the next is measured in points
positive | an image which duplicates the color (value) of the original
PPD | PostScript Printer Description file containing the capabilities of a specific output device
ppi | resolution of an image in pixels per inch
preference | applications display dialog boxes used to modify default values and disable various program features
press proof | a proof made on a printing press for client approval prior to printing
printer driver | system file that communicates between a computer and a printer
process color | color specified in percentages of Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and blacK
process plates | CMYK, the process plates for 4-color printing
progressive plates | (progs) • a proof of each individual color plate; and a combination
proof | test sheet made to reveal errors or flaws, predict results on press and record how a printing job is intended to appear when finished.
rag right | (ragged right) a paragraph aligned flush on the left and uneven on the right edge
raised cap | a single decorative, enlarged capital letter at the beginning of a paragraph aligned on the baseline
reflow | text which is repositioned by editing and modification
register | properly aligning 2 or more images on the same surface
registration color | default color used for crop, fold and registration marks which appears on all separation plates
resolution | measurement of the degree of detail of an image, usually in dots per inch (dpi)
reverse | another term for dropout and knockout; an unprinted area
reverse type | type which is white or light, set against a dark background
RGB | Red, Green and Blue, the color model used for computer monitors and video output
rich black | black that incorporates other colors to print darker and gain visual impact
saddle stitch | binding a booklet through a center fold with wire staples; saddle-stitched booklets open up flat
scaling | enlarging or reducing graphics or text to fit into a particular area
score | creasing stock to facilitate folding
section | a group of sequentially numbered pages
self cover | a booklet whose covers are printed on the same stock as its pages
set solid | text which is set with the font size and leading of equal value, i.e. 12/12 is 12 point type on 12 point leading
side stitch | binding a booklet with wire staples on the side near the spine
signature | a section of a book printed on a single sheet and folded into eight or more pages (often 32)
silhouette | an irregularly shaped image either on a white (non-printing) background or defined by a clipping path
slug | job number / file name / folio for identification
small caps | type case with reduced-size capital letters replacing lowercase characters
source document | a digital file from which you copy elements and text in preparing a new file
spot color | a particular color that is not built using process colors which prints on its own plate
spread | two (or more) adjoining, facing pages
stock | any surface ready for printing
strike through | type style with a horizontal line through the characters
subscript | reduced size character that is lowered below the baseline
superior | reduced size character that is raised so the top aligns with the cap height of the adjacent characters
superscript | reduced size character that is raised above the baseline
target document | a digital file in which you collect materials (pages or elements ) from various source documents to build a new document
tiff | Tagged Image File Format which can be black and white, grayscale or color
tint | reducing the value of the printing color to make the image area lighter
TOYO colors | premixed inks that can be specified for spot colors
tracking | the adjustment of space between selected characters and words
trapping | a slight overlap that prevents gaps from appearing between objects
trim | cutting press sheets to the final page size TRUMATCH colors | color matching system fo specifying (CMYK( 4-color printing of more than 2,000 colors
type family | see font family
typeface | see font
uc | upper case type (Capital letters)
U/lc | Upper and lower case type
vignette | a spot image or halftone which fades away
wash up | cleaning the press & rollers to print another color ink web press | a press that prints from a continuous roll of paper
widow | the last line of a paragraph appearing alone at the top of a column
x height | the height of a lowercase x of a given font, measured from the baseline
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