A
B C
D E
F G
H I
J K
L M
N O
P Q
R S
T U
V W
X
A/W - an abbreviation for Artwork.
Acetate - a transparent sheet
placed over artwork allowing the artist to write
instructions or indicate where second color is
to be placed. See Overlay.
Air - an amount of white space
in a layout.
Align - to line up typeset or
other graphic material as specified, using a base
or vertical line as the reference point.
Anti-aliasing - The rendering
of hard-edged objects so they blend smoothly into
the background. A technique for merging object-oriented
art into bitmaps.
Apron - additional white space
allowed in the margins of text and illustrations
when forming a foldout.
Art paper - a smooth coated paper
obtained by adding a coating of china clay compound
on one or both sides of the paper.
Artwork - A general term used
to describe photographs, drawings, paintings,
hand lettering, and the like prepared to illustrate
printed matter.
Ascender - any part of a lower
case letter extending above the x-height. For
example, the upper half of the vertical in the
letters b or h.
ASCII - American Standard Code
for Information Interchange. A standard format
for representing digital information in 8-bit
pieces.
Authors Alterations - changes
made to the copy by the author after typesetting
but not including those made as a result of errors
in keying in the copy.
Autoflow - in some computer applications,
the ability to flow text automatically from one
page to another, or one column to another.
Backing up
- to print the second side of printed sheet. Also,
to make a duplicate of a computer file as a precaution
against losing the original.
Back matter - also known as end
matter
Banding - A visible stair-stepping
of shades in a gradient.
Bank - a lightweight writing
paper.
Banner - a large headline or
title extending across the full page width.
Bar code - a pattern of vertical
lines of varying thickness identifying details
of a product, conforming to the Universal Product
Code (UPC).
Base artwork - artwork requiring
additional components such as halftones or line
drawings to be added before the reproduction stage.
Base film - the basic material
for contact film in platemaking for photomechanical
reproduction, to which film positives are stripped.
Baseline - the line on which
the bases of capital letters sit.
Bezier curves - In object-oriented
programs, (such as Freehand, Illustrator, or Photoshop)
a curve whose shape is defined by points set along
its arc.
BF - abbreviation for bold face.
Bibliography - list of publications
providing reference material on a particular subject,
usually included in the endmatter of a book.
Binding - the various methods
used to secure loose leaves or sections in a book;
eg saddle-stitch, perfect bound.
Bitmapped - An image formed (or
appearing to be formed) by a rectangular grid
of pixels. The computer assigns a value to each
pixel, from one bit of information (black or white),
to as much as 24 or 30 bits per pixel for full
color images. Also used to refer to an image that
has too low of a resolution or linescreen for
the output resolution ("That image looks
bitmapped."; line art scanned at 72dpi when
it is to be printed at 2540dpi will be very coarsely
bitmapped).
Bitmapped font - a font made
up of bitmapped letters, characterized by jagged
edges, as opposed to the smooth edges of an outline
font.
Blanket - a sheet made of rexine
or rubber that covers the impression cylinder
of a press.
Blanket cylinder - the cylinder
via which the inked litho plate transfers the
image to the paper. The cylinder is covered with
a rubber sheet which prevents wear to the litho
plate coming into contact with the paper.
Bleed - layout, type or pictures
that extend 1/8" beyond the trim marks on
a page. Illustrations that spread to the edge
of the paper without margins are referred to as
'bled off'.
Blind emboss - a raised impression
made without using ink or foil.
Blind folio - page number counted for reference
or identification but not printed on the page
itself.
Blow up - an enlargement, most
frequently of a graphic image or photograph.
Blurb - a short description or
commentary of a book or author on a book jacket.
Blueline proof - a proof made
from the actual printing plates, so-called because
of its blue color. A chance to get one more look
at a printing job before it goes to the press.
Board - paper of more than 200gsm.
Body - the main text of the work
but not including headlines.
Bold type - type with a heavier
darker appearance. Most typefaces have a bold
face.
Bond - a sized finished writing
paper of 50gsm or more. Can also be used for printing
upon.
Border - a continuous decorative
design or rule surrounding the matter on the page.
Box - a section of text marked
off by rules or white space and presented separately
from the main text and illustrations. Longer boxed
sections in magazines are sometimes referred to
as sidebars.
Bronzing - an effect produced
by dusting wet ink after printing with a metallic
powder.
Bullet - a large dot preceding
text to add emphasis.
Calibration bars
- On a negative, proof, or printed piece, a strip
of tones used to check printing quality.
Caliper - the thickness of sheet
of paper or board expressed in microns (millionths
of a metre). Also the name of the tool used to
make the measurement.
Camera ready - artwork or pasted
up material that is ready for reproduction.
Cap line - an imaginary line
across the top of capital letters. The distance
from the the cap line to the baseline is the cap
size.
Caps - (or "all caps")
an abbreviation for capital letters.
Caps and small caps - a style
of type that shows capital letters used in the
normal way while the body copy is set in capital
letters which are of a slightly smaller size.
Caption - Also called a cutline.
The line or lines of text that refer to information
identifying a picture or illustration.
Carbonless - paper coated with
chemicals and dye which will produce copies without
carbon paper. Also referred to as NCR (No Carbon
Required).
Caret marks - an indication to
the printer of an ommission in the copy indicated
as ( ) showing the insertion.
Case bound - a hardback book
made with stiff outer covers. Cases are usually
covered with cloth, vinyl or leather.
Cast coated - art paper with
a exceptionally glossy coated finish usually on
one side only.
Cellulose acetate - plastic sheet
material, usually transparent or translucent,
available clear or colored and with a shiny or
matte finish; used as the basis of artwork and
overlays, and is the base material of some photographic
film.
Chalking - a powdering effect
left on the surface of the paper after the ink
has failed to dry satisfactorily due to a fault
in printing.
Choke - a method of altering
the thickness of a shape by overexposure in processing
or by means of a built-in option in some computer
applications.
Chromolin - a fast proofing system
which uses powder as opposed to ink.
Close up - a proof correction
mark to reduce the amount of space between characters
or words indicated as (').
CMYK - cyan, yellow, magenta,
black. The subtractive primaries, or process colors,
used in color printing. Black (K) is usually added
to enhance color and to print a true black. See
subtractive primaries, four color process.
Coated - printing papers which
after making have had a surface coating with clay
etc, to give a smoother, more even finish with
greater opacity.
Collate - to gather separate
sections or leaves of a book together in the correct
order for binding.
Color correction - The process
of adjusting an image to compensate for scanner
deficiencies or for the characteristics of the
output device.
Color proof - A representation
of what the final printed composition will look
like. The resolution and quality of different
types of color can vary greatly.
Color separations - The division
of an image into its component colors for printing.
Each color separation is a piece of negative or
positive film. Four color or process separations
result in 4 pieces of film (CMYK); Spot color
separations result in 1 piece of film for each
spot color.
Color transparency - A photographic
image transparent film used as artwork. 35 mm,
4"x5" and 8"x10" formats are
commonly used.
Column rule - a light faced vertical
rule used to separate columns of type.
Composition - The assembling
of characters into words, lines, and paragraphs
of text or body matter type for reproduction by
printing.
Concertina fold - a method of
folding in which each fold opens in the opposite
direction to its neighbour, giving a concertina
or pleated effect.
Condensed - a style of typeface
in which the characters have a vertically elongated
appearance.
Continuous tone - an image in
which the subject has continuous shades of color
or gray without being broken up by dots. Continuous
tones cannot be reproduced in that form for printing
but must be screened to translate the image into
dots.
Contrast - the relationship between
the lightest and darkest areas of an image.
Copy - The text to be printed.
Crop marks - lines printed showing
the dimensions of the final printed page. These
marks are used for final trimming.
Cropping - the elimination of
parts of a photograph or other original that are
not required to be printed. Cropping allows the
remaining parts of the image to be enlarged to
fill the space.
Cursive - used to describe typefaces
that resemble written script.
Cut flush - a method of trimming
a book after the cover has been attached to the
pages.
Cutline - also called a caption.
The line or lines of text that refer to information
identifying a picture or illustration.
Cutout - a halftone where the
background has been removed to produce a silhouette.
Dagger
and double dagger - symbols used mainly
as reference marks for footnotes.
Dampening - a necessary process
in lithography of dampening the printing plate
to prevent ink from spreading.
Dark field illumination - a method
of checking the quality of halftone dots on film
by viewing them in angled light against a dark
background.
Dash - Sometimes called an ©¯em©˜
dash. A horizontal rule used for punctuation.
DCS - Desktop Color Separation.
A file format which creates five PostScript files
for each color image.
Deep-etch halftone - a halftone
image from which unwanted screen dots have been
removed, so that areas of plain paper will be
left on the printed sheet.
Densitometer - A device sensitive
to the density of light transmitted or reflected
by paper or film. Used to check the accuracy,
quality, and consistency of output.
Density - The degree of opacity
of a photographic image on paper or film.
Descender - any part of a lower case letter that
extends below the x-height, as in the case of
y and j.
Die - a hardened steel engraving
stamp used to print an inked image. Used in the
production of good quality letter headings.
Die Cutting - The process of
using sharp steel rules to cut special shapes
into printed sheets.
Digital - Files for printing
that are produced on the computer.
Disk Operating System (DOS) -
software for computer systems with disk drives
which supervises and controls the running of programs.
The operating system is 'booted' into the computer
from disk by a small program which permanently
resides in the memory. Commom operating systems
include MS-DOS, PC-DOS (IBM's version of MS-DOS),
CP/M (an operating system for older, 8-bit computers),
Unix and BOS.
Display type - larger type used
for headings etc. Normally about 18 point or larger.
Dithering - The process of specifying
color to adjacent pixels in order to simluate
a third color in a bitmapped image. This technique
is generally used whan a full range of colors
is not available.
Dmax - The highest level of density
on a film negative.
Dot gain - A printing defect
in which dots print larger than intended, causing
darker colors or tones; due to the spreading of
ink on stock. The more absorbent the stock, the
more dot gain. Can vary by type of ink as well.
Dot matrix printer - a printer
in which each character is formed from a matrix
of dots. They are normally impact systems, ie
a wire is fired at a ribbon in order to leave
an inked dot on the page, but thermal and electro-erosion
systems are also used.
DPI - Dots per inch. A measure
of output resolution produced by printers, imagesetters,
or monitors.
Double page spread - two facing
pages of newspaper or magazine where the textual
material on the left hand side continues across
to the right hand side. Abbreviated to DPS.
Downloadable fonts - type faces
which can be stored on a disk and then downloaded
to the printer when required for printing. These
are, by definition, bit-mapped fonts and, therefore,
fixed in size and style.
Drawn on - a method of binding
a paper cover to a book by drawing the cover on
and gluing to the back of the book.
Drop cap - a large initial letter
at the start of the text that drops into the line
or lines of text below.
Dry transfer (lettering) - Characters,
drawings, etc, that can be transferred to the
artwork by rubbing them off the back of the transfer
sheet. Best known is Letraset.
Dummy - a sketch of a page showing
the position of text and illustrations and giving
general instructions.
Dye transfer - a photographic
color print using special coated papers to produce
a full color image. Can serve as an inexpensive
proof.
Electronic publishing
- a generic term for the distribution of information
which is stored, transmitted and reproduced electronically.
Teletext and Videotext are two examples of this
technology in its purest form, ie no paper.. Desktop
publishing forms just one part of the electronic
publishing market.
Elliptical dot - A type of halftone
screen dot with an elliptical rather than circular
shape, which sometimes produces better tonal gradations.
Em - a fixed space equal in size
to the chosen point size. It gets its name from
the letter M which originally was as wide as the
type size.
Em dash - a dash used in punctuation
the length of one em.
Embossing - A process performed
after printing to stamp a raised (or depressed)
image into the surface of paper, using engraved
metal embossing dies, extreme pressure, and heat.
Embossing styles include blind, deboss and foil-embossed.
Emulsion - The coating of light-sensitive
material on a piece of film.
En dash - a dash approximately
half the width of an em dash.
En - a fixed space that is half
as wide as an em space.
End papers - the four page leaves
at the front and end of a book which are pasted
to the insides of the front and back covers (boards).
EPS - Enapsulated PostScript.
A file format used to transfer PostScript image
information from one program to another. The preferred
file format for saving images, as it is resolution
independent, as opposed to TIFF.
Estimate - A price provided to
a customer, based on the specifications outlined
on the estimate form. It is normally sent prior
to entry of an order and prices may change if
the order specifications are not the same as the
estimate specifications.
Expanded type - a typeface with
a slightly wider body giving a flatter appearance.
Face - an abbreviation
for typeface referring to a family in a given
style.
Filler - extra material used
to complete a column or page, usually of little
importance.
Film negative - A piece of film
with a reversed image, in which dark areas appear
clear or white, and vice versa.
Flag - the designed title of
a newspaper as it appears at the top of page one.
Floppy disk - (see disk)
Flush left - copy aligned along
the left margin.
Flush right - copy aligned along
the right margin.
Flyer - an inexpensively produced
circular used for promotional distribution.
Foil Stamping -The process of
applying a thin film of colored foil to paper
for decorative purposes.
Font - or typeface. A complete
set of characters in a typeface.
Four color process - The four
basic colors of ink (CMYK‹yellow, magenta,
cyan, and black) which reproduce full-color photographs
or art.
French fold - a sheet which has
been printed on one side only and then folded
with two right angle folds to form a four page
uncut section.
Full measure - a line of type
set to the entire line length
Galley proof
- proofs taken from the galleys before being made
up into pages.
Gatefold - an oversize page where
both sides fold into the gutter in overlapping
layers. Used to accommodate maps into books.
Gathering - the operation of
inserting the printed pages, sections or signatures
of a book in the correct order for binding.
Gothic - typefaces with no serifs
and broad even strokes.
Gradated screen - A smooth transition
between black and white, one color and another,
or color and the lack of it.
Grayscale - a range of luminance
values for evaluating shading through white to
black. Also, a term used when referring to a black
and white photograph.
Greeking - a software device
where areas of gray are used to simulate lines
of text.
Grid - A systematic division
of a page into areas to enable designers to ensure
consistency. The grid acts as a measuring guide
and shows text, illustrations and trim sizes.
GSM - Grams per square metre.
The unit of measurement for paper weight.
Guard - a narrow strip of paper
or linen pasted to a single leaf to allow sewing
into a section for binding.
Gutter - the central blank area
between left and right pages.
Hairline rule
- the thinnest rule that can be printed. Hairline
rules do not print well. Half-point rules are
strongly recommended.
Hairlines - the thinnest of the
strokes in a typeface.
Half up - artwork one and a half
times the size which it will be reproduced.
Halftone - an illustration reproduced
by breaking down the original tone into a pattern
of dots of varying size. Light areas have small
dots and darker areas or shadows have larger dots.
Simulating a continuous tone photograph using
dots.
Halftone screen - Traditionally,
a glass plate or film placed between the original
photograph and the film to be exposed. The screen
carries a network of parallel lines. The number
of lines to the inch controls the coarseness of
the final dot formation. The screen used depends
on the printing process and the paper to be used,
the higher the quality the more lines can be used.
Hanging punctuation - punctuation
that is allowed to fall outside the margins instead
of staying within the measure of the text. This
is now seldom used in desktop publishing.
Hard disk - a rigid disk sealed
inside an airtight transport mechanism. Information
stored may be accessed more rapidly than on floppy
disks and far greater amounts of data may be stored.
Hardback - a case bound book
with a separate stiff board cover.
Head - the larger bold text at
the top of a page.
Helvetica - a sans serif typeface.
Hickies - a dust particle sticking
to the printing plate or blanket which appears
on the printed sheet as a dark spot surrounded
by an halo.
Highlight - the lightest area
in a photograph or illustration.
Icons - pictorial
images used on screen to indicate utility functions,
files, folders or applications software. The icons
are generally activated by an on-screen pointer
controlled by a mouse or trackball.
Imagesetter - A device used to
output a computer image or composition at high
resolution onto photographic paper or film.
Imposition - refers to the arrangement
of pages on a printed sheet, which when the sheet
is finally printed on both sides, folded and trimmed,
will place the pages in their correct order.
Imprint - the name and place
of the publisher and printer required by law if
a publication is to be published. Sometimes accompanied
by codes indicating the quantity printed, month/year
of printing and an internal control number.
Insert - an instruction to the
printer for the inclusion of additional copy.
ISBN - International Standard
Book Number. A reference number given to every
published work. Usually found on the back of the
title page.
Italic - type with sloping letters.
Ivory board - a smooth high white
board used for business cards etc.
Justify - the
alignment of text along a margin or both margins.
This is achieved by adjusting the spacing between
the words and characters as necessary so that
each line of text finishes at the same point.
Keep standing
- to hold type or plates ready for reprints.
Kerning - the adjustment of spacing
between certain letter pairs, A and V for example,
to obtain a more pleasing appearance.
Keyline - an outline drawn or
set on artwork showing the size and position of
an illustration or halftone.
Kilobyte (K, KB) - 1024 bytes,
a binary 1,000.
Knockout - A shape or object
printed by eliminating (knocking out) all background
colors. Contrast to overprinting.
Kraft paper - a tough brown paper
used for packing.
Laid - paper
with a watermark pattern showing the wire marks
used in the paper making process. Usually used
for high quality stationery.
Laminate - a thin transparent
plastic coating applied to paper or board to provide
protection and give it a glossy finish.
LAN - Local Area Network. A group
of connected computers in a relatively small area
that share access to printers and other peripheral
devices.
Landscape - work in which the
width used is greater than the height. Also used
to indicate the orientation of tables or illustrations
which are printed 'sideways'. See portrait.
Laser printer (see also Page printer)
- a high quality image printing system using a
laser beam to produce an image on a photosensitive
drum. The image is transferred on to paper by
a conventional xerographic printing process.
Lateral reversal - a positive
or negative image transposed from left to right
as in a mirror reflection of the original.
Layout - a sketch of a page showing
the position of text and illustrations and giving
general instructions. More commonly referred to
as ©¯layout dummy©˜ or ©¯dummy.©˜
Lead or leading - Space added
between lines of type to space out text and provide
visual separation of the lines. Measured in points
or fractions therof. Named after the strips of
lead which used to be inserted between lines of
metal type.
Legend - the descriptive matter
printed below an illustration, mostly referred
to as a cutline or caption. Also an explanation
of signs or symbols used in timetables or maps.
Letraset - a proprietary name
for rub-down or dry transfer lettering used in
preparing artwork.
Letterpress - a relief printing
process in which a raised image is inked to produce
an impression; the impression is then transferred
by placing paper against image and applying pressure.
Letterset - a printing process
combining offset printing with a letterpress relief
printing plate.
Letterspacing - the addition
of space between the letters of words to increase
the line-length to a required width or to improve
the appearance of a line.
Library picture - a picture taken
from an existing library and not specially commissioned.
Also referred to as ©¯clipart.©˜
Ligature - letters which are
joined together as a single unit of type such
as oe and fi.
Lightface - type having finer
strokes than the medium typeface. Not used as
frequently as medium.
Line Copy - Any copy that is
solid black with no gradations in tone and is
suitable for reproduction without using a halftone
screen.
Linen tester - a magnifying glass
designed for checking the dot image of a halftone.
Lines per inch (lpi) - a measure
of the frequency of a halftone screen (usually
ranging from 55-200). 150 lpi is the standard
printing resolution. Fewer lines per inch are
often used for printing on newsprint or low quality
paper.
Lining figures - numerals that
align on the baseline and at the top.
Linotype - manufacturers of a
range of high resolution phototypesetting machines
such as the 100, 202, 300 and 500. The 100, 300
and 500 series are capable of processing PostScript
files through an external RIP and typesetting
desktop publishing files direct from disk at 1270dpi
and beyond.
Lithography - a printing process
based on the principle of the natural aversion
of water to grease. The photographically prepared
printing plate when being made is treated chemically
so that the image will accept ink and reject water.
Logo - short for logotype. A
word or combination of letters set as a single
unit. Also used to denote a specially styled company
name designed as part of a corporate image.
Look-up table (LUT) - The table
of colors a computer can display at a given time.
The computer uses the table to approximate the
desired color from the range it has available.
Loose leaf - a method of binding
which allows the insertion and removal of pages
for continuous updating.
Lower case - the small letters
in a font of type.
Luminosity - A value corresponding
to the brightess of color.
Machine glazed (MG)
- paper with a high gloss finish on one side only.
Macro - a series of instructions
which would normally be issued one at a time on
the keyboard to control a program. A macro facility
allows them to be stored and issued automatically
by a single keystroke.
Magnetic ink - a magnetized ink
that can be read both by humans and by electronic
machines. Used in check printing.
Making ready - the time spent
in making ready the level of the printing surface
by packing out under the forme or around the impression
cylinder.
Manilla - A tough brown paper
used to produce stationery and wrapping paper.
Manuscript (MS) - the original
written or typewritten work of an author submitted
for publication.
Margins - the non printing areas
of page.
Mark up - copy prepared for a
compositor setting out in detail all the typesetting
instructions.
Mask - Traditionally, opaque
material or masking tape used to block-off an
area of the artwork; the inactive area of a bitmapped
image which will not respond to changes.
Masthead - details of publisher
and editorial staff usually printed on the contents
page.
Matt art - a coated printing
paper with a dull surface.
Measure - denotes column width,
expressed in picas.
Mechanical binding - a method
of binding which secures pre-trimmed leaves by
the insertion of wire or plastic spirals through
holes drilled in the binding edge.
Megabyte (M, MB) - one million
bytes.
Memory - the part of the computer
which stores information for immediate access.
Nowadays this consists exclusively of RAM, random
access memory, which holds the applications software
and data or ROM, read only memory, which holds
permanent information such as the DOS bootstrap
routines. Memory size is expressed in K or M.
Menu-driven - programs which
allow the user to request functions by choosing
from a list of options.
Metallic ink - printing inks
which produce an effect gold, silver, bronze or
metallic colors.
MG (Machine glazed) - paper with
a high gloss finish on one side only.
Mock-up - or layout dummy. The
rough visual of a publication or design.
Modem (MOdulator-DEModulator)
- a device for converting digital data into audio
signals and back again. Primarily used for transmitting
data between computers over telephone lines.
Modern - refers to type styles
introduced towards the end of the 19th century.
Times roman is a good example of modern type.
Moire pattern - the result of
superimposing half-tone screens at the wrong angle
thereby giving a chequered effect on the printed
half-tone.
Monitor calibration - The process
of correcting the color settings of a monitor
to match selected colors of printed output.
Monochrome - A black and white
display with no gray tones.
Monospace - a font in which all
characters occupy the same amount of horizontal
width regardless of the character.
Montage - a single image formed
from the assembling of several images.
Mouse - a handheld pointing device
using either mechanical motion or special optical
techniques to convert the movement of the user's
hand into movements of the cursor on the screen.
Generally fitted with one, two or three buttons
which can control specific software functions.
MS (Manuscript) - the original
written or typewritten work of an author submitted
for publication.
Negatives -
Having or reproducing the light parts of the original
subject as dark areas and the dark parts as light
areas. The negatives are used to create a blueline.
Newsprint - Unsized, low quality,
absorbent paper used for printing newspapers.
Nipping - a stage in book binding where after
sewing the sheets are pressed to expel air.
Object-oriented
- A type of drawing that defines an image mathematically
rather than as pixels in a bitmap (vector-based
as opposed to rasterized).
Oblique stroke - (/)
Offprint - a run-on or reprint
of an article first published in a magazine or
journal.
Offset Plates - A method in which
the plate or cylinder transfers an ink image to
an offset or transfer roller, which then transfers
the image to stock.
Oldstyle (US) - a style of type
characterised by stressed strokes and triangular
serifs. An example of an oldstyle face is Garamond.
Onion skin - a translucent lightweight
paper used in air mail stationery.
Opacity - term used to describe
the degree to which paper will show print through.
Optical center - a point above the true centre
of the page which will not appear 'low' as the
geometric centre does.
Orphan - line of type on its
own at the top or bottom of a page.
OU Red - PMS 200 or 201. (See
Pantone Matching System) A dark scarlet red. 201
is more maroon than 200.
Outline - a typeface in which
the characters are formed with only the outline
defined rather than from solid strokes.
Output - Computer image transferred
to color proof, paper, film, or temporary plate
material by an imagesetter device.
Overlay - a transparent sheet
used in the preparation of multi-color artwork
showing the color breakdown.
Overprinting - printing over
an area already printed. Contrast with knockout.
Overs - additional paper required
to compensate for spoilage in printing. Also used
to refer to a quantity produced above the number
of copies ordered.
Overstrike - a method used in
word processing to produce a character not in
the typeface by superimposing two separate characters,
eg $ using s and l.
Ozalid - a trade name to describe
a method of copying page proofs from paper or
film.
Page proof
- Initial impression of a page pulled for checking
purposes before the job is sent to the image assembly
department.
PageMaker - a common desktop
publishing software.
Pagination - the numbering of
pages in a book.
Pantone Matching System - a registered
name for an ink color matching system, usually
abbreviated PMS.
Paragraph mark - a type symbol
used to denote the start of a paragraph.
Parallel fold - a method of folding;
eg two parallel folds will produce a six page
sheet.
Paste up - the various elements
of a layout mounted in position on pasteboard
to form camera-ready artwork. Now seldom used
in the era of desktop publishing.
Perfect binding -An inexpensive
bookbinding technique in which the pages are glued
rather than sewn to the cover and used primarily
for paperbacks, small manuals, phone books, etc.
Perfector - a printing press
which prints both sides of the paper at one pass
through the machine.
Pi fonts - characters not usually
included in a font, but which are added specially.
Examples of these are timetable symbols and mathematical
signs.
Pica - a printing industry unit
of measurement. There are 12 points to a pica.
Originally, one pica was approximately 0.166in.
Now, in the era of computerization, a pica is
1/6 of an inch.
Picking - the effect of ink being
too tacky and lifting fibres out of the paper.
Shows up as small white dots on areas of solid
color.
Pigment - Particles that absorb
and reflect light and appear colored to our eyes;
the substance that gives ink its color.
Pixel - The smallest distinct
unit of a bitmapped image displayed on a screen.
PMS - Pantone Matching System.
A commonly used system for identifying specific
ink colors.
Point - In measuring a paper©ˆs
caliper, one point equals a thousandth of an inch.
In typography, it is the smallest unit of measurement
used principally for designating type size, one
point approximating 1Î72 of an inch and
12 points equaling one pica.
Portrait - an upright image or
page where the height is greater than the width.
Positive - a true photographic
image of the original made on paper or film.
Posterization - the deliberate
constraint of a gradation into visible steps as
a special effect.
PostScript - a page description
language developed by Adobe Systems. Widely supported
by both hardware and software vendors it represents
the current 'standard' in the market.
Press proof - a copy obtained
from inked type, plate, block or screen for checking
purposes; a reasonably accurate sample of how
a finished piece is intended to look. Also, to
check for consistency and accuracy.
Primary colors - cyan, magenta
and yellow. These three colors when mixed together
with black will produce a reasonable reproduction
of all other colors.
Process colors - See four color
process.
Production coordinator - A person
who follows the print job through every step of
the process and in general acts as a liaison between
Printing Services and the customer.
Progressives - color proofs taken
at each stage of printing showing each color printed
singly and then superimposed on the preceding
color.
Proofreading - To read and mark
typesetting corrections in written matter.
Proofreading marks - a standard
set of signs and symbols used in copy preparation
and to indicate corrections on proofs. Marks are
placed both in the text and in the margin with
a line connecting them.
Proportional spacing - a method
of spacing whereby each each character is spaced
to accommodate the varying widths of letters or
figures, so increasing readability. Books and
magazines are set proportionally spaced, typewritten
documents are generally monospaced.
QuarkXpress
- The industry standard typesetting and page layout
program. Highly recommended.
Quire - 1/20th of a ream (25
sheets).
Rag paper -
high quality stationery made from cotton rags.
Ragged left/right - successive
lines of type which are of unequal length and
which are aligned at either the right or left
hand column.
Ragged Right - Typesetting style
that is characterized by lines that end in unequal
length, usually lined up flush on one side or
the other example‹flush left/ragged right.
Rasterization - The process of
converting mathematical and digital information
(vector commands) into a series of dots by an
output device.
Raster image processor (RIP)
- the hardware engine which calculates the bit-mapped
image of text and graphics from a series of instructions.
Most RIPs operate on PostScript.
Ream - 500 sheets of paper.
Recto -A right hand book page
(usually odd numbered), more significant than
the reverse side, which is called the verso.
Registration marks - small cross-hairs
on film used in the alignment of negatives.
Register - the correct positioning
of an image especially when printing one color
on another.
Reflective art - Artwork prepared
so that it may be photographed or input into a
computer by scanner.
Reflective densitometer - Instrument
used to measure the density on paper.
Resolution - the measurement
used in typesetting to express quality of output.
Measured in dots per inch, the greater the number
of dots, the more smoother and cleaner appearance
the character/image will have. Currently laser
printers print at 300-1,200dpi. Imagsetters usually
print at 1,270-5,080 dpi.
Rest in proportion (RIP) - an
instruction when giving sizes to artwork or photographs
that other parts of the artwork are to be enlarged
or reduced in proportion.
Retouching - a means of altering
artwork or color separations to correct faults
or enhance the image.
Reverse out - to reproduce as
a white image out of a solid background.
Revise - indicates the stages
at which corrections have been incorporated from
earlier proofs and new proofs submitted. Eg First
revise, second revise.
RGB - red, green, blue. The additive
primary colors used for computer monitor displays;
also a color model. Cannot be used for printing.
All RGB files must be changed to CMYK to be printed.
Right reading - a positive or
negative which reads from left to right.
Roman - type which has vertical
stems as distinct from italics or oblique which
are set at angles.
Rosette - The pattern created
when all four color halftone screens are placed
at the traditional angles.
Rotary press - a web or reel
fed printing press which uses a curved printing
plate mounted on the plate cylinder.
Rough - a preliminary sketch
of a proposed design (see also, ©¯Dummy©˜
and ©¯Layout dummy.©˜
Royal - a size of printing paper
20in x 25in (508 x 635mm).
Ruler - rulers displayed on the
sreen that show measures in inches, picas or millimeters.
Runaround (see also Text wrap)
- the ability within a program to run text around
a graphic image within a document, without the
need to ajust each line manually.
Running head - a line of type
at the top of a page which repeats a heading.
S/S (Same size)
- an instruction to reproduce to the same size
as the original.
Saddle stitching - a method of
binding where the folded pages are stitched through
the spine from the outside, using wire staples.
Usually limited to 64 pages size.
Sans serif - a typeface that
has no serifs (small strokes at the end of main
stroke of the character). Helvetica, Geneva, and
Arial are examples of sans-serif fonts.
Saturation - the amount of gray
in a color. The higher the gray content, the lower
the saturation.
Scale - the means within a program
to reduce or enlarge the amount of space an image
will occupy. Some programs maintain the aspect
ratio between width and height whilst scaling,
thereby avoiding distortion.
Scaling - a means of calculating
the amount of enlargement or reduction necessary
to accommodate a photograph within the area of
a design.
Scanner - a digitizing device
using light sensitivity to translate a picture
or typed text into a pattern of dots which can
be understood and stored by a computer.
Scanning - Using a scanner to
digitize images to be manipulated, output or stored
on a computer.
Screen angles - the angles used
to offset the different films in process color
separations. Proper screen angles are critical
to minimize moire patterns.
Screen frequency - the number
of lines or dots per inch on a halftone screen.
Section - a printed sheet folded
to make a multiple of pages.
Security paper - paper incorporating
special features (dyes, watermarks etc) for use
on cheques.
Serif - a small cross stroke
at the end of the main stroke of the letter.
Set size - the width of the type
body of a given point size.
Set solid - type set without
leading (line spacing) between the lines. Type
is often set with extra space; eg 9 point set
on 10 point.
Set off - the accidental transfer
of the printed image from one sheet to the back
of another.
Sheet - a single piece of paper.
In poster work refers to the number of Double
Crown sets in a full size poster.
Sheet fed - a printing press
which prints single sheets of paper, not reels.
Sheetwise - a method of printing
a section. Half the pages from a section are imposed
and printed. The remaining half of the pages are
then printed on the other side of the sheet.
Show-through - see opacity.
Side stabbed or stitched - the
folded sections of a book are stabbed through
with wire staples at the binding edge, prior to
the covers being drawn on.
Side heading - a subheading set
flush into the text at the left edge.
Sidebar - a vertical bar positioned
usually on the right hand side of the screen.
Signature - a letter or figure
printed on the first page of each section of a
book and used as a guide when collating and binding.
Sixteen sheet - a poster size
measuring 120in x 80in (3050mm x 2030mm).
Size - a solution based on starch
or casein which is added to the paper to reduce
ink absorbency.
Slurring - a smearing of the
image, caused by paper slipping during the impression
stage.
Small caps - a set of capital
leters which are smaller than standard and are
equal in size to the lower case letters for that
typesize.
Snap-to (guide or rules) - a
WYSIWYG program feature for accurately aligning
text or graphics. The effect is exercised by various
non-printing guidelines such as column guides,
margin guides which automatically places the text
or graphics in the correct position flush to the
column guide when activated by the mouse. The
feature is optional and can be turned off.
Soft back/cover - a book bound
with a paper back cover.
Soft dot - a type of dot in a
halftone screen whose edge is not smoothly circular.
This can create a fuzzier image. Contrast with
hard dot.
Soft or discretionary hyphen
- a specially coded hyphen which is only displayed
when formatting of the hyphenated word puts it
at the end of a line.
Spell check - a facility contained
in certain word processing and page makeup programs
to enable a spelling error check to be carried
out. Should be used as an adjunct to proofreading,
not a replacement of it.
Spine - the binding edge at the
back of a book.
Spot Color - A second color,
usually in addition to black, to add color to
your printed piece. The ink is usually Pantone
Matching System (PMS) consisting of named or numbered
colors. PMS is generally accepted throughout the
printing and graphic arts industry as the standard.
SRA - a paper size in the series
of ISO international paper sizes slightly larger
than the A series allowing the printer extra space
to bleed.
Stat - photostat copy.
Stem - the main vertical stroke
making up a type character.
Stet - used in proof correction
work to cancel a previous correction. From the
Latin; 'let it stand'.
Strap - a subheading used above
the main headline in a newspaper article.
Strawboard - a thicker board
made from straw pulp, used in bookwork and in
the making of envelopes and cartons. Not suitable
for printing.
Strike-through - the effect of
ink soaking through the printed sheet.
Stripping - the preparation and
assembling of film prior to platemaking.
Style sheet - a collection of
tags specifying page layout styles, paragraph
settings and type specifications which can be
set up by the user and saved for use in other
documents.
Subscript - the small characters
set below the normal letters or figures.
Subtractive primaries - The inks
(cyan, magenta, and yellow) used in process-color
printing to create different colors. In contrast
to additive primaries, these produce darker colors
when combined.
Supercalendered paper - a smooth
finished paper with a polished appearance, produced
by rolling the paper between calenders. Examples
of this are high gloss and art papers.
Superscript - the small characters
set above the normal letters or figures.
Surprint (US) - (see Overprinting)
printing over a previously printed area of either
text or graphics.
Swash letters - italic characters
with extra flourishes used at the beginning of
chapters.
Swatch - a color sample.
Tabloid - 11©˜
x 17©˜ - a page half the size of a broadsheet,
or twice the size of a sheet of standard typing
paper.
Tabular setting - text set in
columns such as timetables.
Tags - the various formats which
make up a style sheet- paragraph settings, margins
and columns, page layouts, hyphernation and justification,
widow and orphan control and automatic section
numbering.
Template - a standard layout
usually containing basic details of the page dimensions.
Text wrap - see Runaround.
Text - the written or printed
material which forms the main body of a publication.
Text type - typefaces used for the main text of
written material. Generally no larger than 14
point in size.
Thin space - the thinnest space
normally used to separate words.
Thirty two sheet - a poster size
measuring 120in x 160in (3048mm x 4064mm).
Threaded or chained (US) - see
Pipelining.
Thumbnails - the first ideas
or sketches of a designer noted down for future
reference.
TIFF - a common format for scanned
photographs, generally associated with grayscale
photos or bitmap line art.
Tint - the effect of adding white
to a solid color or of screening a solid area.
Tip in - the separate insertion
of a single page into a book either during or
after binding by pasting one edge.
Tone line process - the process
of producing line art from a continuous tone original.
Toolbox - an on screen mouse
operated facility that allows the user to choose
from a selection of 'tools' to create simple goemetric
shapes- lines, boxes, circles etc. and to add
fill patterns.
Transmissive densitometer - Instrument
used to measure the coverage of exposed film.
Transparency - a full color photographically
produced image on transparent film.
Trapping - a prepress technique
which allows for variation in registration during
the press run. This is done primarily by allowing
an overlap between abutting colors.
Trash can (US) - the icon selected
for the deleting of files or objects.
Trim - the cutting of the finished
product to the correct size. Marks are incorporated
on the printed sheet to show where the trimming
is to be made.
Twin wire - paper which has an
identical smooth finish on both sides.
Typeface - A complete set of
characters forming a family in a particular design
or style.
Typescript - a typed manuscript.
Typo (US) - an abbreviation for
typographical error. An error in the typeset copy.
Typographer - a specialist in the design of printed
matter, and in particular the art of typography.
Typography - the design and planning
of printed matter using type.
U & lc
- an abbreviation for UPPER and lower case.
UCR - Undercolor Removal. A technique
for reducing the amount of magenta, yellow, and
cyan in neutral areas and replacing them with
an appropriate amount of black.
Universal Copyright Convention (UCC)
- gives protection to authors or originators of
text, photographs or illustrations etc, to prevent
use without permission or acknowledgment. The
publication should carry the copyright mark, the
name of the originator and the year of publication.
Varnishing
- a finishing process whereby a transparent varnish
is applied over the printed sheet to produce a
glossy finish.
Vellum - the treated skin of
a calf used as a writing material. The name is
also used to describe a thick creamy book paper.
Vertical justification - the
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