Help Terms
The following are common terms used in the printing industry. Please refer to this section for any questions you may have regarding unfamiliar terminology.
ARTWORK
A general term used to describe photographs, drawings, graphics, paintings, hand lettering, etc., prepared to be reproduced as printed matter.
AUTHOR'S ALTERATIONS (A.A.s)
Author or client corrections and/or changes made in type at the proof stages; these are not due to printer's error and are therefore chargeable to the customer. All corrections should be marked in red ink or pen according to the printer's code of standardized proofreader's marks; never in soft lead. A.A.s are expensive and should be kept to a minimum. See also House Errors (H.E.s)
BLEED
An illustration or type is said to bleed when it prints off the edge of a trimmed page. Bleed illustrations are usually imposed to print beyond the trimmed page size. An illustration may bleed at the head, front, foot, and/or gutter (back) of a page.
CAMERA-READY ART
Material given to the printer that needs no further work before being routed to the camera department. Camera copy should be clean, free of glue or trash, flat, and printed in dark ink.
COMPOSITION
The assembling of characters into words, lines, and paragraphs of text or type for reproduction for printing.
CROP MARKS
Marks along the margins of an illustration (or photo), used to indicate the portion of the illustration to be reproduced.
DUOTONES
A common printing technique by which a halftone is printed in two ink colors--most often black and another color (screen angles 45 degrees and 105 degrees).
EMBOSSING
A process performed after printing to stamp a raised or depressed image (artwork or typography) into the surface of paper, using engraved metal embossing dies, extreme pressure, and heat. Embossing styles include blind, deboss, and foil-embossed.
ESTIMATE
A price provided to a customer, based on the specifications outlined on the estimate form; it is normally sent prior to entry of an order and prices may change if the order specifications are not the same as the estimate specifications.
FLUSH
Even with; usually refers to typeset copy.
FONT
In composition, a complete assortment of type in one size and face.
FOUR-COLOR PROCESS
The four basic colors of ink (yellow, magenta, cyan, and black) which reproduce full-color photographs or art.
GRAIN
The direction paper fibers run or are arranged.
HALFTONE
Picture with gradations of tone formed by dots of varying sizes.
HOUSE ERRORS (H.E.s)
Corrections and/or changes made due to errors made by the printer, particularly in prepress, as opposed to changes made by the author, clients or editor. Also refers to mistakes made in film negatives, platemaking or printing that are not due to the client's error, addition or deletion. The cost of H.E.s is absorbed by the printer or typesetter. See also Author's Alterations (A.A.s).
JUSTIFIED
Describes text copy that is typeset flush to both the left and the right margins.
LINE COPY
Any copy that is solid black with no gradations in tone and is suitable for reproduction without using a halftone screen.
MECHANICAL (PASTE-UP)
Camera ready assembly of all type and design elements with instructions, ready for the platemaker.
MOIRE'
A pattern in a negative resulting from a prescreened picture or photo.
OFFSET
A method in which the plate or cylinder transfers an ink image to an offset or transfer roller, which then transfers the image to stock.
PERFECT BINDING (ADHESIVE BINDING)
An inexpensive bookbinding technique in which the pages are glued rather than sewn to the cover and used primarily for paperbacks, small manuals, phone books, etc.
POINT
In measuring a paper's caliper, one point equals a thousandth of an inch. In typography, it is the smallest unit of measurement used principally for designating type size. One point equals approximating 1/72 of an inch and 12 points equal one pica.
PROOF:
GALLEY Typeset material before it has been arranged into final page. PAGE A proof output to plain paper before the entire job is printed.
DYLUX
A fast, self-fixing proofing paper that is light sensitive on both sides and is developed from the page layout after stripping.
RAGGED RIGHT
Typesetting style that is characterized by lines that end in unequal length, usually lined up flush on one side or the other--example, flush left/ragged right.
REAM
Five hundred sheets of paper.
RECTO
A right hand book page (usually odd numbered), more significant than the reverse side, which is called the verso.
REGISTER MARKS
Crosses or other marks applied to original copy prior to photography used for achieving perfect alignment (register) between negatives and color separations.
REVERSE
Type appearing in white on a black or color background or in a dark area of a photograph.
SADDLE STITCH
Binding process for pamphlets or booklets which works by stapling through the middle fold of the sheets (saddle wire).
SCORE
To press a mark in a sheet of paper, usually cover stock, to make folding easier--often necessary when a fold must be made against the paper's grain. Scoring with a dull rule (also called creasing).
SCREEN
A sheet of film having lines or other pattern.
SOLID
An area completely covered with ink, or the use of I 00% of a given color. In composition, type set without space (leading) between the lines.
STRIPPING
The positioning of negatives before printing plates are made.
VELOX
A black and white print of a screened image, line art, and/or copy.
VERSO
A left hand page of a book (usually even numbered); the reverse of recto.