Graphic Art, Design and Print like most industries generally contain wording and terminology, which is often unique or offers a different interpretation from those in common usage.
Below is a list of the terms you may encounter when dealing with promotional, marketing or advertising projects.
| Offset | Printing in which the image is transferred from plate to paper via a rubber blanket placed over a steel roller. |
| Offset Paper | Uncoated book paper (used in applications where colour and/or finish are not so critical and may be price sensitive.) |
| Opacity | Is a measure of a papers light transmission properties. I.e. Poor opacity will result in `show through' of images printed on the reverse side of the job. |
| Overs | Copies of the printed matter in excess of the quantity required. |
| Perfect Bind | A type of binding that glues the edges of a sheet to a cover (e.g. like a telephone book). |
| PMS® (Pantone Matching System) | The industry standard for specifying, blending and matching colours. |
| Pixel | The smallest component of an image in a graphic file. |
| PostScript (Adobe) ® | Industry-standard page description language for printing or viewing of documents that integrate text, graphics, images and colour. |
| Point | A typesetting/design term which represents a measurement of 1/72 of an inch or ~0.353mm. |
| Press Proof | A final proof to indicate the appearance of the job just prior to the production run. |
| Process Printing | Printing from the primary colours (CMYK) to produce a full colour job. |
| Process Colours | CMYK - Cyan (process blue), Magenta (process red), Yellow (process yellow), Black (process black). |
| Pulp | A wet slurry of fibers that form the basis of paper |
| Ream | A quantity of paper (as packaged) usually 500 sheets. |
| Registration Marks | Lines/Cross hairs used to guide the registration of the job during the plate making and printing processes. |
| Saddle Stitch | Binding a booklet or magazine with staples in its spine. |
| Scaling | Determines the proper size of an image (reduce or enlarge) |
| Scoring | Creating an indent or furrow in a paper stock to facilitate folding. |
| Self Cover | Where the cover is printed on the same stock as the text body and/or may be part of the document. |
| Spine | That part of a book's cover or jacket which may be visible when situated on a shelf. |
| Spiral Bound | A type of binding with wires in a spiral form inserted through holes punched in the binding side. |
| Text | Body matter of a document, as distinguished from the headings. |
| TIFF | A bitmapped image file. (Tagged Image Format File) Most popular in Graphic Design and highest resolution available. |
| Thickness | A thickness of a sheet of paper is measured in micro meters or uM (pronounced `ums') |
| Trapping | Overlapping images to ensure the print contains no gaps. |
| Trim Marks | Marks placed on the copy to indicate the edge of the paper to be trimmed. |
| True Type Fonts | Scaleable fonts for use on Windows and Mac operating systems. |
| UV Coating | A liquid laminate, usually of a high gloss finish to enhance the appearance of all or portions of the job. |
| Varnish | A thin protective coating applied to the printed sheet to provide scuffing protection or to enhance the appearance of the job. |
| Watermark | A name or design impressed lightly into the paper to create a distinctive translucent appearance. |
| Whiteness | Is the ability of a sheet to reflect all component colours and thus look `White'. (not to be confused with brightness). |
| Wove | A paper having a uniform unlined surface with a smooth finish. |