This glossary contains printing terms that may be of interest as well
as help to you in completing your next project.
O
OAGV: Overall gloss varnish.
OADV: Overall dull varnish.
Offsetting: Using an intermediate surface used to transfer ink.
Also, an unpleasant happening when the images of freshly printed sheets
transfer images to each other.
Offset paper: Term for uncoated book paper.
Ok sheet: Final approved color inking sheet before production
begins.
Opacity: The amount of show-through on a printed sheet. The more
opacity or the thicker the paper the less show-through. (The
thicker/heavier the paper the higher the cost.)
Outline halftone: Removing the background of a picture or
silhouetting an image in a picture.
Overlay: The transparent cover sheet on artwork often used for
instructions.
Overrun or overs: Copies printed in excess of the specified
quantity. (Printing trade terms allow for + - 10 % to represent a
completed order.)
P
Page count: Total number of pages in a
book including blanks.
Pattern carbon: Special carbon
paper used in business forms that only transfers in certain areas.
Perfect bind: A type of binding
that glues the edge of sheets to a cover like a telephone book, Microsoft
software manual, or Country Living Magazine.
Perfecting press: A sheet fed
printing press that prints both sides of a sheet in one pass.
PDF: Portable Document Format
(Adobe) - compressed data in standard format for cross platform viewing.
Pica: Unit of measure in
typesetting. One pica = 1/6 inch.
Picking: Printers nightmare that
occurs as the surface of a sheet lifts off during printing. Generally a
paper manufactures quality control problem.
Pin register: A standard used to
fit film to film and film to plates and plates to press to assure the
proper registration of printer colors.
Plate gap: Gripper space. The
area where the grippers hold the sheet as it passes through the press.
PMS: Abbreviation for the
Pantone Color Matching System.
PMT: Abbreviation for
photomechanical transfer or position prints.
Point: For paper, a unit of
thickness equaling 1/1000 inch. for typesetting, a unit of height equaling
1/72 inch.
PostScript: The computer
language most recognized by printing devices.
Press number: A method of
numbering business forms or tickets.
Pressure-sensitive paper: Paper
with self sticking adhesive covered by a backing sheet.
Process blue: The blue or cyan
color in process printing.
Process colors: Cyan (blue),
magenta (process red), yellow (process yellow), black (process black).
Q
R
Ream: Five hundred sheets of paper.
Recto: Right-hand page of an
open book.
Reflective copy: Copy that is
not transparent.
Register: To position print in
the proper position in relation to the edge of the sheet and to other
printing on the same sheet.
Register marks: Cross-hair lines
or marks on film, plates, and paper that guide strippers, platemakers,
pressmen, and bindery personnel in processing a print order from start to
finish.
Reverse: The opposite of what
you see. Printing the background of an image. For example; type your name
on a piece of paper. The reverse of this would be a black piece of paper
with a white name.
Rip film: A method of making
printing negatives from PostScript files created by desktop publishing.
S
Saddle stitch: Binding a booklet or
magazine with staples in the seam where it folds.
Score: A crease put on paper to
help it fold better.
Screen angles: Frequently a
desktop publishers nightmare. The angles at which halftone, duo tones, tri
tones, and color separation printing films are placed to make them look
right.
Self-cover: Using the same paper
as the text for the cover.
SGV: Spot
gloss varnish.
SDV: Spot dull varnish.
Shadow: The darkest areas of a
photograph.
Show-through: Printing on one
side of a sheet that can be seen on the other side of the sheet.
Side guide: The mechanical
register unit on a printing press that positions a sheet from the side.
Side stitch: Binding by stapling
along one side of a sheet.
Signature: A sheet of printed
pages which when folded become a part of a book or publication.
Silhouette halftone: Or silo; an
outline halftone.
Skid: A pallet used for a pile
of cut sheets.
Specifications: A precise
description of a print order.
Spine: The binding edge of a
book or publication.
Split fountain: Putting more
than one ink in a printing fountain to achieve special color affects.
Spoilage: Planned paper waste
for all printing operations.
Spot varnish: Varnish used to
highlight a specific part of a page.
Step-and-repeat: A procedure for
placing the same image on plates in multiple places.
Stet: A proof mark meaning let
the original copy stand.
Stock: The material to be
printed.
Stripping: The positioning of
film on a flat prior to platemaking.
Stripped flats: Complete
collection of project negative films on flats ready for platemaking.
Substance weight: A term of
basis weight when referring to bond papers.
Substrate: Any surface on which
printing is done.
T
Text paper: Grades of uncoated paper
with textured surfaces.
Tints: A shade of a single color
or combined colors.
Tissue overlay: Usually a thin
transparent paper placed over artwork for protection & used for marking
color breaks & printer instructions.
Transparency: A positive
photographic slide on film allowing light to pass through.
Transparent ink: A printing ink
that does not conceal the color under it.
Trapping: The ability to print
one ink over the other.
Trim marks: Similar to crop or
register marks & show where to trim the printed sheet.
Trim size: The final size of one
page after the last trim is made.
U
Under-run: Production of fewer copies
than ordered. See over run.
Up: Printing two or three up
means printing multiple copies of the same image on the same sheet.
UV coating: Liquid laminate
bonded and cured with ultraviolet light. Environmentally friendly
Return to Top
