A

 

Adhesive binding

Applying a glue or another, usually hot-melt, substance along the backbone edges of assembled, printed sheets; the book or magazine cover is applied directly on top of the tacky adhesive

 

Analog workflow

Traditional workflow that relies heavily on film and photosensitive materials and processes

 

Application files

The files that contain the data created by software programs; also called data files

 

 

B

 

Binding

Joining the assembled pages of a printed piece together. Types include saddle-stitching, adhesive binding, mechanical binding, loose-leaf binding, and Smyth sewing

 

Bitmap

An image represented by an array of picture elements, each of which is encoded as a single binary digit

 

Blanket

(1) In presswork, a sheet of cork, felt, or rubber used on a press platen or impression cylinder to cushion the impression in printing. (2) In lithography, a rubber coated fabric mounted on a cylinder that receives the inked impression from the plate and transfers or offsets it to the paper. Such blankets are also mounted on the impression cylinders of sheetfed gravure presses

 

Blanket cylinder

The cylinder that carries the offset rubber blanket, placing it in contact with the inked image on the plate cylinder and then transferring the inked image to the paper carried by the impression cylinder

 

Blueline

A blue-on-white print made by exposing sensitized paper to a negative in contact. It is used as a final proof before platemaking

 

 

C

 

Calibration

A process by which a scanner, monitor, or output device is adjusted to provide a more accurate display and reproduction of images

 

Caliper

The thickness of a sheet of paper or other material measured under specific conditions. Caliper is usually measured in mils or points, both ways of expressing thousandths of an inch caliper

 

Camera-ready

All printing elements are prepared to be photographed on the graphic arts camera

 

CD-ROM

 

Compact disk‚ A read-only memory. An optical data storage device

 

CMYK

Standard set of colored inks used for full-color reproduction on printing presses: cyan, magenta, yellow, and black; also referred to as process color

 

Coating

An unbroken, clear film applied to a substrate in layers to protect and seal it, or to make it glossy

 

Color bar

A device printed in a trim area of a press sheet to monitor printing variable such as trapping, ink density, dot gain, and print contrast. It usually consists of overprints of two- and three-color solids and tints; solid and tint blocks of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black; and additional aids such as resolution targets and dot gain scales

 

Color fidelity

How well a printed piece matches the original

 

Color management system

An electronic prepress tool that provides a way to correlate the color-rendering capabilities of input devices (e.g., scanners and digital cameras), color monitors, and output devices (e.g., digital color proofers, imagesetters, and color printers) to produce predictable, consistent color

 

Color separation

Using red, green, and blue filters to divide the colors of a multi-colored original into the three process colors and black. The four resulting film intermediates are used to prepare the yellow, magenta, cyan, and black printing plates. Color separation is most often accomplished with an electronic color scanner, but film-contacting and process camera methods are also employed on occasion

 

Color specification system

Charts or swatches of preprinted color patches of blended inks, each with a corresponding number, used to allow designers, printers, and customers to communicate color with more accuracy

 

Concept creation

Selecting images and generating and approving ideas from thumbnails and rough layouts during the graphic design process

 

Content proof

A proof that shows the customer the correct text and position of image elements but does not necessarily show accurate color reproduction

 

Contract proof

A proof intended to show the customer exactly what the printed piece will look like, including color reproduction, before the piece is approved for printing

 

Cure

The process of drying ink sufficiently so that it does not adhere to the printer or press. Inks are also cured to prevent blocking and setoff

 

 

D

 

Dampening

Moistening nonimage areas of lithographic plates with water-covered rollers

 

Dampening system

A series of rollers that moisten the printing plate with a metered flow of a water-based solution containing such additives as acid, gum arabic, and isopropyl alcohol, or other wetting agents

 

Delivery

(1) The section of a printing press that receives, jogs, and stacks the printed sheet. (2) The output end of bindery equipment

 

Densitometer

An instrument for measuring the optical density of a negative or positive transparency or of a print. Reflection densitometers measure the amount of light that bounces off a photographic print at a 90-degree angle. Transmission densitometers measure the fraction of incident light conveyed through a negative or positive transparency without being absorbed or scattered. Combination densitometers measure both reflective and transmission densities

 

Density

A photographic term used to describe the tonal value of an area. A darker tone has a higher density than a lighter tone. A dry ink film has a higher density than a wet one

 

Desktop publishing

The creation of fully composed pages with all text and graphics in place on a system that includes a personal computer with a color monitor; word processing, page makeup, illustration, and other off-the-shelf software; digitized type fonts; a laser printer; and other peripherals, such as an optical image scanner. Completely paginated films are output from an imagesetter

 

Diecut

A printed subject cut to a specific shape with sharp steel rules on a press

 

Digital camera

A photographic system that transforms visual information into pixels that are assigned binary codes so that they can be manipulated, compressed, and stored, or transmitted as electronic files

 

Digital workflow

Workflow that relies on electronic processes that eliminate the need for traditional film materials

 

Digitized Information

Text, photographs, and illustrations converted into digital signals for input, processing, and output in an electronic publishing system

 

Direct-to-plate technology

Those imaging systems that receive fully paginated materials electronically from computers and expose this information to plates in platesetters or imagesetters without creating film intermediates

 

Direct-to-press imaging

Unimaged plates are automatically mounted on the plate cylinder and then imaged with laser beams from digital data

 

Drum scanner

Color separation equipment on which the original transparency is wrapped around a hollow, plastic rotary cylinder

 

Dryer

A unit on a web press that hardens the heatset ink by evaporating the solvent ingredient in it

 

 

E

 

Electrophotography

In modern terminology, processes (including xerography and laser printing) that produce images by passing toner particles over an intermediate photoconductor drum, which receives an electrical charge that enables it to transfer and fuse the toner particles to plain (untreated) paper, forming the image

 

Embossing

Using impressed dies to print text or designs in relief on any one of a variety of paper stocks

 

Enamel

A glossy paper surface coating material

 

EPS

Encapsulated PostScript File. A file format used to transfer PostScript image information from one program to another

 

Estimating

The process of determining approximate cost, specifying required quality and quantity, and projecting waste

 

 

F

 

Feeder

A mechanism which separates, lifts, and passes individual press sheets from the top of a pile table on to the feedboard to front stops. The sheets are laterally positioned on the feedboard by a side guide and then fed into the first printing unit

 

File transfer protocol (FTP)

The tool used to retrieve information in the form of electronic files from any number of computer systems linked via the TCP/IP protocol. Users in effect transfer copies of information found on remote computers either directly to their own computers or to a service provider’s network and then to their own computers

 

Filler

Inorganic materials like clay, titanium dioxide, calcium carbonate, and other white pigments added to the papermaking furnish to improve opacity, brightness, and the overall printing surface

 

Finishing

All forms of completing graphic arts production, including folding, trimming, and assembling sections; binding by sewing, wire stitching, or gluing; and diecutting or gold stamping

 

Flat

A sheet of film or goldenrod paper to which negatives or positives have been attached (stripped) for exposure as a unit onto a printing plate

 

Flatbed scanner

A color scanner on which the original is mounted on a horizontal table instead of a rotary drum

 

Flexography

A method of rotary letterpress printing characterized by the use of flexible, rubber or plastic plates with raised image areas and fluid, rapid-drying inks

 

Fold

Bending and creasing a sheet of paper as required to form a printed product

 

Font

A complete collection of characters in one typeface and size, including all letters, figures, symbols, and punctuation marks

 

Format

Size, shape, and design of a printed piece

 

 

G

 

Galleys

The final typeset (or imageset) copy output to photographic paper or directly to film (serving as preliminary proofs)

 

Graphic arts

The visual reproduction of type and images by any of the several printing processes

 

Graphic communications

Allied industries, including printing, publishing, advertising, and design, that participate in the production and dissemination of text and images by printed or electronic means

 

 

Gravure

An intaglio printing process in which minute depressions sometimes called cells that form the image area are engraved or etched below the nonimage area in the surface of the printing cylinder. The cylinder is immersed in ink, and the excess ink is scraped off by a blade. When paper or another substrate come in contact with the printing cylinder, ink is transferred

 

 

H

 

Hazard Communication Standard

An OSHA‚Äàregulation that requires chemical manufacturers, suppliers, and importers to assess the hazards of the chemicals that they make, supply, or import, and to inform employers, customers, and workers of these hazards through material safety data sheets (MSDS).

 

Hickey

An imperfection on a printed sheet caused by dirt, hardened ink, or other unwanted particles that cling to the press, blanket, or plate during lithographic printing. Hickeys appear as either a small, solid printed area surrounded by a white halo, or an unprinted spot surrounded by printed ink

 

 

I

 

Icon

In a computer system, a picture or drawing, such as a paint brush or trash can, that represents a file or function. Clicking the mouse on the icon activates the procedure or opens the file

 

Illustration software

Software used to generate vector-based images

 

Image area

On a lithographic printing plate, the area that has been specially treated to receive ink and repel water

 

Image capture

The process of converting photographs or other artwork into digital data so that they can be used in computer-based layouts

 

Image carrier

The device on a printing press that carries an inked image either to an intermediate rubber blanket or directly to the paper or other printing substrate. A direct-printing letterpress form, a lithographic plate, a gravure cylinder, and a screen used in screen printing are examples of image carriers

 

Image editing software

Software programs used for working with pixel-based images to refine, enhance, and manipulate them, as well as to create graphic elements

 

Imagesetters

A device used to output fully paginated text and graphic images at a high resolution onto photographic film, paper, or plates

 

Imposition

Assembling the various units of a page before printing and arranging them so that they will fold correctly

 

Impression cylinder

The hard metal cylinder that presses the paper against the inked blanket cylinder, transferring the inked image to the substrate. The impression cylinder on most sheetfed presses uses paper gripper to hold the sheet through its rotation

 

Infeed

(1) The section of a sheetfed press where the sheet is transferred from the registering devices of the feedboard to the first impression cylinder. (2) The set of rollers controlling web tension ahead of the first unit on a web press

 

Ink

A printing ink is a dispersion of a colored solid (pigment) in a liquid, specially formulated to reproduce an image on a substrate

 

 

Inking system

The section of a lithographic press that controls the distribution of ink to the plate

 

Ink-jet printing

A nonimpact printing process in which a stream of electrostatically charged microscopic ink droplets are projected onto a substrate at a high velocity from a pressurized system. The electrically controlled flow of droplets is either intermittent or continuous

 

Internet

The ‚“official‚”name for an international network of computer networks linked to provide and share information and resources about a seemingly limitless number of topics

 

 

J

 

Job jacket

The work order on which the instructions for each phase of production are written. The job jacket may contain the original copy, photos, line art, and files for the job

 

Job specifications

A detailed description of the requirements of a print job

 

JPEG

Joint Photographic Experts Group. The compression scheme based on the lossy compression algorithm, that is a de facto standard on the Internet. JPEG allows the user to control the compression ratio and reproduction quality at the point of compression

 

 

K

 

Knife

In folding machines, the three or four blades at different levels and at right angles to each other that force the paper between the folding rollers. The sheet of paper is pushed from one knife folding mechanism to the other until the desired number of folds have been made

 

 

L

 

Layout

A guide prepared to show the arrangement and location of all the type, illustrations, and line art that are combined together to compose the film flat

 

Layout, rough

A drawing developed from a thumbnail sketch but more detailed and larger

 

Letterpress

The method of printing in which the image, or ink-bearing areas, of the printing plate are in relief, i.e., raised above the nonimage areas

 

Lithography

A printing process in which the image carrier is chemically treated so that the nonimage areas are receptive to water (i.e., dampening or fountain solution) and repel ink while the image areas are receptive to ink and repel water. The image carrier is flat and smooth

 

Loupe

A magnifying glass used to review a printed image, plate and position film.

 

 

M

 

Makeready

All of the operations necessary to get the press ready to print Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS)   A product specification form used to record information about the hazardous chemicals and other health and physical hazards employees face in an industrial workplace, along with guidelines covering exposure limits and other precautions. Employers are required to compile and maintain files of this information under the OSHA‚ÄàHazard Communication Standard set forth by the U.S. federal government

 

Mechanical binding

Clasping individual sheets together with plastic, small wire, or metal rings. Two examples are three-ring binding and spiral binding

 

Misregister

Printed images that are incorrectly positioned, either in reference to each other or to the sheet’s edges

 

Mount

To fasten the plate or blanket to an offset press

 

Moveable type

The individual metal or wooden type characters that are taken from the typecase, arranged to form words and sentences, and then returned to the case for reuse later

 

 

N

 

Nonimage area

The portion of a lithographic printing plate that is treated to accept water and repel ink when the plate is on press. Only the ink-receptive areas will print an image

 

Nonimpact printing

A printing device that creates letters or images on a substrate without striking it. Large, high-speed and ordinary office photocopiers as well as laser and ink-jet printers are just some examples

 

 

O

 

Occupational Safety and Health Act

A federal law enacted in 1970 to protect workers from industrial hazards. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) inspectors may appear unannounced or at the request of an employee to examine any plant for violations of the safety and health standards set forth by the act

 

Offset

The transfer of unwanted wet ink from a freshly printed press sheet to the back of the next sheet that is deposited against it in the delivery pile

 

Opacity

The degree to which light will not pass through a substrate or ink

 

Overlay proof

Thin, transparent pigmented or dyed sheets of plastic film that are registered to each other in a specific order and taped or pin-registered to a base sheet. Each film carries the printed image for a different process color, which, when combined, creates a composite simulating the final printed piece

 

Oxidation

Combining oxygen with the drying oil in a printing ink to promote a slow chemical reaction that produces a dry ink film

 

 

P

 

Page layout software

Computer programs used to assemble type and images into page form

 

Pasteup

The camera-ready assembly of type and line art (drawings), e.g., line copy prepared manually or electronically for photographic reproduction

 

PDF

Portable document format. A computer file format that preserves a printed or electronic document’s original layout, type fonts, and graphics as one unit for electronic transfer and viewing. The recipient uses compatible “reader” software to access and even print the PDF file

 

Perfect binding

The use of glue to hold the pages of a book or magazine together

 

Perfecting press

A printing press that prints both sides of a sheet in a single pass through the press

 

Perforating

Punching a row of small holes or incisions into or through a sheet of paper to permit part of it to be detached; to guide in folding; to allow air to escape from signatures; or to prevent wrinkling when folding heavy papers

 

Phototypesetting

The act of composing type and reproducing it on photographic film or paper

 

Pigment

Fine, solid particles derived from natural or synthetic sources and used to impart colors to inks. They have varying degrees of resistance to water, alcohol, and other chemicals and are generally insoluble in the ink vehicle

 

Pixel

Picture element. The smallest tonal element in a digital imaging or display system

 

Plate cylinder

In lithography, the cylinder that holds the printing plate tightly and in register on press. It places the plate in contact with the dampening rollers that wet the nonimage area and the inking rollers that ink the image area, then transfers the inked image to the blanket, which is held on its own cylinder

 

Platemaking

Preparing a printing plate or other image carrier so that it is ready for the press

 

Postpress

The final stages in the printing process, in which printed sheets are transformed into saleable products, including binding, finishing, and delivery

 

Preflighting

An orderly procedure using a checklist to verify that all components of an electronic file are present and correct prior to submitting the document for high-resolution output

 

Premakeready

The stage prior to printing in which all production specs are examined, necessary materials are brought to the press, and materials are checked for damage

 

Prepress

All printing operations prior to presswork, including design and layout, typesetting, graphic arts photography, image assembly, and platemaking

 

Pressrun

The total of acceptable copies from a single printing

 

Presswork

All operations performed on or by a printing press that lead to the transfer of inked images from the image carrier to the paper or other substrate

 

Primary colors

Colors that can be used to generate secondary colors. In the additive systems, these colors are red, green, and blue. In the subtractive system these colors are yellow, magenta, and cyan. The printing process employs the subtractive color system

 

Print quality

The degree to which the appearance and other properties of a print job approach the desired result

 

Printing plates

A thin metal, plastic, or paper sheet that serves as the image carrier in many printing processes

 

Printing unit

The sections on printing presses that house the components for reproducing an image on the substrate. In lithography, a printing unit includes the inking and dampening systems and the plate, blanket, and impression cylinders

 

Process control

A system using feedback to monitor and manage a certain procedure. Input and output data are tabulated according to specific formulas and compared with certain standards and limits; the process is then adjusted as necessary

 

Process photography

(1) Creating line and halftone images for photomechanical reproduction. (2) The equipment, materials, and methods used in preparing color-separated printing forms for color reproduction

 

Production workflow

A sequence of production steps required to produce any printed item

 

Proof

A prototype of an image that is supposed to show how it will appear when printed on the press

 

 

Q

 

Quality control

The day-to-day operational techniques and activities that are used to fulfill requirements for quality, such as intermediate and final product inspections, testing incoming materials, and calibrating instruments used to verify product quality

 

 

R

 

Register

The overall agreement in the position of printing detail on a press sheet, especially the alignment of two or more overprinted colors in multicolor presswork. Register may be observed by agreement of overprinted register marks on a press sheet

 

Resolution

The precision with which an optical, photographic, or photomechanical system can render visual image detail. Resolution is a measure of image sharpness or the performance of an optical system. It is expressed in lines per inch or millimeter

 

 

S

 

Saddle stitch

Binding multiples sheets by opening the signatures in the center and gathering and stitching them with a wire through the fold line. The folded sheets rest on supports called saddles as they are transported through the stitcher. Booklets, brochures, and pamphlets are most often bound this way

 

Scanner

An electronic device used to make color separations of images

 

Score

To compress or crease cardboard, pasteboard, or heavy paper along the fiber line to facilitate folding or tearing

 

Screen printing

A printing process in which a squeegee forces ink through a porous mesh, synthetic, or silk image carrier, or screen, covered by a stencil that blocks the nonimage areas. The ink pressed through the open image areas of the screen forms the image on the substrate

 

Secondary color

Colors that are produced by overprinting pairs of the primary subtractive colors. The subtractive secondaries are red, green, and blue

 

Service bureau

A business that specializes in color separation and/or in outputting film, paper, or plates from imagesetters

 

Sheeter

A device on a printing press that converts continuous forms into smaller sheets

 

Sheetfed press

A printing press that feeds and prints on individual sheets of paper (or another substrate). Some sheetfed presses employ a rollfed system in which rolls of paper are cut into sheets before they enter the feeder; however, most sheetfed presses forward individual sheets directly to the feeder

 

Shrink wrap

Using heat to affix a thin plastic material around printed and bound products to prepare them for shipment

 

Signature

One or more printed sheets folded to form a multiple page section of a book or pamphlet. Signatures are most commonly grouped as four, eight, sixteen, or thirty-two pages. Various combinations of multiple page signatures create the full complement of pages needed in the printed piece

 

Sizing

Treating paper with chemicals or other materials to impart resistance to water, oils, and other fluids; seal down its surface fibers; and improve its surface strength

 

Soft proof

An intangible, unstable image, such as that on a video screen; text or images viewed or previewed on a video display terminal or monitor

 

Solvent

A component of the vehicle in printing inks that disperses the pigment and keeps the solid binder

liquid enough for use in the printing process

 

Spectrum

The series of color bands formed when a ray of light is dispersed by refraction; the rainbow-like band of colors resulting when a ray of white light is passed through a prism

 

Splice

The area where to paper rolls are joined to form a continuous roll

 

Stamping

Using a die and often colored foil or gold leaf to press a design into a book cover, a sheet of paper, or another substrate. The die may be used alone (in blank stamping) if no color or other ornamentation is necessary. Special presses fitted with heating devices can stamp designs into book covers

 

Standard viewing conditions

A set of American National Standards Institute (ANSI) specifications that dictate the condition under which originals (transparencies and reflection prints), proofs, and reproductions are viewed. For the graphic arts, the standard specifies a color temperature of 5000 K (a light level of approximately 200 footcandles), a color rendering index of ninety, and, for viewing transparencies, a neutral gray surround. Large-format transparencies must be viewed with 2–4 inches of white surround and should never be viewed with a dark surround. It is also necessary to view the original or reproduction at an angle to reduce glare

 

Stock

The paper or other substrate to be printed

 

Stripping

The act of combining and positioning all of the copy elements from all of the film negatives or positives together as a film flat for platemaking

 

Substrate

Any base material with a surface that can be printed or coated

 

Swatch

A small, printed solid used for color matching or measurement. It represents what an ink color might look like after it is printed

 

 

T

 

Thumbnail sketch

Crude, small layouts sketched in pencil to develop the initial concept for a design

 

TIFF

Tagged image file format. A popular file format for exchanging bitmapped images (usually scans) between applications

 

Total quality management (TQM)

A management approach to long-term success through customer satisfaction; TQM is based on the participation of all members of an organization to continuously improve processes, products, services, and the company culture

 

Trapping

How well one color overlaps another without leaving a white space between the two or generating a third color

 

Typesetting

Composing type into words and lines in accordance with the manuscript and typographic specifications

 

Typography

The art and craft of creating and/or setting type professionally

 

 

U

 

No Terms Available

 

 

V

 

Vacuum frame

A device that holds film or plates in place by withdrawing air through small holes in a rubber supporting surface

 

Varnish

(1) A thin protective coating applied to a printed sheet to protect the image and improve appearance. (2) The major component of an ink vehicle, consisting of solvent plus a resin or drying oil

 

Vector

Mathematical descriptions of images and their placement

 

Vehicle

The liquid component of a printing ink

 

 

W

 

Washup

The process of cleaning the rollers, form or plate, and fountain of a press with solvents to remove all ink as required after a day’s run, or during a run for ink color changes

 

Web press

A rotary press that prints on a continuous web, or ribbon, of paper fed from a roll and threaded through the press

 

Word processor

A personal computer and special software program or dedicated electronic equipment used to create, store, retrieve, and edit text

 

 

X

 

Xerography

An electrostatic nonimpact printing process in which heat fuses dry ink toner particles to electrically charged areas of the substrate, forming a permanent image. The charged areas of the substrate appear dark on the reproduction, while uncharged areas remain white

 

 

Y

 

No Terms Available

 

 

Z

 

No Terms Available

 

 

 

The printing dictionary was generously supplied by PRINTING INDUSTRIES OF AMERICA