Jargon Buster
Print terminology can be confusing and intimidating. It’s one of the reasons you’ll always be able to speak to someone over the phone at Bishops to help you.
‘A’ sized paper
Paper sizes are based on dimensions of a large A0 sheet. Letterheads are commonly produced on A4 sized paper.
a/w
Abbreviation for artwork.
Acetate
A thin flexible sheet of transparent plastic used to make overlays.
Against the grain
At right angles to the grain direction to the paper.
Art paper
A common term used to describe a range of smooth papers with a filled surface.
Backing up
Process of printing on the second side of a printed sheet.
Binding
Process of fastening papers together. Bishops Printers is well known for stitched, perfect and PUR bound bindings. Our stitching line comprises 3 Heidelberg machines to ensure we have plenty of capacity.
Bitmap
A grid of pixels or printed dots generated by computer to represent type and images.
Blanket
Thick rubber sheet that transfers ink from plate to paper on the press.
Bleed
The printed image extends beyond the trim edge of a sheet or page. A bleed may occur at the head, front, foot and/or gutter of a page.
Blend
A smooth transition between two colours, also known as a graduated tint.
Blind emboss
Impression of an un-inked image onto the back of a sheet which produces a raised ’embossed’ image on the front of the sheet.
Bond paper
A quality grade of paper suited for letterheads, business forms and other office stationery.
B-size
B-size describes a particular range of paper sizes as defined by the ISO standard. The largest B-size that Bishops handles is B2 (520mm x 720mm). You can find further information about paper sizes here.
Carbonless paper (NCR)
Paper coated with chemicals that enable transfer of images from one sheet to another with pressure from writing or typing.
Case bound
A hardback book made with stiff outer covers. Cases are usually covered with cloth, vinyl or leather.
Cast coated
Coated paper with a very high gloss enamel finish.
Choke
A method of altering the thickness of a shape by over exposure in processing or by means of a built-in option in some computer applications.
Chromolin
A fast proofing system which uses powder as opposed to ink.
Clipart
Graphics saved in ready-to-use computer files. These are normally vector illustrations and not photographic images.
Clipping path
An outline, embedded into the file, that tells an application which areas of a picture should be considered transparent.
CMYK
Abbreviation for cyan, magenta, yellow and key (black), the 4 process colours, which when combined together in varying proportions can be made to produce the full colour spectrum.
Collating
Gathering together sheets of paper from a book, magazine or brochure and placing them into the correct order.
Colour separation
Process by which a continuous tone colour image is separated into the four process colours (CMYK) for print production.
Concertina fold
A method of folding in which each fold opens in the opposite direction to its neighbour, giving a concertina or pleated effect.
Continuous stationery
Forms which are produced from reels of paper and then fan folded. these can be either single or multi-part forms.
Crash number
Numbering paper by pressing an image on the first sheet which is transferred to all parts of the printed set.
Crease
To mechanically press a rule into heavy paper or board to enable it to be folded without cracking.
Creep
Phenomenon when middle pages of a folded section extend slightly beyond the outside pages.
Crop
To trim the edges of a picture or page to make it fit or remove unwanted portions.
Crop marks
Lines near the margins of artwork or photos indicating where to trim, perforate or fold.
CTP
Abbreviation of computer-to-plate; a process of printing directly from a computer onto the plate used by a printing press.
Cyan
One of the four process colours.
Deboss
Image pressed into paper so it lies below the surface.
Density
The degree of darkness of light absorption or opacity of printed images.
Die-cutting
Process of using sharp metal rules on a wooden block to cut out specialised shapes such as pocket folders or unusual shaped flyers. A Bishops speciality!
Digital printing
Digital printing is generally more cost effective on short print runs than traditional lithographic/offset printing because its dry ink process doesn’t require the production of aluminium plates. The quality of digital print varies a great deal depending on the digital print technology used along with the paper stocks and substrates chosen. At Bishops Printers, we will only use market leading HP Indigo digital presses because of their superior colour quality, and offer free expert advice on stocks and finishes to achieve the optimal result.
Dot gain
A printing defect in which dots print larger than intended, causing darker colours or tones. This is due to the spreading of ink on the paper stock. The more absorbent the stock, the more dot gain. It result can also vary depending on the type of ink used.
DPI
A measure of the quality of an image from a scanner or output resolution of a printer. The more dots per inch, the higher the quality will be, but the larger the file size the slower it will process. For this reason, digital applications tend to use lower resolution images with a lower DPI.
Drilling
Drilling of holes in a product which will allow insertion over rings or posts in a binder of some sort.
Dummy
A mock-up made to resemble the final printed product which uses the proposed grade, weight, finish and colour of paper.
Duotone
A method of enhancing a mono image using two colours.
Embed
Implies the inclusion of elements and data into a computer file necessary to maintain or change the elements when used remotely.
Embossing
A process performed after printing to stamp a raised (or depressed) image into the surface of paper, using engraved metal embossing dies, extreme pressure and heat. Embossing styles include blind, deboss and foil-embossed.
EPS
An acronym for Encapsulated PostScript, a computer file format widely used by the printing and graphics industries.
Font matching
A sometimes undesirable process used when a chosen font is not available, the closest possible match is made, sometimes causing reflow of the text or other errors.
Format
Size, shape and overall style of layout or printed project.
Four-colour process
Reproduction of full-colour photographs, or art, with the four basic colours of ink (cyan, magenta, yellow, black).
French fold
Two folds at right angles to each other.
FTP site
A simple internet-based method of uploading your artwork files so they can be transferred easily by our Pre-press department.
Full colour
Process using the four basic printing colours: cyan, magenta, yellow and black. Also known as ‘four colour process’.
Greyscale
Shades of grey ranging from black to white. In printing, greyscale uses only a black half-tone plate.
Grippers
Metal fingers which hold paper and carry it through printing impression to the delivery end of the press.
GSM
Paper weight is measured in grams per square metre.
Gusset
Expandable portion of a pocketed folder or envelope.
Gutter
Line or fold at which facing pages meet.
Halftone
Picture with varying shades of tone created by varying size dots.
Head margin
The white space above the first line on a page.
Heidelberg
Recognised in the industry as the Rolls Royce of printer manufacturers. Every one of our presses is a Heidelberg, which is part of our assurance to you of quality and reliability. Check out our plant list.
Hickey
Spot or imperfection in printing.
Hue
The main attribute of a colour which distinguishes it from other colours.
Image area
Portion of paper where ink appears.
Imagesetter
A device that plots high-resolution bitmaps which have been processed by a RIP. May include type, graphics and photographic images.
Import
To bring a picture or text file into and application ready for editing or design work.
Imposition
Positioning pages in a press-ready form so that they will be in the correct numerical sequence after folding.
Indicia
Postal information place on a printed product.
Ivory board
A smooth high white board used for business cards, for example.
Job ticket / job sheet
Alternate names for a works order. Bishops Printers uses a job ticket to track your job as it moves around the factory.
Jog
To shake a stack of papers, either on a machine or by hand, so that the edges line up. Also referred to as knocking-up.
JPEG
Joint Photographic Electronic Group. A common standard for compressing image data.
Justified
Text which is flush to both the left and right margins.
Kerning
The adjustment of spacing between certain letter pairs, A and V for example, to obtain a more pleasing appearance.
Kiss-cut
To die-cut but not all the way through the paper – commonly used for peel off stickers.
Knockout
A shape or object printed by eliminating (knocking out) all background colours.
Kraft paper
A tough brown paper used for packing.
Lamination
A thin film coating which is applied to the paper or board to give a more glossy or matt appearance.
Landscape
Describes the orientation of a page for normal viewing where the shorter side runs from top to bottom.
Layout file
The file created by computer application software which contains all the imported elements and where all the design and layout of a document are performed.
Line copy
Copy which can be reproduced without using halftones.
Lithographic printing
A printing process based on the principle of the natural aversion of water to grease. The areas to be printed receive and transfer ink to the paper, the non-printing areas are treated with water to repel the ink.
Loose leaf
A method of binding which allows the insertion and removal of pages for continuous updating.
LPI
Lines per inch – refers to the quality of a halftone screen. it is important to distinguish it from dpi which refers to the resolution of a device or image. commonly lpi is used at exactly half of the dpi of the device or image, i.e. 300dpi would equal 150lpi.
Magenta
A violet-red or purplish-red colour, magenta is one of the four process colours. The others are cyan, yellow and (key) black.
Make-ready
The work associated with the set-up of printing equipment before running a job.
Matt
A non glossy finish.
Metal plate
A metal sheet with a specially coated ’emulsion’ on its surface which, when exposed through a film mask or by CTP process, will produce an image. When the plate is loaded onto a printing press it then reproduces this image using inks onto the paper.
Micrometer
Instrument used for measuring the thickness of paper.
Moiré pattern
An undesirable grid-like pattern caused by the misalignment of dots on a printed document. this can occur when printing or sometimes when scanning from pre-printed material.
NCR
NCR is an abbreviation of ‘no carbon required’. NCR pads are ideal for handwritten forms that require duplicate copies. We can print these for you!
Offset printing
A method in which the plate or cylinder transfers an ink image to an offset or transfer roller, which then transfers the image to stock.
Optimus
Computer-based system that enables us to track your print or mailing job through every stage of the production process, from quotation to dispatch.
Origination
A term used to describe all of the processes which prepare a job for the printing stage.
Outline paths
A term used when converting a font or graphic into a mathematical vector format. Can also be called ‘curves’.
Over-run
Copies printed in excess of the quantity specified in the order.
Page count
Total number of pages, including blanks and printed pages without numbers.
Pagination
Pagination describes the arrangement and number of pages. For example, cover; 4pp + 24pp.
Pantone® colours
Premixed ink colours that are often specified for printing as a spot colour. Can be matched using CMYK but will not be exactly the same colour as its Pantone colour counterpart.
Perfect binding
A bookbinding method in which pages are glued rather than sewn to the cover. Used primarily for paperback books.
Perfecting
Process of printing both sides of one sheet during a single pass through the press.
Point
A measurement for the size of type, distance between lines and thickness of rules. One point equals one seventy-second of an inch (0.3515mm).
Portrait
Describes the orientation of a page for normal viewing where the longer side runs from top to bottom.
Process blue / process red / process yellow / process black
Alternate names for the CMYK colours.
Process colour
Colour specified in percentages of cyan, magenta, yellow and black. Different combinations of the four process colours can be used to create millions of different colours.
Progressives
Colour proofs taken at each stage of printing showing each colour printed alone and then superimposed on the preceding colour.
Proof
A representation of the finished print produced for customer inspection for errors to be corrected prior to mass printing.
QuarkXpress
The industry standard typesetting and page layout program.
Quotation
Our offer to produce a job for a specific price calculated on the basis of specifications provided by the customer. Call us on 023 9233 4900 or email enquiries@bishops.co.uk to receive a quotation within 4 hours.
Recto
Right hand page of an open publication.
Registration marks
Crosses, or other marks, placed on artwork which ensure perfect alignment (‘registration’).
Registration marks (1)
Reference marks on the page used to align overlaying colours. Also known as trim marks or crop marks.
Resolution
The number of dots per inch (dpi) in a computer-processed document. The level of detail retained by a printed document increases the higher the resolution ppi (pixels per inch) for an image.
Reversed-out
Type appearing white on a black or colour background, either a solid or a tint.
RGB
An acronym for red, green and blue. RGB is a colour model used for computer monitors and colour video output systems. Colour separations for litho printing can not be made directly from RGB files and need to be converted to CMYK first.
RIP (raster image processor)
Computer used to create an electronic bitmap for actual output. This may be built into an imagesetter or may be separate.
Rosette
The formation created by the dots that make up four-color images. The dots, in magenta (red), cyan (blue), yellow, and black, overlap each other in a cluster. Because the dots are not perfectly round, and because they are turned at angles to each other, this cluster resembles the arrangement of petals in a rose.
Saddle stitch
A binding process in which a pamphlet or booklet is stapled through the middle fold of its sheets using metal wires.
Scanning
The process of converting a hard copy into digital data ready for editing and design. The quality of the scan is dependent on the quality of the original, the scanning equipment and software as well as the experience of the operator!
Score
A pressed mark in a sheet of paper or card to make folding cleaner and easier.
Self-cover
The paper used inside a booklet is the same as that used for the cover and is generally printed on the same press run.
Solid
An area on the page which is completely covered by the ink.
Spot colour
Spot colour is not made using the process colours. Instead the colour is printed using an ink made exclusively. Each spot colour therefore requires its own separate printing plate. Spot colours do not apply to digital printing as the printing devices can only reproduce from the four process colours; cyan, magenta, yellow and black.
Spread
Two or more adjoining pages that would appear in view on sheet.
Step-up
A term used to describe the positioning of documents several times onto the same sheet of paper to avoid paper wastage. It’s also known as imposition.
Stock
A term for the material any project is printed onto.
TIFF
Acronym for Tagged Image File Format. TIFF (.TIF) pictures can be black-and-white line art, greyscale or colour. This is a widely used format for image/photographic files but is unsuitable for text unless it is created at a very hi-resolution.
Tint
An area of tone made by a pattern of dots, which lightens the apparent colour of the ink with which it is printed.
Trapping
A slight overlapping between two touching colours that prevents gaps from appearing along the edges of an object because of misalignment or movement on the printing press.
Turnaround time
Amount of time needed to complete a project.
UV varnish
A liquid laminate that is bonded and cured with ultraviolet light.
Varnishing/sealing
The application of a varnish/sealant to a surface to offer protection against marking and to improve its overall appearance.
Verso
Left handed page of an open publication.
Wash up
To clean ink from rollers, fountains and other components of a press.
Wire-o binding
A method of wire binding books along the binding edge that will allow the book to lay flat.
Work and tumble
To print one side of a sheet of paper then turn the sheet over from gripper to back using the opposite gripper edge but the same side guide to print the second side.
Work and turn
To print one side of a sheet of paper then turn the sheet over from left to right and print the second side using the same gripper edge to print the second side.
x height
The height of lower case letters without their ascenders or descenders, which is the height of the letter x.
Yellow
Yellow is one of the four process colours. The others are cyan, magenta and (key) black.
Zanders
Zanders is high quality, watermarked, textured paper typically used for quality private and business correspondence, brochures and presentation papers e.g. Zanders Classic and Zanders Zeta.