Print and Copy

Terms related to print and copy products and services provided by UW Creative Communications.

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Accordion Fold: Two or more parallel folds that open like an accordion.
Back Up: Printing the reverse side of a sheet already printed on one side.
Bad Break: Starting a page with a hyphenated line or "widow" (very short line); also incorrect hyphenation.
Bleed: Printed image extending beyond the trimmed edge of a page, usually 1/8 inch.
Blueline: Proof made from stripped-up negatives or positives, used as a final proof to check position of image elements, folding, color breaks^I, etc. All colors are indicated by different shades of blue.
Camera-Ready Art: Finished mechanicals with page materials in position, ready to be photographed and printed. Old style way to present materials.
CMYK: Process Color^I. The four standard ink colors used in full-color printing: black, yellow, cyan and magenta.
Coated Paper: Paper coated on one or both sides to improve ink holdout and surface characteristics; can be glossy, dull or matte finish.
Collate: To gather sheets or signatures in a specified order for binding.
Color Breaks: Parts of artwork to be printed in different colors. Color breaks^I need to be indicated on the hard copy provided with the electronic file.
Color Separations: The process of separating full-color photographic transparencies or prints into the components of the four process ink colors: cyan, magenta, yellow, black (CMYK^I). Most color separations^I are now done by computerized scanning of the original image.
Comp: Comprehensive. Designer's complete mockup of an idea or concept for a printed piece.
Continuous Tone: The gradation from black to white found in original photographs, illustrations or artwork.
Cover Stock: A variety of papers also known as card stock. A stiff paper used for postcards, book covers, etc.
Crash Printing: Letterpress printing on carbonless forms so the image prints simultantously on all sheets in the set.
Crop Marks: Lines near the edges of an image showing portions to be eliminated.
Crossover: Image that continues from one page of a publication across the gutter^I to the opposite page.
Digital Printing: Digital printing^I is the reproduction of digital images on a physical surface. It is generally used for short print runs, and for the customization of print media.
Double Bump: To print an image area^I twice with the same ink color to ensure smooth, even coverage of large solid areas.
Drawdowns: A sample provided by the ink manufacturer to show approximately how an ink color will look when printed.
Dummy: A mock-up of the finished piece made with the paper selected for the job.
Duotone: Photograph reproduced from two halftone negatives and usually printed in two ink colors.
Emboss: A raised image created by stamping a paper sheet with a metal die.
EPS: Files saved in Encapsulated PostScript format. PostScript files, which contain both the page elements and the page description language for the printer, are both input- and output-device independent; however, they cannot be edited or modified in this format.
Folio: A page number.
Font: All of the characters and associated spacing of one size of one typeface.
For Position Only (FPO): Typically to show position of a photo or artwork, a low-resolution image positioned in a document to be replaced later with a higher resolution version of the same image.
Form: One side of a press sheet.
FPO: For Position Only. Typically to show position of a photo or artwork, a low-resolution image positioned in a document to be replaced later with a higher resolution version of the same image.
Gate Fold: Two parallel folds that do not overlap, but open up like a book.
Ghosting: When the image on the side of a printed sheet makes a light, ghost-like image on the opposite side.
Gutter: Space between columns of type where pages meet at the binding.
Halftones: Continuous-tone photographs or artwork that have been converted into a series of dots of various sizes for reproduction.
Hickies: Donut-shaped spot or imperfection in printing, most visible in areas of heavy ink coverage. Occur most frequently with recycled papers.
Image Area: Portion of a negative or plate corresponding to inking on paper; portion of paper on which ink appears.
Indicia: Postal permit information printed on objects to be mailed and accepted by USPS^I in lieu of stamps.
Kerning: In typesetting, reducing space between two characters, making them closer together.
Knock Out: Type or other image defined by printing the background rather than the image itself, allowing the underlying color of paper or previously printed ink to show in the shape of the image.
Makeready: All the activities required to set up a piece of printing or bindery equimpment, including running test sheets of paper.
Moire: Undesirable pattern in printed halftones^I and screen tints, usually caused by incorrectly aligned screen angles.
Non-Wood Fiber: Also known as "tree-free" fiber, any fiber that comes from a source other than trees.
Offset Printing: A printing process that uses metal plates and ink; it is characterized by the use of a blanket cylinder, a rubber plate that picks up the image from the metal plate itself and then transfers that image onto the sheet of paper. In offset printing^I, the actual plate never directly touches the paper.
Pantone Colors: A commercial system for specifying colors by means of numbered color samples provided in swatch books.
Pantone Matching System: A commercial system for specifying colors by means of numbered color samples provided in swatch books.
Perfecting: Printing both sides of the paper during a single pass through the printing press.
Pica: A unit of measurement used in the printing industry. 1 pica^I = 1/6 inch or 12 points.
PMS: A commercial system for specifying colors by means of numbered color samples provided in swatch books.
Post-Consumer Waste: Materials that have been used by a consumer and returned through a recycling program.
Pre-Consumer Waste: Materials that have not been used for their intended purpose by a consumer. Includes allowable printing and manufacturing waste.
Press Signature: A press sheet folded into a series of pages to be bound. Standard signatures are 8, 16 and 32 pages.
Process Color: CMYK^I. The four standard ink colors used in full-color printing: black, yellow, cyan and magenta.
Recycled Paper: The EPA requires a minimum of 30% post-consumer content in uncoated printing and writing paper and 10% post-consumer content for coated paper^I to qualify as "recycled." However, "recycled paper^I" can have several meanings, depending on the source.
Register: To position printing in proper relation to the edges of the paper and other printed images on the same sheet.
Reverse Out: Type or other image defined by printing the background rather than the image itself, allowing the underlying color of paper or previously printed ink to show in the shape of the image.
Scale: To identify the percentage by which images should be enlarged or reduced.
Score: To mechanically crease paper along a line so it will fold more easily.
Screen Build: An approximation of a PMS^I color created by printing different screened combinations of ink colors on top of each other.
Screen Tint: A tint of either black or another ink color, specified as a percentage and printed as dots of uniform density.
Self Cover: Publication made entirely from the same paper so that the cover is printed simultaneously with the inside pages.
Sheetfed: A press that uses pre-cut sheets of paper, rather than rolls.
Showthrough: Printing on one side of the paper that can be seen when looking at the opposite side.
Specifications: Complete and precise descriptions of paper, ink, binding, quantity and other features of a printing job.
Spot Color: Colors specified in PMS^I inks other than the four standard process colors.
Stet: Proofreaders' mark signifying that copy marked for corrections should remain as it was.
Stripping: Assembling negatives in flats in preparation for making printing plates.
Sustainability: According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the most widely quoted definition of sustainability^I comes from the 1987 Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development. This "Brundtland definition" defines sustainability as "meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."
Text Paper: Paper grade characterized by textured surfaces, such as laid, cockle, wove, etc. May also be used to describe paper used for the text portion of a publication, as opposed to cover stock^I.
Trap: The tiny amount of overlap between two printed areas that eliminates white space between colors.
Trim Size: Size of the printed product after the last trim is made.
Variable Data Printing: Variable-data printing (VDP) (also known as variable-information printing (VIP) or VI) is a form of on-demand printing in which elements such as text, graphics and images may be changed from one printed piece to the next, without stopping or slowing down the printing process and using information from a database^I or external file. For example, a set of personalized letters, each with the same basic layout, can be printed with a different name and address on each letter. Variable data printing^I is mainly used for direct marketing, customer relationship management, advertising and invoicing on selfmailers, brochures or postcard campaigns.
Varnish: Clear finish applied to press that provides additional protection and sheen to a printed piece. Varnish^I may be dull or glossy, and may be tinted with colored ink. A flood varnish is applied to the entire page; a spot varnish is applied only to selected image areas and requires a printing plate to apply.
Watermark: Distinctive design created in paper fibers during paper manufacture.
Web Press: Press that uses paper in rolls, rather than cut sheets.