Printing Services

Glossary of Terms

The meaning of terms used throughout the printing process.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

A
Author's Corrections		Corrections made by the author (client) to modify a proof from the original file supplied. Additional costs will be incurred.

B
Back to Back		A document page that is printed both sides. Each side is counted as a single page.
Backing up		Printing the reverse side of a sheet already printed on one side.
Banker Envelope		An envelope that has a long closure flap across the long edge of the envelope.
Black Magic Proof		Proof derived through the 'Black Magic' proofing program. Proofs are pre-ripped and imposed, and show near exact representation of four colour process jobs and a good representation of spot colour jobs.
Bleed		The additional print area around a document to allow the image/colour to run off (or 'bleed off') the edge of the finished article. The additional area is then trimmed off once the job is complete.
Blind Emboss		A design that is stamped or pressed into a piece of paper.
Booklet Mailer		A4 envelope that opens on the long edge for ease of inserting documents; also has a window.

C
Case Bound		Same as Hard Bound – book bound with very thick card and fabric or other material.
Cast Coated Board		Coated paper dried under pressure against a polished cylinder to produce a high-gloss enamel finish.
Celloglaze		A plastic film heat bonded to the paper, e.g. book cover, business cards, etc. Can be either gloss or matt and can be applied to either both or just one side of a item. Cannot be applied to just a portion/spot of the printed item, i.e. just a logo or picture.
CMYK		Referring to Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black – the colours used to make up 4 colour process printing.
Coated Paper		A combination of clay and calcium carbonate is applied to the surface of the paper to create the smoother surface. This paper is used for marketing brochures, books and other quality publications.
Collate		To bring sections of work together in correct sequence.
Colour Bars		A band of colour printed along edge of image to check colour density across the sheet.
Colour Separation		The separation of the colours making up a full colour original; usually into the three primaries (C,M,Y) plus black, each of which will be reproduced by a separated printing plate.
Cropping		Trimming or masking off unwanted portions of an illustration.
CTP		(Computer to Plate) eliminates the film process by imaging directly onto the printing plate.

D
Die Cutting		The process of using sharp cutting blocks to remove cut out areas/images of a printed sheet.
Digital Colour Printing		A printing process that allows colour printing directly from electronic images without the need for film or colour separations. Only economical on small print runs up to 50 copies
Digital Colour Proof		An electronic colour proof reproduced from the electronic data.
Double sided page		When a page is printed both sides. Each side is counted as a single page. See also 'Back to Back'.
DPI		An acronym for 'Dots per Inch'. The number of dots that fit horizontally and vertically into a one-inch measure. The more dots per inch the more detail is captured and the sharper the image will print.
DTP – Direct to Plate		Offset plate material imaged directly opposed to film being used to 'burn' plates
Dummy		Sample of the proposed work prepared before printing to assist in assessing design and estimating production requirements. A binder's dummy is made to establish the exact dimension of the bound book.
Duotone		Special print effect where two colours are used with specific screen angles to create depth in a two toned image/photo. Careful consideration needs to be given to the colours selected so the image is effective. Black and blue or brown make the Sepia look.

E
Embossing		An image impressed into the stock either raised or relief.

F
Fan-a-part Sets		Padded sets of forms – each set within the pad is sealed at the foot for ease of use.
Foiling		When a special foil is bonded to a document, e.g. invitation, booklet cover, etc. Used for prestigious publications to give impact and class.
Folding		When a printed document requires folding for completion, e.g. A3 folded to A4; A4 folded to A5; A4 folded twice to DL
Folding – Crash Fold		When a document requires more than one fold and any subsequent folds cross over previous folds, e.g. A3 folded to A4 and then crash folded to DL for mailing.
Folding – Gate Fold		When a printed document is folded twice with the folds meeting at one point to make a ‘gate'.
Folding – Roll Fold		Where the fold keeps rolling onto itself. USQ Printing Services can do four roll folds.
Folding – Z Fold		Z fold (or Zig Zag fold) when the fold looks like a Z.
Folding – Zig Zag Fold		Same as Z Fold.
Four Colour Process		Where the three primary colours (C,M,Y) and black are used to make photographic quality images.

G
Grain Direction		Paper is made with a grain direction. It is important to keep this fact in mind as it affects several different aspects of the printing process. For example, folding is neater and easier when done with the grain.
gsm (paper weight)		Paper weight is expressed as gsm (or grams / square metre). The higher the number the heavier the stock. 70gsm - what your newspaper is printed on 80gsm - photocopier paper 250gsm - a board stock used for book covers

H
Hole Punching		When holes are added to a job for completion, e.g. 2 to 4 holes to be filed in a ring binder; calendars with a single hole for hanging.

K
Key Line		An outline drawing of finished art for folders or die cut diagrams.

L
Lamination		A plastic film bonded by heart and pressure to a printed sheet for protection or appearance.
Lick Stick Envelope		Where a dry substance along one edge of the closing flap, when moistened and pressed shut, seals the envelope.

M
Machine Varnish		A thin, protective coating applied to a printed sheet to reduce finger-marking or scuffing.
Mock-up		A rough sample to assist in understanding sequence of pages, finishing requirements etc.

N
Numbering		Tickets or forms are numbered for ease of use/tracking in the user's environment.

O
Offset Paper		This paper is very similar to Bond. Used for questionnaires, surveys, books. A very serviceable stock.
Opacity		Opacity is affected by the content of the paper. In selecting the stock for your job a weight needs to be selected that doesn't allow a distracting amount of show-through.
Overprinting		Printing onto an already printed page.

P
Paper Sizes		ISO standard paper sizes – A Series In the ISO series each successive size has half the area of the previous size. A0 841 x 1189 mm A1 594 x 841 mm A2 420 x 594 mm A3 297 x 420 mm A4 210 x 297 mm A5 148 x 210 mm A6 105 x 148 mm Other sizes: DL 210 x 99 mm
Peel-n-Seal Envelope		Where a covering strip is placed over the sealing substance on the flap. Once peeled back and the envelope is pressed shut it is sealed.
Perfect Binding		Binding for a finished book where the cover wraps around the text pages including the front, spine and back. Glue mechanically wiped onto the spine area seals the cover to the text. A greater margin is required on the inside of pages to allow for ease of reading. Very durable.
Perfecting		Where the both sides of a page is printed in one pass of the press.
Perforating		When a form or page within a document needs to be removed from the bound form, it is then perforated to allow ease of removal.
Permanent Binding - Hard Bound		A special process that only book binding specialists perform. Similar in process to Perfect Binding but with hard covers. Service not available in Toowoomba.
Plain Faced Envelope		An envelope that has no window.
Pocket Envelope		A envelope that opens on the short edge.
Press Seal Envelope		Where an envelope has two flaps for closing. A sticky sealing substance on each flap, when pressed together, seals the envelope shut.

R
Registration Marks		Crosses or other marks placed on the art work to align printing plates when printing with more than one colour.

S
Saddlestitching		Binding for a finished book where the staples appear on the very spine and centre of the book. Pages need to be in multiples of four. Limited to books up to approximately 88 pages of 80gsm Bond. After this the books may need to be hand stitched which is very labour intensive.
Side Stitching		Binding for a finished book where the staples can be seen on the front of the book and are pushed through the book to the back.
Single sided page		When a page is to have text/image on only one side.
Speciality Paper		This is the term used for colourful and textured stocks normally used with a definite purpose in mind. Due to the special processes to manufacture them, they are priced accordingly. As these stocks are used for their special characteristics and the image they portray you need to consider this when the print design is being developed.
Spiral Binding		A book bound with wire/plastic spiral form inserted through holes punched along the binding side.
Spot colour		Where particular PMS colours are designated to specific areas.
Stapled Top Left Corner		When a single staple, positioned at the top left corner is used to hold the document together.
Stock		Paper or other material to be printed on.

T
Trim Marks		Marks placed in each corner of document to be printed indicating where the job is to be guillotined.

U
Uncoated Paper		Has no coating to give a porus, slightly rough texture. It absorbs ink easily giving a faded look. This can be the desired affect but needs to be considered when job is being designed.
UV Varnish		A heat cured finished applied to spot areas on a document. Often a very glossy finish.

V
Vignette		An image that fades gradually away until it blends into the unprinted paper.

W
Wallet Envelope		An envelope that has a long rectangular closure flap across the long edge of the envelope.
Window Faced Envelope		An envelope that has an address window.
Wiro Binding		A continuous double series of wire loops running through punched slots along the binding side of a booklet.