Full Color Printing - Glossary of terms

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glossary of terms

Glossary of terms , some of the more technical terms used in the print industry explained here..

Alts

B-sizes

Backing Up

Blanke t

Bleed

Blind Embossing

Bond Paper

Bulk........................

CMYK.....................

Coated Stock..........

Colour Separation.

Concertina fold. .....

Contrast..................

Cromalin.................

Crop......................

Short for alterations, the corrections made to copy after a proofing copy.

ISO international sizes intended primarily for posters, wall charts and similar items where difference in size of the larger sheets in the A series represents too large a gap. B0 – 1000 x 1414mm B1 – 707 x 1000mm B2 – 500 x 707mm B3 – 353 x 500mm B4 – 250 x 353mm B5 – 176 x 250mm

printing on the second side of a sheet of paper.

Used in weboffset printing, it is a a rubber coated sheet that carries the ink and helps avoid wear on the plate.

The margin around the page when the artwork extends beyond the crop marks.

Using a ‘form’ to press an image in relief to attain a raised surface.

Usually a watermarked paper used for letterheads or compliment slips.

Thickness of a sheet.

Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, (K)Black the four process colours used full colour printing.

A surface coating on paper which has a smooth finish.

Separating a colour image into its individual plates ready for printing, usually done on film separations can be spot or process.

Folding of paper, in a overlapping way as you would to get an edge to look like a ‘z’.

The difference in darkness between the lights and darks in an image. Adjustable in photoshop or via the press

A proof made from the film that will make the plates, usually the final proof considered before going to press

See trim.