Color Printing Services Glossary - Advanced Litho Printing

Glossary


Binding
The fastening of paper to create a brochure or book. Common styles are Saddle Stitched, Perfect Bound, Side Stitched, Case or Edition.
Bleed
A printed color or image that extends beyond the trim edge of a page.
Clipping Path or Mask
A vector-based outline used to clip an image from it's background so only the desired part of the image appears.
CMYK
Acronym for ink colors used in 4-color process printing. Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black. Also called "process" colors.
Creep
The occurrence of the middle pages of a signature extending beyond the outside pages when folded.
Crop
Blocking or cutting out unwanted portions of an image.
Crossover
An image or type that spreads across facing pages of a printed book, brochure or magazine.
DPI
"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.
Drawdown
A on-press test of ink color on actual paper stock that will be used for the job to evaluate how it will look.
Dry Trap
Printing over dry ink with a separate pass on the press.
EPS
Encapsulated PostScript. File format for images or graphics saved from Photoshop, Illustrator or exported from a layout program.
Finish
Post press operations including scoring, folding, trimming and binding.
Finishing
Post press operations like scoring, folding, trimming and binding.
Four-Color Process
Printing that uses Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black to produce full color images. Also called Full-Color or Process Printing.
FPO
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.
Grind
The 1/8 inch along the spine of a perfect bound book that is ground off before binding.
Hard Copy
A paper printout or proof of digital files. Usually output on a desktop printer or laser printer.
Hi-Res
High Resolution, usually 300 dpi or higher.
Knockout
Area of the background that is masked out (knocked out) by a foreground object.
Loose Color
Proofs of images that are not assembled in an imposed fashion or in order. Usually used for large quantities of images.
Low-Res
Low Resolution, usually 72, 96 or 100 dpi.
Match Color
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.
Overprint
Printing one ink over the top of another, usually only used for black ink, ie. type or text.
PDF
Portable Document Format - Adobe Systems format for cross-platform documents.
Prepress
RIPping files, separations, generating proofs, preflighting jobs and other file preparation activities performed by the printer.
Proof
Print made from digital files to check for errors, predict printed results and record how a printed job is intended to look when finished.
Raster
Digital image made up of pixels. Photoshop® is the industry leader in this field.
RGB
Red, Green and Blue - the additive primaries that computer monitors use.
RIP (Raster Image Processor)
A device designed to intrepret PostScript files and create separations and document formats suitable for printing.
Separation
Separating full color images or scans into the four primary printing ink colors cyan, magenta, yellow and black (CMYK).
Service Bureau
An independent or in-house group that specializes in preparing files for print.
Source File, Source Image
The original digital or mechanical file.
Spot Color
Specific color that is applied only to portions of a printed job. See also: Match Color.
Spot Varnish
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.
Trim Size
The size of the final product in its finished form.
UV Coating
Liquid coating applied to a printed sheet, then bonded and cured with ultraviolet light.
Vector
Graphics that use mathematical calculations to describe lines and curves. Adobe Illustrator® is the most common vector program.
Webmaster
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.