3e Innovative

Glossary

a

Amendments/alterations Changes made to the copy after it has been set, these are best made when still proofing electronically (ie via PDF, rather than in hard copy).

b

Bitmap Digital image file format, where the image is made up of pixels. The greater the number of pixels, the clearer the image appears.

Binding Refers to the process used to keep books and booklets together. There are many different methods of binding, for booklets the most common are saddle stitch, burst, perfect or wiro bound. For books the most common methods are burst, perfect, flexi and case bound.

Burst binding Burst binding is similar to perfect binding, however it is more durable. The spine of each section is perforated during the folding process. Glue is then pushed up between the perforations during binding and the cover drawn on. Burst binding is used for books and booklets that are greater than 35 pages.

c

Celloglaze A plastic film heat bonded to printed products such as booklet covers or business cards. It can be either gloss or matt and can be applied single or double sided.

Coated Printing papers that have had a surface coating to give a smoother, more even finish with greater opacity.

Colour mode The colour mode/space/model must be CMYK (NOT RGB) for all files supplied for print, this means any linked files used to create the design as well.

Colour separation The process of separating a graphic into the four process colours (cyan, magenta, yellow & black) for print production.

Concertina fold A folding method where each consecutive fold opens in the opposite direction, giving a concertina or pleated effect (like an accordion!).

Crash fold Folding a document more than once, subsequent folds fold over previous folds. For example, an A3 sheet folded to A4 and then crash folded to DL for mailing.

Creep When central pages of a folded booklet extend slightly beyond the outside pages.

Cyan The blue colour used in four-colour process printing.

CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black) The colours used in our full-colour printing process.

d

Digital printing Printing by a plate-less imaging system. Printed sheets are produced directly from a computer file without being transferred onto printing plates.

Direct mail, mail merge & personalisation Common distribution terms, using databases to construct personalised printed materials including letters, flyers and envelopes.

Dummy A mock-up made to resemble the final printed product using the planned prodcution specs.

DPI (Dots Per Inch) The measurement of resolution for page printers, phototypesetting machines and graphics screens.

e

Embedded fonts A process that allows fonts to be viewed by all computers – even if they don’t have the same font installed. This is an important step when outputting your press ready files.

External bleed When an illustration or image is extended beyond the edge of the page. We recommend a 3mm external bleed minimum – anything that touches an edge must be extended a further 3mm past it. This allows for a small amount of movement in the printing process and ensures that do not get unwanted  slivers of blank stock along the trimmed edges of your printed goods.

EPS (Encapsulated PostScript) A vector-based, computer graphics file format. EPS is the preferred format for many computer illustrations because of its efficient use of memory and colour control.

f

Finishing Any process that follows printing, including folding, stitching, binding, celloglazing or foiling.

Folding When a printed document requires folding for completion, for example A3 folded to A4 or A4 folded to DL.

Four-colour process Printing using four colour separation plates – cyan, magenta, yellow and black. The inks are translucent and can be combined to produce a wide range of colours.

FTP (File Transfer Protocol) A method of transferring files from one computer to another over the internet without using email.

g

Gloss cello A clear, shiny finish that emphasises colours.

GSM (Grams per Square Metre) A standard measure of the weight of paper.

Gutter The margin around the edge of your design. We recommend that you keep any important information (whether its image or text based) at least 3mm in from the trim edge. When laying up booklets or books the gutter should carefully considered so that text and imagery is not obscured during the binding process.

i

Imposition The arrangement or layout of pages on a printed sheet.

j

JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) A file compression format that allows high quality full colour or grey-scale digital images to be stored in relatively small files.

l

Laying up The process of setting/designing your document for print.

m

Matt cello A non-reflective varnish applied to a printed surface to protect it. Can flatten out the colours a little.

o

Offset printing A printing method that transfers an image from an inked plate onto a rubber blanket covered cylinder and then onto the printed surface.

p

Pantone The name of an ink colour matching system, created by Pantone Inc of USA.

Perfect binding An adhesive is applied to the end of a stack of printed pages and then wrapped with a cover sheet. This binding method can be used on booklets and books that are greater than 35 pages. Is not suitable for long lasting projects, as the adhesive has a tendency to crack with age.

Perforation A line of punched holes that allow a sheet of paper to be torn or folded accurately. Also referred to as a perf.

Pixel A coloured dot that makes up an image on a computer or television screen.

Preflight A test used to analyse or evaluate the components needed to produce a high quality print job. The process helps reduce the likehood of production problems and the subsequent delays that they cause, the test also diminishes the chances of unwanted print results that can be caused by incorrect colour modes or image resolution.

PDF (Portable Document File) A type of formatting that enables files to be viewed on a variety of computers regardless of the program used to create them. PDF files retain the “look and feel” of the original document.

PMS (Pantone Matching System) A standard that creates different ink colours by mixing inks with a minimal amount of base colour. A process guide shows how Pantone spot colours will appear when converted to process colours (CMYK).

PPI (Pixels Per Inch) A measurement describing the size of a printed image. The higher the number, the more detailed the image will be.

r

Raster Image Electronic representation of printable data using a grid of points called pixels. Each pixel contains a defined value about its colour, size and location in the image – this enables us to print, picture perfect.

Resolution The number of pixels in an image. The more pixels, the higher the resolution and the better the picture. For a good quality print result, colour and gray scale raster images (pixel-based/scans) should be 300dpi (maximum 350dpi). Mono raster images (bitmaps) should be 1200 dpi maximum.

Roll fold A fold that keeps rolling onto itself.

RGB (Red, Gree and Blue) The colour model produced by emitting light rather than absorbing it. They are known as additive colours because when they are added together they create all colours. RGB colours are what you see on your computer screen, these must be converted to CMYK for printing.

s

Saddle stitch A method of binding used to create books and booklets from 8 to 64 pages. The book or booklet is stapled through the centre fold with saddle wire.

Scoring Making a line or a crease in paper or board so that it can be folded cleanly. Scoring is recommended when you require folding on stocks heavier than 150gsm. It minimises cracking of the ink and paper at the edge of the fold.

Section A printed sheet that is folded to make multiple pages. Multiple sections are bound together to make up a book.

Spot colour A colour that’s not produced using four-colour process, the colour is printed using a pre mixed ink. The ink could be metallic, fluorescent or flat colour.

Stock Refers to any paper or board that is used as a printed surface.

t

Trim Cutting the printed product down to the correct size.

Trim marks The guide marks on the printed sheet that indicate where you want to cut/trim the printed sheet. Also referred to as crop marks.

TIFF (Tagged Image File Format) A bitmapped file format used for the reproduction of digitally scanned images such as photographs, illustrations and logos.

v

Vector graphics These are images created using mathematical statements that define geometric shapes. You can move, resize, and change the colour of vector graphics without losing quality. Unlike bitmaps, vector graphics are not dependent on resolution so you can scale them to any size without losing detail or clarity.