Printing Related Terms

Paper Information 

Art Paper   See coated paper
Coated Paper   A paper that has a coating applied to the body of the paper that results in a shiny surface. Otherwise know as an art paper.
Crown   Old Printing paper size 20" x 15". Still used today.
Foolscape   Old Printing paper size 17" x 13.5"
48 Sheet   A standard poster site size measuring 120" x 480"
Grain (in paper)   The direction the fibres lie in paper.
GSM   Stands for grammes per square metre or the weight of paper. This is often used when specifying paper. As a general rule of thumb the following is applied
Flyers /mailers   Lightweight paper 100 - 120gsm, Medium weight paper 130-150gsm, Heavyweight paper 170gsm
Reply paid card   Minimum weight 230gsm
Folders   Lightweight 250gsm, Medium weight 280-300gsm
Ream   500 sheets of paper
Royal   A paper size 25" x 20".
Web   A roll of paper.
     

Artwork and Origination

Bleed   The area of an image outside the crop marks cropped off to allow the resulting image to print to the edge of the page.
Crop Mark   The mark indicating the position in which the sheet is to be trimmed
Screen ruling
The Em   A measurement consisting of 12 points or 4.5mm
Justification   Type aligned on both sides of the text, achieve by the spacing of letters and words.
Kerning   The fine tuning of spacing between letters.
Leading   The spacing between lines of text.
Point   A printing measurement. 72 points to an inch.
Point Size   The Size of type measured from the baseline of type on one line to the baseline of the text on the next.
Range left/right   Body copy aligned to the left or the right with the opposite side ragged.
Registration marks   The marks applied to each film to ensure correct alignment of each colour on press.
Sans Serif   A Typeface without serifs
Spreading   The process to illiminate small areas of white appearing around light coloured text when it reverses out of a dark background. The lighter text is grown slightly (spread) to create a lock-on to allow for the slight movement that occurs when printing.
Trapping/Choking   The process to illiminate small areas of white appearing around dark coloured text when reverses out of a light background. The light background is run slightly underneath (trapped/choked) to create a lock-on allow for the slight movement that occurs when printing.
Widow   A single word on the last line of a paragraph.
X height   The depth of the type not taking into account the assender or decender.
     

Proofing and Printing

Back up   Printing the reverse side of a printed sheet.
Blanket   The rubber sheet that covers the cylinder of a printing press.
Cyan   A light blue colour used in 4 colour process printing.
Chromolin Proof   A fast proofing method from film origination and uses powder instead of ink. The powder is sealed with a laminate.
Dot Gain   The amount the ink spreads or bleeds on the page or when making films or plates. This percentage is the amount you have to allow to obtain the optimum reproduction to match the original.
Four colour process   A standard printing method to achieve full colour using a combination of 4 colours, cyan, magenta, yellow and black.
Embossing   A finishing method using stamping dies that result in the image/type being raised above the paper surface.
Film   Transparent light sensitive acetate that contains the processed image from a computer file that is used to make a printing plate.
Hickies   Small particles of dirt on the plate or cylinder that usually result in a small solid area with a white halo on the printed matter.
Machine proof   A proof produced on a printing press that gives a close simulation to the final printed job.
Magenta   A colour used in 4 colour process printing.
Screen printing   A printing method in which ink is forced through a fine mesh than has the image imposed on or in which a stencil has been cut.
     

Finishing

Gatefold   A fold that in involves folding 2 sides towards the centre fold in an overlapping manner.
Gold Blocking   A gold leaf finish created by a heated die, bonding gold leaf to the surface of the stock. Heavyweight 330-350gsm
Lamination   A transparent plastic film applied by heat to protect a printed surface.
Saddle stitch or wire stitch   A process that uses wire to hold the printed pages together in a brochure. The name comes from the shape of the tool that holds the opened pages which looks like a saddle.
Varnish   A clear solution apllied over the printed surface. Used mainly to reduce marking, but sometimes used to produce a slightly more shiny finish. Can be applied to select areas with a plate.
     
 

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Marketing Resources | Printing Terms

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