Printing Terms Glossary a-c

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Author's alterations - changes or corrections made by the customer after type has been set, altering the original copy.

Absorption - In paper, the property that causes it to take up liquids or vapors in contact with it. In optics, the partial suppression of light through a transparent or translucent material.

Accordion Fold - Two or more parallel folds that open like an accordion.

Acetate - Thin, flexible sheet of transparent plastic used to make overlays.

Acid-Free Paper - Paper having no residual acid-producing chemicals, and a pH of 7 or slightly above 7.

Additive Primaries - In color reproduction, red, green, and blue. When lights of these colors are added together, they produce the sensation of white light.

Against the Grain - At right angles to the grain direction of paper.

Airbrush - A small pressure gun, shaped like a pencil, that sprays watercolor pigment by means of compressed air. Used to create original illustrations and to correct and obtain tone or graduated tone effects. In platemaking, used with an abrasive-like pumice to remove spots or other unwanted areas.

Alkaline-Sized Paper - Paper internally sized with a synthetic sizing material and containing a mildly alkaline filler. The pH of alkaline-sized paper is above 7.5.

Alteration - Change in copy or specifications made after production has begun.

Antique Finish - A term describing the surface, usually on book and cover papers, that has a natural rough finish.

Aperture - In photography, lens opening or lens stop expressed as an F/stop number such as F/22.

Artboard - Alternate term for Mechanical. Artwork Original images, including type, illustrations and photos.

Ascender - That part of a lower case letter which rises above the main body, as in the letters b, h, and d.

ASCII - Acronym for American Standard Code for Information Interchange, a standard code used to help interface digital equipment.

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Backbone - The back of a bound book connecting the two covers; also called the Spine.

Backing Up - Printing on the second side of a printed sheet.

Back Lining - A paper or fabric adhering to the backbone in a hardcover book.

Bad Break - In composition, starting a page or ending a paragraph with a "widow" or hyphenated word.

Banding - Method of packaging printed pieces using paper, rubber, or fiberglass bands.

Base Line - Imaginary horizontal base on which all characters in a line of type align.

Base Negative - Negative made from copy pasted to mounting board, or base art, not overlays.

Basic Size - The one standard size of each grade of paper used to calculate basis weight.

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 glue, wire, thread, or other means.

Binder's Board - Very stiff paper board used to make covers of case bound books.

Bindery - Print shop department or separate business that does trimming, folding, binding, and other finishing tasks.

Black-and-White - Originals or reproductions in single color, as distinguished from multicolor.

Black Printer - In color reproduction, the black plate, made to increase contrast of neutral tones and detail.

Blanket Cylinder - Cylinder of a press on which the blanket is mounted.

Blanket - Thick rubber sheet that transfers ink from plate to paper on an offset press.

Bleed - Printed image that extends beyond the trim edge of a sheet or page.

Blind Emboss - Impression of an uninked image on the back of a sheet, producing a raised image on the front of the sheet.

Blowup - To enlarge photographically.

Blueline - Prepress, photographic proof where all colors show as blue image on white paper.

Board - Alternate term for Mechanical.

Body - The viscosity, or consistency of printing ink (e.g., an ink with too much body is stiff).

Body Copy - The main part or text of a printed piece, as distinguished from the heading.

Body Type - Typestyle used for the main part or text of a printed piece, as distinguished from the heading.

Bold-Face Type - Type that is heavier than the text weight type of a particular typeface.

Bond Paper - A grade of writing or printing paper in which strength, durability, and permanence are essential requirements; used for letterheads, business forms, etc.

Book Paper - A general term for coated and uncoated papers. The basic size is 25" x 38".

Bookbinder - Alternate term for Trade Bindery.

Brightness - In photography, light reflected by the copy. In paper, the reflectance or brilliance of the paper.

Bristol - Type of board paper used for postcards, business cards, and other heavy-use products.

Broadside - Any large advertising circular.

Brochure - A pamphlet bound or folded in booklet form.

Broken Carton - Less than one full carton of paper.

Broken Image - An incomplete image on a plate.

Broker - Agent who supplies printing from many printing companies.

Bronzing - Printing with a sizing ink, then applying bronze powder to the wet ink to produce a metallic luster.

Bulk Pack - To pack printed pieces in boxes without prior wrapping in bundles.

Bulk - The degree of thickness of paper. In book printing, the number of pages per inch for a given basis weight.

Bullet - Bold dot used for emphasis.

Bump Exposure - An exposure in halftone photography, especially with contact screens, in which the screen is removed for a short time. It increases highlight contrast and drops out the dots in the whites.

Burn - A term used for exposure in platemaking.

Burnish- To smooth and seal by rubbing elements adhered to a mechanical.

Butt - To join without overlapping.

Butt Fit - Ink colors overlapped only a hairline so they appear perfectly butted.
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C Print - Color photographic print made from a negative on C Print paper.

CAD/CAM - Computer Assisted Design/Computer Assisted Makeup or Manufacturing.

Calendar - To make paper smooth and glossy by passing it between rollers during manufacturing.

Caliper - Thickness of paper usually expressed in thousandths of an inch.

Camera Direct Plate - An offset printing plate produced directly from original copy without a negative.

Camera-Ready Copy - Mechanicals, photographs, and art fully prepared to be photographed for platemaking.

Cap Height - Height of the capital letters of a typeface.

Caps and Small Caps - Two sizes of capital letters made in one size of type, the small caps being the same height as the "x" height of the lower case letters.

Caption - Identifying or descriptive text accompanying a photograph or other visual element.

Case Bind - To bind by gluing signatures to a case made of binder's board covered with fabric, plastic, or leather, yielding hardcover books.

Cast Coated - Coated paper with a high gloss enamel finish.

Catching Up - A term which indicates that the non-image areas of a press plate are starting to take ink or scum.

Center Marks - Lines on a mechanical, negative, plate, or press sheet indicating the center.

Centered - Type with the middle of each line at the midline of the column.

Chalking - In printing, a term which refers to improper drying of ink. Pigment dusts off because the vehicle has been absorbed too rapidly into the paper.

Character - Any letter, numeral, symbol, or punctuation mark making up a type font.

Character Count - Number of characters in a pica, inch, line, column, or page. It is different for each typeface and size and varies when type is extended or condensed.

Chemical Pulp/Fibers - Wood pulp/fibers obtained by digestion and bleaching of wood chips to remove lignin and other organic materials surrounding cellulose fibers and to isolate them for papermaking.

Chipboard - Inexpensive, single-ply cardboard, usually brown or gray.

Chrome - Alternate term for Transparency.

Circular Screen - A circular-shaped halftone screen that enables the camera operator to obtain proper screen angles for color halftones by rotating the screen.

Cleat Bind - Alternate term for Side Stitch.

Clip Art - Retail, non-copyrighted black and white art, printed on white paper for artists', use when preparing mechanicals.

Coarse Screen - Screen with ruling of fewer than 133 lines per inch.

Coated Paper - Paper with a surface coating that produces a smooth finish to improve ink holdout. Surfaces vary from matte to glossy.

Coating - In platemaking, the light-sensitive polymer or mixture applied to a metal plate. In printing, an emulsion, varnish or lacquer applied over a printed surface to give it added protection.

Cold Color - A color which is on the bluish side.

Cold Type - Alternate term for Strike-On or Phototype.

Collate - To assemble sheets into proper sequence. In binding, the gathering of sheets or signatures.

Color Bar - Strip of colors printed near the edge of a press sheet to help evaluate ink density and registration.

Color Break - In multicolor printing, the point or line at which one ink color stops and another begins.

Color Build - The overprinting of colors or screened colors to produce a different color.

Color Correct - To improve or enhance color rendition on separation negatives.

Color Filter - A sheet of dyed glass, gelatin, or plastic used in photography to absorb certain colors and permit better rendition of others. The filters used for color separation are: red, green, blue.

Color Key - 3M trade name for overlay color proof.

Color Matching System - System of numbered ink swatches that facilitates communication about color.

Color Process - Alternate term for 4-Color or full color.

Color Separation - Set of four halftone negatives for making plates for 4-color process printing.

Comb Bind - To bind by inserting teeth of a flexible plastic comb through holes in a stack of paper.

Compose - To set type.

Composite Negative - Negative made by combining two or more pieces of film.

Composite Proof - Proof of color separations in position with graphics and type.

Comprehensive Dummy - Complete simulation of a printed piece. Sometimes referred to as a "comp".

Condensed Type - Characters that are narrow in proportion to their height, thus seeming tall and tightly spaced.

Contact Print - Photographic print made by exposing a negative in direct, uniform contact with paper.

Contact Screen - A photographically-made halftone screen on film having dot structure of graded density, used in vacuum contact with the photographic film to produce halftones.

Contaminants - Materials in waste paper that interfere with fiber recovery and recycling, such as non-water-soluble adhesives, plastic film or foam, rubber, metal, glass, asphalt, carbon paper, laser printed stock, laminated materials and wet strength papers.

Continuous-Tone Copy - Photographs and illustrations having a range of shades.

Contrast - Range of gradations in tones between lightest white and darkest black in continuous-tone copy or the abrupt change between light and dark in line copy.

Converter - Business that combines printed sheets with other materials to make boxes, displays, envelopes, etc.

Copy - For an editor or typesetter, all written material. For a graphic designer or printer, everything that will be printed, including art, photographs, and graphics, as well as words.

Copyboard - Part of a camera that holds copy in position to be photographed.

Copyfit - To use character counts and editing to plan so that type fits space allotted by the layout.

Copyfitting - The calculation of how much space a given amount of copy will take up in a given size and typeface. Also the adjusting of the type size to make it fit in a given amount of space.

Copyright - Ownership of creative work by the writer, photographer, or artist who made it.

Corner Marks - Lines on a mechanical, negative, plate, or press sheet showing the corners of a page or finished piece.

Corrugated - Characteristic of board for boxes made bysandwiching fluted kraft paper between sheets of paper or cardboard.

Cotton Content Paper - Paper made from cotton fibers in addition to wood pulp.

Cover Stock - Grade of paper made for covers and postcards.

Crash Printing - Letterpress printing on carbon or carbonless forms so image prints simultaneously on all sheets in the set.

Creep - Phenomenon of middle pages of a folded signature extending slightly beyond outside pages.

Cromalin - DuPont trade name for integral color proof.

Crop - To eliminate portions of an illustration or photograph so the remainder is clearer, more interesting, or better suited to the layout.

Crop Marks - Lines near the margins of artwork or photos indicating where to cut, perforate, or fold.

Cross Direction - The direction across the grain of paper.

Crossover - Image that continues from one page of a publication across the gutter to the opposite page.

Cut Stock - Paper distributor term for paper 11" x 17" or smaller.

Cutscore - In die-cutting, a sharp-edged knife cut, usually several thousandths of an inch lower than the cutting rules in a die, made to cut part way into the paper or board for folding purposes.

CWT - Paper distributor abbreviation for 100 pounds.

Cyan - The of the four process colors; also known as process blue.

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