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FAQs

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faqs4/0: 4/0 is a trade designation for a printed piece with four colors (full-color) printing on the front side and no printing on the back side.

4/1: 4/1 is a trade designation for a printed piece with four colors (full-color) printing on the front side and one-color printing on the back side.

4/4: 4/4 is a trade designation for a printed piece with four colors (full-color) printing on both the front and the back side.

Art Work: Any materials or images that are prepared for graphic reproduction.

Bindery: Various methods of securing together folded sections and/or fastening them to a cover to form single copies of a book.

Bleed: An extra ink area that crosses the trim line to allow for variations that occur when the reproduction is trimmed or die-cut.

Brightness: In paper, brightness is the reflectance or brilliance of the paper.

Brochure: A pamphlet that is bound in booklet form.

Coated Stock: Any paper that has a mineral coating applied after the paper is made, giving the paper a smoother finish.

Copy: Refers to any typewritten material, art, photos, etc. used in the printing process.

Cover: A term describing a general type of paper used for the covers of books, pamphlets, etc.

Crop Mark: Markings at edges of an original or guide sheet to indicate the area desired in reproduction with negative or plate trimmed (cropped) at the markings.

Die: Design, letters or shapes, cut into metal (mostly brass) for stamping book covers or embossing. Also, an engraved stamp used for impressing an image or design.

Die Cutting: A method of using sharp steel-ruled stamps or rollers to cut various shapes like labels, boxes, image shapes, etc. either post-press or in-line. The process of cutting paper in a shape or design by the use of a wooden die or block in which steel rules are positioned in the shape of the desired pattern.

Digital Proof: Color separation data, digitally stored and then exposed to color photographic paper creating a picture of the final product before it is actually printed.

DPI: Abbreviation for “dots per inch.”

Dull Finish: Any matte-finished paper.

Dummy: A term used to describe the preliminary assemblage of copy and art elements to be reproduced in the desired finished product; also called a “comp.”

Duotone: Color reproduction from a monochrome original. The key plate is usually printed in dark color for detail, with the second plate printed in light flat tints. A two-color halftone reproduction generated from a one-color photo.

Embossing: To raise in relief a design or letters already printed on card stock or heavy paper by an un-inked block or die. In rubber and plastic platemaking, the process is usually done by heat.

Estimate: The form used by the printer to calculate the project’s cost for the print buyer. This form contains the basic parameters of the project including size, quantity, colors, bleeds, photos, etc.

Foils: Papers that have a surface resembling metal.

Font: The characters which make up a complete typeface and size.

Four-Color Printing: Four-color printing is the process by cyan, magenta, yellow, and black inks used to create a full-color image.

Gripper: A series of metal fingers that hold each sheet of paper as it passes through the various stages of the printing process.

Indicia: Markings pre-printed on mailing envelopes to replace the stamp.

Inserts: Extra printed pages inserted loosely into printed pieces.

Layout: A rendition that shows the placement of all the elements, roughs, thumbnails, etc. of the final printed piece before it goes to print.

Linen: A paper that emulates the look and texture of linen cloth.

Make Ready: The process of adjusting the final plate on the press to fine-tune or modify the plate’s surface.

Match Print: The photographic proof made from all color flats and form composite proofs, showing color quality as well as accuracy, layout and imposition before plates are made.

Matte Finish: Paper stock with a satin finish as opposed to a high gloss.

Offset: The most commonly used printing method, whereby the printed material does not receive the ink directly from the printing plate, but from an intermediary cylinder called a blanket, which receives the ink from the plate and transfers it to the paper.

Opacity: The quality of paper that defines its opaqueness or ability to prevent two-sided printing from showing through.

Opaque: A quality of paper that allows relatively little light to pass through.

Perforating: Punching small holes or slits in a sheet of paper or cardboard to facilitate tearing along a desired line.

PMS: Abbreviation for pantone matching systems.

Primary Colors: In printing the four primary colors are cyan (blue), magenta (red), yellow and black.

Register Marks: Any cross-marks or other symbols used on a layout to assure proper registration.

Saddle Stitching: Stitching where the wire staples pass through the spine from the outside and are clinched in the center. Only used with folded sections, either single sections or two or more sections inset to form a single section.

Satin Finish: A smooth, delicately embossed finished paper with sheen.

Score: Impressions or cuts in flat material to facilitate bending or tearing.

Self Cover: A cover made out of the same paper stock as the internal sheets.

Spine: The back edge of a book.

Spiral Bind: A binding whereby a wire or plastic is spiraled through holes punched along the binding side.

Spot Color: A small area printed in a second color.

Stock: A term for unprinted paper or other material to be printed.

Text: A high-quality printing paper.

Trim Marks: Marks placed on the sheet to indicate where to cut the page.

UV Coating: The liquid applied to a printed sheet, then bonded and cured with ultraviolet light, yielding a tough, almost unscratchable surface that is extremely durable.

Varnish: A clear, shiny ink used to add gloss to printed pieces.

Wove: A smooth paper made on finely textured wire that gives the paper a gentle patterned finish.

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