HOLLIS

Printing Terminology

4CP An abbreviation for four color process. The
four process inks are cyan, magenta, yellow and
black.

AA or AC An abbreviation for Author's
Alteration(s) or Author's Correction(s).

Accordion Fold Folding paper by bending
each fold in the opposite direction of the
previous fold, creating a pleated or accordion
effect.

Blanket A rubber fabric which clamps around
the press's cylinder. The image is transferred
from the printing plate to the blanket and from
the blanket to the paper.

Bleed Any copy, art illustration, photo, color,
etc., that extends past the edge of the printed
page.

Blue Line In offset printing, a photoprint
made from negatives, and used as a proof to
check the position of the elements.

Caliper The thickness of a sheet of paper,
usually expressed in thousandths of an inch.

Camera Ready Copy which is ready for
photography.

Choke Also referred to as trapping, an overlap
of overprinting images used to avoid color or
white gaps around images.

CMYK An abbreviation for the four process
colors: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black.

Color Keys Overlay color proofs.

Color Separation The process of separating
color originals into primary printing color
components.

Crop Used to eliminate portions of an image or
copy, as on a photograph or line work, and
indicated on the original artwork by cropmarks.

CTP Computer-to-plate technology. Plate
systems which eliminate the film-to-plate process.

Deckle The untrimmed, jagged-looking edges
on a particular sheet of paper where the pulp
flows against the edge to create the deckle.

Die 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, i.e.
labels, boxes, image shapes, either postpress or
inline.

Digital Color Proof A color proof produced
by digital means, thereby eliminating the need
for color-separated film.

Dot Etching A chemical process which reduces
halftone dots to vary the amount of color to be
printed. On negatives, dot etching increases
color; on positives it reduces color.

Dot Gain An occurrence in which dots print
larger than desired, causing darker tones and
stronger colors.

Dots Per Inch A measure of the resolution of a
screen image or printed page.

Draw Down The term used by ink companies
to describe the method of determining color
shade.

Dummy A rough layout, used to indicate
position of images and text on a page. Also a set
of blank pages made up in the layout and design
process to show size and shape.

Duotone Where a two color halftone
reproduction is rendered from a one color
photograph.

Embossing Impressing an image in relief to
achieve a raised surface, either blind (no ink) or
overprinted (also registered-emboss).

Flush Cover A cover that is trimmed to the
same size as the inside pages of a book.

Folio The page number.

FPO Where an image, usually low-resolution, is
placed in a document to indicate the later
placement of the high resolution of the same
image. (For Position Only.)

Grain The direction in a sheet of paper in which
most of the fibers lie.

Gripper Edge The leading edge of paper as it
passes through a printing press.

Gutter The blank space or inner margin from
print area to binding.

Halftone The use of screening devices to
convert a continuous tone image (i.e. a photo),
into a reproducible dot pattern.

Hickies Spots or flaws in printing caused by
paper dust, dirt on the press, dry ink skin, etc.

Hue The main attribute of a color which
distinguishes it from another color.

Image The portion of the printing plate that
carries the ink and prints on paper.

Imposition The positioning of pages on a
signature in a way which, after printing, allows
for proper folding, cutting and binding, so that
the pages appear in their proper sequence.

Impression A single image transferred by a
printing device to one side of a sheet of paper.

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

Keyline An outline drawing of final art used to
indicate the exact shape, position and size of
elements such as halftones, line sketches, flaps for
die-cutting, etc.

LPI Lines Per Inch. A measurement of the
resolution of a halftone screen, or of the number
of lines a printer prints on a page in each vertical
inch.

Make Ready All of the work done on a press to
set it up for a print run.

Moire An undesirable screen pattern caused by
incorrect screen angles of overlapping halftones.

Offset Printing 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 that receives the ink from the
plate and transfers it to the paper.

Overprinting Any printing that is done on an
area that has already been printed.

Perfecting Press A printing press that prints
both sides of the paper in one pass.

Plus Cover A phrase indicating an additional
cover.

PMS An abbreviation for Pantone Matching
System. Pantone ink colors are uniquely
numbered according to color and are used to
specify exact colors.

Registration The arrangement of two or more
images in exact alignment with each other.

Registration Marks Any crossmarks or other
symbols used on a layout to assure proper
registration.

Saddle Stitch The binding of booklets or other
printed materials by stapling the pages on the
folded spine; also called saddle wire.

Score To impress or indent a mark in the paper
with a string or rule to make folding easier.

Self Cover A cover of the same paper as the
inside text pages.

Sheetwise To print one side of the sheet of
paper with one plate, then turn the sheet over
and print the other side with another plate using
the same gripper and opposite guide.

Spot Color A separate ink, in addition to or in
place of a CMYK color.

Tack In printing inks, the property of cohesion
between particles. The separation force of ink
needed for proper transfer and trapping on
multi-color presses.

Transparent Inks Inks that do not block out
the colored inks that they print over, but instead
blend with them to create intermediate colors.

Trapping In prepress, refers to how much
overprinting colors overlap to eliminate white
lines between colors in printing. On press, the
process of printing wet ink over printed ink that
is either wet or dry.

Vignette An illustration or photo in which the
tones fade gradually away until they blend into the
paper.

Watermark A translucent logo that is embossed
during the papermaking process.

Work and Turn A common printing
arrangement for printing both sides of a sheet
from the same plate.