They are photographs, artistic productions, illustrations, non-textual material, or other visual representations mapped to a printed publication.
They are changes made to books or any other printed materials by an author after determining the first/initial layout. Fast author alteration services are different from printer errors, typographical errors, and other minor changes. Making several changes to a book at this stage is typically expensive, and book contracts often require the author to pay for alterations beyond a specific agreed-upon limit.
Also called the substance, substance number, or basic weight, this is the weight of a 500lbs sheet of paper. It can also mean the weight of a sheet of paper expressed as a ratio of the weight of the ream of the same paper.
It is a synthetic rubber mat commonly used in offset lithography to offset images from the metal plate to a paper or any other substrate. The use of a blanket is what gives offset lithography the name. Typically, blankets act as a shock absorber, transfer ink as dots and solids without streaking, and act as a receptive for water and ink without swelling or mixing them.
Printed documents are set with bleeds to prevent them from having unsightly lines around the border. Typically, bleeding refers to the additional 1/8" space with background color or image extending beyond the trim area. However, this extra space on the outside of the document is trimmed during production. Bleeding is done in most paper print products, including banners, canvas printers, business cards, and presentation folders.
It is a standardized copy, text, document, procedure, or methods used severally without significant changes. Boilerplates come in handy in ensuring efficiency and increases standardization in the language or structure of digital or written documents. This could be contracts, bond indentures, or investment prospectus. It is generally a uniform text used across various standard documents and contracts that can be part of templates that can be personalized and easily filled.
Bond paper is the common lightweight paper used in offices. This uncoated stock paper can be used for drawing, writing, and printing documents, such as letterheads, business forms, stationery, and other documents produced with laser or inkjet printers. The paper derives its name from being the original paper to be used in government bonds. While it is traditionally considered strong and durable paper forms, this doesn't mean that they are thick papers. They can weigh 15,16, 20, 24, or 32lbs.
While a paper border may mean several things, it mainly refers to the visual border representing the outer edge of the document or separating two sections. It can be solid, dashed lines, dotted, or various objects, such as animals, baseballs, and flowers. Creating a paper border design varies, depending on the software used. This could be HTML, Excel, Microsoft Word, and more.
It is the alignment of artwork or ink colors such that two different colors precisely meet without overlapping. Simply put, the butts are up against the other. Most screen prints allow colors to overlap precisely so that they don't show any imperfections of a misaligned registration.
Quality print requires a good water/ink mixture. However, different printers printing offset presses have varying ways of balancing ink and water. For most printers, ink balance is a "feel" thing, especially with instincts and experience. Amateurs should consider ink brands and track print quality to balance inks properly.
Simply put, a break-even price or point is the point where the total expenses and total sales or revenue are equal. As such, press printers or any company hasn't made any profit or loss at this point. For printing, the break-even point describes the number of units printed, which gives zero profit to the company. It can also describe the cost that the products or services should be sold to cover the manufacturing costs.
C1S is the acronym for coated one side, while C2S stands for coated two sides. These are coatings applied to printing papers by paper manufacturers. Printing papers are often coated to provide a smooth printing surface and slow absorption of ink. The coating forms a barrier that keeps the ink on the surface of printed sheets longer, delaying seepage into paper fibers. As for C1S papers, the backside isn't coated, providing a good surface if a lot of writing is required.
It describes the thickness of a single paper sheet. Caliper is measured in thousandths or hundred-thousandths of an inch. In metric systems, the caliper is calibrated in micrometers or millimeters and measured using a micrometer. Consistency of paper calipers is important as a sudden increase or decrease affects how the printing blanket and plate contacts and transfers text and images. Variations can also cause issues in the feeding web offset printers and potential web breaks.
This is a copy, including text, table, manuscript illustration, in its final stage with proper formatting. Documents submitted as camera-ready are printed as they are without revisions. The term came into existence because manuscripts were traditionally sent to printers to be photographed before offset printing. The term remains in use to date, even though modern prints are directly created from electronic or hardcopy versions.
This is a copy, including text, table, manuscript illustration, in its final stage with proper formatting. Documents submitted as camera-ready are printed as they are without revisions. The term came into existence because manuscripts were traditionally sent to printers to be photographed before offset printing. The term remains in use to date, even though modern prints are directly created from electronic or hardcopy versions.
Also called non-carbon paper, carbonless papers are coated papers used to create carbon copies of invoice books, receipts, and other business forms. They are a good biodegradable and stain-free alternative to the initial carbon papers coated with micro-encapsulated dye or reactive clay that bursts when subjected to pressure from a printer or pen. This makes it easy to create duplicate copies of original documents, be it mechanically types or handwritten, without resorting to electronics.
Most commercial printing hubs and established offices order papers in cartons or bales. The current standard for a carton of writing paper should consist of 5000 sheets. This translates to 200 quires, ten reams, or five bundles. However, as with quires, reams, and other measurements, the standard quantity of a carton of paper differs for various paper types. For instance, a carton of poster-size paper has 5160 sheets.
CMYK is a color model in printing that stands for Cyan, magenta, Yellow, and Black. Cyan stands for blue; magenta stands for pink/red, Yellow is simply yellow, while Black is black. The black color is the color of the key plate, which enhances the color depth and contrast of the print job. That said, any printer that prints in the CYMK color model breaks down the image into tiny dots with these four colors placed closely together to be perceived as the final colors. Most computer screens display in RGB color. Therefore, always double-check that you are designing your artwork in CMYK for printers to print.
Coated papers have agents or chemicals added to their surfaces, typically clay, that restrict ink absorption into the paper. The presence of ink at the surface of coated papers makes them smooth and bright. A coated paper can be classified according to its finish or quality. As for the finish, it can either be dull, gloss, matte, or silk. On the other hand, the quality of coated paper ranges from No. 1 to No.5.
It is important to ensure that photos appear true and aesthetically pleasing. Most photo editing apps feature global color settings that measure the ratio of blue, green, and red colors in a photo. To achieve color balance, you should adjust these color settings according to ambient light conditions to make the image accurate and realistic.
Several proprietary prepress computer systems handle all the steps of creating and transferring original art into a press plate. The steps include acquisition, display, processing, and combination. A color electronic prepress system typically consists of a drum scanner, digitizing tablet with tracing pen or cursor, software, memory, high-resolution monitor, and output device that records images.
This describes the range of colors perceived by the human eye. However, in displays, a color gamut is the range of colors that a specific device can produce or record. This is usually identified by the enclosed area of the device's primary colors in a chromaticity diagram. For instance, most monitors have blue, green, and red primary colors. Therefore, the color gamut of such monitors is shown in the triangular area enclosed by the coordinates of colors red, green, and blue.
It involves separating full-color photographs into separate components, which correspond to the four CMYK printing colors. Before the inception of digital and electronic prepress systems, color separation was done by exposing full-color images through red, green, and blue filters. Each color filter would expose its corresponding primary color in the image as a photo negative while the film positive remains with the opposite or complementary color. For instance, the red filter will filter the red color on the negative, and its positive will contain the opposite color, which is cyan.
As the name suggests, this describes a series of shifting colors with changing lights. Color shift paints originally have a metallic finish that shifts colors depending on the angle from which light rays hit it. This water-based craft can be used for indoor and outdoor painting projects.
This is a print with sound and image. Several components come into play before a composite film is released. The first is the visual image, another containing sound recorded on set, another with the musical score, and one with sound effects. All these are blended and printed together to make a composite film.
It is a color proof that shows the final copy of graphics and color separation.
It is the simple but technical process of arranging text and pictures on a page before printing.
Industry solutions POS provide intermediate document types that support various retail processes between the central and local point of sale systems. The two are connected through a POS converter, often located in the central offices. Converters handle all communications between head office and branch stores and transform the intermediate document interface and POS interface protocols.
Like bleeds, crop marks are essential in any print-ready file. Essentially, they are thin lines at the edge of documents, artwork, or image layout that indicate where to trim after printing. They are commonly used in commercial printing in creating bleeds where the text or image extends to the edge of the paper sheet.
The duties of a customer service representative include providing excellent customer service, both orally or written, maintain existing client relationships, prepare quotes and sample requests, and work with other stakeholders, including production staff, suppliers, sales reps, and administrative personnel.
This fabrication process uses specialized equipment or machines that convert paper sheets and other stock materials. In the printing industry, die-cutting is used in the creation of custom shapes and designing labels. The process makes it easy to create similar shapes with the same dimensions severally without using stencils, craft knives, or scissors, saving time and provides consistent and professionally appearing cuts.
Also known as the quintal or centum weight, this is the U.S and British imperial standard unit of mass or weight. However, the values differ between British imperial and U.S systems. Consequently, the use of hundredweight as a unit of measurement has gradually declined as people favor pounds and kilograms contract specifications.
Many colors present in a scale of visible light. Cyan is the color that appears between blue and green and is often evoked by lights with predominant wavelengths ranging from 490 to 520nm. Cyan is one of the additives or CMYK color models' primary colors, alongside Magenta and yellow.
Page margins should always be consistent when printing. The top, right, and bottom paper margins should be 1 inch, while the left margin can be 1 or 1.25 inches.
A printing unit is a unit of measurement in the printing industry.
This is a device that determines the degree of density of darkness of photographic plates or films by photometrically evaluating its transparency or the amount of incident light that passes through. Print professionals commonly use densitometers to measure color saturations, calibrate printing equipment and make adjustments that make the output or finished products consistent with desired colors.
This is the product of the paper's mass per unit volume. It is arrived at by dividing the paper grammage, which is grams per square meters, by calipers in micrometers.
It involves producing printed materials using a printer linked to personal or desktop computers and special desktop software. Desktop publishing makes it possible to produce reports and adverts cheaply while using print quality and layouts like those of typeset books. It is used in creating several publications, including newsletters, web pages, brochures, newspapers, resume designs, and banners.
A die simply refers to a specialized metal tool that cuts specific shapes from materials. They resemble a cookie-cutter but trims sheet of labels instead of sheets of cookies. The die trims out the label, and the remaining material, called the matric, is eliminated.
A die simply refers to a specialized metal tool that cuts specific shapes from materials. They resemble a cookie-cutter but trims sheet of labels instead of sheets of cookies. The die trims out the label, and the remaining material, called the matric, is eliminated.
This is the process of obtaining hard copy outputs from digital files directly to predict the appearance of the commercial press. Digital proofing involves preparing samples of printed outputs on computer printers before the job is printed.
This is a mechanism that increases the darkness of printed materials. Dot gain happens when the diameter of halftone dots increases during prepress and printing processes. Despite efforts of prepress and press operators to minimize dot gain, it cannot be completely avoided.
Shortly known as DPI, it describes the number of dots within a one-inch space. Dots per inch is the unit used to measure a spatial image, printing, or video scanner dot density. Basically, the higher the dots per inch, the more detailed the image or text becomes.
This describes a generic terminology for multitone printing. Duotone printing involves printing using two, three, or four different colors. The process involves setting up the printing press using special inks, typically Pantone-specific colors instead of standard CMYK colors. The images are then printed with dark base colors and overprinted with a light second color to fill in the tone and tint of the graphic or photo.
This involves printing a paper sheet twice with different intensities of ink to produce the same print twice. Mostly, the press sheet is printed with a percentage of the color during the first bump, while the second hit uses 100% of the color. Double bump is usually done to increase the smoothness or density of the print.
It is a reprographic technique that uses dots to simulate continuous tone imagery. Dots used in double hot halftone vary in size and spacing, which generates a gradient-like effect. Like most screen printing mechanisms, this technique relies on optical illusion.
Dot gain describes the difference between actual ink dot size on the printed piece and ink dot size on the source file. Ink dots may appear larger on the printed fabric due to optical or mechanical defects. However, this occurs in the printing process and should be considered when creating a source file, choosing papers, inks, and printing.
Printing estimates provide more than predicting the cost of printing. Apart from the cost, it is also a primary production plan formulated depending on the specifications provided. The estimate provides a blueprint of how the job will be produced.
Printing terms are confusing, especially terms that describe the sizes of printed documents. That said, the finished size describes the dimensions of printed documents in their finality. As such, these measurements are the same as the flat size and trim size of the unfolded document or folded size of a folded document.
Business expenses are categorized into fixed and variable expenses. Fixed costs are business costs that don't fluctuate or change based on the presence or lack of sales. They include all the set expenses that a business has committed to and are not tied to production volume. Examples include the cost of leasing equipment, phone services, rent, salaries, utility payments, and insurance. The printing business has considerable high fixed costs.
This modern version of press printing uses fast-drying and semi liquid ink. Flexography uses a flexible rubber plate printing plate that transfers images to substrates at high speeds. This technique can be used to print several absorbent and nonabsorbent materials and perfect for printing continuous patterns, such as wallpapers or gift wraps.
A flood coat is a term used when liquid coatings are applied to the entire paper sheet or substrate surface. It can also infer a decorative or protective coating application, such as aqueous or UV coating. Evidently, for flood coating to occur, the ink color should cover the printing surface from one edge to another, thus used in pieces that are printed in solid colors.
This is a business tool that can be electronic or printed, used to collect and transmit information. A form is a good way for businesses to get things done and record what was done.
Color printing involves producing images or texts in colors instead of the plain black and white color options. Four-color printing is the most commonly used method of printing full-color printouts. During the printing process, the color image is separated into four colors by a filter or screen. This was initially done by photographic films but currently done digitally using the software. As the name suggests, four ink colors are used; Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black, collectively called CYMK.
Printers use graduated screen tints to create multiple shades of colors while printing with only one color. This can be achieved by printing using varied sizes of ink dots.
Papers can be identified as having short or long grains. This determines the direction that the grain is running. Short grain means that the grain is parallel to the short edge of the paper.
Discussions about graphic design often rotate around digital processes. Most people design using computer software, such as Photoshop pixels or illustrators. However, you can still achieve this using a pen or pencil.
Unlike monochrome printing that uses black and white and is used for text alone, grayscale printing uses shades of gray and is best for producing images. Printing companies that produce grayscale sheets use color printing techniques in a black and white printer that supports this feature.
This describes papers produced from a coniferous tree. Groundwood paper is produced from tree pulp that has been grounded mechanically instead of undergoing chemical treatment. Such papers are often inexpensive and weak but bulky and highly opaque.
The term GSM may be familiar if you have ordered business cards, event invitations, and other printed papers. GSM paper is short for "Grams per square meter," which is the weight of the paper measured from a sheet of one square meter. Regardless of the length or width of the paper, weight measurements are always taken using a square meter paper sheet.
You should choose between a single sheet layout and a facing-page layout when deciding how your print document will look like. Use the facing-pages layout if you intend to print both sides of the sheet and a single-sheet layout if you want to print only one side. Gutters of a paper come into play if you prefer the facing-pages layout. Generally, the gutter margin is a printing typographical term that designates the additional margin added to facing-page layout prints. Such papers require a gutter as compensation for the part of the sheet rendered unusable after binding the document. This margin is always on the inside part of both pages.
If you already know what halftone means, creating halftone effects yourself won't' be challenging. If you use Photoshop, you can create the four-color halftone by clicking on "Filter > Pixelate > Color halftone.
In the context of printing, a hickey is a defect or spot in the final printed image caused by dirt, dust, dried ink, separated paper fibers, or any other foreign particles in the blanket or printing plate. The debris can produce a blank or unprinted spot called the void hickey or a solid printed area called a doughnut hickey.
This type of piling features paper debris, including filler particles, lint, or dislodged coating, which collects around the image areas of the printing plate or blanket, and traps ink. The mixture of ink and debris makes ink tackier, attracting more debris. Severe amounts of image area piling have an effect on the print quality.
To reduce the cost and increase productivity, printing presses don't print single pages or artwork. They can print 4, 16, or 96 pages through imposition. That said, imposition is a fundamental step in the prepress printing process that involves positioning artwork or pages on printing sheets to print multiple pages simultaneously.
Press printers have for long differed on the true definition of the term impression in printing. While some printing texts define it as the amount of pressure that a press sheet receives, most presses use this term to evaluate productivity. They define it as the amount of printing work completed over a given time period.
The impression cylinder is an important part of a printing press that carries the printing paper or any other plate through the printing unit. It also provides a solid backing that allows the printing blanket to give a hard impression to the paper.
Most white or light-colored fabrics don't require any form of pre-treatment before printing. However, DTG inks absorb deeply into fabrics, making it difficult for the print to stand out on dark segments. This is why ink foundation is necessary. DTG printers usually print a slid white base that creates a foundation for colored DTG inks to sit on. Printing with a foundation produces a heavier print.
There are predominantly two types of printers available on the market, namely laser and inkjet printers. Inkjet printers leverage inkjet printing technology, which creates images by propelling thousands of ink droplets onto paper or plastic substrates. Inkjet printers are the most commonly used printers.
Print job number refers to the unique number given by computing systems to a file or set of files that are ready to be printed. This may include other details, such as printing priority, size of print media, and the number of copies. Print job numbers make it easier for the computer and printer to exchange files to be printed.
This is a printed form that accompanies a job order and is used for various purposes, including recording worker's time, identifying printing material, and giving brief instructions of a procedure.
Keylines are commonly used in graphic design. They are boundary lines separating monochromatic areas and colors or any other differently colored printing space on a printing paper.
The paper's grain direction affects the layout of your printing project and determines the quality of the finished piece. This is why you should know how to identify the paper grain direction and avoid printing against the grain.
Printing papers can be printed in portrait or landscape mode. Landscape printing occurs when the orientation of the printout papers has the longest edge in a horizontal direction. This mode is commonly used in printing charts, images, or texts that don't fit the paper sheet in a portrait-oriented printing paper.
There isn't much difference between a logo vs. logotype and logomark. A logo is a popular general term that represents a company or brand. Logotype describes any logo centered around a brand's name or initials, while a logomark describes a logo centered around an icon or symbolic image of a company.
This is one of the four main colors used by inkjet printers in color printing alongside cyan, yellow, and black. It essentially has a purplish-red, mauvish-crimson, or reddish-purple appearance and located between red and blue in the RGB color wheel.
This describes the process of preparing the press for printing. This goes beyond oiling and inking the press, as it involves ensuring that the form is securely locked and adjusting or equalizing overlays and underlays to create a good impression.
Black and colored ink aren't the best color choices if you want to make a good impression on your next printing project. Beyond CMYK, color options are metallic inks, which are colors with suspended reflective metal particles, such as bronze, copper, aluminum, and zinc. The particles create a metallic sheen that reflects light once the ink dries.
Mil is the basic measurement unit used to measure paper or film thickness. That said, the mil 1/1000 inch is the thickness of plastic films expressed in mils.
Simply put, M weight refers to the weight of 1000 paper sheets. Unfortunately, most paper sheet sellers won't disclose the M weight of the paper, basically because the basis weight, which is the weight of one ream, is a commonly used indicator. However, you can calculate it easily, especially if you know the paper size and basis weight.
A subtype of color proof where a set of transparent plastic sheets or film with four process colors, magenta, cyan, yellow, and black, are laid on top of each other to mirror the final appearance of the full-color reproduction. Overlay color proof is also called NAPS or color-key.
Offset printing is a popular printing technique that uses aluminum plates to transfer images into a rubber blanket before rolling the image into a paper sheet. This printing technology is called offset since the ink isn't transferred directly into the paper sheet. Compared to digital printing, offset printing is best for printing large quantities. It also has accurate color reproduction and gives a clean and professional-looking printout.
This is a printing paper's ability to mask or hide a color or object at the back of the sheet. Papers with high opacity enable the reader to read one side of the page without distractions of print images at the back. The opacity of a paper is an important consideration when choosing a printing paper.
Papers with a high degree of opacity don't allow much light to pass through, making them a good choice for double-sided printing. Using opaque papers in printing makes the printouts easier to read, durable, reduces the amount of show-through, better quality, and reduces printing costs. Opaque papers are also environmentally friendly and suit office stationery.
Use overlay printing when printing multiple documents with the same graphic background without resending the background information with every print file. When sending a print command to a printer, you should send the data in the document you want to print. In some cases, this includes background images and graphic layouts that recur. With a printer overlay, the printer receives background images and graphics once. If used correctly, overlay printing makes your printing efficient.
This describes the additional printouts printed beyond the quantity ordered by the customer. Industry standards for most products should be +2-5%.
Shortly known as FPO, position-only reproduction refers to the use of placeholders to mark the position of images in the final print layout. Placeholders can either be stock photos or blank frames that indicate where the yet-to-be printed images will be fixed in the final print layout. This allows other design work to continue without the risk of pagination or to have to change some elements once the final image is available.
Printing papers are identified by weight and grade. Understanding both terms is important when specifying or choosing the right paper. Printing papers are available in 7 grades, which differ based on opacity, brightness, and fiber content. For instance, coated papers can have matte, ultra-gloss, and matter finish, while uncoated papers can have opaque, lightweight, and offset finishes.
Printing papers are made up of several fibers from wood or cotton materials. During the manufacturing process, fibers align in the direction that the paper machine moves towards. The result is that more fibers will be pointed towards the same direction along with the paper sheet, which is called the grain direction. That said, determining the grain direction is simple. For instance, in an 8.5x11 inch paper sheet, most fibers are aligned parallel to the 11-inch paper length.
Perforation in the printing industry is used to ease the separation of two parts or sections of a paper, allowing it to be torn along the perforated lines. It is used for calendars, leaflets, notepads, and loose-leaf coupons. Perforation can also be used as an alternative to creasing in making thick paper materials easy to fold in a straight line without paper cracks. Perforation lines can be straight, segmental, circular, round, or have curves.
A plate maker is a machine that makes printing plates for offset printing. Printing plates are flat sheets made from aluminum and used for printing several products, including business cards, brochures, and catalogs. Printing plates are used by offset printers, which were the standard before digital printers. Offset printers rely on these printing plates to transfer images into the printing paper.
Pressing color describes the color used in color printing. To produce a full-color image, the printing press uses four ink colors placed on paper sheets in layers of dots that mix to create an illusion of multiple colors. CMYK printers use four ink colors in the printing press. The color cartridge has Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black ink, which combine to produce a full-color print.
PMS is the abbreviation for Pantone Matching System, a reference system used to only control ink colors of solid color palettes. Pantone is a standard color communication and identification language worldwide. This allows designers, manufacturers, and clients to specify, select, control, and match colors in various applications.
This is a page orientation where the image is printed vertically across the printing paper instead of horizontally. All computer and printer programs have portrait orientation by default in their settings. Simply put, any image or printout paper in portrait mode is taller while paper in landscape mode is wider. This orientation is best for printing tall objects.
Prepress describes the activities done after commercial printers receive a printing order and corresponding graphics or image files from a graphic designer or client before the actual printing is done. Like other proofing options, the prepress ensures that the printed document has no issues, such as size or color distortions. This is done in three stages: pre-flighting, creating a proof, and printing plate stage for offset printers.
Prepress proofing is when customers and printers use a tool to verify that the job that is about to be printed is accurate. Also known as off-press proofing, this is a cost-effective method of providing visual copies without the expenses associated with creating a press proof. If errors or mistakes made on the final copy aren't seen until printing starts, correcting them becomes expensive and time-consuming.
A printing press check is the last procedure that allows the designer or agency to validate every detail of the printed matter before being printed. During this stage, the press is already set up and ready to begin printing, but before it starts, the press operator uses a proof on actual paper to the right off the press. The main goal of doing a press check is to ensure that the final color is closest possible to the latest color proof created during the proofreading and color proofing stage. This procedure is done for printing projects where color accuracy is crucial, such as stamps, money, and art books.
This is the last or final proof done to documents before printing orders are sent to the press. A printing press does a press proof to confirm details of the final output, such as appearance, color, and margin.
Press time is the exact time that a story or document is printed.
This is the process of reproducing images or words on fabric, paper, card, or any other material. Printing can involve producing a single sheet to millions of sheets. Printing is a Latin word that means "to press" since nearly every aspect of printing involves pressing something against another. While there are several printing forms, printing typically involves converting original artwork or words into printable forms using a printing plate.
A printing plate is a metal used to transfer inked designs into the printing material. Flexographic are more like rubber stamps, only that they are larger and are mounted to a flat surface. Printing plates are made from different materials according to the printing process. For instance, flexographic printing uses printing plates made from a photopolymer, a rubber-like material. Printing plates for lithographic printing are made from metal or plastic materials.
Process colors describe the way of mixing inks to create various colors that are used during the printing process. Process color prints using a mixture of four standard ink colors, which are cyan, magenta, yellow, and black. Mixing process colors in varying percentages result in different color hues. For instance, mixing 100% cyan and magenta results in violet color.
While it is not specific to the printing industry, a production run refers to the number of units produced consecutively in a production line. This is used in factories that produce the same products until the ordered quantities are reached.
Proofs are preliminary versions of the printed document. A proof provides a very close depiction of how the outcome will look once printed. Proofs are important as they ensure that the printer and client have agreed and are satisfied with the outcome before it goes to press. Proof also helps prevent unexpected problems of color, spacing, images, text, and design elements.
The quality of a printing job involves determining if the result meets or exceeds the expected standards. Printing quality is determined by the register, dot gain, color match, coatings, separations, halftones, screen percentages, finishing, and minor flaws.
It is important to obtain quotes from various printers when planning any print project like any other business. Quotations describe the cost and time taken by a printing company to complete a printing project. You can save a lot of time and money by getting the right quote. Apart from the time and cost, the quotation should also outline the type of paper, quantity, and design work required for the printouts.
Paper quantities can be defined using quires, reams, bales, bundles, and pallets. Average consumers purchase paper in reams or quires, while commercial establishments buy in bundles, pallets, or bales. While ream is a common term used to designate paper quantity, most people don't know how many reams are in one case. Well, any copier paper case has ten reams, and one ream has 500 sheets.
Recycled paper can be changed into new paper products for several benefits. It prevents the accumulation of waste paper and the production of methane as it decomposes and reduces the amount of carbon since paper fibers contain carbon originally absorbed by trees. The industrial-grade process of recycling paper involves the removal of printing ink to create deinked pulp.
Printing registration emphasizes the importance of precise alignment and placement of printing paper sheets. Proper paper registration means that impressions made on paper, whether metallic foil, ink, die-cut shapes, or embossing, are done precisely. The register is termed "off" if any of the elements in the printing job is displaced or misaligned.
Register marks are essential marks on the surface of paper sheets that help during alignment. A registration mark used in printing helps to ensure that the paper print is aligned correctly. They are also called position or cross marks.
Repeatability is overly important when producing a film. Together with uniformity, repeatability determines the outcome of thin film deposition.
Reverse in the printing industry describes printing a text, graphic, or logo using ink to form the outline while the underlying paper color forms the actual image. Reverse printing significantly differs from traditional printing by how the contrast in the paper is created. In conventional printing, the image area receives ink, but the surrounding area doesn't. On the other hand, in reverse printing, the area surrounding the image receives ink, but the image doesn't receive any ink.
RGB is an acronym for Red Green Blue colors, which are commonly mixed to create various colors. Combining red, blue, and green colors is probably the standard way of producing color images on various platforms. The RGB model is an additive color model that creates a white light when all the three colors are mixed.
This describes a film or paper that is read normally, from left to right and from top to bottom, unlike wrong reading.
As the name suggests, a rotary press is a method of printing where texts or images that should be printed are aligned and curved in a printing cylinder. Printing is done on several types of substrates, including cardboard, plastic, or paper. The rotary press is used for high-speed printing operations, such as newspaper printing.
Screen printing is arguably the most versatile printing process compared to sublimation, heat transfer, and DTG processes. Screen printing essentially involves using thick layers of ink emulsions to create high-density prints. In this technique, ink rises in the fabric, creating a 3-dimensional appearance that cannot be achieved with other traditional printing methods. This method is used to create special effects on printing designs or create an outstanding design.
Some book projects have pages printed on large paper sheets, commonly referred to as signatures. These sheets often have multiple pages printed on every side and are usually used by long-run book orders printed by offset printers. Using signatures speed up the printing process, simplifies binding, and reduces paper waste.
This is a type of varnish that applies varnish on specific spots on a printed piece. Spot varnish can be used to make photographs pop, highlight drop caps, create subtle images, and create texture on printed pieces. Unlike other varnishes, spot varnish is clear and glossy.
Tag paper is one of the many types of paper commonly used in printing hang tags for goods such as clothes and accessories. It is a heavy-grade, strong, and durable paper that delivers reliable performance.
A Trade shop or printer is a press company that supplies printing materials to retailers at wholesale prices. As a rule of thumb, these resellers or retailers should also be in the print industry. Ad agencies, marketing firms, copy shops, graphic designers, and print brokers are common customers of trade shops.
Print projects are produced using either a coated or uncoated paper type. Both coated and uncoated papers have a set of pros and cons depending on the project. Printers also have their preferred collection of papers depending on the stock availability and projects. That said, uncoated papers lack a coating that fills the space between fibers. Generally, they are rough and more porous, which makes them more absorbent compared to coated papers. Images printed on uncoated papers are soft and less crispy, making them an excellent choice for printing books and novels. The rough texture also makes them suitable for art books as well.
Varnish in printing describes the process of applying a coating to a printed fabric or piece either during or after it has been printed. Varnish is used to enhance the appearance of the end result or protect the fabric from scratching or scuffing when exposed to chemicals or moisture. Common varnish includes gloss, satin, matte, and strikethrough matte.
Wash up in printing involves cleaning one ink or color from a printer as you prepare to load another.
Waste in the paper industry results from several resources used in paper production, specifically wood and water. The paper industry produces several forms of waste, ranging from solids, gas, water, and particle waste in paper production. The best way to minimize this waste is gasification, anaerobic digestion, pyrolysis, and biodiesel production.
Watermarks are transparent messages, including a logo, stamp, or signature, superimposed on text or image. A watermark is mainly used to protect the copyright of images and documents. They discourage illegal use of intellectual property and other forms of creative material without permission from the creator. They are also used on currencies, postage stamps, and several government documents to prevent counterfeiting.
These are breaks that occur on paper rolls at any point during production. Web break can be caused by several factors, which may be paper-related or press-related. Causes of paper-related web breaks include uneven tension due to varying paper thickness, poorly made web splice, cuts/holes/tears in the paper web. On the other hand, press-caused web breaks include an excessively dry oven that makes the paper brittle.
Web press is a common printing solution used in commercial printing. Commercial businesses use web press for high-volume printing needs, such as newspapers, magazines, and catalogs. Web presses run faster compared to sheet-fed presses, thus saves on cost and moves large volumes. However, they are comparably expensive and can require more than one operator.
