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Glossary of Printing & Graphic
Terms (M - W)
For a full list of our printing
services click here.
This glossary includes
all the technical and business terms in the book, Getting
it Printed, copyright © 1993 by Mark Beach. Used by permission
of North Light Books, a division of F&W Publications,
Inc. (800) 289-0963. In addition, it has many terms not used
in the book but which are part of the graphic arts lexicon.
Definitions are abbreviated from those in my book Graphically
Speaking, which also includes terms about type, design and
products.
- Machine Glazed (MG)
- Paper holding a high-gloss finish
only on one side.
- Magenta
- One of the four process colors.
- Makeready
- (1) All activities required to
prepare a press or other machine to function for a specific
printing or bindery job, as compared to production run.
Also called setup. (2) Paper used in the makeready process
at any stage in production. Makeready paper is part of
waste or spoilage.
- Making Order
- Order for paper that a mill makes
to the customer's specifications, as compared to a mill
order or stock order.
- Male Die
- Die that applies pressure during
embossing or debossing. Also called force card.
- Manuscript (MS)
- An author's original form of work
(hand written, typed or on disk) submitted for publication.
- Margin
- Imprinted space around the edge
of the printed material.
- Mark-Up
- Instructions written usually on
a "dummy."
- Mask
- To prevent light from reaching
part of an image, therefore isolating the remaining part.
Also called knock out.
- Master
- Paper or plastic plate used on
a duplicating press.
- Match Print
- A form of a four-color-process
proofing system.
- Matte Finish
- Flat (not glossy) finish on photographic
paper or coated printing paper.
- Mechanical
- Camera-ready assembly of type,
graphic and other copy complete with instructions to the
printer. A hard mechanical consists of paper and/or acetate,
is made using paste-up techniques, and may also be called
an artboard, board or paste-up. A soft mechanical, also
called an electronic mechanical, exists as a file of type
and other images assembled using a computer.
- Mechanical Bind
- To bind using a comb, coil, ring
binder, post or any other technique not requiring gluing,
sewing or stitching.
- Mechanical Separation
- Color breaks made on the mechanical
using a separate overlay for each color to be printed.
- Mechanical Tint
- Lines or patterns formed with dots
creating artwork for reproduction.
- Metallic Ink
- Ink containing powdered metal or
pigments that simulate metal.
- Metallic Paper
- Paper coated with a thin film of
plastic or pigment whose color and gloss simulate metal.
- Midtones
- In a photograph or illustration,
tones created by dots between 30 percent and 70 percent
of coverage, as compared to highlights and shadows.
- Mil 1/1000 Inch
- The thickness of plastic films
as printing substrates are expressed in mils.
- Misting
- Phenomenon of droplets of ink being
thrown off the roller train. Also called flying ink.
- Mock Up
- A reproduction of the original
printed matter and possibly containing instructions or
direction.
- Modem
- Mostly used over phone lines, a
device that converts electronic stored information from
point a. to point b.
- Moire
- Undesirable pattern resulting when
halftones and screen tints are made with improperly aligned
screens, or when a pattern in a photo, such as a plaid,
interfaces with a halftone dot pattern.
- Monarch
- Paper size (7' x 10') and envelope
shape often used for personal stationery.
- Mottle
- Spotty, uneven ink absorption.
Also called sinkage. A mottled image may be called mealy.
- Mull
- A specific type of glue used for
books binding and personal pads needing strength.
- Multicolor Printing
- Printing in more than one ink color
(but not four-color process). Also called polychrome printing.
- M Weight
- Weight of 1,000 sheets of paper
in any specific size.
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- Natural Color
- Very light brown color of paper.
May also be called antique, cream, ivory, off-white or
mellow white.
- Nested
- Signatures assembled inside one
another in the proper sequence for binding, as compared
to gathered. Also called inset.
- Neutral Gray
- Gray with no hue or cast.
- News Print
- Paper used in printing newspapers.
Considered low quality and "a short life use."
- Newton Ring
- Flaw in a photograph or halftone
that looks like a drop of oil or water.
- Nipping
- In the book binding process, a
stage where air is expelled from it's contents at the
sewing stage.
- Nonheatset Web
- Web press without a drying oven,
thus not able to print on coated paper. Also called cold-set
web and open web.
- Nonimpact Printing
- Printing using lasers, ions, ink
jets or heat to transfer images to paper.
- Nonreproducing Blue
- Light blue that does not record
on graphic arts film, therefore may be used to preprint
layout grids and write instructions on mechanicals. Also
called blue pencil, drop-out blue, fade-out blue and nonrepro
blue.
- Novelty Printing
- Printing on products such as coasters,
pencils, balloons, golf balls and ashtrays, known as advertising
specialties or premiums.
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- Offset Printing
- Printing technique that transfers
ink from a plate to a blanket to paper instead of directly
from plate to paper.
- Opacity
- (1) Characteristic of paper or
other substrate that prevents printing on one side from
showing through the other side. (2) Characteristic of
ink that prevents the substrate from showing through.
- Onion Skin
- A specific lightweight type (kind)
of paper usually used in the past for air mail. Seldom
used today (in the typewriter era).
- Opaque
- (1) Not transparent. (2) To cover
flaws in negative with tape or opaquing paint. Also called
block out and spot.
- Open Prepress Interface
- Hardware and software that link
desktop publishing systems with color electronic prepress
systems.
- Outer form
- Form (side of a press sheet) containing
images for the first and last pages of the folded signature
(its outside pages) as compared to inner form.
- Outline Halftone
- Halftone in which background has
been removed or replaced to isolate or silhouette the
main image. Also called knockout halftone and silhouette
halftone.
- Overlay
- Layer of material taped to a mechanical,
photo or proof. Acetate overlays are used to separate
colors by having some type or art on them instead of on
the mounting board. Tissue overlays are used to carry
instructions about the underlying copy and to protect
the base art.
- Overlay Proof
- Color proof consisting of polyester
sheets laid on top of each other with their image in register,
as compared to integral proof. Each sheet represents the
image to be printed in one color. Also called celluloid
proof and layered proof.
- Overprint
- To print one image over a previously
printed image, such as printing type over a screen tint.
Also called surprint.
- Over Run
- Additional printed matter beyond
order. Overage policy varies in the printing industry.
Advance questions avoid blind knowledge.
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- Page
- One side of a leaf in a publication.
- Page Count
- Total number of pages that a publication
has. Also called extent.
- Page Proof
- Proof of type and graphics as they
will look on the finished page complete with elements
such as headings, rules and folios.
- Pagination
- In the book arena, the numbering
of pages.
- Painted Sheet
- Sheet printed with ink edge to
edge, as compared to spot color. The painted sheet refers
to the final product, not the press sheet, and means that
100 percent coverage results from bleeds off all four
sides.
- Panel
- One page of a brochure, such as
one panel of a rack brochure. One panel is on one side
of the paper. A letter-folded sheet has six panels, not
three.
- Paper Plate
- A printing plate made of strong
and durable paper in the short run offset arena (cost
effective with short runs).
- Parallel Fold
- Method of folding. Two parallel
folds to a sheet will produce 6 panels.
- Parent Sheet
- Any sheet larger than 11' x 17'
or A3.
- Pasteboard
- Chipboard with another paper pasted
to it.
- Paste-up
- To paste copy to mounting boards
and, if necessary, to overlays so it is assembled into
a camera-ready mechanical. The mechanical produced is
often called a paste-up.
- PE
- Proofreader mark meaning printer
error and showing a mistake by a typesetter, prepress
service or printer as compared to an error by the customer.
- Perfect Bind
- To bind sheets that have been ground
at the spine and are held to the cover by glue. Also called
adhesive bind, cut-back bind, glue bind, paper bind, patent
bind, perfecting bind, soft bind and soft cover. See also
Burst Perfect Bind.
- Perfecting Press
- Press capable of printing both
sides of the paper during a single pass. Also called duplex
press and perfector.
- Perf Marks
- On a "dummy" marking where the
perforation is to occur.
- Perforating
- Taking place on a press or a binder
machine, creating a line of small dotted wholes for the
purpose of tearing-off a part of a printed matter (usually
straight lines, vertical or horizontal).
- Pica
- A unit of measure in the printing
industry. A pica is approximately 0.166 in. There are
12 points to a pica.
- Photoengraving
- Engraving done using photochemistry.
- Photomechanical Transfer
- Brand name for a diffusion transfer
process used to make positive paper prints of line copy
and halftones. Often used as alternate term for photostat.
Abbreviated PMT.
- Photostat
- Brand name for a diffusion transfer
process used to make positive paper prints of line copy
and halftones. Often used as alternate term for PMT.
- Picking
- Phenomenon of ink pulling bits
of coating or fiber away from the surface of paper as
it travels through the press, thus leaving unprinted spots
in the image area.
- Pickup Art
- Artwork, used in a previous job,
to be incorporated in a current job.
- Pinholing
- Small holes (unwanted) in printed
areas because of a variety of reasons.
- Pin Register
- Technique of registering separations,
flats and printing plates by using small holes, all of
equal diameter, at the edges of both flats and plates.
- Pixel
- Short for picture element, a dot
made by a computer, scanner or other digital device. Also
called pel.
- Planographic Printing
- Printing method whose image carriers
are level surfaces with inked areas separated from noninked
areas by chemical means. Planographic printing includes
lithography, offset lithography and spirit duplicating.
- Plate
- Piece of paper, metal, plastic
or rubber carrying an image to be reproduced using a printing
press.
- Platemaker
- (1) In quick printing, a process
camera that makes plates automatically from mechanicals.
(2) In commercial lithography, a machine with a vacuum
frame used to expose plates through film.
- Plate-ready Film
- Stripped negatives or positives
fully prepared for platemaking.
- Pleasing Color
- Color that the customer considers
satisfactory even though it may not precisely match original
samples, scenes or objects.
- PMS
- Obsolete reference to Pantone Matching
System. The correct trade name of the colors in the Pantone
Matching System is Pantone colors, not PMS Colors.
- PMT
- Abbreviation for photomechanical
transfer.
- Point
- (1) Regarding paper, a unit of
thickness equating 1/1000 inch. (2) Regarding type, a
unit of measure equaling 1/12 pica and .013875 inch (.351mm).
- Portrait
- An art design in which the height
is greater than the width. (Opposite of Landscape.)
- Position Stat
- Photocopy or PMT of a photo or
illustration made to size and affixed to a mechanical.
- Positive Film
- Film that prevents light from passing
through images, as compared to negative film that allows
light to pass through. Also called knockout film.
- Post Bind
- To bind using a screw and post
inserted through a hole in a pile of loose sheets.
- Prepress
- Camera work, color separations,
stripping, platemaking and other prepress functions performed
by the printer, separator or a service bureau prior to
printing. Also called preparation.
- Prepress Proof
- Any color proof made using ink
jet, toner, dyes or overlays, as compared to a press proof
printed using ink. Also called dry proof and off-press
proof.
- Preprint
- To print portions of sheets that
will be used for later imprinting.
- Press Check
- Event at which makeready sheets
from the press are examined before authorizing full production
to begin.
- Press Proof
- Proof made on press using the plates,
ink and paper specified for the job. Also called strike
off and trial proof.
- Press Time
- (1) Amount of time that one printing
job spends on press, including time required for makeready.
(2) Time of day at which a printing job goes on press.
- Price Break
- Quantity at which unit cost of
paper or printing drops.
- Printer Pairs
- Usually in the book arena, consecutive
pages as they appear on a flat or signature.
- Printer Spreads
- Mechanicals made so they are imposed
for printing, as compared to reader spreads.
- Printing
- Any process that transfers to paper
or another substrate an image from an original such as
a film negative or positive, electronic memory, stencil,
die or plate.
- Printing Plate
- Surface carrying an image to be
printed. Quick printing uses paper or plastic plates;
letterpress, engraving and commercial lithography use
metal plates; flexography uses rubber or soft plastic
plates. Gravure printing uses a cylinder. The screen printing
is also called a plate.
- Printing Unit
- Assembly of fountain, rollers and
cylinders that will print one ink color. Also called color
station, deck, ink station, printer, station and tower.
- Process Camera
- Camera used to photograph mechanicals
and other camera-ready copy. Also called copy, camera
and graphic arts camera. A small, simple process camera
may be called a stat camera.
- Process Color (Inks)
- The colors used for four-color
process printing: yellow, magenta, cyan and black.
- Production Run
- Press run intended to manufacture
products as specified, as compared to makeready.
- Proof
- Test sheet made to reveal errors
or flaws, predict results on press and record how a printing
job is intended to appear when finished.
- Proofreader Marks
- Standard symbols and abbreviations
used to mark up manuscripts and proofs. Also called correction
marks.
- Proportion Scale
- Round device used to calculate
percent that an original image must by reduced or enlarged
to yield a specific reproduction size. Also called percentage
wheel, proportion dial, proportion wheel and scaling wheel.
- Publishing Paper
- Paper made in weights, colors and
surfaces suited to books, magazines, catalogs and free-standing
inserts.
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- Quality
- Subjective term relating to expectations
by the customer, printer and other professionals associated
with a printing job and whether the job meets those expectations.
- Quarto
- (1) Sheet folded twice, making
pages one-fourth the size of the original sheet. A quarto
makes an 8-page signature. (2) Book made from quarto sheets,
traditionally measuring about 9' x 12'.
- Quick Printing
- Printing using small sheetfed presses,
called duplicators, using cut sizes of bond and offset
paper.
- Quotation
- Price offered by a printer to produce
a specific job.
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- Rag Paper
- Stationery or other forms of stock
having a strong percentage content of "cotton rags."
- Rainbow Fountain
- Technique of putting ink colors
next to each other in the same ink fountain and oscillating
the ink rollers to make the colors merge where they touch,
producing a rainbow effect.
- Raster Image Processor
- Device that translates page description
commands into bitmapped information for an output device
such as a laser printer or imagesetter.
- Reader Spread
- Mechanicals made in two page spreads
as readers would see the pages, as compared to printer
spread.
- Ream
- 500 sheets of paper.
- Recycled Paper
- New paper made entirely or in part
from old paper.
- Reflective Copy
- Products, such as fabrics, illustrations
and photographic prints, viewed by light reflected from
them, as compared to transparent copy. Also called reflex
copy.
- Register
- To place printing properly with
regard to the edges of paper and other printing on the
same sheet. Such printing is said to be in register.
- Register Marks
- Cross-hair lines on mechanicals
and film that help keep flats, plates, and printing in
register. Also called crossmarks and position marks.
- Relief Printing
- Printing method whose image carriers
are surfaces with two levels having inked areas higher
than noninked areas. Relief printing includes block printing,
flexography and letter press.
- Repeatability
- Ability of a device, such as an
imagesetter, to produce film or plates that yield images
in register.
- Reprographics
- General term for xerography, diazo
and other methods of copying used by designers, engineers,
architects or for general office use.
- Resolution
- Sharpness of an image on film,
paper, computer screen, disc, tape or other medium.
- Resolution Target
- An image, such as the GATF Star
Target, that permits evaluation of resolution on film,
proofs or plates.
- Reverse
- Type, graphic or illustration reproduced
by printing ink around its outline, thus allowing the
underlying color or paper to show through and form the
image. The image 'reverses out' of the ink color. Also
called knockout and liftout.
- RGB
- Abbreviation for red, green, blue,
the additive color primaries.
- Right Reading
- Copy that reads correctly in the
language in which it is written. Also describes a photo
whose orientation looks like the original scene, as compared
to a flopped image.
- Rotary Press
- Printing press which passes the
substrate between two rotating cylinders when making an
impression.
- Round Back Bind
- To casebind with a rounded (convex)
spine, as compared to flat back bind.
- Ruby Window
- Mask on a mechanical, made with
rubylith, that creates a window on film shot from the
mechanical.
- Rule
- Line used as a graphic element
to separate or organize copy.
- Ruleup
- Map or drawing given by a printer
to a stripper showing how a printing job must be imposed
using a specific press and sheet size. Also called press
layout, printer's layout and ruleout.
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- Saddle Stitch
- To bind by stapling sheets together
where they fold at the spine, as compared to side stitch.
Also called pamphlet stitch, saddle wire and stitch bind.
- Satin Finish
- Alternate term for dull finish
on coated paper.
- Scale
- To identify the percent by which
photographs or art should be enlarged or reduced to achieve,
the correct size for printing.
- Scanner
- Electronic device used to scan
an image.
- Score
- To compress paper along a straight
line so it folds more easily and accurately. Also called
crease.
- Screen Angles
- Angles at which screens intersect
with the horizontal line of the press sheet. The common
screen angles for separations are black 45 degree, magenta
75 degree, yellow 90 degree and cyan 105 degree.
- Screen Density
- Refers to the percentage of ink
coverage that a screen tint allows to print. Also called
screen percentage.
- Screen Printing
- Method of printing by using a squeegee
to force ink through an assembly of mesh fabric and a
stencil.
- Screen Ruling
- Number of rows or lines of dots
per inch or centimeter in a screen for making a screen
tint or halftone. Also called line count, ruling, screen
frequency, screen size and screen value.
- Screen Tint
- Color created by dots instead of
solid ink coverage. Also called Benday, fill pattern,
screen tone, shading, tint and tone.
- Selective Binding
- Placing signatures or inserts in
magazines or catalogs according to demographic or geographic
guidelines.
- Self Cover
- Usually in the book arena, a publication
not having a cover stock. A publication only using text
stock throughout.
- Self Mailer
- A printed item independent of an
envelope. A printed item capable of travel in the mailing
arena independently.
- Separated Art
- Art with elements that print in
the base color on one surface and elements that print
in other colors on other surfaces. Also called preseparated
art.
- Separations
- Usually in the four-color process
arena, separate film holding qimages of one specific color
per piece of film. Black, Cyan, Magenta and Yellow. Can
also separate specific PMS colors through film.
- Serigraphic Printing
- Printing method whose image carriers
are woven fabric, plastic or metal that allow ink to pass
through some portions and block ink from passing through
other portions. Serigraphic printing includes screen and
mimeograph.
- Service Bureau
- Business using imagesetters to
make high resolution printouts of files prepared on microcomputers.
Also called output house and prep service.
- Setoff
- Undesirable transfer of wet ink
from the top of one sheet to the underside of another
as they lie in the delivery stack of a press. Also called
offset.
- Shade
- Hue made darker by the addition
of black, as compared to tint.
- Shadows
- Darkest areas of a photograph or
illustration, as compared to midtones and high-lights.
- Sheetfed Press
- Press that prints sheets of paper,
as compared to a web press.
- Sheetwise
- Technique of printing one side
of a sheet with one set of plates, then the other side
of the sheet with a set of different plates. Also called
work and back.
- Shingling
- Allowance, made during paste-up
or stripping, to compensate for creep. Creep is the problem;
shingling is the solution. Also called stair stepping
and progressive margins.
- Side stitch
- To bind by stapling through sheets
along, one edge, as compared to saddle stitch. Also called
cleat stitch and side wire.
- Signature
- Printed sheet folded at least once,
possibly many times, to become part of a book, magazine
or other publication.
- Size
- Compound mixed with paper or fabric
to make it stiffer and less able to absorb moisture.
- Slip Sheets
- Separate sheets (stock) independent
from the original run positioned between the "printed
run" for a variety of reasons.
- Soft Dots
- Halftones dots with halos.
- Solid
- Any area of the sheet receiving
100 percent ink coverage, as compared to a screen tint.
- Soy-based Inks
- Inks using vegetable oils instead
of petroleum products as pigment vehicles, thus are easier
on the environment.
- Specially Printer
- Printer whose equipment, supplies,
work flow and marketing is targeted to a particular category
of products.
- Specifications
- Complete and precise written description
of features of a printing job such as type size and leading,
paper grade and quantity, printing or binding method.
Abbreviated specs.
- Spectrophotometer
- Instrument used to measure the
index of refraction of color.
- Specular Highlight
- Highlight area with no printable
dots, thus no detail, as compared to a diffuse highlight.
Also called catchlight and dropout highlight.
- Spine
- Back or binding edge of a publication
- Spiral Bind
- To bind using a spiral of continuous
wire or plastic looped through holes. Also called coil
bind.
- Split Fountain
- Technique of putting ink colors
next to each other in the same ink fountain and printing
them off the same plate. Split fountains keep edges of
colors distinct, as compared to rainbow fountains that
blend edges.
- Split Run
- (1) Different images, such as advertisements,
printed in different editions of a publication. (2) Printing
of a book that has some copies bound one way and other
copies bound another way.
- Spoilage
- Paper that, due to mistakes or
accidents, must be thrown away instead of delivered printed
to the customer, as compared to waste.
- Spot Color or Varnish
- One ink or varnish applied to portions
of a sheet, as compared to flood or painted sheet.
- Spread
- (1) Two pages that face each other
and are designed as one visual or production unit. (2)
Technique of slightly enlarging the size of an image to
accomplish a hairline trap with another image. Also called
fatty.
- Standard Viewing Conditions
- Background of 60 percent neutral
gray and light that measures 5000 degrees Kelvin the color
of daylight on a bright day. Also called lighting standards.
- Stat
- Short for photostat, therefore
a general term for an inexpensive photographic print of
line copy or halftone.
- Statistical Process Control
- Method used by printers to ensure
quality and delivery times specified by customers. Abbreviated
SPC.
- Step and Repeat
- Prepress technique of exposing
an image in a precise, multiple pattern to create a flat
or plate. Images are said to be stepped across the film
or plate.
- Stocking Paper
- Popular sizes, weights and colors
of papers available for prompt delivery from a merchant's
warehouse.
- Stock Order
- Order for paper that a mill or
merchant sends to a printer from inventory at a warehouse,
as compared to a mill order.
- String Score
- Score created by pressing a string
against paper, as compared to scoring using a metal edge.
- Strip
- To assemble images on film for
platemaking. Stripping involves correcting flaws in film,
assembling pieces of film into flats and ensuring that
film and flats register correctly. Also called film assembly
and image assembly.
- Substance Weight
- Alternate term for basis weight,
usually referring to bond papers. Also called sub weight.
- Stumping (Blocking)
- In the book arena, hot die, foil
or other means in creating an image on a case bound book.
- Substrate
- Any surface or material on which
printing is done.
- Subtractive Color
- Color produced by light reflected
from a surface, as compared to additive color. Subtractive
color includes hues in color photos and colors created
by inks on paper.
- Subtractive Primary Color
- Yellow, magenta and cyan. In the
graphic arts, these are known as process colors because,
along with black, they are the inks colors used in color-process
printing.
- Supercalendered Paper
- Paper calendered using alternating
chrome and fiber rollers to produce a smooth, thin sheet.
Abbreviated SC paper.
- Surprint
- Taking an already printed matter
and re-printing again on the same.
- Swash Book
- A book in a variety of forms, indicating
specific stock in specific colors in a specific thickness.
- SWOP
- Abbreviation for specifications
for web offset publications, specifications recommended
for web printing of publications.
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- Tabloid
- Using a broadsheet as a measure,
one half of a broadsheet.
- Tag
- Grade of dense, strong paper used
for products such as badges and file folders.
- Tagged Image File Format
- Computer file format used to store
images from scanners and video devices. Abbreviated TIFF.
- Target Ink Densities
- Densities of the four process inks
as recommended for various printing processes and grades
of paper. See also Total Area Coverage.
- Template
- Concerning a printing project's
basic details in regard to its dimensions. A standard
layout.
- Text Paper
- Designation for printing papers
with textured surfaces such as laid or linen. Some mills
also use 'text' to refer to any paper they consider top-of-the-line,
whether or not its surface has a texture.
- Thermography
- Method of printing using colorless
resin powder that takes on the color of underlying ink.
Also called raised printing.
- Thumbnails
- Initial ideas jotted on virtually
anything in regard to initial concept of a future project.
- Tint
- Screening or adding white to a
solid color for results of lightening that specific color.
- Tip In
- Usually in the book arena, adding
an additional page(s) beyond the normal process (separate
insertion).
- Tone Compression
- Reduction in the tonal range from
original scene to printed reproduction.
- Total Area Coverage
- Total of the dot percentages of
the process colors in the final film. Abbreviated for
TAC. Also called density of tone, maximum density, shadow
saturation, total dot density and total ink coverage.
- Touch Plate
- Plate that accents or prints a
color that four-color process printing cannot reproduce
well enough or at all. Also called kiss plate.
- Trade Shop
- Service bureau, printer or bindery
working primarily for other graphic arts professionals,
not for the general public.
- Transparency
- Positive photographic image on
film allowing light to pass through. Also called chrome,
color transparency and tranny. Often abbreviated TX.
- Trap
- To print one ink over another or
to print a coating, such as varnish, over an ink. The
first liquid traps the second liquid. See also Dry Traps
and Wet Traps.
- Trim Size
- The size of the printed material
in its finished stage (e.g., the finished trim size is
5 1\2 x 8 1\2).
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- Uncoated Paper
- Paper that has not been coated
with clay. Also called offset paper.
- Undercolor Addition
- Technique of making color separations
that increases the amount of cyan, magenta or yellow ink
in shadow areas. Abbreviated UCA.
- Undercolor Removal
- Technique of making color separations
such that the amount of cyan, magenta and yellow ink is
reduced in midtone and shadow areas while the amount of
black is increased. Abbreviated UCR.
- Universal Copyright Convention
(UCC)
- A system to protect unique work
from reproducing without knowledge from the originator.
To qualify, one must register their work and publish a
(c) indicating registration.
- Unsharp Masking
- Technique of adjusting dot size
to make a halftone or separation appear sharper (in better
focus) than the original photo or the first proof. Also
called edge enhancement and peaking.
- Up
- Term to indicate multiple copies
of one image printed in one impression on a single sheet.
"Two up" or "three up" means printing the identical piece
twice or three times on each sheet.
- UV Coating
- Liquid applied to a printed sheet,
then bonded and cured with ultraviolet light.
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- Value
- The shade (darkness) or tint (lightness)
of a color. Also called brightness, lightness, shade and
tone.
- Varnish
- Liquid applied as a coating for
protection and appearance.
- Vellum Finish
- Somewhat rough, toothy finish.
- Velox
- Brand name for high-contrast photographic
paper.
- Viewing Booth
- Small area or room that is set
up for proper viewing of transparencies, color separations
or press sheets. Also called color booth. See also Standard
Viewing Conditions.
- Vignette
- Decorative design or illustration
fade to white.
- Vignette Halftone
- Halftone whose background gradually
and smoothly fades away. Also called degrade.
- Virgin Paper
- Paper made exclusively of pulp
from trees or cotton, as compared to recycled paper.
- VOC
- Abbreviation for volatile organic
compounds, petroleum substances used as the vehicles for
many printing inks.
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- Wash Up
- To clean ink and fountain solutions
from rollers, fountains, screens, and other press components.
- Waste
- Unusable paper or paper damage
during normal makeready, printing or binding operations,
as compared to spoilage.
- Watermark
- Translucent logo in paper created
during manufacturing by slight embossing from a dandy
roll while paper is still approximately 90 percent water.
- Web Break
- Split of the paper as it travels
through a web press, causing operators to rethread the
press.
- Web Gain
- Unacceptable stretching of paper
as it passes through the press.
- Web Press
- Press that prints from rolls of
paper, usually cutting it into sheets after printing.
Also called reel-fed press. Web presses come in many sizes,
the most common being mini, half, three quarter (also
called 8-pages) and full (also called 16-pages).
- Wet Trap
- To print ink or varnish over wet
ink, as compared to dry trap.
- Window
- (1) In a printed product, a die-cut
hole revealing an image on the sheet behind it. (2) On
a mechanical, an area that has been marked for placement
of a piece of artwork.
- Wire Side
- Side of the paper that rests against
The Fourdrinier wire during papermaking, as compared to
felt side.
- With the Grain
- Parallel to the grain direction
of the paper being used, as compared to against the grain.
See also Grain Direction.
- Woodfree Paper
- Made with chemical pulp only. Paper
usually classified as calendered or supercalendered.
- Working Film
- Intermediate film that will be
copied to make final film after all corrections are made.
Also called buildups.
- Wove
- Paper manufactured without visible
wire marks, usually a fine textured paper.
- Wrong Reading
- An image that is backwards when
compared to the original. Also called flopped and reverse
reading.
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