Printing Terms Glossary
Page
– One side of a printed leaf or sheet.
Page Count – Total number of pages contained in a printed piece.
Also referred to as extent.
Page Proof – A composite proof of type, photos and graphics as
they will look on the finished page complete with elements such as headings,
rules and folios.
Pagination – The numbering of pages in a multi-page document.
Painted Sheet – A sheet that is printed printed with ink edge
to edge, as compared to spot color. The painted sheet refers to the final
product, not the press sheet, and means that 100 percent coverage results
from bleeds off all four sides.
Panel – One page of a brochure, such as one panel of a rack brochure.
One panel is on one side of the paper. A letter-folded sheet has six panels,
not three.
Paper Plate – A cost-effective, yet low grade printing plate made
of strong and durable paper that is used on duplicating presses.
Parallel Fold – A bindery term referring to a method of folding
a sheet with two or more folds with a common directional orientation.
Parent Sheet – A large sheet of paper from which smaller sheets
are cut.
Pasteboard – A paper term referring to a type of chipboard that
has another sheet of thinner paper pasted to it.
Paste-Up – To paste copy to mounting boards and, if necessary,
to overlays so it is assembled into a camera-ready mechanical. The mechanical
produced is often called a paste-up.
PE – Printer Error. A proofreader mark indicating a mistake
by a typesetter, prepress service or printer as compared to an error by the
customer.
Perfect Bind – To bind sheets that have been ground at the spine
and are held to the cover by glue. Also referred to as adhesive bind,
cut-back bind, glue bind, patent bind, soft bind
and soft cover bind.
Perfecting Press – A press that is capable of printing both sides
of the paper during a single pass. Also referred to as a duplex press
or perfector.
Perf Marks – Markings on a mock-up or proof indicating where a
perforation is to occur.
Perforating – The creation a line of small dotted wholes for the
purpose of tearing-off a part of a printed matter (usually straight lines,
vertical or horizontal).
Pica – A unit of measure used in the printing industry. A pica
is approximately 1/6 of an inch. There are 12 points to a pica.
Photostat – Brand name for a diffusion transfer process used to
make positive paper prints of line copy and halftones. Often used as alternate
term for PMT.
Picking – A term used to describe a printing flaw whereby ink
pulls bits of coating or fiber away from the surface of paper as it travels
through the press, thus leaving unprinted spots in the image area. Picking
occurs when the pulling force (tack) of ink is greater than the surface strength
of the paper.
Pickup Art – Artwork that has been used in a previous job, to
be incorporated in a current job.
PICT – The standard MacIntosh digital image data encoding format.
Pigment – An ink term which refers to the fine solid particles used to give inks color, transparency or opacity.
Piling – The building up or caking of ink on rollers, plates or blankets. ALSO the accumulation of paper dust or coating on the blanket of an offset press.
Pin
Register – A technique of registering separations, flats and printing
plates by using small holes, all of equal diameter, at the edges of both flats
and plates.
Pixel – Short for picture element, the smallest resolvable point
of a raster image which is the basic unit of digital imaging. Also referred
to as a pel.
Planographic Printing – A method of printing, such as lithography,
by which image carriers are on level surfaces with inked areas separated from
noninked areas by chemical means.
Plate – Piece of paper, metal, plastic or rubber carrying an image
to be reproduced using a printing press.
Plate
Cylinder – The cylinder on a printing unit on which the plate is
mouted.
Platemaker – (1) In quick printing, a process camera that
makes plates automatically from mechanicals. (2) In commercial lithography,
a machine with a vacuum frame used to expose plates through film. (3)
An individual who performs platemaking duties.
Plate-Ready Film – Imposed or stripped negatives that have been
fully prepared for platemaking.
Platesetter
– An imagesetter used in a CTP (Computer-To-Plate) workflow that uses
lasers to write images directly onto the paper, polyester or aluminum plate
material.
Pleasing Color – Color that the customer considers satisfactory
even though it may not precisely match original samples, scenes or objects.
PMS – Pantone Matching System. The printing industry standard
for color matching.
PMT – Photomechanical Transfer. Brand name for a diffusion
transfer process used to make positive paper prints of line copy and halftones.
Often used as alternate term for photostat.
Point – (1) Pertaining to paper: a unit of thickness equating
1/1000 inch. (2) Pertaining to type: a unit of measure equaling 1/12 pica
and .013875 inch (.351mm).
Porosity
– A paper term referring to the property of paper which allows the permeation
of air, an important factor in ink penetration.
Portrait – A layout format in which the height is greater than
the width. Opposite of Landscape.
Position
Proof – A proof, such as a blueline, used for checking position,
layout and/or color breakouts of image elements.
Position Stat – Photocopy or PMT of a photo or illustration made
to size and affixed to a mechanical.
Positive Film – Film that prevents light from passing through
images, as compared to negative film that allows light to pass through. Also
referred to as knockout film.
Postal
Presort - A direct mailing term referring to the process of sorting mail
destination address and type of headline prior to mailing in order to comply
with US Postal Service regulations for Standard Mail preparation and, in most
cases, to qualify for the postage discounts.
Post Bind – A method of binding that uses a screw and post inserted
through a hole in a pile of loose sheets.
PostScript – The digital prepress industry standard page description computer language developed by Adobe Systems, Inc. to describe an image to an imagesetter using purely text-based digital data.
Preflight
– A digital prepress term describing the process of analyzing digital
art files for every component required to correctly produce a printing project
prior to beginning production on the project.
Prepress – Camera work, color separations, stripping, platemaking
and other prepress functions performed by the printer, separator or a service
bureau prior to printing. Also referred to as preparation.
Prepress Proof – A general term referring to any color or position
proof made using ink jet, toner, dyes or overlays, as compared to a press
proof printed using ink. Also referred to as a dry proof or off-press
proof.
Preprint – To print portions of sheets that will be used for later
imprinting.
Press Check – A proofing stage at which makeready sheets from
the press are examined by the client or project manager before authorizing
full production to begin.
Press Proof – A proof made on press using the plates, ink and
paper specified for the job. Also referred to as strike off and trial
proof.
Press Time – (1) Amount of time that one printing job spends on
press, including time required for makeready. (2) Time of day at which a printing
job goes on press.
Pressure-Sensitive
– A paper term used to describe a type of paper or vinyl material with
an adhesive coating which is protected by a removeable backing sheet until
used as a label.
Price Break – Quantity at which the per-unit cost of paper or
printing drops.
Printability
– A paper term which refers to the properties of the paper that affect
its appearance and the quality of reproduction.
Printer Spreads – Mechanicals made so they are imposed for printing,
as compared to reader spreads.
Printing Plate – Surface carrying an image to be printed. Quick
printing uses paper or plastic plates; letterpress, engraving and commercial
lithography use metal plates; flexography uses rubber or soft plastic plates.
Gravure printing uses a cylinder.
Printing Unit – Assembly of fountain, rollers and cylinders that
will print one ink color. Also referred to as a color station, deck,
ink station, printer,or tower.
Print
Quality – A general term which refers to the visual impression of
a printed piece.
Process Camera – A camera used to photograph mechanicals and other
camera-ready copy.
Process Colors – The colors used for four-color or "full
color" process printing: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black (CMYK)
Production Run – Press run intended to manufacture products as
specified, as compared to makeready.
Progressive Proof – A type of press proof used in multi-color or process printing showing the sequence of printing and the result after each additional color has been applied. Commonly referred to as progs.
Proof – Test sheet made to reveal errors or flaws, predict results
on press and record how a printing job is intended to appear when finished.
Proofreader Marks – Standard symbols and abbreviations used to
mark up manuscripts and proofs. Also called correction marks.
Publishing Grade – A general paper term referring to paper that
is made made in weights, colors and surfaces suited to books, magazines, catalogs
and free-standing inserts.
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