Glossary of Printing Terms

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1-up – A way of supplying artwork where each printed page is a separate page within the file. If two printed-pages are supplied on the same page, this is considered as being imposed 2-up.

1 PMS Colour – PMS colours are standardized colours listed in the Pantone Colour Matching System (PMS). Each PMS colour has a specific code which printers and manufacturers can refer to in order to ensure colour consistency.

For 1 PMS colour printing, artwork must be supplied containing one PMS colour. All colours must be selected from the Pantone Solid Uncoated palette. A list of Pantone Solid Uncoated colours can be found by clicking here.

2 PMS Colour – PMS colours are standardized colours listed in the Pantone Colour Matching System (PMS). Each PMS colour has a specific code which printers and manufacturers can refer to in order to ensure colour consistency.

For 2 PMS colour printing, artwork must be supplied containing two PMS colours. All colours must be selected from the Pantone Solid Uncoated palette. A list of Pantone Solid Uncoated colours can be found by clicking here.

Bleed – There are two types of bleed, External bleed and Internal Bleed.

External Bleed is when an illustration, background or image is extended beyond the trim edge of the page. This allows for a small amount of movement that may occur when printing is being cut to size. We require 3mm of external bleed on all files (5mm on all magazines/booklets, loyalty/plastic cards and presentation folders and 25mm on Outdoor Banners).

Internal bleed is when all text/important graphics are kept a certain distance in from the trim edge. This is also sometimes referred to as a ‘text safe’ area. This also allows for a small amount of movement that may occur when your order is being cut to size. We require 3mm of internal all files (5mm on all magazines/booklets, loyalty/plastic cards and presentation folders and 25mm on Outdoor Banners).

For more detailed information, please click here.

Bleed Size – This is the size of your artwork including external bleed.

E.g. the size of a DL flyer (99 x 210mm) including 3mm of external bleed is 105 x 216 mm.

Border – A margin or strip around the outer edge of the artwork. We recommend that all borders are a minimum of 5mm wide on all trim edges.

Celloglaze – Also referred to as laminate. This is a plastic film heat bonded to printed products such as booklet covers, business cards and postcards. This provides protection as well as a matt, gloss or velvet finish. It can be applied to one side, or both sides of a printed item.

CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black)
These are the colours of commercial printing.

Cyan, Magenta and Yellow are subtractive colours. If you combine these colours together, you will get what is perceived to be black. However, as printing inks and toners contain impurities, in order to get strong rich and dark colours, black (K) ink is added. Thus commercial printing is done in CMYK.

Coated Paper – Papers that contain a percentage of clay in their surface coating to give a smoother, more even finish with greater opacity. Due to their clay content, coated papers papers are not designed to be overprinted through desktop printers.

Colour Mode – This is the colour setting used to create your artwork. Depending on the software you are using the default colour mode may be either RGB or CMYK. For full colour printing, where possible artwork should be created be in CMYK colour mode.

Crop Marks – These are black marks in the corners of your soft PDF proof. These crop marks show where the job will be trimmed to size. Anything outside of the crop marks will be trimmed off.

Finish Size – This is the final size that your artwork will be trimmed to. D.g. the finish size of a DL flyer is 99 x 210mm.

Finishing – Any process that occurs after printing. This includes but is not limited to: trimming, folding, stitching, binding and laminating.

Folding – To bend paper over itself so that one part of the sheet lies on or over another part.

For additional information about folded print jobs please click here.

Grayscale Printing – Also referred to as black and white printing.

Half Fold – A method of folding where the paper is folded in half down the center of the page.

For additional information about folded print jobs please click here.

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

Laminate – Also sometimes referred to as celloglaze. This is a plastic film heat bonded to printed products such as booklet covers, business cards and postcards. This provides protection, as well as a matt or gloss finish. It can be applied to one side, or both sides of a printed item.

Low-resolution Images – Images that are less than 250dpi when placed at 100% size. For optimum print quality we recommend that all images are supplied at 300ppi.

If you have been advised that there may be low-resolution images in your artwork, this means that some or all of the images in your artwork are less than 250ppi.

Perfect Binding –Perfect binding is a form of booklet making in which the cover and pages are bound along the spine using adhesive. All of our books are glued using super strong PUR adhesive which is significantly stronger and more durable than regular EVA adhesives.

For further information in regard to this please click here. 

Pixel – The coloured dots that make up the images on a computer or television screen.

PMS (Pantone Matching System) – PMS colours are standardized colours listed in the Pantone Colour Matching System (PMS). Each PMS colour has a specific code which printers and manufacturers can refer to in order to ensure colour consistency.

A list of Pantone Solid Uncoated colours can be found by clicking here.

PP (printed pages) – This refers to the number of printed pages in a document, magazine or booklet.  It does not refer to the number of sheets of paper.

E.g. An 8pp A4 saddle stitched magazine is 2 x A3 sheets, double sided, folded and saddle stitched to A4.

PPI (pixels per inch) – For printing we recommend all artwork is supplied at 300ppi (300 pixels in every square inch). E.g. if you were printing a postcard that is 150 x 100mm (6 x 4 inches) you would need 1800 x 1200 pixels for optimum print quality at 300 pixels per inch.

Pre-flight – In digital prepress this is the procedure used to analyse or evaluate every component needed to produce a high quality print job.

Rasterized Fonts – This is text which has been converted to pixels rather than vectors.

When creating text in design or desktop publishing software (e.g. Adobe Illustrator / Adobe InDesign), text is made up of vector shapes which can be scaled indefinitely without losing quality.

If a design is saved as an image format (e.g. JPEG / TIFF), the text automatically becomes converted to pixels (rasterized) and cannot be enlarged without losing quality.

High resolution rasterised text may look the same as vector text when printed. However, if rasterised text is low-resolution it may appear blurry, jagged or pixelated when printed.

If you have been advised that there may be rasterised fonts in your soft PDF proof, this means that some or all of the text in your artwork is made up of pixels rather than vectors.

RGB (Red, Green, Blue) – The colour mode of computer monitors and TV screens. RGB is based on additive colours. When you combine red, green and blue light, you get white light. RGB is not designed to be used for commercial printing.

If you supply artwork in RGB colours, they will be automatically converted to CMYK. This automatic conversion can slightly change colours. For this reason, artwork should always be supplied using CMYK colours where possible.

Roll Fold – A method of folding in which the two panels on the edges of the page fold in over the center panel.

For additional information about folded print jobs please click here.

Saddle Stitched – A form of binding in which all pages are bound in the center of the booklet from the outside in using wire staples. Saddle stitching is ideally suited to booklets or magazines in the 8pp to 80pp (printed page) range.

Soft Proof – A digital PDF file created from the customers supplied artwork.  We will supply a soft PDF proof to the customer for every single order. We will never print a job until we have received the customers proof approval.

Text Pages – The internal pages of a book, booklet or magazine. These pages are separate to the cover of the book, booklet or magazine.

Trim Edge – The edge along which the job will be cut to size.

Trimming Variance – Due to automated systems, there may be a small amount of movement during the printing and trimming of printed jobs. It is for this reason that we require artwork to be supplied with 3mm of internal and external bleed (5mm on all magazines/booklets, loyalty/plastic cards and presentation folders and 25mm on Outdoor Banners).

Uncoated Paper – Papers that do not contain clay in their surface coating. Also referred to as bond or laser bond. An example is the standard paper used for a letterhead.

Vector Text and Graphics – Text and graphics created using mathematical equations that define geometric shapes. Vector text and graphics can be enlarged indefinitely without losing quality.

Z Fold – A method of folding in which each fold opens in the opposite direction to its neighbor, giving a pleated effect.

For additional information about folded print jobs please click here.