Glossary
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Antique
finish [re: paper]
a natural, slightly rough finish occurring usually on book and cover papers.
Back(ing) up
printing the second side of an already printed sheet; [re: computers]
making a second copy of digital information as a safeguard against corrupted
memory and system failure [just do it!].
Bezier curve [re: computer graphics]
a curved line segment within drawing and imaging applications which consists
of anchor points which allow the curve to be reshaped.
Bit [re: computers]
binary digit: the smallest unit of information on a computer. Eight bits
equals one byte.
Bitmap [re: computers]
the electronic representation of an image indicating the position of every
possible spot (0 or 1).
Black printer [re: color reproduction]
the printing plate that receives black ink (the same idea applies with
the cyan printer, etc.) which increases the contrast of dark tones.
Blanket [in printing]
a rubber surfaced fabric which is clamped around the cylinder of a press
to which the image is transferred from the plate and from which it is
transferred to the paper.
Bleed(ing) [in printing]
additional printed image which extends beyond the intended trim edge.
Blind emboss [in printing]
a design which is stamped without the additional use of ink or foil giving
a base relief effect.
Blind image [in printing]
an image on a plate that has lost its ink receptivity and fails to print.
Blueline
[in printing]
a proof created by exposing the stripped film onto a special paper which
has a light sensitive emulsion yielding a blue image.
Byte [re: computers]
the basic unit of storage memory. One byte is equal to 8 bits.
Catching up [in
printing]
a term indicating that the non-image areas of a printing plate are beginning
to accept ink or scum.
CD-ROM [re: computers]
acronym for Compact Disk-Read Only Memory. These high volume memory storage
mediums are accessed by an internal or remote drive.
Chalking [in printing]
a term which refers to the improper drying of ink. Pigment dusts off because
the vehicle has been absorbed too quickly.
CMYK [in printing]
see Process colors.
Continuous tone [re: images]
an original photographic or illustrative image which contains continuous
shades from the lightest to the darkest which are not broken up into dots.
Deboss(ing) [in printing]
a process similar to em-bossing, with the intent of achieving an image
on a lower surface.
Dot gain [in printing]
the spreading and enlarging of ink dots on paper.
Dots per inch (DPI) [re: images]
a unit used to measure the resolution of an output device; also the input
resolution of a scanned image.
Dummy [in printing]
a preliminary layout showing the position of images and text as they are
to appear in the final reproduction; also a set of blank pages made up
in advance to show the size, shape, form and general style of a piece
which is to be printed.
Duotone [in printing]
a term describing a 2 color halftone reproduction.
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Emboss(ing)
[in printing]
impressing an image in relief to achieve a raised surface using a metal
die.
Fan out [in printing]
the distortion of paper on-press due to waviness resulting from absorption
of moisture at the paper's edge, particularly across the grain.
Folio [in printing]
a sheet of paper folded once (creating 4 pages); a leaf in a book; a page
number and the running headline of a page.
Form [in printing]
the assembly of pages and other images for printing.
Fountain solution [in printing]
a resist solution comprised of water, a natural or synthetic gum and other
chemicals used to dampen the conventional printing plate and keep non-printing
areas from accepting ink.
Gigabyte (GB) [re:
computers]
a unit of memory equal to one billion bytes, 1000 MB or 1000000 kilobytes.
Ghosted image [re: images]
a version of an original image which has its tonal range compressed into
the lighter end of the spectrum.
Grain [re: paper]
the direction in which most fibers lie, which corresponds with the direction
in which paper moves when being manufactured.
Gripper [in printing]
metal "fingers" that clamp on paper, controlling its flow as
it passes through the press; also, the leading edge of paper which is
thusly handled.
Gutter [in printing]
the blank space or inner margin from printing area to binding.
Halftone
[re: images]
the conversion of a continuous tone image through a process which interprets
tonal values into dots of various sizes whose centers are equidistant.
Highlight [re: images]
the lightest or whitest parts in a photograph or illustration represented
in halftone reproduction by the smallest dots or the absence of dots.
Justify [in composition]
to space out lines of type uniformly to a fixed width.
K [re: computers] kilobyte; a unit of memory equal to 1024 bytes.
Line art [re:
images]
any image which consists of black and white only, with no tonal values
(i.e., traditional camera-ready artwork).
Line conversion [in printing]
the conversion of a continuous tone original into a high contrast image
consisting only of black and white.
Lines per inch(LPI) [re: images]
the unit used to measure the frequency of rows of dots on a halftone screen.
M [in printing]
an abbreviation for a quantity of 1000 sheets of paper.
Megabyte(MB) [re: computers]
a unit of memory equal to one million bytes, or 1000 kilobytes.
Moire [in printing]
an undesirable pattern caused by the improper use of halftone screen angles,
or when a pattern within an image conflicts with proper halftone patterns.
Offsetting (also set-off)
[in printing]
when ink from a printed sheet rubs off or transfers to the next sheet.
Pixel [re: computers]
picture elements: the individual dots used to display a picture on a computer
screen.
Process colors [in printing]
the subtractive primaries: cyan, magenta and yellow; used with black in
4-color process printing (also known as cmyk).
Quadtone [in printing]
a term describing a 4 color halftone reproduction.
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RAM [re: computers]
acronym for Random Access Memory. The system memory of a computer used
for running an application, processing information, and temporary storage.
Ream [re: paper]
a measure of quantity: 20 quires or 480 sheets; a printer's ream is 516
sheets [typically thought of as 500 sheets].
Registration [in printing]
the fitting of 2 or more printing images in exact alignment with each
other.
RGB [re: computers]
the additive primaries of projected light; red, green and blue; the basis
for creating colors on a computer monitor. See wysiwyg.
Sans serif [in
composition]
a type face without serifs (see Serif ).
Scan(ning) [re: images]
to digitize a continuous tone image using an electronic device and related
software so that it can be displayed, edited, and output from a computer
(typically as film).
Score [in printing]
to impress or indent paper with a metal rule to make folding easier and
more accurate.
Screen angles [in printing]
in 4-color process reproduction, the angles at which the halftone screens
are placed in relationship with each other to avoid undesirable moire
patterns.
Scum [in printing]
a film of ink printing in the non-image areas of a plate where it should
not occur.
Serif [in composition]
the short cross lines or "feet" at the ends of the main strokes
of many letters in certain type faces.
Show-through [in printing]
the typically undesirable condition in which the printed images on the
reverse side of the sheet can be seen through the paper surface under
normal lighting conditions.
Signature [in printing]
a printed sheet after it has been folded; also a client's "John Hancock"
on proofs and press sheets approving content.
<>/a>Tritone [in printing]
a term describing a 3 color halftone reproduction.
Vignetted halftone [in printing]
a halftone image in which tones gradually bleed out into the background.
WYSIWYG [in printing, and life]
what you see is what you get. Note: wysiwyg is not the case with the color
seen on computer monitors.
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