Print glossary

Acetate

A plastic transparent cover sheet. This is used for protecting handbooks.

Artwork

The images and/or text that are to be printed. Artwork should be supplied as a high resolution PDF with images at 300 pixels per inch. It should also include crop marks and a 3 mm bleed.

Backing up

Printing onto the reverse side of a sheet which already has been printed on one side. This results in a double sided printed sheet.

Binding

The method used for securing pages within a document. We offer a range of options for binding.

Black and white

Printed in single colour (black).

Bleed

The area outside of the crop marks where the design extends into. This will be trimmed off at the finishing stage.

Booklet

Normally a publication made up of least eight pages and must always be a multiple of four pages. The document is folded and saddle stitched. Booklets can be any size, but are most commonly either A4 or A5.

Carbonless paper or no carbon required (NCR)

Paper coated with chemicals that enable the transfer of an image from one sheet to another. This transfer occurs through the pressure applied by writing or typing. NCR pads are ideal for handwritten forms that require duplicate copies. 

We offer white, blue, pink, green, or yellow pages. We can also create numbered sheets as well as binding into pads.

Collate

To bring together and organise printed matter in a specific order.

Corporate visual guidelines

These are the standards and rules an organisation uses to keep its brand consistent. They apply to all materials that show the corporate identity. Consult the University of Bristol brand guidelines when producing any print based publicity material on behalf of the University. 

CMYK (subtractive colours)

The abbreviation for the process colours of Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black. This is used in four colour printing. The inks can be printed and combined in a variety of different proportions to produce a wide range of colours. Learn more about colours.

Creep

Creep occurs when pages are collated for binding, and the thickness of the paper results in the inner pages extending beyond the outer pages. The edge is usually square cut in the binding process resulting in the inner pages measuring less than the outer pages. This will result in text on the inner pages being closer to the trim than those on the outer pages. This only becomes a problem on saddle stitched books. It is possible to adjust to compensate for this in the pre-press process.

Crop (image)

To trim the edges of a picture or page to make it fit or to remove unwanted portions.

Crop marks

Printed lines placed on the artwork to indicate the edge of the finished job. These are used as a guide when cutting or trimming documents to the finished size. Bleeds should also be added when sending a file to print.

Die cutting

Used to punch out irregular shapes or windows in a sheet. For example, for a folder. Dies are usually made by hand from steel. Laser cutting is a similar process.

Digital printing

The printing process in which information is transferred from a computer directly onto paper. There is no need for film and printing plates. It’s typically printed using a four colour process. However, some digital presses have the ability to print some special colours too. 

Learn more about digital printing.

Drilling

To make holes in paper with a rotating die. This is often used for items which are to be placed into a ring binder.

Duplex/double sided

Printing on both sides of a sheet of paper.

Encapsulation

A plastic coating providing a rigid, watertight covering.

Finishing

Any process that follows the printing of a sheet. This can include guillotining, folding, creasing and binding.

Flyer

A promotional printed item with no folding or finishing requirements. Common sizes for flyers are A7, A6, A5 and A4. However, any size can be printed providing it fits onto the sheet. Flyers can be printed single sided or double sided.

Font

A set of printed letters, numbers and other symbols of the same style used for typesetting.

FSC Accredited

Papers which have been certified by the Forest Stewardship Council. FSC promotes responsible forest management and provides a chain of custody where papers can be traced back to the forest where the trees were grown. Forests managed to FSC standards offer benefits to both local and wider communities. This includes cleaner air and water, as well as helping to mitigate the effects of climate change.

GSM

GSM stands for grams per square meter is the unit of measurement for paper used in printing. Thicker board stocks are sometimes referenced by their thickness. This is referred to as micron.

Guillotine

A machine for cutting a large number of sheets of paper accurately.

Halftone

The process by which a continuous tone image is simulated by a pattern of dots of varying sizes.

Header/footer

The margin at the top (header) and bottom (footer) of the page.

Hickie

Spots or imperfections in printed items due to dirt on press, dried ink, paper or particles. This can occur during litho printing.

Imposition 

The arrangement of pages on a sheet so that, when printed, folded and bound, it will result in pages following the correct sequence.

InDesign

The desktop publishing software by Adobe that is used for the majority of design for print.

Justification (text)

The position of text within a text box. Text can either be left, centre, right or force justified. Force justified is where the text will be made to fit to both the left and right. This can result in strange effects on a small text box or with text of a large point size.

Laminate

To protect paper or card by applying a transparent plastic coating. This is done using heat or pressure. Lamination can be in a variety of finishes, though the most common are matt and gloss.

Landscape

Page orientation where the horizontal edge is greater than the vertical edge.

Laser cutting

Used to cut out irregular shapes or windows in a sheet. For example, for a folder. Laser cutting is particularly suited to small quantities or where shapes are particularly intricate. Die cutting is a similar process.

Leaf

A single sheet of paper within a bound booklet. If printed on both sides, this represents two pages.

Leaflet

Leaflets are used to convey information and are commonly used to advertise products, services, events and activities. Common sizes for leaflets are A7, A6, A5, A4 and A3. However, any size can be printed providing it fits onto the sheet. Leaflets can also be folded, though this is dependent upon the thickness of the stock.

Litho

Litho printing, also known as offset printing, is used to produce high-quality prints and is suitable large-volume jobs.

Micron

The measurement of thickness of a paper or board. Usually papers are referenced by their weight (GSM), but often boards are referenced by their thickness.

Page

A single side of a leaf.

Pantone (for litho print)

Pantone is a standard colour matching system used around the world. It helps ensure colours look the same across different materials and industries. Some Pantone colours can’t be made by mixing standard printing inks like cyan, magenta, yellow, and black (CMYK). Pantone colours are known for being consistent and accurate. In print, Pantone is mainly used in litho printing. However, digital CMYK printing can closely match about 90% of Pantone colours. Learn more about colours.

Portable Document Format (PDF)

PDF is a file presentation format which combines images, drawings, layouts, and text into one file. All design software is capable of creating PDF files. They have become the preferred format for printers. Please note that whilst it is possible to make basic corrections to a PDF file, all amends should be carried out on the master artwork. This is usually an InDesign file.

Perforation

Running a dotted score into paper that allows the paper to be torn off easily.

Portrait

Page orientation where the vertical edge is greater than the horizontal edge.

PPI

PPI means pixels per inch and it indicates the resolution of images. The more pixels per inch, the higher the resolution and the better quality the image. 300 ppi is the recommended resolution for print.

Pre-press

All procedures associated with making a job ‘print ready’, such as design, artwork, proofs, or set-up.

Proof

A proof is a print or digital sample of a document for the client to approve before printing. It could be a PDF, which shows the content accurately but not the colour. For litho printing, a proof is usually printed digitally to simulate the final colours as closely as possible. However, this should not be fully relied on. Only a proof made on the actual production equipment will show true colour. This is affordable for digital printing but can be costly for litho printing.

Raster image processor (RIP)

The process by which vector data is converted to raster data for the imaging process.

RGB (additive colours) 

RGB is a three colour split and stands for red, green and blue. Typically used for web based images. If using RGB images, it is always advisable to request a pre-production proof. Read more about RGB.

Scanning

The scanning of documents or images and converting this into digital data. Scanned documents can have OCR (optical character recognition) which allows searches to be carried out on the file. It is also possible to scan large format documents or plans up to 900 mm wide.

Score/crease

To indent a line in the card to make folding easier and stop the print from cracking.

Show through

The degree to which printing is visible through paper. This is commonly seen on lightweight papers.

Shrink wrapping

The method of packing printed products by wrapping them in plastic, then shrinking by heat.

Silk screen

Silk screen printing allows print onto many different substrates though is used primarily for printing onto fabric. It is costly to set up but cheap to run.

Stock

Paper or card to be printed on.