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Glossary

Absorbency: The ability of paper to absorb or take in liquids.

Acid-free paper: Also known as archival paper, has had the acid neutralized. Paper that is acid free does not yellow or deteriorate over time and is expected to last between 100-1,000 years. Acid free paper is manufactured in paper mills with the wet chemistry controlled to a neutral or slightly alkaline pH.

Aqueous coating: A clear water-based coating applied to printing that gives the paper a protective layer. Aqueous coatings come in different finishes such as gloss, satin or dull. Unfortunately, aqueous coating requires a large amount of electricity to dry. The electrical demand for Aqueous coating is approximately double of printing without aqueous coating. This extra demand for electricity generally results in greater carbon dioxide emissions. Varnish can be used as a substitute to aqueous coating. The same finishes can be achieved using varnish and far less electricity will be used. For environmental and economic reasons, Bryton Printing only uses varnish.

Basis weight: Represents the thickness of paper and is expressed in pounds. The basis weight of paper is calculated by weighting 500 sheets of paper cut to a standard size. Each major paper grade, like cover, book and bond, have their own basic size, which determines it basis weight. The basic size for "cover" is 20"x26". The basic size for "book, text and offset" grades of paper is 25"x38". And, the basic size for "bond and writing" grades of paper is 17"x22". Papers, which have very different basis weights, can have the same (or similar) thickness. For instance: 24lbs. writing; 60lbs. uncoated offset and 100lbs. gloss book are all the same approximate thickness.

Binding:Fastening paper together into a booklet or book form. Paper may be bound together in a variety of ways. The most common way to create a booklet is "saddle stitch" - magazine style. "Saddle stitch" is the most economical way to bind a booklet and can be used to bind up to about 64 pages depending on the thickness of the paper. "Perfect Bind" is the style of a paperback book. In general perfect bound booklets are more expensive than saddle stitched booklets. In order to perfect bind a booklet, it must be at least 3/16th of an inch thick. Other methods of binding include: spiral, wire-o and three-hole notebook.

Bit-mapped fonts:A pixilated image - usually a monochrome image - no shades of gray or shades of color.

Bleed: Is the image that extends beyond the trim edge of a page. To print a bleed, the piece is printing on over sized sheet of paper. Then, it is trimmed to the final size after printing.

Brightness: The light-reflecting property of paper. It is measured as a percentage of light that reflects from a sheet of paper. The higher the number is, the brighter the sheet is. The brightest sheets of paper reflect 95% to 99% of light. However, more typical paper brightness for good quality paper is 88% - 92%. And, newsprint brightness is about 75%. Paper brightness affects the vibrancy and contrast of printing.

C1S: Paper with coating on one side only.

C2S: Paper with coating on both sides.

CMYK: An abbreviation for the four primary colors used in four-color process printing: Cyan (light blue), Magenta (pinkish red), Yellow and blacK. The "K" stands for Key-line.

Coated paper:Paper with a surface coating that imparts a smooth finish. Coated paper has higher opacity and, pictures reproduced on coated paper have better contrast, more vivid color and sharper detail. The majority of coated papers are gloss. However, coated paper also refers to dull and matte paper. Although matte coated paper and uncoated paper look similar, matte coated paper prints better. An advantage of gloss-coated paper is that it dries quickly.

Coating:A clear coating applied to printing that gives the paper a protective layer. Coatings come in different finishes such as gloss, satin and dull. The two most common types of coating are aqueous coating and varnish. Although both coatings are similar, varnish uses a great deal less electricity. This is better for the environment and allows Bryton Printing to offer more competitive prices. For this reason, Bryton Printing only uses varnish.

Color separation: See Process color separation.

Colorfastness:The property of paper in which color won't run when wet and won't fade in bright light. Standard process color ink when exposed to direct sun light will start to show fading in as little as 3-4 days. However, fade resistant ink will hold its color much longer - 90 days in summer and 9 months in winter months. Standard cyan and black ink are naturally fade resistant and can keep their color for years. However, standard yellow and magenta fade quickly in direct sunlight. This is why pictures that are printed with standard process ink and are exposed to sun, often look blue (cyan).

Cover papers: Strong, heavy papers, suitable for covers of publications, such as booklets or catalogs. Cover paper is also used for brochures, business cards and postcards. The thickness range of cover is from about 8pt. (.008") to 15pt. (.015"). Paper stock thicker than 15pt. is called blanks. At Bryton Printing, the thickest stock that can be printed is 24pt. (.024")

Computer to Plate (CPT): (Also known as direct to plate.) A technology that allows exposing of printing plates (masters) directly with computer controlled lasers. Computer-to-plate technology does not require film or any other intermediate steps. Because of this, printing done with computer-to-plate is the highest quality and the plates can be produced at the fastest speed. Bryton Printing uses a Screen 4100 computer to plate system.

Cropping: The cutting out of extraneous parts of an image, usually a photograph.

Density: is the amount or "darkness" of ink being printed. When printing 4-color process, it is important to control the density of ink being printed to ensure the colors are being printed consistently. Bryton Printing uses an instrument called a densitometer to control ink density levels. This ensures that color will be accurate and drying time will not be excessive.

Digital color printing: Printing with a modern color copier. Digital color copiers can process electronic art files directly from computer and do not need to an original copy print from.

Digital Dylux: a product that is a type of low-resolution hard copy proof that allows you to assure proper imposition, folding and stitching, but are not used for checking color accuracy. Digital Dylux is a brand name of Dupont.

Direct-to-plate technology:(Also known as computer to plate.) A technology that allows exposing of printing plates (masters) directly with computer controlled lasers. Direct-to-plate technology does not require film or any other intermediate steps. Because of this, printing done with done with direct-to-plate is the highest quality and the plates can be produced at the fastest speed. Bryton Printing uses a Screen 4100 direct to plate system.

Display type: Large and/or decorative type used for headlines and as graphic elements in display pieces. Common sizes range between 14 and 72 point

Dots-per-inch (dpi): The measurement is used to indicate how many Pixels (Picture elements) there are per inch in a picture or graphic. This measurement is used to define the quality of an image's resolution. The higher the dots per inch, the sharper an image will appear. The only disadvantage of a high-resolution photo is that it requires a large amount of memory to store. The typical the amount of dots per inch for a quality photo is around 350dpi.

Duotone: a picture printed with two colors of ink, one dark and the other lighter. For instance, orange and black ink combine produce an attractive brown sepia-tone. The same photograph is printed twice. Combining the two layers of ink improves the detail and contrast in the final printed image. Duotones can be well simulated with four-color process, CMYK, ink. In many cases, it is more cost effective to produce a duo-tone with 4-color process than with two colors of ink. Photoshop is the best way to create a duotone and, the best way to convert a duotone to process color.

Embossing: An impression of an image in that is press in to a sheet of paper or cover to make a pattern that you can feel. Embossing is done on a letterpress.

EPS (Encapsulated PostScript):A vector graphic file format. This file format was created by Adobe and was designed as a generic file format so, many different computer programs can exchange graphics. The modern predecessor to EPS is PDF. Although both file formats are similar, PDF is more modern. See "Prepare Your Artwork" for more information about PDF's.

Finish: The surface contour and characteristics of paper measurable by smoothness, gloss, absorbency and print quality.

Foil-stamping: A process wherein a thin, flexible sheet of metal or plastic is used to cover an area of a printed page. Although Silver and gold color foil are the most common, foils come in many colors - even clear.

Folding: The process by which a press sheet is folded. There are a wide variety of folding options.

Font: A set of characters in a specific typeface, at a specific point size and in a specific style.

Four-color process: A printing process that uses four primary ink colors (cyan, magenta, yellow and black) to reproduce full color pictures. Because these inks are transparent, they can combine on paper to reproduce secondary colors such as orange, green and violet. Four-color process can reproduce almost all colors visible by humans. However, some colors are not reproduced well with process color - for example: metallic gold and silver; also, bright orange and violet. For this reason, sometimes a fifth color will be printed as a supplement to process color.

Gatefold: Two or more parallel folds on a sheet of paper with the end flaps folding inward.

Ghosting: An offset printing defect characterized by the appearance of faint replicas of printed images in undesirable places in one of two ways. Mechanical ghosting is characterized by the appearance of a "phantom" image on the printed side of the sheet. Chemical ghosting, or gas ghosting, is characterized by a "phantom" image on the reverse side of the sheet originating from the sheet below it.

GIF (Graphic Interchange Format): An imaging standard that uses pixels to recreate an image electronically, often used for animation.

Gloss: A paper's shine or luster.

Gripper edge: The leading edge of paper as it passes through a printing press.

Grippers: The metal fingers in a sheet-fed press that hold the paper in place as it travels through the press.

Halftone: In traditional publishing (ink on paper), a printing press cannot actually print shades of gray. In order to simulate gray when printing, a printing press prints very small black dots on white paper. The dots are so small that the eye sees them as gray. Smaller dots make lighter gray and larger dots make darker gray. A continuous tone picture converted into small dots is called a halftone. Although the term, "halftone" is a generally associated with black and white pictures, the same process of small dots can be used with every color of ink.

Heavy coverage: Refers to the heavy use of inks on a printed piece, such as large areas of solid color.

Ink jet proofs: Are the most common type of hard copy proof in the printing industry. They are fast to generate and cost effective. The accuracy of ink jet proofs is 95% - 98% accurate. Ink jet proofs are also known as: Best Color Proofs; Oris Color proofs and Color Burst Proofs.

JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group): Is a computer file format for saving pictures. This format is popular for saving wonderfully small files. For this reason, JPEG files are often used when sending pictures through the Internet. The only disadvantage of saving files as JPEG is that there is some quality loss. JPEG files can be saved at varying quality levels. However, the higher the quality of the picture, the larger the file is. JPEG files have the extension .jpg.

Letter fold to fold 11"x8.5" Paper in to equal thirds. This fold is a roll flattened and has a finish size of 3.625x8.5

Light coverage: Refers to the amount of ink used on a printed piece. Light coverage generally does not include extensive areas of solid color.

Linen finish: A paper finish that is similar to the texture of linen fabric. Linen finishes are embossed after the paper comes off the paper machine.

Lines Per Inch: All commercial printing of pictures and images is done with very small dots (halftones). The amount of "Lines Per Inch" is actually a measurement of the amount of dots per inch. The higher the "lines per inch," the closer the dots are together and, the sharper an image will appear when printed. The standard lpi for high quality printing is between 150-200lpi.

Why is it called lines per inch when it refers to the amount of dots per inch? The term "lines per inch" was coined before computers were invented. The process of breaking a picture in to dots was done by projecting pictures on to film through sheets of glass etched with lines. There were two sheets of glass, one with horizontal lines and one with vertical lines. The term lines per inch referred to the amount of lines per inch on the glass. The Glass hasn't been used for more than 60 years. However, the term "lines per inch" stuck and has never been changed. The term "dots per inch" refers to the amount of pixels in a picture and is not the same as lines per inch.

Makeready: All the activities involved in preparing a printing press for a print run, such as setting the registration (positioning of the image), balancing the color and adjusting the plates and blankets for paper thickness.

Matchprint proof: A high resolution hard copy proof made from the negatives that will be used to make the plates for the printing press. This proof is a very good way to check color accuracy. Unfortunately, Matchprints are no longer made in most printing companies because plates are imaged without negatives (direct to plate). The most popular substitute for a Matchprint is an ink jet proof. Ink jet proofs are faster to generate and more cost effective. Although there are claims that ink jet proofs can be more color accurate than a Matchprint, the reality is that ink jet proofs are only 95% - 98% accurate.

Matte finish: Coated paper with little or no gloss. Matte coated paper is often chosen when there is type because it is easier to read. Matte coated paper is similar looking to uncoated paper. However, pictures on matte paper have greater vibrancy and contrast than on uncoated (plain) paper.

Moirè: An undesired pattern created by printing two or more similar patterns (designs) over each other. In modern printing, this problem is all but eliminated. However, sometimes, when many parallel lines are printed as part of a picture, there can be a moirè pattern. This effect can sometimes be witnessed on television when a newscaster's tie or shirt has fine lines. As the newscaster moves, the moirè pattern on the shirt will appear to change and move.

Offset paper: A paper that is similar to bond or notebook paper. Offset paper is non-coated paper. A typical weight for this paper is 60lbs. which is .005" thick. However, offset comes as thin as 40lbs. and as thick as 80lbs.

Opacity: A characteristic of paper that stops the visibility of light and images showing from the reverse side. Opacity is measured as a percentage of light that is blocked from passing through a sheet of paper. For example, 60lbs. Accent opaque book has opacity of 93%. The higher the percentage is, the greater the opacity. Thicker paper has greater opacity and sometimes, brighter paper has greater opacity. However, If 100% opacity is needed, such is the case with playing cards, two sheets of card paper are printed with black on one side. Then, the black sides are laminated (glued) together. Both sides of the cards are white but, the inside, which is not visible, is black. Cards made this way are 100% opaque.

Opaque: An uncoated sheet of paper very similar to offset paper. Opaque stock has greater opacity than offset paper and is usually brighter. For this reason, it also costs more than offset paper.

Pantone��: the Company that makes color guides for publishing and printing. The Pantone Process Color Guide is a swatch book that has a collection of about 3,000 sample process colors. It is the best way to know how a process color is going to print on an offset color printing press. Each swatch has the percentage of cyan, magenta, yellow and black required to produce that color on a printing press. Never use a monitor or desktop printer as the only source for choosing an important color.

PDF (Portable Document File): Is a universal file format that can be read by Adobe Acrobat. Almost all programs can output a PDF file. Because of this, it is great way to exchange files. Bryton Printing's plate setter is designed to output directly from PDF files. For this reason, PDF files are a great way to send files. It is important to note that PDF files can be made at different quality levels. Files saved to the smallest size are quick to send but, the quality is low. For more about how to prepare a file for printing, please click here.

Perfect binding: is bookbinding in the style of a paper back book. In general perfect bound booklets are more expensive than saddle stitched booklets. However, perfect bound booklets can have more pages than saddle stitched booklets. In order to perfect bind a booklet, it must be at least 3/16th of an inch thick and have a cover.

Pictro proof: A good and accurate form of hard copy proof made by Fugi Film that is somewhat outdated. This high-resolution proofing method is a good way to check color accuracy.

Pixel (picture element): The smallest part of a digital picture or scanned picture. Also, the smallest illuminated part of a computer monitor. Digital pictures are made up of rows and columns of pixels. The more pixels per inch there are, the more detail will appear in a photograph. The amount of pixels per inch are called "dots per inch" or dpi. For quality printing 350dpi is ideal. However, in some cases where pictures have fine lines, 600dpi to 1,200dpi might be necessary. On the other hand, if a picture has a soft look, resolution as low as 100dpi might be acceptable.

Plate: Short for printing plate. This is generally a thin sheet of aluminum (or plastic) that carries the printing image. The plate surface is exposed with a laser and chemically treated so that only the printing image is ink receptive.

PMS: The "Pantone Matching System" is the most popular system for matching color. See Pantone

PNG (Portable Network Graphics): An electronic method for displaying a portable bitmap image.

Printer font: a high quality (outline) font that can be scaled infinitely without becoming jagged or bitmapped. The first high quality fonts for computers came in two parts: the screen font and the printer font. Both parts where needed for a font to work in a computer. "Universal fonts" are the new font technology. They come as a single part (one computer file) that works for the screen (monitor) and the printer. Universal fonts also work on both Macintosh and Windows computers.

Process color separation: The process a computer uses to separate color images into the primary colors for printing - cyan, magenta, yellow and black. These four colors re-combine in printing to create (almost) all of the colors visible to humans.

Proof: A representation of the printed piece. Proofs are created either electronically or in print and, demonstrate what will be printed on the press. Printed proofs are called "hard copy proofs" and electronic proofs are called "soft proofs". Hard copy proofs cost more but are a good way to check color, size and positioning. Both hard copy proofs and soft proofs show the same image. However, people who use hard copy proofs are able to proof more effectively. On the other hand, soft proofs can be created quickly and emailed anywhere in the world.

Important note: Just because a designer creates a file correctly does not mean that it will always print correctly. It is important to check proofs thoroughly.

RGB: Red, Green and Blue. The color space used for computer monitors, digital cameras and scanners. All RGB images must be converted to CMYK to print. PhotoShop is the best program for converting RGB to CMYK. For more information about converting RGB to CMYK and preparing files for print, click here.

Recycled content paper: A paper product containing some, but consisting of less than 100% recovered fiber.

Recycled paper: A paper product consisting of recycled paper fiber. Recycled paper can have varying percentages of both virgin and recycled pulp. Recovered paper fiber can include both pre-consumer and post-consumer waste. Pre-consumer fiber is from paper before it reaches the consumer and can include: waste from printing, cutting, binding, die-cutting and reject unused stock. Post-consumer fiber is collected after the consumer has used the paper. Recycled paper is more opaque, has greater density and flexibility than paper manufactured with virgin pulp.

Register: The proper alignment and positioning of multiple colors of ink printed. When process color is printed, 4 color pictures are printed one directly on top of the other. When perfect alignment is achieved, the printing is in register.

Resolution: The quality of graphics and pictures in relation to the number of dots-per-inch or pixels the graphic has. A high resolution graphic has more dots-per-inch (dpi) and a low resolution graphic has a lower dpi.

Saddle-stitching: Booklets bound like a magazine. This style of binding is suitable for newsletters, booklets, and catalogs and, of course, magazines. Folded press sheets, or signatures, of paper are gathered together - one inside the other, placed over a "saddle," and stitched or stapled along the spine. Saddle stitching is the most economical way to bind a booklet and can be used to bind up to about 64 pages depending on the thickness of the paper.

Scaling: Reduction or enlargement of artwork, which can be proportional (most frequently used) or disproportional.

Scoring: A mechanical means of pressing a crease or grove into a sheet of paper to facilitate folding while protecting against cracking the paper. Scoring is typically used when heavyweight papers are folded.

Screen (tint): A lighter color created from a darker ink color. In traditional publishing (ink on paper), a printing press cannot actually print shades of gray. In order to simulate gray when printing, a printing press prints very small black dots, called a screen, on white paper. The dots are so small that the eye sees them as gray. Smaller dots make lighter gray and larger dots make darker gray. Although this example is for screen tints of black ink, the same process of small dots can be used to create screen tints (shades) from color ink. The darkness of a screen tint is described as a percentage, such as 50%, and represents the amount of paper being covered with the dots.

Screen font: Low-resolution bitmaps of type characters for displaying on a monitor (computer screen). The first high quality fonts for computers came in two parts: the screen font and the printer font. Both parts where needed for a font to work in a computer. "Universal fonts" are the new font technology. They come as a single part (one computer file) that works for the screen (monitor) and the printer. Universal fonts also work on both Macintosh and Windows computers.

Self-cover: a booklet printed with the same weight of paper for the cover as for the inside pages.

Show-through: Printing that is seen by looking through a sheet of paper that is not adequately opaque.

Smoothness: The rate of flatness and evenness on the surface of a sheet of paper. Uncoated paper often comes in smooth and vellum finishes. Vellum is a little more like felt.

Thickness: The thickness of a single piece of paper, as measured in thousandths of an inch, called "caliper." Thickness measurements define the bulkiness of a sheet of paper.

Trapping: A thin line created where two color that are printing side-by-side are overlapped to help keep the press in register (position) and avoid a white gap (or color brake) between the two colors.

TIFF Tagged Image File Format): a pixel based photographic graphic file format.

Trim size: The size of the printed sheet of page once it has been trimmed.

Trimming: Cutting paper after printing to make all sheets the same or a specified size.

Uploading: A form of file transfer in which files from one computer are uploaded to a designated server site. This technique can be used for files up to 5 MB.

Universal Font: is the most modern font technology. Universal fonts are compatible with both Macintosh and Windows computers. This allows designs created with Windows to be sent to a Macintosh (and visa versa) without have to change fonts.

UV coating: A VERY glossy coating applied over printed material after printing. UV coating is applied wet and dries instantly when exposed to ultraviolet light. The high gloss of UV coating makes it eye catching and popular. However, UV Coating can also be satin or dull and creates a very smooth rich look.

Varnish: A clear protective coating applied like ink on printed material. It is used on coated papers and protect against dirt and damage. Varnish comes in different finishes such as gloss, satin and dull. Although varnish is similar to aqueous coating, varnish requires almost half the amount of electricity. For this reason, it is more environmentally friendly and cost effective. Bryton Printing only uses varnish.

Waterproof: A high resolution, hard copy proof similar to a Matchprint. This proof is a good way to check for color accuracy.

Wove paper: Is similar to bond and offset papers. It is commonly used to make plain envelopes.

"Z" Fold: to fold a sheet of paper in to equal thirds in the shape of a "Z".