Print Terms & Definitions

4/0 is a trade designation for a printed piece with four colors (full color) printing on the front side and no printing on the back side.

4/1 is a trade designation for a printed piece with four colors (full color) printing on the front side and one color printing on the back side.

4/4 is a trade designation for a printed piece with four colors (full color) on the front side and four colors (full color) printing on the back side.

Against the grain is at right angles to the direction of the grain of the paper. When a piece is printed against the grain it can make the paper feel thicker.

Aqueous coating or AQ for short is a clear, non-toxic coating that is applied like ink by a printing press to protect and enhance the printed surface. Aqueous Coating adds brilliance and durability to products such as postcards, premium flyers, booklets, and catalogs.

Backside is the side that is opposite the front. For postcards, the backside is not coated with aqueous coating.

Bind means the joining of paper sheets together to form a book or booklet with staples, wire, glue or other means. LB Printery offers two standard binding methods for booklets: saddle-stitched (stapled) and wire-o.

Binding is the process that starts after LB Printery has laid ink on paper. This process includes cutting, trimming, folding, collating, stitching, pasting, and inserting.

Blanket, in offset printing, is a rubber-surfaced fabric that is clamped around a cylinder. The image is transferred from the plate to the blanket, and from there, transferred to the paper.

Blind image is an image that is debossed or embossed, but not printed with ink or foil.

Bond paper is a grade of writing or printing paper where strength, durability and performance are essential requirements. Bond paper is used for letterhead.

Book paper is a general term for coated and uncoated paper.

Brightness in paper is the reflectance or brilliance of the paper.

C is short for cyan in the four-color printing process.

C1S is short for coated one side; C2S is short for coated two sides.

Cast coated paper refers to paper dried under pressure against a heated, polished cylinder to produce a high-gloss enamel finish.

Chalking refers to improper drying of ink. Pigments dust off because ink has been absorbed too rapidly into the paper.

CIP4 is the International Cooperation for the Integration of Processes in Prepress, Press, and Postpress (CIP4) Organization; a not-for-profit association responsible for JDF.

CMYK is short for cyan, magenta, yellow, and key (black). CMYK is the standard color model used in four-color printing process used by LB Printery.

Coated paper has a coating of clay or other substances that improves reflectivity and ink holdout. LB Printery uses two coating, UV coating and aqueous coating, to improve the quality of your printed pieces.

A color bar is the color strip on proofs that is used as a guide for the printer to determine the amount and density of ink needed. A color bar is a standard used to compare color accuracy of an image for output; color bars are printed on proofs and forms to maintain color consistency.

Color cast is the unwanted discoloration of an entire image or portion of an image caused by an overabundance of one color.

Color correction refers to adjusting an image to improve overall output color.

Color separations are the four-color negatives or positives which are the result of changing full color artwork into the four process colors (yellow, magenta, cyan, and black) by the use of filters. Color separation is done for offset printing jobs so that each color layer can be printed separately - one layer on top of the next layer - to give the final printed piece a consistent, full color look.

Color sequence is the order in which the four-color process inks are printed on the press.

Colorimeter is an instrument for measuring color the way the eye sees it.

Comb bind refers to a method of binding a booklet by inserting the teeth of a flexible plastic comb through holes punched along the edge of a stack of paper.

Computer-to-Plate or CTP describes a system in which the use of desktop publishing software, electronic prepress workstations, and plate setters allows the imaging of metal plates for any format of press without the use of film, stripping or traditional plate making. This process results in lower costs while shortening the amount of time needed to get a job on the press.

Coverage is the amount of ink on a paper sheet, usually given in percentages.

Creep is the shifting position of the page in a saddle-stitched bind. Creep moves the inside pages away from the spine.

CTP is short for Computer-to-Plate.

Cure is the process to dry inks or other coatings after printing to ensure good adhesion and prevent set-off.

Cyan is one of the subtractive primary colors used by LB Printery in process printing. It is commonly known as "process blue."

De-boss means to press an image into paper so it lies below the surface.

Die is a device made out of sharp steel that is used to cut, score, stamp, emboss, or de-boss irregular shapes.

Die-cutting is a process by which a die made out of sharp steel is used to cut irregular shapes in printed sheets. Die-cutting is done on either flatbed or rotary presses.

Direct imaging is a process where digital image files are converted into CMYK bitmaps (ripped) and burned directly into the plates by a laser, eliminating the costly and environmentally questionable film step.

Direct Imaging Press (DI) is an offset press on which plates are imaged while on press directly from files prepared on a dedicated electronic prepress workstation. LB Printery uses DI presses to print certain products, including economy flyers, stickers, door hangers, letterhead, memo pads, and envelopes.

Direct-to-Plate is the printing process used by LB Printery that transfers information from a client's file directly to the plate, producing high-quality printed pieces. This printing process does not require the use of film.

Dot is the basic halftone printing unit. A series of dots are combined to create a printed image.

Dot pattern is a series of dots that make up a printed image.

Dots per inch or DPI for short is a measurement of resolution of a printed image as determined by the number of dots that fit into one inch. The higher the concentration of dots per inch, the sharper the image will be.

DPI Abbreviation for dots per inch.

Duotone is a halftone that prints in two colors to create greater visual interest or more subtle detail and gray tones.

Duplexing is the ability of a press or digital copier to print on both sides of a sheet without having to manually turn the sheet over.

Emboss is the process of pressing an image into paper so it lies above the surface.

Feeder is the part of the press that separates the sheets of paper and feeds them into position for printing.

Flat is the assembled composite of digital files ready for platemaking, the final step before printing.

Foil stamping is the process of pressing a heated die onto a sheet of foil, releasing the foil from its backing and adhering it to the paper to create a foil design on a printed piece.

Form refers to each side of a sheet of paper.

Four-color printing is the process by cyan, magenta, yellow, and blank inks are used to create a full color image.

Front side is the side that is opposite the back. For postcards, the Front side is coated with aqueous coating.

Gang printing is the process of printing two or more finished products on the same sheet during a press run. LB Printery uses gang printing to provide customers with low prices on a number of different products.

Ghosting is a phenomenon of a faint image on a printed sheet where it was not intended to appear.

House sheet refers to paper kept in stock by LB Printery and suitable for a wide variety of printing jobs.

Imagesetter is a high-resolution laser output device that takes digital design files and produces film negatives that older processes require to make the printing plates. Sometimes this is referred to as Lino, after one of the first brands of imagesetters.

K is short for black in four-color process printing.

Line screen measures the number of dot lines per inch, which provides an indication of image sharpness. The finer the "screen" used to create printing plates, the more detail can be portrayed in the final printed piece. LB Printery printing presses are run at line screens up to 175 lines per inch.

Lines per inch or LPI refers to the number of dot lines created per inch, which provides an indication of image sharpness. The finer the "screen" used to create printing plates, the more detail can be portrayed in the final printed piece. Most color printing is performed between 133 and 175 lines per inch.

Lithography is a method of printing using plates whose image areas attract ink and whose non-image areas repel ink. The images are first printed onto a rubber blanket and then offset to paper.

LPI Abbreviation for lines per inch.

M is short for magenta in the four-color printing process.

Magenta is one of the subtractive primary colors used by LB Printery in process printing. It is commonly known as "process red."

Mask is the process used to prevent light from reaching part of an image, therefore isolating the remaining part.

Moire is an undesirable pattern that appears when two or more screen patterns are placed over one another. Moire may be caused by misalignment, incorrect screen angles, slipping or slurring.

Negative is a reverse of an image created when processing film. The light and dark parts of an image are tonally reversed from the original copy.

Offset lithography is a printing process where the image prints by transferring ink from a plate to a rubber blanket that deposits the ink onto the substrate instead of directly from plate to paper.

Offset printing refers to offset lithography, which is a printing process where the image prints by transferring ink from a plate to a rubber blanket that deposits the ink onto the substrate instead of directly from plate to paper.

Pantone matching systems or PMS for short are the most popular color matching systems used in the printing industry. A true PMS color is defined by a mixture of inks that will provide a specific color.

Perfect binding is a bindery method where all pages are trimmed to a single sheet. They are clamped together and a cover is wrapped around the spine. The pages are attached to the cover using and adhesive.

Perforation takes place on 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).

Plate is a metal sheet carrying an image to be reproduced using a printing press.

PMS Abbreviation for pantone matching systems.

Press layout or rule-up is a drawing that shows how a printing job must be imposed using a specific press and sheet size. It shows where pieces will be cut, perforated and folded.