Printing & Designing Terms

We’ve put together this glossary to define printing and designing terminology in simpler terms. We hope this helps. Drop by now and again as we’ll keep updating this collection. If you feel a term should be included, feel free to drop us a note via ‘Contact Us’ to let us know

Index of All Terms

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

Batch Printing

SeeGang-Run Printing.

CMYK

CMYK is short for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and blacK. CMYK are the colours used in the printing process.

CMYK Vs RGB

JPEG files are almost always in RGB(Red, Green, Blue. See RGB below). Your document should be created in CMYK mode so that the colours that you see on the screen most closely match the final printed product. If you create your document in RGB, the colours in your printed product may vary slightly. Many of the bright values produced by your monitor cannot be reproduced in print..

Die Cut

The cutting of paper or card into irregular shapes using a die (specially shaped blades mounted on a backing).

Digital Offset

Digital Offset Printing makes use of advance digital technology to produce offset quality results. Not to be confused with digital reproduction (which is mostly associated with digital copiers and colour lasers), Digital Offset Printing eliminates many of the mechanical steps required for litho-offset printing (see below), including making films or plates. As image is transferred directly onto paper without the use of plates, the technology is cost-efficient and significantly makes small volume print-runs economical.

DPI (Dots Per Inch)

DPI is short for Dots Per Inch. It is a measurement of printer’s output resolution. For printers, the DPI specification indicates the number of dots per inch that the printer has to output to form the image/text on the document. The higher the DPI, the more refined the image/text will appear. At Printfac3 the minimum DPI requirement for an image/text is 300dpi.

Fold

An intentional bend in the paper, usually done by special machines.

Full Bleed

Full Bleed enables your background design to extend to the edge of your end product. If the background design is not in Full Bleed dimension, the end product will have a white line along the edge.

Gang-Run Printing

Also known as batch printing, this method which is applicable to litho-offset printing is a cost-effective and efficient way to produce all kinds of loose sheet printed documents. Gang-run printing is basically grouping customers’ orders for a similar product or requirement into 1 print run. By doing this, your short-run jobs become more affordable as the initial production cost is now shared by various customers.

Illustrator

A designing and illustrating program designed and published by Adobe Systems.

Layer(s)

Introduced in Photoshop 3.0, it simply means one image placed on top of another. Text placed on a background or an image is also considered a layer.

Lamination

The process of coating a printed document with an extremely thin layer of either glossy or matt plastic. Lamination gives a highly professional look and provides an extra smooth finish. It can also protect the document surface from fingerprints and scratches.

Litho-Offset (Lithographic)

A printing technique where by the desired print image is transferred via computer-to-plate (CTP), then transferred (or offset) from the plate to a rubber blanket and then to the printing surface. The lithographic process is based on the repulsion of oil and water. The image to be printed gets ink from ink rollers, while the non printing area attracts a film of water, keeping the non printing areas ink-free.

On-Press

The process of a document being printed.

Overprint Varnish

A coating of clear varnish applied like ink, completely over a printed document. It is part of the finishing process.

PDF

Portable Document Format (PDF) is a document format created by Abode Systems that enables you to capture, view and print in almost any application on any computer system.

Photoshop (PS)

Adobe Photoshop or simply Photoshop, is a software for digital image manipulation developed and published by Adobe Systems.

Post-Press

The finishing processes a printed document goes through. Examples of the types of finishing are folding, creasing, punching, collation, gluing and stitching.

Pre-Press

The procedures and processes digital files must go through before they can be printed.

Raster Images

A Raster image is composed of a collection of tiny dots called pixels. When these pixels are small, and placed close together, they fool the eye into forming a single image. Raster images work well when subtle gradations of colour are necessary. Because they contain a fixed number of pixels, a major disadvantage of raster images is that their quality suffers when they are enlarged or otherwise transformed. They are also large in file size.

Resolution

Resolution refers to the number of dots per inch (dpi), or the amount of detail the image has. Most documents prepared for upload should be 300 dpi at 100% of the final print size. Higher resolution means a more detailed image, and also larger file and longer upload time.

RGB

RGB is short for Red, Green and Blue. These are colours used by screen displays such as the computer monitor.

Sans Serif

A typeface without serifs. Sans means without in French and serifs are the short horizontal lines added at the tops and bottoms a letter.

Stock / Paper Stock

Unprinted paper

Trim Size

This is the final size of a document after excess edges have been cut off. Anything left outside the trim or crop marks/lines will be trimmed away. Therefore, refrain from adding a border or frame along the edge of a document as it may appear uneven after trimming

Vector Images

A Vector image use mathematical equations to define each component of an image. This allows vector images to retain their high-quality at any size. When possible, use vector graphics created in a Desktop Publishing application.

Wire-O Binding

A document binding technique using a double-wire strip which is wound through pre-punched holes along the edge of the pages of a document. It is also called spiral binding and double-o binding.