A list of questions and answers relating to the kind of work we do and things that you should know in general.
Here is a basic glossary of most of the words used in this website to make it easy for the public to understand the terminology that we use in the printing world.
If there are words that you do not understand that are not on the list below, please do not hesitate to ask and we will try to reply as quick as possible and help your uncertainty.
4-colour-process A process of combining four process colours: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black (Keyline) to create a printed full colour picture or to create colours composed from these four colours.
Bleed The part of the image around the area that prints past the edges of the page and is removed during final trimming.
Bond Paper Standard office paper.
CMYK Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black. The process colours, used in colour printing, also used to describe the printing process itself.
Coated Paper Paper that has a fine layer of clay or resin that gives the paper a smooth, often shiny appearance for rich colour printing.
Comb Binding A punch-and-bind system that uses a thick plastic comb.
Custom Bookmarking Hard cover books individually made by hand.
Design Is the process to merge type, typefaces and pictures into a document with artistic features.
Die Cutting The process of cutting a pattern in a sheet or book cover using specially-made dies.
DPI Describes the number of dots (or pixels – PPI) that fit horizontally and vertically into a one-inch measure. The more dots per inch, the more details are captured. 200dpi to 300dpi produces a suitable file for printing, when the DPI is higher than 300, it will only make the file bigger without any advantage in printing or the finished product.
File Name The name of your digital file.
Encapsulation A process of covering and sealing printed paper or board with a tough waterproof, plastic film.
Foiling A process which allows a high quality metallic finish.
Font At one time, font referred to the available characters for a typeface at a specific size (e.g. Arial 12pt).
Gloss Paper Paper coated with a slick and shiny surface. Often used in magazines, yearbooks and photo books.
Grain Direction The direction in which the fibres of the paper are oriented. It is important to ensure the grain direction is parallel with the bind to achieve the best results.
Imposition A process where more than one copy of the same design is place on a sheet for printing purposes or when pages are placed in the correct order and position to form a book after printing.
Inkjet Printing A printing technique that does not acquire a plate to transfer ink to the paper – a high quality copy or print. This method is a transfer of liquid ink.
Lamination This is a thin layer of plastic that is applied to either one or both sides of the paper to protect it. You can either have a Matt or Gloss finish.
Laser Printing A printing technique that does not acquire a plate to transfer ink to the paper – a high quality copy or print. This method is a transfer of dried powder toner.
Litho Printing A printing technique that transfers ink from a plate to a blanket of paper – the need of plates makes this process expensive for short runs.
Matt Paper< Paper that is coated with a non-glossy surface.
Paper Weight There are several methods of measuring paper weights. Designations such as bond and text indicate measurements based on specific sheet sized. As a universal wright comparison, most papers also list the weight in grams.
PDF A Portable Document Format, which can be created from most software packages to transfer files in high quality for printing, etc.
Perfect-Binding Is the process of binding individual sheets directly to the inside spine of a softcover. This is the process used most commonly to bind paperback books.
Photo Book A book that consists primarily of photographic images.
Pixels Individually squares of colour that when viewed from a distance appear to make up a photographic image. The image you see on a computer screen is made up of pixels.
PostScriptv A page mark-up computer language designed specifically for type and graphics in a page layout.
Print-Ready A document supplied for printing without any intervention from the Repro and Printing personal.
Proof Test sheets made to reveal errors or flaws, predict results on press and record how a printing job is intended to appear when finished.
Repro A process to get your digital files ready for printing, including colour correction, touch-up’s etc. – if required.
Resolution Is the amount of dots that make up your image e.g. 7mega pixel
RGB A three colour system, to design presentations, normally used for slide shows, virtual presentation, etc. – This is not usable for printing.
Saddle Stitching A stapling process useing spooled wire instead of individual staples. The term is also sometimes used to refer to sewing. Often used in a saddle or side method to bind pamphlets and brochures.
Score A thin, creased line in a sheet of paper, often applied to make stiff material fold at a specific point.
Spine The bound edge of a book.
Spread An image or graphic that runs across that runs more than one page.
Spot Colour In Litho printing, a spot colour is any colour generated by an ink (pure or mixed) that is printed using a single run.
Variable Information The ability to change specific items of information with a document as it prints. Variable information Printing is used to create several copies of a single document with the information slightly altered according to which person will receive the document. For instance, if you want a different person’s name to appear on the cover of each copy of a book.
UV Varnishing UV is a high gloss clear lacquer that gets added after the printing to one or both sides of the paper to protect them and give them a high gloss finish.
Vector Graphics Vector Graphics are graphics that are made up of geometrically defined shapes rather than individual pixels.
Wiro Binding Wiro-binding is a steel wire ring binding.