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Glossary

B

Barcodes– Black and white bars that hold information about your project, including price.
Binding– The assembly of separate pages into a finished book or booklet by adhering the edges together by smyth sewing, gluing, or stapling.
Bleed– The area past the trim line used to conceal cutting variances for artwork that extends to the edge of the page.
Board Books– Special type of children’s book that uses thick paperboard.

C

Case Binding– Binding method for hardcover books, with a cover that is made out of a strong board material called a case.
CMYK– The four color values used in offset printing: cyan, magenta, yellow and black (also known as “key”).
Collation– The process of organizing pages together in number order to produce a book body.
Color Bar– A strip of colors printed in the trim area of a parent sheet that press operators use to verify color balance.
Color Variance– Slight differences in color between runs and within a run that is inherent in the offset printing process.
Copyright– A protection of your original work of authorship.
Computer-To-Plate (CTP)– Plate producing technology that uploads images to a software application that outputs images directly onto a printing plate using lasers.

D

Debossing– Using high pressure on paper to give a “sunken in” look in order to emphasize parts of a design with texture and depth.
Die Cutting– A specialty feature that creates unique shapes with steel blades that cut through paper.
Digital Offset – A type of printing press or method of printing utilizing key features from both digital printing and offset printing.
Duties– Import fees charged based on the contents of your shipment, transportation mode, and destination.

E

Electronic Proof– File review by a pre-press expert who generates a PDF proof with printer’s marks.
Embossing– Raising parts of a sheet of paper with high pressure in order to emphasize parts of a design with texture and depth.

G

Gloss– A coating that adds a reflective shine to paper.

H

Hard Copy Proof– Printed pages of your project using the same materials as your final product to produce an example before printing.
Hot Foil Stamping/Sequential Foil Numbering– Specialty options that use heat to transfer metallic foil onto a printed sheet.

I

Image Setter– Compartment found in the computer-to-plate machine where laser beams bounce off mirrors onto the plate to output the image.
Imposition– A custom layout that fits as many pages as possible on a single parent sheet to decrease waste.
Impression Cylinder– A rotating cylinder in the press machine that applies pressure to paper as ink is being rolled onto the surface.
Ink Fountain– Fountains in the printing press that distribute ink onto a roller.
ISBN (International Standard Book Number)– A number pertaining to your book that distributors use to sell and track your product.

L

Lamination– A film applied to a printed sheet to protect the printed surface. Comes in two styles, gloss or matte.
Library Placement– Distribution technique where your books are circulated through libraries.

M

Manufacturing Variance– Very slight differences between copies within a print run: inherent in the offset printing process.
Matte– A coating that gives a dull shine to paper.

O

Offset Printing– High quality way to produce larger quantities of printed pieces cost-effectively.

P

Pagination– The process of arranging pages for a book.
Pantone Matching System– A universal color matching system that is categorized by numbers.
Paper Coating– A coating applied during paper manufacturing for appearance purposes such as gloss, matte, or uncoated.
Paper Finishes– Liquid applied after the printing process to provide protection for ink such as varnish, lamination or no finish.
Paper Weight– The thickness of paper stock.
Parent Sheets– Large pre-cut sheets of paper that are fed one at a time into a sheet-fed printing press.
Perfect Binding (softcover)– Binding method used for trade paperbacks and softcover books, results in books with a square spine.
Plates– A metal sheet installed into the press that indicates where ink will transfer onto paper.
Print-On-Demand (POD)– Digital printing methodology that prints books on an as-needed basis.
PrePress– Everything in the production of a print project that happens before the project goes to press (file review, proofing, imposition, plate manufacturing).
Printer’s Marks– Marks placed on your digital files or printed sheets that determine different elements such as trim, center, registration, color.
Printing Press– Machine that uses a series of plates that transfer ink onto sheets of paper.
Proofs– A proof is a presentation of your file’s quality either digitally or printed.

R

Registration– The process of precisely lining up CMYK colors so that their overlap produces one single color.
RGB– Color model where red, green, and blue light are used to create a variety of colors.
Rubber Blanket– Rubber sheet in the printing press that transfers ink to paper.

S

Saddle Stitching– Simplest binding method in which pages are folded and stapled together.
Sheet-Fed Printing Press– A printing press that uses pre-cut sheets of paper that are fed through the printing press one sheet at a time.
Signature– Folded parent sheets of eight, sixteen, or thirty-two pages.
Smyth Sewing– A sewing process that threads signatures together to create a book body by sewing through the fold of the signatures.
Spot Color– Special pre-mixed ink, often specified by use of a PMS (Pantone Matching System) color number.
Spot UV/Spot Gloss– A liquid varnish that can be applied to provide a high-gloss shine.

T

Trim Marks– Marks that show where pages will be trimmed.
Trimming– The cutting of the three sides of your book to remove registration marks and color bars, to give the book smooth edges, and to open folded pages.

U

Uncoated– Paper that does not have a matte or gloss coating and therefore feels raw and natural.

V

Varnish– A type of liquid finish applied to a printed sheet to protect the ink. Comes in two styles, gloss or matte.

W

Web Press Printing Machine– A printing press that use a roll of paper that is continuously fed through the press.