Glossary

The fastening of paper to create a brochure or book. Common styles are Saddle Stitched, Perfect Bound, Side Stitched, Case or Edition.

A printed color or image that extends beyond the trim edge of a page.

A vector-based outline used to clip an image from it's background so only the desired part of the image appears.

Acronym for ink colors used in 4-color process printing. Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black. Also called "process" colors.

The occurrence of the middle pages of a signature extending beyond the outside pages when folded.

Blocking or cutting out unwanted portions of an image.

An image or type that spreads across facing pages of a printed book, brochure or magazine.

"Dots Per Inch". The number of dots that fit horizontally and vertically into a one inch area. A general rule, the higher the DPI, the sharper the printed image.

A on-press test of ink color on actual paper stock that will be used for the job to evaluate how it will look.

Printing over dry ink with a separate pass on the press.

Encapsulated PostScript. File format for images or graphics saved from Photoshop, Illustrator or exported from a layout program.

Post press operations including scoring, folding, trimming and binding.

Post press operations like scoring, folding, trimming and binding.

Printing that uses Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black to produce full color images. Also called Full-Color or Process Printing.

A low-resolution (usually 72 dpi) image used only to indicate placement and size. This is meant to be replaced by a high-resolution image before printing.

The 1/8 inch along the spine of a perfect bound book that is ground off before binding.

A paper printout or proof of digital files. Usually output on a desktop printer or laser printer.

High Resolution, usually 300 dpi or higher.

Area of the background that is masked out (knocked out) by a foreground object.

Proofs of images that are not assembled in an imposed fashion or in order. Usually used for large quantities of images.

Low Resolution, usually 72, 96 or 100 dpi.

A custom mixed ink color that matches specific color denoted in a color system such as Pantone®, Toyo® or TruMatch®. It is not built as a CMYK color.

Printing one ink over the top of another, usually only used for black ink, ie. type or text.

Portable Document Format - Adobe Systems format for cross-platform documents.

RIPping files, separations, generating proofs, preflighting jobs and other file preparation activities performed by the printer.

Print made from digital files to check for errors, predict printed results and record how a printed job is intended to look when finished.

Digital image made up of pixels. Photoshop® is the industry leader in this field.

Red, Green and Blue - the additive primaries that computer monitors use.

A device designed to intrepret PostScript files and create separations and document formats suitable for printing.

Separating full color images or scans into the four primary printing ink colors cyan, magenta, yellow and black (CMYK).

An independent or in-house group that specializes in preparing files for print.

The original digital or mechanical file.

Specific color that is applied only to portions of a printed job. See also: Match Color.

A clear gloss or dull coating that is applied only to specified areas of a printed job, usually to make an image stand out from the rest of the page or sheet.

The size of the final product in its finished form.

Liquid coating applied to a printed sheet, then bonded and cured with ultraviolet light.

Graphics that use mathematical calculations to describe lines and curves. Adobe Illustrator® is the most common vector program.

A highly intelligent person that sits in front of a computer all day doing, technically, nothing, acts as an occasional IT tech or may pose as a victim if something he's doing isn't ready when the boss asks for it. Usually a middle-aged male with a cell phone or other gadget attached to his belt, occasionally disgruntled and often difficult to deal with. Take caution when dealing with this individual, as he may, if provoked, call you a name that you will probably have to look up on the internet for it's meaning, if you can log on to the internet before the he unplugs your computer from it via some remote and secret server that only he has a password to.