 | AA; author alteration |
| A/W; abbreviation for artwork |
| Accordion fold; parallel folds which open like an accordion |
| Acetate; transparent plastic sheet with images, sometimes in layers
or placed over artwork to protect and allow designer to write instructions
|
| Acid-free; paper resists yellowing from age, made from pulp
containing little or no acid |
| Addendum; additional material normally printed at the start of main
text |
| Additive Colour; adds the primary colours red, blue and green |
| Advance; Money paid to the writer to allow them to live while the
book is written and published but offset against the royalties the book will
earn |
| Advanced copies; books sent by printer or publisher before
publication date |
| ADSL the domestic, high-speed data link |
| Against the grain; at right angles to the grain of the paper |
| Agent, Agency; person or organisation representing authors and
selling their work |
| Airbrush; paint is applied in a fine mist with compressed air |
| Align; to line up type or graphics |
| Alteration; Change in copy or specifications implying it is after
production has begun |
| Aqueous; any water-based product |
| Art paper; smooth, coated paper |
| Artwork; original photos and illustrations including copy |
| Ascender; part of lower case letter above the upper half of the
vertical in letters such as b or d |
| Author's Alterations (AA) |
| Authors corrections (AC); at
proofing stage |
| Backing up; to print the second side of printed sheet possibly
aligned back-to-back |
| Balloon; a circle or bubble enclosing copy in an illustration |
| Banding; packaging using rubber or paper bands to bind |
| Banner; title extending across page width |
| Base artwork; requires additions such as halftones before printing
|
| Baseline; for the bases of letters |
| Basis/Basic Size/Weight; (mainly North America) in pounds of a ream
of paper cut to the basic size. Europe uses ISO paper sizes |
| Bed; the base on which the paper is held in a press |
| Bind/Binding; join leafs or signatures with stitching, glue etc
|
| Bleed; layout that extends beyond the trim marks on a page;
pictures ‘bleed’if they go to the edge of the page which is often
intentional |
| Blind Folio; an unprinted page |
| Block; bound pages of a book |
| Blow up; an enlargement |
| Blueline; marks with special pencil on proof that do not show up on
printing plates |
| Blurb; a short description of a book/author on a book jacket |
| Board; paper generally more than 200gsm |
| Body size; the height of the type normally measures in points |
| Body; or body text; main text not including the headlines |
| Boiler Plate; repetitive type similar to a template |
| Bond paper; durable high-quality paper grade used for letters and
legal forms |
| Border; design surrounding printing on a page |
| Bounce; repeating registration problem |
| Bristol board; a board for drawing |
| Broadside; printed on one side of a large sheet of paper |
| Bromide; a photographic print normally part of plate making |
| Bulk; measure of thickness of paper in thousandths of an inch or
number of pages per inch |
| Bullet; a large dot preceding text |
| Burn; make a permanent copy of a digital file on CD |
| C1S and C2S; coated one side and coated two sides |
| Calender /Calendered; roll paper surface smooth by pressing during
manufacture |
| Calliper; paper thickness |
| Camera ready copy or CRC; artwork pasted up ready for reproduction
|
| Cap line; an imaginary line across the top of capital letters |
| Caps; an abbreviation for capital letters |
| Caption; text identifying a picture or illustration |
| Caret marks; an mark-up for the printer indicating an omission
awaiting an insertion |
| Cartridge; a thick paper used for printing, drawing or wrapping
|
| Case Bind; also cloth bind or hard cover Bind using glue to a board
cover |
| Cast off; a typographic calculation to work out the space copy will
take |
| Catch line; a temporary headline to identify proof |
| Chalking; deterioration of a printed image caused if ink absorbs
into paper too fast or has long exposure to sun making image look dusty.
Also called crocking |
| Character count; the number of characters; i.e. letters, figures,
signs or spaces in a piece of copy |
| Chase; a metal frame in which metal type and engraved blocks are
locked to make a page |
| Chrome; a term to measure colour transparency or saturation |
| Chromalin; colour photo used to check accuracy of colours by
printers |
| Close up; a proof correction mark to reduce the amount of space
between characters or words indicated as (') |
| CMYK; abbreviation for cyan, magenta, yellow and key (black), the
four process colours |
| Coated paper; printing papers surface coated with clay for a
smoother finish |
| Collate; organize printed matter in the order specified |
| Colour Balance; amounts of the colours required |
| Colour bar or guide; quality control spots of ink on the edge of a
sheet |
| Colour Blanks; sheets with photos or illustrations, but without
type |
| Colour Cast; unwanted colour in an image |
| Colour Correct; adjust the process colours to achieve desirable
colours |
| Colour Separation; process to divide continuous-tone colour images
into four half-tone negatives |
| Colour Sequence; order in which inks are printed, also called
rotation |
| Column inch; a column inch is one column wide by one inch deep and
used to measure area in newspapers (to calculate the cost of display
advertising) |
| Column rule; a light vertical line used to separate columns of type
|
| Comb bind; bind by inserting the teeth of a flexible plastic comb
through holes punched along the edge of a stack of paper |
| Compose; to set copy into type |
| Composite film; Combining two or more images on one or more pieces
of film |
| Concertina fold; a method of folding giving a concertina or pleated
effect |
| Condensed; a style of typeface in which the characters have an
elongated appearance |
| Condition; storing paper to allow moisture content and temperature
to reach that of the production area |
| Continuous-tone; photographs and illustrations with shades rather
than dots |
| Contrast; a measure of tones in an image ranging from light to dark
|
| Copy; all material used in the production of a printed product |
| Copyright; protection to the originator of material to prevent use
without their permission |
| Corner marks; marks printed on a sheet to indicate the trim or
register marks |
| Cover Paper; thick paper used for products such as posters and
covers of paperbacks |
| Cover Parts; 1-outside front, 2-inside front, 3-inside back,
4-outside back |
| Coverage; extent to which ink covers usually expressed as light,
medium or heavy |
| CRC; camera ready copy |
| Creep; unwelcome habit of middle pages to stick out or margins to move.
Shingling is the solution |
| Crimping; punctures holding business forms together |
| Crop marks; printed lines showing where to trim a printed sheet
|
| Crop; cut off parts of a picture or image |
| Cropping; cut parts of an image not required |
| Cross head; like a headline but set in the body of the text |
| Crossover; artwork that continues from one page of a book or
magazine across the gutter |
| Cure; dry inks or coatings after printing sometimes with heat |
| Cursive; a typefaces that resembles hand writing |
| Cut flush; a method of trimming a book after the cover has been
attached |
| Cutting Die; trims or marks paper |
| Cyan; blue - one of four standard process colours |
| Dagger and double dagger; symbols used as reference marks for
footnotes |
| Data Compression; technique of reducing the amount of storage
required to hold a digital file to reduce the disk space the file requires
and allows work to be processed or transmitted more quickly |
| Deckle Edge; of paper left ragged as it comes from the papermaking
machine. Also called feather edge. |
| Descender; the part of a lower case letter that extends below the
line |
| Diazo; light sensitive diazonium coating used for making printing
plates |
| Die; a device for cutting, scoring and embossing |
| Display type; larger type normally 18 point or larger |
| DOI; digital object identifier - actionable id part of metadata |
| Dot Gain, Growth or Spread; halftone dots spread on the paper
reducing detail and contrast |
| Dot; the basic element of halftones |
| Dots-per-inch; measure of resolution Abbreviated DPI |
| Double Bump; print twice to give two layers of ink |
| Double page spread or DPS; textual material on the left hand side
continues across to the right hand side |
| DPI; dots per square inch, a measure of resolution for monitors,
printers and scanners, typically 60, 300 and 1200 respectively |
| DRM; Digital Rights Management provides the software locks put on
information distributed digitally to prevent unauthorised distribution |
| Drop cap; a large initial letter at the start of the text that
drops into the line or lines of text below |
| Drop-out; part of artwork that does not print |
| Dummy; A mock-up of the layout at finished size |
| Earning out; Enough copies of the book are sold so that the agreed
royalties cover the amount of the publishers advance |
| Em; a square unit with edges equal to the chosen point size, named
from the letter M which was the widest letter |
| Emboss; an image pressed into paper to create a relief |
| Encapsulated; PostScript computer file with images and PostScript
commands - EPS format |
| End pages; material after the main text |
| End papers/sheets; the four pages at the front and back of a book
pasted to the cover boards |
| Engraving; printing method using a plate, also called a die, with
an image cut into its surface |
| EP; abbreviation for envelope |
| Escalators; Bonuses paid to the author based on the work meeting
certain goals set out in the writer's contract |
| Etch; an image cut into metal, glass or film by abrasive chemicals
|
| Eurobind; A patented method of binding perfect bound books so they
will stay open |
| Extent; page count in a book
|
| Face; an abbreviation for typeface |
| Fast Colour; inks that resist fading |
| Fine Screen; ruling of 150 lines per inch or more |
| Flats; diagram showing imposition and colours for plate making |
| Flood; To cover a printed page with ink, varnish, or plastic
coating |
| Flop; The reverse side of an image |
| Flush left; copy aligned to left margin |
| Flush right; copy aligned to right margin |
| Flyer; cheaply produced circular for promotional distribution |
| Flyleaf Leaf; side of the end paper not glued to the case at the
front and back of a casebound book |
| Foil blocking/emboss/stamping; a process for stamping a design on a
book cover without ink by using a coloured foil with pressure from a heated
die or block |
| Foldout/Gatefold; sheet bound into a publication, often used for a
map or chart |
| Folio (page number); actual page number in a publication |
| Font (or fount); a set of characters in a typeface |
| Form letter; a letter template in which the address and other
details can be semi-automatically inserted by a word processor |
| Form; type and blocks assembled in pages in a metal chase for
printing |
| Format fee; payable as a part of an option if the idea or concept
of a work is re-used |
| Four colour process; printing in full colour using four colour
separation negatives; yellow, magenta, cyan and black |
| Foxed; book pages discoloured with brownish marks |
| French fold; two folds at right angles to each other fold to form a
four page uncut section |
| Full measure; a line set to the entire line length |
| Full point; a full stop |
| Galley proof; copy of text for checking before it is finally
assembled for print run |
| Galleys; the long metal trays used to hold type after it has been
set and before the press run |
| Glossary; A word list. The etymology from the Greek means 'to make stand
out'. |
| Gatefold; fold-ins for oversize pages such as maps in a book |
| Gathering; the operation of inserting the printed pages, sections
or signatures of a book in the correct order for binding |
| GEM; Digital Research's Graphics Environment Manager |
| General Publishing, also referred to as trade publishing;
publishing intended for the general consumer market |
| Generation; first generation of original copy should yield the best
quality |
| Ghosting; Image appears too light because of ink starvation or a
faint printed image that appears where it was not |
| Ghost-writing; writing a book, often an 'autobiography' for someone
else |
| Gilding; gold leaf on the page edges |
| Gloss; A shiny look reflecting light which is achieved with ink
that dries without penetration |
| Golden ratio; proportion of height to width thought to produce the
most pleasing result 1;1618 |
| Gothic; typefaces with no serifs and broad even strokes |
| Grain Direction; direction of fibres in paper |
| Granularity; a property of data which allows it to be incorporated
in a way determined by the user |
| Grammage; weight of paper in grams per square meter (gsm) |
| Graphic Arts Film; emulsion which yields high contrast images (also
litho film and repro film) |
| Gravure; a rotary printing process using an etched metal plate |
| Grey Balance; Printed cyan, magenta and yellow halftone dots that
reproduce a neutral grey |
| Green box; Returned stock for restocking (see red box) |
| Grey scale; range of luminance values from white to black |
| Grind off; approximately 3 mm of spine ground off before perfect
binding |
| Gripper Edge; of a sheet held by grippers on a sheet-fed press |
| Grippers; metal pins on a printing press that move the paper
through the press |
| GSM; Grams per square metre |
| Gutter; in newsprint, central blank area between left and right
pages. With books, the inside margins toward the binding edge |
| Hairline; A very thin line or gap |
| Half-tone Screen; piece of film or glass covered in parallel
lines. Two screens placed approximately at right angles break the image
below into dots |
| Half-tone; technique of breaking original tone into a pattern of
dots of varying size. Light areas have small dots and dark areas have large
dots |
| Halo Effect; faint shadow around half-tone dots printed. Also
called halation or fringe |
| Hanging punctuation; punctuation outside the margins of the text
|
| Hard copy; output of a computer printer as compared to digital data
on a disk |
| Head(er); the margin at the top of a page |
| Helvetica; a sans serif typeface |
| Hickey; unplanned spots that appear during printing due to dust
|
| Highlight; lightest areas in a picture compared to midtones and
shadows |
| HLS; abbreviation for hue, lightness, saturation in graphic
software |
| House style; copy editing rules for spelling, punctuation, etc used
in a publishing house or publication |
| Hue; specific colour such as yellow or green |
| Icons; pictorial images used on screen to indicate function in
software |
| Image area; part of paper which can be printed |
| Imposition; positioning of pages so they will be in order when page
is folded and cut |
| Impression; another word for printing but colour images take
multiple impressions |
| Impression; putting an image on paper |
| Imprint; (noun) the name and place of the publisher and printer
normally required by law (verb) add print on a previously printed sheet |
| Ink Balance; relationship of the densities and dot gains of process
inks to each other and to a standard density of neutral grey |
| Ink Jet; printing by spraying droplets of ink |
| Intaglio; printing method with two levels- gravure and engraving
are examples of intaglio |
| International paper sizes; ISO paper sizes based on A, B and C
series A is for printing and stationery, B for posters and C for envelopes
|
| ISBN; International Standard Book Number |
| ISTC; International Standard Text Code |
| Italic; type with sloping letters |
| Ivory board; a smooth board used for business cards |
| Job Lot; discounted paper possibly not of first quality |
| Jogger; vibration machine to stack printed materials evenly |
| Justify; alignment of text with both margins |
| K (Kilobyte); 1024 bytes, a binary 1,000 Abbreviation for black in
four-colour process printing in CMYK |
| Kerning; adjustment of spacing between certain letter pairs |
| Keyline; an outline drawn on artwork showing position of an
illustration |
| Kill fee; payment due to a writer if they do not get the right to
adapt their work as a script |
| Knock out; mask out an image |
| Kraft paper; a tough brown paper used for wrapping and packing |
| Laid finish; implies simulating the surface of handmade paper |
| Laid; paper with a watermark pattern showing the wire marks used in
paper making |
| Laminate; a thin transparent plastic coating applied to paper
providing protection or accent colour |
| Landscape; format in which width is greater than height. Portrait
is opposite |
| Lap Register; ink colours overlap slightly compared with butt
register |
| Laser printer; high quality image printing using a laser beam to
transfer dry powder to paper |
| Lateral reversal; image transposed left to right as a reflection of
the original |
| Lay Edge; the edge of a sheet of paper feeding into a press |
| Lay Flat Bind; perfect binding that allows a publication to lie
fully open |
| Layout; a sketch of a page with instructions |
| Lead or Leading; originally strips of lead inserted between lines
of metal type added between lines of type to space them |
| Leaf; sheet of paper |
| Legend; caption below an illustration or directions about a how to
position an illustration |
| Letraset; a proprietary name for dry transfer lettering used in
artwork |
| Letter fold; two folds creating three panels. Also called barrel
fold |
| Letterpress; uses raised image to produce an impression by pressing
paper against the inked surface |
| Library picture; picture not specially commissioned, available
normally for a fee |
| Ligature; letters joined to a single bit of type |
| Line copy; high contrast copy i.e. not half-tone |
| Linen Finish; cloth pattern visible on paper surface |
| Lines per inch; rows of dots per inch (in a halftone) |
| Linotype; manufacturer of phototypesetting machines |
| Literary Agent, Literary Agency; person or organisation
representing authors and selling their work |
| Lithography; printing process where printing area will accept oil
based inks while rest is water coated |
| Loose leaf; method of binding which allows the insertion and
removal of pages |
| Loupe; A magnifying glass |
| Low Key; details in shadow |
| Lower case; small letters |
| M Weight; weight of 1,000 sheets of paper in any specific size |
| Magenta; Process red, one of the 4 process colours |
| Magnetic ink; machine readable, still used on cheques |
| Manilla; tough brown paper |
| Manuscript (ms); the original handwritten or typewritten work |
| Margins; non printing areas |
| Mark up; copy prepared with typesetting instructions |
| Mask; Block light from parts of a printing plate |
| Masthead; details of publisher |
| Matt art; a coated printing paper with a dull surface |
| Matt finish; non-glossy paper or ink finish |
| Mechanical Bind; using a wire or plastic comb or coil through holes
drilled in the bound edge |
| Mechanical separation; overlays for each colour |
| Mechanical tint; a pre-printed sheet of dots, lines or patterns
|
| Mechanical; camera ready art |
| Metadata; Information attached to digital data to enhance its
searchability, but not normally displayed |
| MG (machine glaze); high gloss finish on one side |
| Middle/mid-tones; in a photograph that are approximately half as
dark as the shadow area |
| Midlist; term used in publishing to denote books which are neither
lead titles nor genre fiction |
| Mock-up; the rough visual for a design |
| Modern; type styles dating from end of the 19th century such as
Times Roman |
| Moiré pattern; normally undesirable pattern when halftones are
made with inappropriately aligned screens |
| Monospace; a font where all characters occupy the same width |
| Montage; an assemblage of several images |
| MS (Manuscript); original written or typewritten work |
| Multicolour Printing; colour printing that is not the four-colour
process |
| Neutral; Greys without a colour hue |
| News Print; low quality, absorbent paper used for newspapers |
| Newton Ring; flaw caused by dust that produce rainbow rings |
| Nipping; a stage in book binding where sheets are pressed to expel
air at the sewing stage |
| Non-impact Printing; uses lasers or ink jet to transfer images to
paper |
| Non-reproducing blue; a blue colour that can be filtered from the
camera & used to mark up artwork and in TV to superimpose images |
| OCR (Optical Character Recognition); converts a scanned image into
the digital codes that can be edited in a computer |
| Offprint; a reprint of an article previously published in a
magazine |
| Opacity; amount of show-through on a printed sheet |
| Opaque; to cover flaws in negative |
| Option; the negotiated right of assignment for plot, characters or
place in a book |
| Orphan; part of a paragraph on its own at the top or bottom of a
page |
| Over Run; additional print run beyond order |
| Overlay; acetate overlays with separate colours and type |
| Overprint; print one image over a previously printed image |
| Overs; additional printing to compensate for spoilage |
| Ozalid; a trade name describes a method of copying page proofs from
paper or film |
