Printing glossary: terms and abbreviations

ABCDFGHILOPRSTUWZAbbreviations

Terms from A to Z

Accordion fold

A strip of paper folded back and forth into several panels of equal width. See fold types. German: Leporello

Bleed

The area by which a design extends beyond the trim size and which is cut off after printing, usually 3 mm. See bleed. German: Beschnitt, Anschnitt

Blind embossing

Pressing a raised design into paper without ink or foil. German: Blindprägung

Bulk

The ratio of thickness to grammage. A paper with high bulk is thicker at the same weight. German: Volumen

Coated paper

Paper with a smooth surface layer of pigments, in matt, silk or gloss. Good for photos. German: Bilderdruckpapier, gestrichenes Papier

Colour profile

A file describing how colours are reproduced on a particular paper with a particular printing process, for example PSO Coated v3. German: Farbprofil

Creasing

Pressing a line into card so it folds without cracking. Usual from about 170 g/m². In the US often called scoring. German: Rillen

Creep

In thick saddle-stitched booklets, the inner pages push outwards. The printer compensates by shifting the pages slightly. German: Bundzuwachs

Crop marks

Fine lines outside the trim size that show the guillotine where to cut. German: Schnittmarken

Cross fold

Two folds at right angles. An A4 sheet becomes A6. Also called a French fold. German: Kreuzbruch

Die cutting

Cutting shapes with a die, for rounded corners or packaging, for example. German: Stanzen

Digital printing

Printing straight from the file without plates. See digital and offset printing. German: Digitaldruck

Document size

Trim size plus bleed. For A4 with 3 mm bleed, 216 × 303 mm. German: Datenformat

Finishing

Every step that adds to a print after it leaves the press, such as varnish, lamination, embossing or die cutting. German: Veredelung, Weiterverarbeitung

Fold mark

A mark at the edge of a letterhead showing where to fold. In DIN 5008 form B at 105 and 210 mm. German: Falzmarke

Gate fold

Two outer flaps fold in towards the middle, like a pair of gates. German: Altarfalz

Grain direction

The direction in which most fibres in the paper lie. It should run parallel to the fold. See paper types and grain. German: Laufrichtung

Grammage

Weight of paper per area in g/m², equal to the weight of an A0 sheet. See paper weight. German: Grammatur

Gripper margin

The unprintable edge of the press sheet where the press’s grippers hold the paper. German: Greiferrand

Gutter

The inner margin of a page, where it is bound. German: Bund

Half fold

A single fold down the middle of a sheet. An A4 sheet becomes a four-page A5 folder. German: Einbruchfalz

Hole mark

A mark at the left edge of a letterhead at 148.5 mm, where you line up the hole punch. German: Lochmarke

Hot foil stamping

Transferring a metallic foil onto paper with heat and pressure. German: Heißfolienprägung

Imposition

Arranging pages or copies on the press sheet so they come out in the right order and orientation after folding and cutting. German: Ausschießen

Lamination

Bonding a thin film onto the print, matt, gloss or soft-touch. Protects against scuffing and moisture. German: Cellophanierung, Kaschierung

Landscape

Orientation with the long side at the top. German: Querformat

Long grain

Grain running parallel to the long side of the sheet. The opposite is short grain. German: Schmalbahn

Offset printing

Printing in which the ink passes from a plate via a rubber blanket onto the paper. Economical for long runs. German: Offsetdruck

Opacity

How little light passes through a paper. High opacity means the reverse barely shows through. German: Opazität

Overs

Extra sheets allowed for setting up the press and for finishing. German: Zuschuss

Perfect binding

Pages glued together at the spine. Typical for paperbacks and catalogues. German: Klebebindung

Perforation

A row of small cuts along which paper can be torn off cleanly, for example on reply cards. German: Perforation

Portrait

Orientation with the short side at the top. All ISO dimensions are given in portrait. German: Hochformat

Proof

A colour-accurate test print with which client and printer agree on the expected colours. German: Proof, Andruck

Raw size

Sheet size before trimming, such as the RA and SRA sizes. See RA and SRA sizes. German: Rohformat

Ream

A pack of paper, usually 500 sheets for copy paper. German: Ries

Registration

The exact alignment of the individual inks on top of each other. When registration is off, coloured fringes appear. German: Passer

Registration mark

A mark on the press sheet used to check registration. German: Passkreuz

Resolution

The number of pixels per unit of length, usually given in dpi or ppi. Around 300 dpi is usual for print. See print resolution. German: Auflösung

Rich black

Black with other inks added underneath so large areas look deeper. Not suitable for text. German: Tiefschwarz

Roll fold

Panels fold inwards one after another. The inside panel has to be narrower. German: Wickelfalz

Run

The number of copies printed in a job. German: Auflage

Saddle stitching

Binding with wire staples through the fold. Typical for booklets and programmes up to about 64 pages. German: Rückendrahtheftung

Safe area

The distance important content keeps from the trim line, usually 3 to 5 mm. German: Sicherheitsabstand

Screen ruling

The fineness of the halftone screen in offset printing, often 150 lpi (60 lines per cm). German: Rasterweite

Section sewing

High-quality binding in which folded sections are sewn together with thread. Typical for hardbacks. German: Fadenheftung

Sheet

A single piece of paper at press size. In binding, also short for a folded printed section. German: Bogen

Short grain

Grain running parallel to the short side of the sheet. The opposite is long grain. German: Breitbahn

Spoilage

Misprints and paper used up while setting up the press. German: Makulatur

Spot colour

An ink printed ready-mixed rather than built from CMYK, for example from the Pantone or HKS systems. German: Sonderfarbe

Total area coverage

The sum of all four ink values at one point, in per cent. Usually limited to 300 to 330 %, depending on the profile. German: Gesamtfarbauftrag

Trapping

A slight overlap between adjoining colour areas, so that small registration errors do not leave white gaps. German: Überfüllung

Trim size

The size of the finished product after cutting, for example 148 × 210 mm for A5. German: Endformat

Type area

The part of a page that holds text and images, that is, the page without its margins. German: Satzspiegel

Uncoated paper

Paper without a coating, with a natural and often textured surface. German: Naturpapier, Offsetpapier

Ups

The number of copies of a product on one press sheet. “Eight up on SRA3” means eight per sheet. See the imposition calculator. German: Nutzen

Whiteness

A measure of how white a paper looks, often given as CIE whiteness. Copy paper is usually between 150 and 170. German: Weiße

Window envelope

An envelope with a clear window for the address. In Germany, DIN 680 sets its size and position. See window envelopes. German: Fensterumschlag

Z fold

Panels fold alternately forwards and backwards. All panels are the same width. German: Zickzackfalz

Abbreviations

ANSI

American National Standards Institute, also the name of the US drawing sizes ANSI A to E

BSI

British Standards Institution, publishes British standards such as BS EN ISO 216

CMYK

Cyan, magenta, yellow, key (black): the four process inks

CTP

Computer to plate: printing plates exposed directly from the data

DIN

Deutsches Institut für Normung, the German standards body (originally Deutsche Industrie-Norm)

DL

Envelope size 110 × 220 mm, from the German “DIN lang”

dpi

Dots per inch, printed dots per inch

ECI

European Color Initiative, publisher of the common European colour profiles

EN

European standard (Europäische Norm)

EPS

Encapsulated PostScript, an older file format for graphics

FOGRA

German research institute for media technology, provides reference data for colour profiles (such as FOGRA51)

FSC

Forest Stewardship Council, certification for wood and paper from responsibly managed forests

GRACoL

General Requirements for Applications in Commercial Offset Lithography, the North American print reference

gsm

Grams per square metre, the unit of grammage (g/m²)

HKS

Spot colour system common in Germany

ICC

International Color Consortium, the standard for colour profiles

ISBN

International Standard Book Number

ISO

International Organization for Standardization

JPEG

Lossy compressed image format

lpi

Lines per inch, screen ruling in offset printing

PDF/X

Standardised PDF variants for print, such as PDF/X-1a and PDF/X-4 (ISO 15930)

PEFC

Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification

PMS

Pantone Matching System, the most widely used spot colour system

POD

Print on demand, printing single copies only once they are ordered

ppi

Pixels per inch

PSO

Process Standard Offset, based on ISO 12647-2

PUR

Polyurethane adhesive for particularly durable perfect binding

RA

Raw format A under ISO 217

RGB

Red, green, blue: the colour space of screens and cameras

RIP

Raster image processor, converts print files for platemaking or digital printing

SRA

Supplementary raw format A under ISO 217, such as SRA3 at 320 × 450 mm

SVG

Scalable Vector Graphics, a vector format for the web

SWOP

Specifications for Web Offset Publications, a North American print reference for magazines

TAC

Total area coverage

TIFF

Lossless image format, common in prepress

UV varnish

Varnish that cures instantly under UV light, often applied to selected areas for a gloss effect (spot UV)

VDP

Variable data printing, with individual data on every copy

Missing a term? Let us know via the contact page. We add to the glossary regularly.