Printing Terminology Explained

Here are some well used common print terms

There are two basic methods of modern printing that we use:

Digital and Lithographic.

Digital printing is used for short runs of approximately 500.

Lithographic is a wet ink process that usually applies to print runs of 500 plus.

Terms you may hear:

4:0 or 4:1 or 4:4 etc

Refers to the number of colours used per side. This can be referred to as four back zero / four back one / four back four.

4 Colour Process

Technique of printing that uses the four process colours of ink to simulate colour photographs or illustrations. See CMYK.

4pp

A product that has four pages and usually consists of a sheet folded in half. The 'outside right cover' is the first page, the 'inside' forms pages two and three, and the fourth page is the 'outside left cover'. For instance, an A4 sheet folded in half becomes an A5 4pp brochure.

4pp A4

A product where an A3 sheet is folded in half to create a multi-page A4 product. The first page is the outside right front cover, the second page is the inside left, the third page is the inside right, and the fourth page is the outside left cover. It is also known as double A4.

6pp

A product that has six pages and usually consists of a sheet folded into thirds. Each of the six panels are referred to as pages. For instance, an A4 page folded into three becomes a 6pp DL brochure.

8pp

A product that has eight pages and usually consists of a sheet folded into quarters. Each of the eight panels are referred to as pages. For instance, an over-sized A4 page folded into four becomes an 8pp DL brochure.

COMMON TERMS

- A -

Art Work or Artwork

Any materials or images which are prepared for printing. As a general rule, artwork should be supplied as a high resolution PDF at 300 dpi, with crop marks and 3mm bleed.

A-Sizes

The most common paper sizes used for stationery, leaflets and other publications.

A0 - 841 x 1189 mm

A1 - 594 x 841 mm

A2 - 420 x 594 mm

A3 - 297 x 420 mm

A4 - 210 x 297 mm

A5 - 148.5 x 210 mm

A6 - 105 x 148.5 mm

A7 - 74 x 105 mm

A8 - 52 x 74 mm

A9 - 37 x 52 mm

A10 - 26 x 37 mm

Authors Amendments

Changes made by the customer, usually at the proofing stage. These are sometimes chargeable, as opposed to in-house errors which are not.

Author or Customer Alterations (AA, CA's)

Changes made after the proof stage where a customer is responsible for additional charges.

- B -

Back to Back

Printing applied to both side of a sheet of paper.

Binding

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

Saddle Stitched and Perfect Binding are the most common

Black

Ink that is one of the process colours. Also known as K in CMYK.

Bleed

Where the image to be printed extends (usually by 3mm) over the crop marks. This makes trimming easier and means the finished documents will run to the edges.

Block Foiling

Where a design is stamped into the cover, usually in a metallic foil.

Grade of paper commonly used for file folders, display, and postcards.

Boldface

Type that has a heavier stroke that makes it bolder.

Brochure

A pamphlet to convey or promote message.

B-Sizes

Larger than A-sizes, most sheet-fed print presses take these paper sizes. It then allows for trimming to A-sizes.

B0 - 1000 × 1414 mm

B1 - 707 × 1000 mm

B2 - 500 × 707 mm

B3 - 353 × 500 mm

B4 - 250 × 353 mm

B5 - 176 × 250 mm

B6 - 125 × 176 mm

B7 - 88 × 125 mm

B8 - 62 x 88 mm

B9 - 44 × 62 mm

B10 - 31 × 44 mm

Caps & Lowercase

Instructions in the typesetting process, that indicate the use of a capital letter and the rest of the letters in lower case.

Caps & Small Caps

Two sizes of capital letters made in one size of type.

CMYK

Abbreviation of Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black. These make up the standard 4 colour process used for printing in full colour.

Collate

To assemble sheets into proper sequence.

Colour Process

Alternate term for 4-colour process printing.

Colour Separation

Set of four colours (CMYK) for 4-colour process printing.

Copyright

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

Crop Marks

Lines marking where the paper is to be trimmed after printing. These should be part of the artwork.

C-Sizes

Paper sizes used for envelopes. These correspond to A-sizes (e.g. C4 envelope will hold A4 sheets).

C3 - 324 x 458 mm

C4 - 229 x 324 mm

C5 - 162 x 229 mm

C6 - 114 x 162 mm

DL - 110 x 220 mm (holds A4 folded twice)

Cutting

Process of cutting paper with guillotine cutter

Cyan (C)

One of the ink colours (blue) that is used as a process colour (CMYK).

- D -

Design Brief

Written description of how a printed piece is intended to look and the requirements for reproducing it.

Digital Printed Proofs

Proofs printed digitally (not lithographically). These are suitable for checking layout and pagination but not for colour. The reason being they will be printed on different paper and/or using a different machine to the finished product. These can usually be offered free of charge.

Digital Printing

Low cost method of printing best suited for short run jobs. It works directly from electronic data without the need for printing plates. This makes the process very quick but the print quality, although a good alternative is not on par with lithography. Also, you cannot use specific spot colours or metallic inks.

DL

Envelope size to hold an A4 sheet folded twice (or a compliment slip). 220 x 110mm. See C-sizes.

DPI

Dots per inch, or the image resolution. For print, all images in a document should always be a minimum of 300dpi.

Drop Shadow

A shadow image placed strategically behind an image to create the effect of a shadow from light.

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- F -

Finished Size

The size once trimmed and folded.

Four Colour Printing

Usually means process printing (CMYK)

Full Colour

Printing in CMYK, as opposed to using spot colours. Although you can print full colour with additional spot colours.

- G -

Graphic Designer

Professional who conceives of the design for, plans how to produce, and may coordinate production of a printed piece.

Graphics

Art and other visual elements used to make messages more clear.

Grey Scale

Strip of swatches of tone values ranging from white to black used by process camera operators to calibrate exposure times.

GSM

Grams per square metre. This is the standard measurement of weight for paper.

- H -

Hi Res

Short for High Resolution.

- I -

Illustrator

A vector based software program from Adobe.

Italic

Type that is slanted body forward.

- J -

Jacket

The paper cover that goes over a hardbound book.

Jpeg

A file format for photos it is typically used because of its ability to compress files. (It creates a smaller file than a TIFF file and it is used mainly on the Internet.) Printers prefer TIFF over Jpeg files.

- K -

Kerning

The measure of space between letters.

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- L -

Laminating

Where a thin plastic film is fixed to one or both sides of the paper. This can create a silky matt or a high gloss finish, depending on the intended purpose and personal preference. It also acts as a protective barrier if the print needs to be more durable or is likely to encounter a demanding environment.

Landscape

Where a document is oriented so the long edges are at the top and bottom. As opposed to portrait.

Layout

A dummy that shows the placement of all the elements.  Sketch or drawing of a design for a proposed printed piece showing position, size, and colour of copy.

Leading

Space between the lines of type

- M -

Margin

Space forming border of a page or sheet.

- O -

Origination

The files to be printed which make up the artwork. Usually a print ready PDF.

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- P -

Page

One side of a sheet of paper -whether printed or not. For example, an A4 sheet has 2 pages. An A4 sheet folded in half to A5 has 4 pages.

Page count

Total number of pages, including blanks and printed pages without numbers.

Pantone®

The Pantone Colour Matching System is a standardized colour reproduction system. By standardizing the colours, different manufacturers in different locations can all refer to the Pantone system to make sure colours match without direct contact with one another. The Pantone system also allows for many special colours to be produced, such as metallic and fluorescents.

Pantone colours are often referred to as spot colours.

PDF

Portable Document Format is a universal file format which combines images and text. Adobe's continual development and the implementation of ISO standards has made it the ideal format for designers to supply print ready artwork in.

Perfect Binding

Perfect Binding is a method for binding printed sheets suitable for binding documents where they are too thick to saddle stitch. Where the text pages are glued in to the cover.  Perfect Binding is most commonly used on paperback books. See also burst binding and drawn on covers

PMS

Pantone Matching System. Followed by 3 or 4 digits to make up a code e.g. PMS 072.

Point

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

Portrait

Where a document is oriented so the long edges are on either side. As opposed to landscape

PP

Printed pages. Refers to the number of pages in a document e.g. 12pp (12 pages).

PPI

Pixel per inch.

Prepress

Alternate term for Preparation.

Process blue

Alternate term for Cyan.

Process colours

The colours needed for 4-color process printing: yellow, magenta, cyan, and black.

Process Inks

CMYK, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black that create images in full colour.

Process Printing

CMYK printing - Alternate term for 4-color process painting.

Process red

Alternate term for Magenta.

Proof

Proofs are an example of what is to be printed so both parties are in agreement. Any errors or amendments should be picked up at this stage. This can take the form of a digital proof, usually supplied as a PDF, or a printed proof. See digital proofs and wet proofs for more details.

Proof OK

Customer signature approving a proof and authorizing the job to advance to the next stage.

Proofread

To examine copy or a proof for errors in writing or composition.

- Q -

Quotation

Printer's offer to print a job for a specific price calculated from specifications and dummies provided by customer.

- R -

Ream

500 sheets of paper.

Run

Total number of copies ordered or printed.

- S -

Saddle Stitching

Stitching where the wire staples pass through the spine from the outside and are clinched in the centre which is only used with folded sections in four page increments.

Self Cover

A cover made out of the same paper stock as the internal sheets.

Spine

Back edge of a book

Spiral Bind

A form of binding using a spiral of continuous wire or plastic looped through punched holes in the documents back margin.  This can be either metal or plastic.

Spine

How do I know how wide the spine will be?

There’s a simple formula which determines that width. Just take the number of pages in your book and divide that figure by your text paper’s PPI (Pages Per Inch). Where do you get the PPI?  Let’s say your book has 200 pages and you are printing it on a web press using a paper which has a PPI of 400. Then the width of your book’s spine will be 200 ÷ 400 or half an inch. That’s for a paperback. For a hard cover book, you have to add the thickness of the boards. The easiest way to do this accurately is to have your printer provide you with a template.

Spiral bind

To bind using a spiral of wire or plastic looped through holes.

- T -

Thermography

Raised printing used to simulate engraving, which is printed offset with resin powder and heat that melts the resin on the ink.

Trim Marks

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

Trim size

Size of the printed product after last trim is made.

Turnaround time

Amount of time needed to complete a job or one stage of it.

- U -

UV coating

Liquid laminate bonded and cured with ultraviolet light.

- W –

Wire Stitching or Stapling

To fasten together sheets, signatures, or sections with wire staples.

- Y -

Yellow (Y)

Also one of process colours (CMYK).