If you're not a commercial printing insider, don't be intimidated by the jargon used by professionals in the printing services business. The "language of printing" is actually pretty simple -- if you understand a few, key definitions.

The ability of paper to absorb liquids like ink and aqueous coating.

Change in copy or specifications after production has begun.

Also know as "AC's". Changes and additions in copy after it has been typeset.

Printing the second side of a sheet already printed on one side.

To fasten sheets or signatures with wire, thread, glue, or by other means.

The finishing department of a print shop or firm specializing in finishing printed products.

Printing that goes to the edge of the sheet after trimming. To print a piece that bleeds, the art must be prepared to extend an 1/8 of an inch past the page's final trim line. Art and images can bleed off one side or off all four sides of a page.

The brilliance or reflectance of paper.

Paper with coating on one side only.

Paper with coating on both sides.

Acronym representing the four colors used in four color process or full color printing. Cyan (Blue) Magenta (Red) Yellow and Black.

Paper with a surface coating ranging from extremely shiny to sedate and dull. Coated papers have higher opacity (less see through) and better ink holdout resulting in brighter color and greater detail than uncoated paper. All non- custom jobs at Price Right Print are estimated on coated paper.

The range between an image's darkest and lightest areas. The light tones are highlights and the dark tones are shadows.

All furnished text used in the production of a printed product.

The degree of color or darkness of an image or photograph.

Curing images in or out of paper.

A rough layout of a printed piece showing position and finished size.

The most versatile file format available. An EPS file can contain a combination of text, graphics and images.

Four Color Process/Four Color Printing/Full Color Printing:

A method used to transfer or copy files between computers over the internet.

An imaging method which uses pixels to electronically recreate an image.

A shiny look reflecting light.

The output of a computer printer, or typed text sent for typesetting.

The resolution of an image indicates the number of dots per inch. High resolution is 300 dpi (dots per inch) and above.

Refers to the amount of ink laid down on the press sheet. If most of the sheet will have ink on it, and there are large areas of “solid” color, it is considered to have heavy coverage. Light coverage generally does not include extensive areas of solid color.

Portion of paper on which ink can appear.

Putting an image on paper.

Adding copy to a previously printed page.

A standardized image compression mechanism. Because it compresses the image and makes it smaller for easier storing and transmitting files, it can also lessen the quality.

The resolution of an image indicates the number of dots per inch. Low resolution defines anything from 72 dpi to 250 dpi. Images created at these resolutions will not reproduce well and will lower the quality of your finished piece by making it look grainy or broken up. An example of 72 dpi are images taken from a website.

Process red, one of the basic colors in four-color process printing.

All the activities required to prepare a press for printing.

Dull paper or ink finish.

A printing technique in which ink is spread on a metal plate with etched images, then transferred to an intermediary surface such as a rubber blanket, and finally applied to paper by pressing the paper against the intermediary surface.

The amount of show-through on a printed sheet. The more opacity or the thicker the paper the less show-through.

Copies printed in excess of the specified quantity. (Printing trade terms allow for + - 10 % to represent a completed order.)

A standard file format used by the printing industry.

Total number of pages in a book including blanks.

A type of binding that glues the edge of sheets to a cover like a telephone book.

The abbreviated name of the Pantone Color Matching System.

To make sure all four process colors are in specific alignment with each other when they print on the press sheet. Also shows the position of page content and folding area.

Red, Green and Blue. These are the primary colors of light as seen on a computer monitor. They must be converted to CMYK when printing images on paper.

Binding a booklet or magazine with staples in the seam where it folds.

A crease put on paper to help it fold better.

Using the same paper for the interior of a piece as is used for its cover..

Printing on one side of a sheet that can be seen on the other side of the sheet.

Binding by stapling along one side of a sheet.

A sheet of printed pages which when folded becomes a part of a book or publication.

A precise description of a print order.

The binding edge of a book or publication.

The material to be printed.

Grades of uncoated paper with textured surfaces.

Very commonly used to transport colors or gray-scale images into page layout applications. Tiff files are very large and of very high quality. The images are bitmapped which can cause resolution problems if images need to be increased in size.

A shade of a single color or combined colors..

The overlapping of two colors printing side by side. This prevents a white gap between the two colors.

Similar to crop or register marks. These marks show where to trim the printed sheet.

The final size of one printed image after the last trim is made.

Production of fewer copies than ordered. See over-run.

The system in which files from one computer are transferred to a designated server site.

A color with a reddish or yellowish cast.