Printing Terms Glossary
Saddle
Stitch – A bindery term referring to the process of binding by stapling
sheets together where they fold at the spine, as compared to side stitch.
Also referred to as pamphlet stitch, saddle wire and stitch
bind.
Satin Finish – A paper term that refers to a coated paer finish
similar to that of a Dull Finish, but with a slight sheen.
Scanner
– An electronic device used in the making of color and tone-corrected
separations of images.
Score – To compress or indent a linear mark with a string or rule
in the paper to make folding easier. Typically required for folding pieces
printed on cover weight paper or 100# book weight paper.
Screen Angles – The angles at which multi-color halftone screens
are imaged with relation to one another, used to avoid undesireable moiré
patterns. Standard screen angles for process (CMYK) printing are: Cyan 105°,
Magenta 75°, Yellow 90° and Black 45°.
Screen Density – A prepress term referring to the percentage of
ink coverage that a screen tint allows to print. Also referred to as screen
percentage.
Screen Ruling – The number of rows or lines of dots per inch or
centimeter in a screen for making a screen tint or halftone. Also referred
to as line count, ruling, screen frequency, screen
size and screen value.
Screen Tint – A color created by dots instead of solid ink coverage.
Also called Benday, fill pattern, screen tone, shading,
tint and tone.
Scum – A term referring to a printing defect which occurs as a film of ink that prints in the non-image areas of a printing plate.
Selection Criteria – A direct mailing term which refers to the basis for extraction of a subset from a group. Selection criteria often pertain to a list selection made on the basis of some characteristic of the individuals on the list, such as income, age, occupation, purchase history, etc.
Selective
Binding – A bindery term referring to the placement of printed signatures
or inserts in magazines or catalogs according to demographic or geographic
guidelines.
Self Cover – A brochure or booklet cover of the same paper as
the inside text pages.
Self-Mailer
– A direct mail piece that is designed to be mailed without an envelope.
It can either be folded and sealed, like an envelope, or tab sealed with a
water seal and mailed.
Separation – A prepress term referring to the isolation and imaging
of colors represented in a full color image into the CMYK color space used
for process printing.
Serigraphic Printing – A method of printing, such as mimeograph and silkscreen printing, which uses image carriers of woven fabric, plastic or metal that allow ink to pass through some portions and block ink from passing through other portions.
Setoff – A printing term referring to the undesirable transfer
of wet ink from the top of one sheet to the underside of another as they lie
in the delivery stack of a press. Also referred to as offset.
Shadows – A prepress term referring to the darkest areas of a
photograph or illustration, as compared to midtones and highlights.
Shared
Mail – Direct mail promotions from several companies which are sent
to the same list of individuals in order to share the costs of list rental
and production.
Sheetfed Printing – A classification of printing that utilizes presses
that print on individual sheets of paper, as compared to a web press, which
prints on a continuous roll of paper.
Sheetwise – A printing term that refers to the technique of printing
one side of a sheet with one set of plates, then the other side of the sheet
with a set of different plates. Also called work and back.
Shingling – A prepress term referring to the allowance made during
stripping or imposition to compensate for creep. Alsoreferred to as stair
stepping and progressive margins.
Side Stitch – A bindery term referring to a method of binding
by stapling through multiple sheets along one edge, as compared to saddle
stitch. Also referred to as cleat stitch and side wire.
Signature – A printed sheet which is folded at least once, possibly
many times, to become part of a book, magazine or other publication.
Silkscreen
Printing – A method of printing by using a squeegee to force ink
through an assembly of mesh fabric and a stencil.
Sizing – A paper term which refers to a compound that is mixed
with paper fibers to make it stiffer and less able to absorb moisture.
Slip Sheet – A colored sheet of paper that is inserted between
multiple sets of collated sheets to identify the separation of individual
sets.
Solid – Any area of the sheet receiving 100 percent of ink coverage,
as compared to a screen tint.
Solo
Mail– Direct mail promotion from one company for a specific product
or service. It is the opposite of a shared mailing and represents the majority
of direct mail promotions.
Soy Inks – An ink term used to describe inks which use vegetable
oils instead of petroleum products as pigment vehicles.
SPC – Statistical Process Control. A method used by printers to ensure quality and delivery times as specified by customers.
Specialty Printer – A printer whose equipment, supplies, work
flow and marketing is targeted to a particular category of products.
Specifications – The complete and precise written description
of features of a printing job such as type size and leading, paper grade and
quantity, printing or binding method. Commonly abbreviated as specs.
Spectrophotometer – An electronic Instrument used to measure the
refraction index of color.
Specular Highlight – A prepress term referring to a highlight
area with no printable dots, thus no detail, as compared to a diffuse highlight.
Also referred to as a catchlight or dropout highlight.
Spine – A bindery term referring to the back or binding edge of
a publication.
Spiral Bind – A bindery term referring to a binding process that
uses a spiral of continuous wire or plastic looped through holes. Also referred
to as coil bind.
Split Fountain – A technique of putting ink colors next to each other
in the same ink fountain and printing them off the same plate. Split fountains
keep edges of colors distinct, as compared to rainbow fountains, which blend
edges.
Spoilage – Printed product that must be thrown away instead of
delivered as final product which represents commercially unacceptable flaws.
Spot Color – Ink that is applied to portions of a sheet, separate
from process inks.
Spread – (1) Two pages that face each other and are designed
as one visual or production unit. (2) A technique of slightly enlarging
the size of an image to accomplish a hairline trap with another image. Also
referred to as a fatty.
Stat – An abbreviation of photostat, a general term for an inexpensive
photographic print of line copy or halftone.
Step and Repeat – A prepress technique of exposing an image in
a precise, multiple pattern to create a flat or plate.
Stock Order – An order for paper that a mill or merchant sends
to a printer from inventory at a warehouse, as compared to a mill order.
String Score – A score that is created by pressing a string against
paper, as compared to scoring using a metal edge.
Strip – To assemble images on film for platemaking. Stripping
involves correcting flaws in film, assembling pieces of film into flats and
ensuring that film and flats register correctly. Also referred to as film
assembly and image assembly.
Substance Weight – An alternate term for basis weight of paper.
Also referred to as sub weight.
Substrate – Any surface or material onto which a printed image
is placed.
SWOP – Specifications for Web Offset Publications. Specifications
recommended for web printing of publications.
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