Glossary

 

Useful definitions and explanations of company and industry terms

A

Aqueous Coating
A fast-drying, water-based coating that is applied after printing that gives a glossy finish and protects the print's surface. This is available in gloss or dull.

Artwork
In printing, this is the original copy which includes all text, graphics, photos and illustrations

 

B

Bindery:
The finishing department, which performs operations on the printed product after it has been printed. The bindery operations are as follows: Folding, Binding, Stitching, Scoring, Perforation, Die Cutting, etc.

Binding:
Different methods used to secure loose pages in a book is called binding. Saddle stitch is an example of binding.

Bitmap Images
Computerized image made up of a collection of dots or pixels; these images appear blocky when you zoom in; also known as raster images.

Bleed:
Printed colors that extend past the edge of a page. To cut the job to its actual size the processor has to make sure the job gets printed with 1/8 of an inch bleed some jobs may require more than that. For example if the job is a business card (3.5" x 2") the file size with bleed would be (3.625" x 2.125").

Borders:
An outline around graphics, text or edge of a sheet.

Brightness
The brilliance or reflective quality of paper affecting contrast in printing.

 

C

C1S paper:
Paper coated on one side.

C2S paper:
Paper coated on both sides. Our 14pt and 16pt paper are examples of C2S.

Card Stock:
Also called cover stock. Mostly heavyweight papers are called cards stock. The thickness of card stock is indicated with point sizes such as 14pt, 16pt. Some people will also refer to 100lb gloss cover as a card stock.

Carrier Route:
The address to which a carrier delivers mail. In common usage, carrier route includes city routes, rural routes, highway contact routes, post office box sections, and general delivery units.

CMYK:
The primary colors used in 4-color printing. CMYK are used to reproduce full color on the printed sheet.
CMYK also called PROCESS COLOR
C: Cyan (Blue)
M: Magenta (Red)
Y: Yellow
K: Key (Black)

Coated paper
Paper with a thin surface coating of clay that produces a smooth finish.

Collate
The placement of printed sheets in numerical or alphabetical order.

Color correction
Methods of adjusting and improving color qualities such as color balance, contrast, etc.

Computer-to-Plate (CTP)
A technology that enables transfer of digital data directly to a metal plate for printing, eliminating the use of conventional films.

Cover paper
A heavyweight paper commonly used for covers of books, brochures, catalogs and folders.

Collecting:
Prepress Department that imposes multiple jobs of the same type in a press layout, called a batch. Collecting is responsible for creating schedules that meet production deadlines and satisfy job turnarounds.

Color Types
4:4 - 2 sided, full color on front and on back
4:1 - 2 sided, full color on front, black on back
4:0 - 1 sided, full color on front

Color Proof / Digital Hard-copy proofs:
An image, created by using color inks. Showing what the final printed product will look like. Color proofs within printedinchinaonline.com are called Epson proofs tand are a 80%-85% match with the final product.

Consecutive Numbering:
Numbering a form, or a series of printed material where the number changes sequentially from one to another. Example, if the first one has number 201, the second will get 202, the third would be 203 and so on. Here at 4over we do not offer that service.

Crop Marks (Guide Marks):
Lines printed in the margin of sheet that indicates to the cutter and bindery where the finished product should be trimmed. They are also used to show what part of a photo should be used and what part should be cropped off.

Cure
The process of drying inks or coatings through chemical processes to develop strong adhesion.

Cutting Tolerance
The margin of error that a cutting machine has to cut paper can vary from 1/16 inch to 1/8 inch

Cyan
Shade of blue; One of four basic ink colors used in 4 color printing process.

 

D

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

Die Cutting:
A specific shape like circle, star, etc (any designs that cannot be done by a straight cut) which is cut by a metal blade. Door hangers are a popular product which requires die cutting.

Dots Per Inch (dpi):
A measurement of resolution of input, output and display devices. 300 dpi means that when printed, each square inch of your image will contain 90,000 pixels (dots), the higher the dpi (the more pixels per inch) the more crisp the printed image will be. Our electronic (digital files) have to have a resolution of at least 300 dpi. Anything less than that is considered as low resolution and may appear blurry when printed.

Dummy
A product that is handmade by a graphic artist to show how the finished product will look. This is not created on the exact paper stock that the final product will be printed on.

 

E

Embossing: The process of stamping an image into paper so it is raised above the surface.

EPS (Encapsulated Postscript File)
An Adobe graphic file format for high resolution images; it translates graphic and text into code that tells a printer to print in the highest resolution possible and also has low resolution view files for quick screen viewing.

 

F

Finished Size / Trim Size:
The size of a printed product after all production operations have been completed.

Finishing:
Operations to a document after it has been printed. The finishing operations could include bindery work such as, folding, trimming, binding, die cutting, inserting or any post press process that must be completed.

Flat Size:
The size of a printed product after printing and trimming but before any finishing operations that affect its size, such as folding.

Foil Stamping
The process of stamping a heated die onto a sheet of foil which releases the foil from its backing and adhering to the paper, creating a foil design on a printed piece.

Folding:
The process of bending printed sheets in a specific area. Folding is one of our popular bindery jobs.

Full Bleed:
Printing that goes to the edge of all four sides of the page.

Full Color Printing
The process used in four-color printing when combining Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black.

 

G

Gloss Finish:
A coating on paper that provides a higher reflection of light, which results in a shiny appearance. Gloss coatings reduce ink absorption, which allows excellent contrast and color definition.

Gloss Paper:
Paper with a gloss finish, usually used for higher quality printing. Examples are 100lb gloss book, and 100lb gloss cover.

Gray Scale:
A strip of paper containing gray tones ranging from white to black. So gray scale refers to black and white printed material.

Grippers:
Metal finger like clamps that grab the paper to pull it through the press as the sheet is being printed.

 

H

Head to Head:
Printing on the front and back of a sheet is setup so that the top of both sides is printed at the same end of the sheet. You would turn the sheet like the page of a book to read the reverse side.

Head-to-Toe:
Printing on the front and back of a sheet so that the tops of each side are printed at opposite ends from each other. The top of one side is opposite the bottom of the other. You would turn the sheet over from top to bottom to read the reverse side. Also referred to as head-to-tail or tumble.

Hickey:
A spot on a printed sheet that appears as a small white circle with ink in the center, caused by particles such as dirt, dust, or bits of paper.

 

L

Landscape:
Printing a page so that when positioned for reading the width is greater than the height.

Lithography
A method of printing where metal plates are chemically treated so that the image area accepts ink and non-image areas repel ink.

 

M

Margin:
The non-printed areas around the image area of a page.

Matte Finish:
A coated paper finish that is flat, not shiny like a gloss, but still keeps much of the ink from being absorbed by the paper and produces an excellent image.

Mockup:
A product that is handmade by a graphic artist to show how the finished product will look. This is not created on the exact paper stock that the final product will be printed on.

 

O

Offset Printing:
The transfer of an inked image from a plate to a blanket cylinder, which in turn transfers the image to the printing material as it passes between the blanket and the impression cylinder and pressure is applied. Also referred to as offset lithography. Here at 4over use offset printing.

Open End Envelope:
An envelope with an opening along its short dimension.

Open Side Envelope:
An envelope with an opening along its longest dimension.

Out of Register / Off Register:
When an image is not printing in the exact location that it is suppose to. When printing more than one color, if the colors do not line up properly, they are out of register.

Output:
Sending information from a computer to a printing device to produce a printed page is called output.

Overprinting:
Printing an image over an area that has already been printed. In printing process colors, one process color is printed over another creating a secondary color, which is a combination of two primary colors. Sometimes in the files that customers send us there will be overprinting issues. Such as type or logos not printing. Customers should be aware that we do not check for this and their overprinting situation must be evaluated before sending the files to us.

 

P

Pantone Matching System (PMS):
A registered name for an ink color matching system used to compare, match and identify specific colors. To do so we use a pantone book. It contains pantone colors with their closest CMYK values.

Paper Grain:
The direction in which the fibers line up during the manufacturing process. It is easier to fold, bend, or tear the paper along the same direction of the fibers. Cut sheet laser printers generally use long grain paper in which the grain runs parallel to the long side of the paper, resulting in better performance through the laser printer.

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

Perforation:
Creating a series of holes so that the paper can be torn more easily along the line that is formed. Postage stamps and tear-off cards are common products that require perforation.

Pixel:
The smallest unit of a digitized image created by a digital device, such as a computer, camera, or scanner. Pixel is short for picture element. The more pixels per inch the better the resolution. On computer monitors, the display is divided into rows and columns containing thousands or millions of pixels. Each pixel is composed of three dots representing the three color channels of red, green, and blue light that are necessary for creating a color image on computer monitors and television screens. Because of their small size, the pixels appear to merge, simulating a continuous tone image, but when magnified they appear to be tiny square blocks of light, as shown in the illustration.

Plate:
A metal or paper light-sensitive sheet that holds an image that has been photographically produced. During the printing process, the image area picks up ink, which is then transferred to a blanket and then to paper.

Postage:
Payment for delivery service that is affixed or imprinted to a mail piece, usually in the form of a postage stamp, permit imprint, or meter stamp.

PostScript:
A page description language developed by Adobe Systems that tells a printer how an image is to be printed.

Presentation Folder:
We offer different kinds of presentation folders, Inner pocket with round cut corner: (1 or 2, left & right pockets are optional) Inner pocket with straight cut corner: (1 or 2, left & right pockets are optional) Business card slit, left or right is also optional.

Press:
Machine used to print batches..

Prinergy:
One of two software systems that we use to send batches to the plating machine. When using Prinergy, batches will be sent to the Creo CTP (computer to plate).

Processing:
The department in charge of making customers' files "print ready".

Proofs:
A copy of the artwork representing the finished product. It is used for review and approval. Here at printedinchinaonline.com we offer 3 types of proof.
1. PDF proof. PDF proof is an electronic proof.
2. Color proofs. Is a printed proof, which also called hard copy proof it is a 80%-85% match with the final printed product
3, A proof that is produced on the press using the inks and paper specified for that order

Punching:
Drilling of holes through a stack of paper. We use hole punching if a customer wants to have that on any printed piece. Applicable & popular sizes are 1/8" & 5/16". We can provide a different size, other than above mentioned, upon request.

 

R

Raster Image Processor (RIP)
A device that translates data into dots or pixels.
Rasterize
To render an image, pixel by pixel, vertically and horizontally.

Resolution:
The measurement of output quality expressed in pixels (dots) per inch on a computer monitor or dots per inch on printed media. For example, a monitor displaying a resolution of 800 by 600 refers to a screen capable of displaying 800 pixels in each of 600 lines, which translates into a total of 480,000 pixels displayed on the screen. When referring to printed media, a 300 dpi (dots per inch) printer for example, is capable of outputting 300 dots in a one-inch line, which means that it has the ability of printing 90,000 distinct dots per square inch (300 x 300).

RGB:
The additive primary colors, red, green and blue, used to display color in video monitors. Printing with a file in RGB color mode will produce a washed out appearance. 4over does not check files for RGB. That responsibility falls to the customer before submission of the files.

Round Cornering:
Using a machine to die cut the corners of forms, cards and books to create a rounded corner.

Rich Black
This is made by mixing colors of ink with black in order to produce a deep, dark black on press. To create rich black for full-color process printing, your CMYK calibration values must be Cyan: 60%, Magenta: 40%, Yellow: 40%, Black (K): 100%

 

S

Saddle Stitching:
The method of binding the pages of a section where the folded pages are stitched through the fold from the outside, using a wire staple (stapling).

Samples:
Samples of a completed job (a small quantity of the actual job) can be requested to be shipped to your billing address when drop shipping to your customer.

Safe Area
An area within the trim line to prevent text or type from being cut off. It is imperative that no text or essential parts of your artwork come within 1/16" of the trim line. Due to mechanical tolerance during the cutting process, any content within 1/16" of the trim line may be cut off. Please refer to our templates for guidelines.

Scoring:
A crease applied, in a straight line, to a sheet of paper to allow it to fold easier and more accurately.
This is important to prevent cracking on the edge of the fold, especially with thicker paper stocks.

Self-cover
The paper used as cover is the same as that used in the inside pages.

Shrink Wrapping:
A method of wrapping packages or products with a plastic film and then applying heat so that the wrap fits tight to the product. Shrink-wrapping is used to package a product in specific quantities and is also used for protection purposes. It also adds some stability to the product when storing. Also referred to as plastic wrapping. We do not offer shrink-wrapping.

Silver:
Fifth color, pantone metallic coated 877c. Must be designed in a vector based graphics program. Acceptable file types are EPS, CDR, and PDF.

Skid / Pallet:
A wooden, plastic or paper platform used to hold stacks of paper or cartons. Used to store or ship materials or finished products.

Sleeve:
A paperboard jacket that fits over the four sides (top, bottom, and two parallel sides) of a letter tray in order to keep the mail inside the tray from falling out.

Spiral Binding:
Book binding that consists of a spiral wire or plastic that is wound through holes.

Spot Coating / Spot UV:
Coating paper only in specific areas as opposed to all over coating. In a Spot UV job the job gets a UV coating in only specific areas and does not get any gloss or matt lamination in any other places. Spot UV can be referred to as spot varnish.

Spot Color:
Printing with one or more solid colors, generally black ink is used with the addition of other colors. It is used to add highlight and add color to a printed product without having to print with four-color process.

Stripping:
1.To assemble and combine film or negatives to produce the final film for plate making. This process is now done electronically by many companies, bypassing the manual process altogether.
2. In reference to labels it is the removal of the matrix or waste material from around a pressure sensitive label after it has been die cut.

Swatch Book:
A booklet containing samples of paper or ink colors.

Stock
The paper or material to be printed on.

 

T

Template:
A preset model that acts as a structure for setting up a similar product.

Trim:
The process of cutting the product to its finished size. The excess that is cut off is also referred to as the trim.

Turnaround Time:
Turnaround time is the amount of time it takes to manufacture your order. It does not include shipping transit time. Turnaround time begins after we receive your proof approval and payment in full.

Typesetting:
The process of converting text into type used for printing.

 

U

Uncoated
Paper with no treatment or coating on the surface.

UV Coating:
A liquid coating applied to the printed piece, which is then bonded and cured with ultraviolet light. This coating is used to provide a protective coating to the printed image. Please note that you CAN NOT write or imprint on a uv coated jobs.

 

V

Varnish:
A thin, liquid protective coating, either matte or glossy, that is applied to the product. It adds protection and enhances the appearance of the product. It can be applied as an all over coating or it can be applied as a spot coating.

Vector Images:
Images made up of solids, lines and curves that can be scaled or edited without affecting image resolution.

 

W

Watermark
A distinctive design created in paper during manufacturing that is visible when the paper is held up to the light

Web press
A high speed printing press that print on a continuous roll of paper or web rather than on individual sheets

Wire O
A method of binding using double loops of wire through a hole