1. L

    • Laid Paper

      This paper is uncoated and has a textured pattern of parallel lines, similar to handmade paper. It is often used for business stationery and can be compared to Wove Paper.

    • Laminate

      A thin plastic film used on the covers of printed literature to give protection, with a choice of matt or gloss appearance.

    • Lead Time

      The lead time is how long it takes to get a delivery after placing and approving an order.

    • Leaf

      A sheet of paper containing two pages, one on either side.

    • Leave/Sheet

      the term given to a blank sheet of paper.

    • Long Flute

      This refers to correx and other corrugated boards, long flute is where the flute runs along the longest side of the print.

    • Loose-Leaf

      A book that is not bound, also known as collated sets.

    M

    • Make Ready

      A term referring to the process of preparing a printing press for its run.

    • Matt

      A non glossy finish.

    • Matt & Gloss Varnish

      Specialist coating process providing high levels of contrast between pre-selected areas of matt and gloss on the finished pages.

    • Metal Plate

      A metal sheet with a specially coated 'emulsion' on its surface which, when exposed through a film mask or by CTP process, will produce an image. When the plate is loaded onto a printing press it then reproduces this image using inks onto the paper.

    • Micro Perf

      a very finely cut perforated edge designed to simulate the effect of a guillotine cut edge.

    • Micrometer

      A piece of measuring equipment that measures the thickness of paper. (mic NOT gsm)

    • Microns

      A measurement to indicate the thickness of paper as against grammage which is a measurement for weight only.

    • Moire Pattern

      A grid-like pattern caused by the misalignment of dots on a printed document, caused by repeating patterns overlapping each other and giving the effect of an out of focus image.

    N

    • NCR

      An abbreviation of 'No Carbon Required' NCR pads are used for handwritten forms that require duplicate copies.

    • Nip

      The pressure point in between two rollers.

    O

    • Overprint

      To print one image over a previously printed image, such as printing type over a screen tint or running a printed letterhead through a desk top printer.

    • Overs

      Extra copies printed above that requested by the client.

    • Offset Printing

      In this printing process, the paper never comes into contact with the printing plate. Instead, the ink is transferred from the plate to a blanket cylinder which then transfers the ink to the paper.

    P

    • Pallet

      A wooden frame used to transport large volumes of print.

    • Page Count/Pagination.

      Total number of pages, including blanks.

    • Pantone

      A US brand that created a colour matching system that identifies a wide range of colours by number to ensure standard results across the printing industry. Premixed ink colours that are often specified for printing as a spot colour. Can be matched using CMYK but will not be exactly the same colour as its Pantone colour counterpart.

    • Paper Sizes

      in Europe, the ISO standard is the common way to define paper sizes. The A series, particularly A4 paper is the most common, everyday paper. The C series defines the size of most envelopes. There is also the B series, as well as RS and SRA which are used by printers. They are slightly larger than the A series and allow for extra grip, trimming and bleed when printing.

    • Perfect Binding

      Book binding that holds the paper to the spine using glue. This is the most common method for magazines and paperback books.

    • Perfecting

      Printing both sides of the substrate in the same pass through the printing press.

    • Plate

      One printing plate normally aluminium but can be plastic, carries the halftone dots for one colour. A printing press capable of printing full colour will usually have at least four printing units with one plate on each unit.

    • POD

      Proof of delivery, the time and date the item was delivered along with the name. A hard copy POD requires the image of the signature

      OR

      Print on demand, this means that print is placed as and when needed rather than ordering a bulk of a certain product and holding it in a warehouse until required.

    • Prepress

      Camera work, colour separations, stripping, plate making and other prepress functions required prior to printing.

    • Print Marks

      These are marks used by printers to ensure your colours are correct as well as marking where to trim and fold elements.

    • Printing Plate

      This plate carries the image that is to be printed onto stock. Printing plates can be made of a variety of materials and are even available in paper for single use printing plates.

    • Proof

      A sample of work to be checked for errors in text, positioning or quality of colour reproduction.

    • Process Colour

      A colour specified by it's make up of CMYK

    • Process Blue / Process Red / Process Yellow / Process Black.

      Different colours for CMYK

    • Proof

      A representation of the finished print product for the client to check for errors before the main print run. (Digital Proof – PDF) (Hard Copy/Wet Proof – Printed 1off)

    • Pur Binding

      Similar to perfect binding but this is more expensive and has superior strength.

    Q

    • Quote

      A cost to produce a specific job, the price is calculated on the basis of the specification provided by the client.

    R

    • Recto

      When you open a book, the right-hand page.

    • Ream

      250 sheets of paper.

    • Register

      The alignment of different printing plates, necessary when printing with two or more colours. The target shaped register marks will be visible on an untrimmed sheet and these are used for accurate positioning of the plates.

    • Registration Marks

      Crosses or other marks which are on the artwork to ensure perfect alignment of colours. Also known as trim or crop marks.

    • Resolution

      Refers to the degree of detail of an image. It is usually measured in dots per inch (dpi) or lines per inch (lpi). The level of detail in a document increases as the DPI/LPI does.

    • Reverse Print

      Clear materials can be reverse printed so that the print sits behind the clear material, this needs backing up with a flood white. Gives the appearance that the print is 'on the sticky side' allows it to be applied from the inside of a window to be read from the outside.

    • RGB

      Red, Green and Blue. This colour model is designed for use on computer monitors and colour video output systems. This needs to be converted to CMYK before printing.

    • RIP

      Raster Image Processor converts a digital file into dots that can be imaged onto a plate. The RIP creates the bitmap/raster file.

    • Rollercoat UV Varnish

      A varnish which is applied all over the printed surface unlike spot UV which is only applied to specific areas.

    • Rosette

      A formation of dots making up a four-colour image. The dots overlap each other in this cluster giving the appearance of a rosette.

    • Run On

      When a printer quotes a job, they will usually give a price for a set number of copies and a price for any additional copies after that. These additional copies are the run on.













    <