Printer Glossary

A

AA Authors Alterations, changes other than corrections, made by a client after the proofing process has begun. AA’s are usually charged to a client as billable time.

Absorbency the capacity a paper has for accepting liquids, like the inks or water used to run offset lithographic presses. see also ink absorption,ink holdout.

Acid-free paper paper manufactured on a paper machine with the wet-end chemistry controlled to a neutral or slightly alkaline pH. see also alkaline paper-making, archival, permanence, pH, wet end.

Actual weight the true weight of any volume of paper. The actual weight of paper is used to determine both purchase price and shipping costs. see also basic size, basis weight, weight.

Additives ingredients of paper other than pulp. Additives include clay fillers, dyes, sizing, and other chemicals. see also clay, ingredients of paper, paper-making, sizing.

Alkaline Paper-making the manufacture of paper under alkaline conditions using additives, caustic fillers like calcium and neutral size. Alkaline paper is usually used where aging resistance is desired. It’s the logical choice for documents, books, and maps. All of Champion uncoated premium papers are made with an alkaline process, so they’re long-lasting and well-suited for permanent record applications. see also acid-free paper, archival paper, calcium carbonate, lining, paper-making, permanence, pH, sizing.

Alum also called hydrated aluminum sulfate or paper-maker’s alum. A paper-making chemical that’s typically used when adding rosin size to pulp, alum imparts water-resistant properties to paper. In practical terms, it keeps paper from clinging to the presses, see also rosin, sizing.

Aqueous Coating a water-based coating applied after printing, either while the paper is still on press (“in line”), or after it’s off press. An aqueous coating usually gives a gloss, dull, or matte finish, and helps prevent the underlying ink from rubbing off. Unlike a UV coating or a varnish, an aqueous coating will accept ink-jet printing, making it a natural choice for jobs that require printing addresses for mass mailings. see also coated paper, finishing, UV coating, varnish.

Archival Paper paper that’s alkaline and won’t deteriorate over time. Archival papers must meet national standards for permanence: they must be acid-free and alkaline with a pH of 7.5 to 8.5; include 2% calcium carbonate as an alkaline reserve; and not contain any groundwood or unbleached wood fiber. The expected life of archival paper is more than 100 years. see also acid-free, alkaline paper-making, permanence, pH.

Art Director The individual responsible for overseeing the creative and production process and managing other creative individuals.

ATM® Adobe® Type Manager® software, which makes type appear sharp and clear on-screen and in print.

B

Backing Up paper that’s alkaline and won’t deteriorate over time. Archival papers must meet national standards for permanence: they must be acid-free and alkaline with a pH of 7.5 to 8.5; include 2% calcium carbonate as an alkaline reserve; and not contain any ground wood or unbleached wood fiber. The expected life of archival paper is more than 100 years. see also acid-free, alkaline paper-making, permanence, pH.

Basic Size the customary sheet size used to establish the basis weight of a ream (500 sheets) of a given grade of paper. Standard basic sizes vary by paper grade. For example, the basic size of book paper is 25″x38″, while the basic size of cover stock is 20″x26″. see also basis weight, weight.

Basis Weight the weight, in pounds, of a ream (500 sheets) of paper cut to a given standard (basic size). Each major paper grade, like cover, bond, or offset, has its own basic sheet size, which determines its basis weight. For example, the basic size of book paper is 25″x38″ for 500 sheets; therefore, 500 sheets of 70lb. offset book paper in 25″x38″ will actually weigh 70 pounds. see also basic size, ream weight, weight.

Binding fastening papers together for easy reading, transport, and protection. Papers may be bound together with a variety of materials, like wire, thread, glue, and plastic combs. types of binding see also finishing, folding, imposition, scoring, signature.

Blade-coating a method of coating paper and paperboard using a flexible blade to control the amount of coating applied to the paper. The coating is made of pigments, additives, and adhesives. Blade-coating can take place either on the paper-making machine or on an off-machine coater. While paper may be coated on one side (C1S) or both sides (C2S), blade-coated paper are usually calendared. This helps create a compressed sheet with a glossy surface, reduced bulk, and enhanced printed properties. see also bulk, calendaring, clay, coated paper.

Blanket see impression cylinder, offset.

Bleaching a chemical treatment used to whiten and purify pulp. Bleached pulp is known for being strong and durable. see also celemtal chlorine free (ECF), OD100 precess, paper-making, pulp.

Bleach Filtrate Recycling (BFR) process Champion’s groundbreaking new patented process that recycles precess wastes from the bleach plant instead of discharging them to the waste water treatment facility. This technology uses Champion’s 0D100 bleaching process, and is being demonstrated at Champion’s Canton, North Carolina mill. see also elemental chlorine free (ECF), OD100 process.

Bleed an image or printed color that runs off the trimmed edge of a page. Bleeding one or more edges of a printed page generally increases both the amount of paper needed and the overall production cost of a printed job. Bleeds are created by trimming the page after printing.

Blind Embossing stamping raised letters or images into paper using pressure and a die, but without using foil or ink to add color to the raised areas. Braille is an example of blind embossing. see also elemental chlorine free (ECF), OD100 process.

Blueline A printer’s proof, actually blue on white paper. All AAs and corrections should have been made prior to seeing a blue line.

BMP A computer graphics format “Bitmap IBM format” not generally used in professional printing.

Bond Paper a type of office reprographic paper, widely used for letterheads and business forms. Bond papers are characterized by strength, durability, and performance during electronic printing. They are manufactured with a basic size of 17″x22″. see also basic size, electronic printing, office reprographic paper, xerography.

Bonding Strength the internal strength of a paper; the ability of the fibers within a paper to hold to one another. Bonding strength measures the ability of the paper to hold together on the printing press. Good bonding strength prevents fibers from coming loose (“picking”). see also picking, pick out, sizing.

Book Paper a type of offset paper with a basic size of 25″x38″. The primary applications for these products are book publishing, commercial printing, direct mail, technical documents, and manuals. see also basic size, offset papers, text papers.

Brightness the reflectivity of pulp, paper, or paperboard under test conditions, using a specially calibrated measuring instrument. If paper lacks brightness it will absorb too much light, so little will reflect back through the ink. see also fluorescent dye, refractiviness, whiteness.

Bristol Paper solid or laminated heavyweight paper made to a caliper thickness of .006″ or higher. Bristols are generally used for tags, covers, and file folders and have a basic size of 24.5″x30.5″. see also basic size, cover paper, tag paper.

Bulk the thickness of a stack of paper, technically measured as the thickness of a specified number of sheets under a specified pressure. For example, using the measurement of an inch, it may take less that 100 bulky bristol sheets to make an inch-deep pile. On the other hand, it might take hundreds of sheets to make an inch of a lower-bulk text paper. Where thickness or the illusion of substance is a desired effect, bulk is a key factor. see also caliper, thickness

Burn To expose photo sensitive media to light. i.e. Burning a negative or Burning a printing plate. Also, to doge and “burn” a photo print (makes the image darker in an area that is burned, ads detail to lightly exposed areas)

C

C1S paper that is coated on one side only (coated one side). An example of a C1S sheet is Champion All-Purpose Litho.

C2S paper that is coated on both sides (coated two sides).

Calcium Carbonte CaCO3, a naturally occurring substance found in a variety of sources, including chalk, limestone, marble, oyster shells, and scale from boiled hard water. Used as a filler in the alkaline paper manufacturing process, calcium carbonate improves several important paper characteristics, like smoothness, brightness, opacity, and affinity for ink; it also reduces paper acidity. It is a key ingredient in today’s paper coatings. see also alkaline paper-making, ingredients of paper.

Calendaring the process of finishing a sheet of dried paper by pressing it between the highly polished metal cylinders of a calendar “stack”. The calendar smooths the paper by compression. see also finish, paper-making, smoothness, super-calendaring.

Caliper the thikness of a single sheet of paper, as measured with a sensitive tool called a micrometer, and expressed in units of thousandths of an inch. Caliper is a critical measure of uniformity. Excessive variation in caliper can lead to print variation, undesirable visual effects, and uneven stretch or press-feeding problems. It can also create problems in folding and binding. see also bulk, thickness.

Case Binding see binding.

Cast-coating paper produced with a surface that is a reasonably accurate replication of some other surface. To manufacture cast-coated paper, a paper web with wet or moistened coating is brought into contact with a polished chrome drum surface, which is replicated in the coated sheet. There are two basic cast-coating technologies: the “wet process”, invented and developed by Champion in 1937; and the “re-wet” process. Both methods remain in use to produce the world’s output of cast-coated products. The advantage of the “wet process,” used to manufacture Champion Kromekote, is that the sheet is both smooth and absorbent, not just smooth, allowing for excellent ink transfer with minimal pressure. Cast-coated papers allow inks to set and dry quickly, making wet trapping easier and minimizing dot gain. In general, cast-coated papers uniquely combine a superior flat surface with excellent ink receptivity, making them the best of printing surfaces, regardless of the type of printing process. see also coated-paper, dot gain, finish, smoothness, wet trap.

Camera Ready Type and/or artwork that has been pasted into position, laser prints, or other artwork to be photographed for plate ready film.

Cellulose Fiber the main component of the walls of all plant cells, cellulose gives plants their structural support and makes plant material fibrous. Both cotton and wood fibers are mostly made up of cellulose. see also fiber, ingredients of paper, paper, pulping wood.

Character Identifiers (CID) A new type of font that has a simplified internal structure and a compact file size, resulting in improved performance for large character sets such as Chinese, Cyrillic, Japanese, and Korean.

Chemical Pulping manufacturing pulp by pressure-cooking wood or other raw fibrous material into its component parts with solutions of various chemical liquors. The predominant chemical pulping process is the sulfate (kraft) process. see also kraft, paper-making, pulping wood.

Choke (Choking) When trapping color closing in an area that has another color inside so the choked color overlaps, also spreading.

Chromalin A color proofing system, usually the final color proof before going on the press. This is a high quality proof and all corrections and alterations should be made prior to this.

Clay a naturally occurring substance commonly used in the paper industry. Clay is used as both a filler and a coating ingredient. By adding clay, papermakers can improve a paper’s smoothness, brightness, opacity, and affinity for ink. see also additives, coated paper, filler, ingredients of paper, opacity.

Color Management System (CMS) Software that allows applications and printer drivers to access information about the color characteristics of monitors, printers, and scanners. The Color Management System uses the color information to provide accurate and consistent color to the output device.

CMYK Abbreviation for the four process color inks: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black.

Coated Paper paper with an outer layer of coating applied to one of both sides. The coating may be added while the paper is still moving through the paper-making machine, or after it comes off the machine. Coated papers are available in a variety of finishes, like gloss, dull, and matte. They tend to have good ink holdout and minimal dot gain, which can be especially important for recreating sharp, bright images, black and white halftones, and four-color process images. The smooth surface of coated papers also helps to reflect light evenly. see also cast-coating, clay, dot gain, dull coated, four-color process gloss, halftone, ink holdout, matte coated, off-machine coating.

Color Key A printer’s proof usually used for viewing the individual layers of C,M,Y & K, four sheets of colored acetate, for examining the quality of process color separations.

Color Separation Literally separating the areas of a piece to be printed into its component spot and process ink colors. Each color to be printed must have its own printing plate. Usually referred to in a photographic sense a color separation of a photo done either digitally or traditionally on a scanner.

Colorcurve System a color matching system based on light reflectance curves rather than on ink formulations. It is intended to coordinate colors across a variety of surfaces and materials and to reduce metamerism. see also match color, metamerism, PANTONE MATCHING SYSTEM, Toyo.

Colorfastness having color that won’t run when wet, and won’t fade in bright light.

Comp (comprehensive) a complete but prospective example of a design project, demonstrating size, layout of images and type, use of color, and paper. see also dummy

Composite Image A photograph or other graphic image, that is made of a combination of multiple images.

Computer-to-Plate (CTP) A technology that allows for the delivery of digital data directly to a plate for printing. CTP efficiency eliminates conventional films and stripping to significantly reduce prepress materials and costs, and allow for significant productivity benefits over other commercial printing solutions.

Continuous Tone having an unbroken range of intensities, as found in black and white photographs. Continuous tone images have not been screened, and contain gradient tones from black to white. see also halftone, screen, stochastic.

Contrast the degree of difference between light and dark areas in an image. Extreme lights and darks give an image high contrast. An image with a wide tonal range has lover contrast.

Conversion The process of creating a three dimensional (3D) item from a flat sheet of paper. i.e. envelope conversion / box conversion

Copy The written information and other text used in advertising and printed material.

Copyright (©) A group of legal rights granted to the author or creator of written or visual work. All work appearing with the © symbol or the word “copyright” is protected by its creator or his heirs. For more information, contact your attorney.

Copy Writer The individual who writes the written information or “copy” for an advertisement, newsletter, publication or brochure.

Cotton Paper paper with a minimum cotton fiber content of 25%, and a maximum fiber content of 100%. When fiber other than cotton is used, the balance comes from wood pulp. Cotton pulp is made from rags or clippings from textile mills, raw cotton, and cotton liners. Cotton papers are primarily used as writing papers.

Cover Paper heavier, generally stiffer paper commonly used for book covers, folders, greeting cards, business cards, and brochures. Uncoated cover papers generally match the color and finish of corresponding text papers. The basic size of cover stock is 20″x26″. see also basic size, text paper.

Curl the waviness of a sheet of paper generally seen along its edges. Curling is generally the result of physical stresses or changes in humidity, and may occur at the paper mill, in the pressroom, on press, or after binding. Paper tends to curl along, rather than across, the grain of the paper. Recycled and recycled content papers have less tendency to curl than virgin fiber papers because their fibers are shorter. see also grain, relative humidity.

Cut-size writing or business papers that are cut to a finished size of 8.5″x11″, 8.5″x14″, or 11″x17″. Cut-size papers, like Champion Inkjet, are usually packed in reams of 500 sheets before leaving the mill.

Cylinder Machine a type of paper-making machine. Wire covered cylinders are rotated through a vat of pulp, and paper is formed as the water drains from the cylinder. Cylinder machines are mostly used for manufacturing paperboard. Multicylinder machines are capable or producing multi-layered paperboard (one layer for each cylinder). see also paperboard, paper-making.

D

Dandy Roll a wire mesh cylinder used to smooth the top of paper as it forms. Enhancing both surface smoothness and formation, the dandy roll may also carry a design, which will create a water-mark, identifying the sheet. see also laid finish, paper-making, watermark.

Debossing pressing letters or illustrations into a sheet of paper using a metal or plastic die to create a depressed (debossed) image. see also embossing.

Deckle Edge the feathery edge on a sheet of paper, created as the paper machine sprays a stream of water or a jet of air across the paper as it’s being formed. Deckle edges can also be created after the paper is made, using a die. This method creates a less feathery, harder-edged deckle.

De-inking removing ink and other finishing materials, like coatings, sizing, and adhesives from printed paper. The complex de-inking process is what makes recycling paper difficult and ultimately adds to the cost of a recycled sheet of paper. To produce high-quality recycled or recycled content papers for printing and writing, the de-inking process needs to be thorough. The goal is to end up with reusable fiber that has few impurities, since impurities lower the quality of a recycled sheet and can sometimes damage equipment in the paper-making and printing process. Modern offset and flexographic ink, photocopier and laser printing “ink,” ultraviolet and thermography coatings, and adhesives make it increasingly difficult to de-ink paper. de-inking process see also bleaching, flotation, pulping wood, recycled paper.

Densitometer an instrument used throughout a print run to measure the optical density of ink on paper.

Density the weight of a sheet of paper as compared to its bulk. For example, a paper that weighs more than another paper but is thinner has a higher density. Compacting the fibers creates a dense paper. see also bulk, weight.

Desktop Publishing A process for creating camera ready and plate ready artwork on a personal computer.

Device-Independent Color (DIC) Color that is independent of the color characteristics of any particular device used in the printing process. Device-independent color allows colors to be predictably and accurately matched among various printing devices.

Die-cutting using a formed, meta-edged die to precision cut , or to cut shapes into a piece of paper. If a printing project requires a custom-made die, the total cost of the job will increase.

Digital Imaging The process of creating a digital output of an illustration, photographic image, computer file or other computer generated materials. Output media can be film, paper, transparencies, vinyl and other materials.

Digital Photography The process of recording images using a digital camera or a conventional camera with a digital adapter, it records on a disk or on microchip which can then be downloaded directly to a computer in tiff, pict or eps format.

Digital Printing A type of printing which uses digital imaging process that transfers the image directly onto plain paper immediately, without traditional offset rollers and plates.

Dimensional Stability a measure of paper’s tendency to stretch or shrink, especially when affected by changes in moisture content from humidity, the printing process, or even the passage of time. Paper that maintains its original dimensions has a high degree of dimensional stability. see also grain, relative humidity, resilience, runability.

Direct Digital Printing Commercial-quality printing in which electronic source files are processed directly on the printing press or printing system, rather than through analog steps such as film image-setting and plate-making. Direct digital printing systems may be based on lithographic offset technology or laser/toner technology. Front-end RIPs and servers are integrated components of these printing systems.

Direct-to-Plate Printing Imaging directly to the plate material used in offset lithographic printing. The traditional offset printing process includes generating film (typically from an imagesetter today), “burning plates” by exposing the aluminum or poly printing plates with the film, and mounting the resulting plates on offset presses. Direct-to-plate printing eliminates the film imaging step by imaging directly on the plate material.

Dispersion see de-inking

Dot Compensation adjusting the size of the dots in halftones or four-color images to allow for dot gain and to ensure that the color and detail of the image print as intended. see also dot gain, four-color process, halftone, ink holdout, screen.

Dot Gain A printing term which describes wet ink coming in contact with paper and spreading as it is transfers. As the halftone dots are applied to the paper, the wet ink spreads, causing the dots to increase in size and halftones to appear darker. Paper weight, type of paper (coated or uncoated), press type (especially web presses), effect the amount of dot gain in a given printed piece. You may compensate for dot gain by calculating the dot gain before a print job and lessen the density of the images to be printed before you output film. See also dot compensation, four-color process, halftone.

Dots Per Inch (DPI) (dot per inch) the number of dots that fit horizontally and vertically into a one-inch measure. Generally, the more dots per inch, the more detail is captured, and the sharper the resulting image. see also halftone, lines per inch, screen.

Dry End the drying section of the paper-making machine, after the press section, at which point most water has been removed from the paper. As paper moves through the dry end, the drying process is completed and the paper reel is wound. see also drying, felt, paper-making, wet end.

Dry Trap a layer of wet ink being applied over a previous layer of dry ink in a separate run of the printing press. Dry trapping usually produces sharper images than wet trapping because subsequent layers of ink aren’t diluted by prior wet or damp layers. Dry trapping is also more expensive because the paper travels through the press more than once. see also trapping, wet trap.

Drying the step in the paper-making process that brings the moisture content of paper to approximately 5%. This is done by moving the web of paper around a series of heated iron drums in the dry end of the paper machine. see also dry end, paper-making.

Dryography waterless offset lithography. This printing process is able to use extremely fine line screens to produce high resolution printing. see also offset, waterless printing.

Dull Coated a coated paper finish that falls between glossy and matte. see also coated paper, gloss, matte coated.

Dummy an un-printed mock-up of a book, brochure, or “to-be-printed” piece. A dummy is made of the same paper stocks that will be used in the finished piece, and serves as a reference for the client, designer, printer, mailing, house, or distributor. The printer, paper, merchant, or paper consultant generally provides the dummy at the request of the designer. see also comp, paper consultant.

Duotone a two-color halftone of the same images created with two screens, two plates, and two colors. Most halftones are one-color halftones, printed with black ink on white paper. By blending the black of the tiny ink dots and the white of the paper, the human eye sees shades of gray. Duotones are made by printing an image with two colors, generally black and a second color. The full range of tones are printed black and the middle range of tones are printed in the second color. The result is a striking image with more richness and depth that a one-color halftone. The image can be further enhanced by printing a tritone or a quadratone; these are also reproductions of black and white images, perhaps with a touch of color. The cost of printing tritones or quadratones may be as high as or higher than four-color process printing. see also four-color process, halftone, quadratone, screen, tritone.

Dust tiny, free pieces of fiber, filler, and/or coating on paper. During printing, dust may adhere to the blanket and create imperfections by not allowing ink to reach the paper surface. see also hickey, jog.

E

Electronic Printing a printing method that creates images using electrostatic charges, rather than by pressing ink onto a plate. Photocopiers and inkjet or laser printers use electronic printing. see also electrophotography, printing methods, xerography.

Electrophotography a printing process that uses principles of electricity and electrically-charged particles to create images. In photocopiers and laser printers, electric charges create the image on an electrophographic surface that works as a printing plate. This surface is cleared after each image or copy is made, and is used over again for the next copy. see also electronic printing, printing process, xerography.

Electronic Publishing A new process by which information is distributed in electronic formats. The internet is a prime example of electronic publishing. Also books on CD ROM are considered Electronic publishing.

Elemental Chlorine Free (ECF) the more common name for molecular chlorine free, and a bleaching that doesn’t use chlorine gas. Champion is a leader in ECF technology, using chlorine dioxide rather than elemental chlorine in the pulp and bleaching processes. see also bleaching, OD100 process, paper-making

Em Space A lateral space equal to the width of the lower case letter “m”. Likewise, En space, is the space of the lower case “n”. Used in typography and typesetting.

Emboss A process by which a dye is used for raising an area of paper to create letterforms, shapes and textures. The dye can be made of magnesium, which is created from exposing light to the magnesium and leaving only the form of the artwork to be pressed into paper, or brass which is hand done, is more expensive but looks very good with beveled edges and fine detail. see also blind embossing, debossing.

Emulsion The chemically treated side of photographic film. (The dull side not the shiny side.) Depending on the printing process involved, film will be requested usually as “right reading emulsion down”.

Enamel a general term referring to coated paper that has a higher basis weight than coated publication (magazine) paper, but a lower basis weight and caliper than coated cover paper. An example of enamel is Champion Kromekote Enamel. see also C2S, coated paper.

Engraving a printing process using intaglio, or recessed plates. Made from steel or copper, engraving plates cost more than plates used in most other printing processes, such as lithography. Ink sits in the recessed wells of the plate while the printing press exerts force on the paper, pushing it into the wells and onto the ink. The pressure creates raised letters and images on the front of the page and indentations on the back. The raised lettering effect of engraving can be simulated using a less costly process, called thermography. see also intaglio, plate, printing process, thermography.

Envelope paper that is folded and glued in a wide variety of sizes and shapes, for containing letter of other materials. Many printing jobs will end up in an envelope. The closer a finished piece is to an envelope size, the easier it will be to mail and the less chance it will be damaged by jostling around inside the envelope. An envelope maker can make just about any size envelope needed, but a custom envelope requires a custom die and carries a custom price.

Encapsulated PostScript (EPS) (EPSF) Encapsulated Postscript File. A vector based, computer graphics file format developed by Adobe Systems. EPS is the preferred format for many computer illustrations, because of its efficient use of memory and fine color control. The artwork description is “plotted” by the computer. Example: point “A” has a line that goes to point “B” then continues to point “C”, and is filled with a color. (bitmapped artwork attributes a color for every pixel on the computer screen and is not postscript)

F

Felt a fabric of natural or synthetic fibers used in the press section of a paper-makaing machine to absorb water from the paper as it is manufactured. see also felt finish, paper-making.

Felt Finish a soft texture that affects the look but not the strength of an uncoated paper. A felt finish can be created at the wet end during the paper-making process in one of two ways; either with a roll that is covered with a felt, or with a rubber roll with a felt-patterned finish. An embossed felt finish is created off the machine, after the paper has dried. Champion Carnival Felt is an example of a paper with a felt finish created during the paper-making process. see also felt finish, finish, paper-making, wet end.

Felt Side the top side of the paper, which comes in contact with the dandy roll and felts during the paper-making process. The bottom side of the paper, which comes in contact with the wire (forming fabric) or the paper-making machine, is called the wire side. The felt side of a paper may appear to be softer, while the wire side of a paper may have more “tooth.” During printing, the softer texture of the felt side of an uncoated paper may pick up slightly more ink than the wire side of the same sheet, and the printer may have to adjust ink densities to compensate for this. Paper is generally packed and shipped as it is made: felt side up. see also finish, paper-making, tooth, two-sidedness, wire side.

Fiber filaments of plant tissue, such as cotton fiber and wood fiber. Some specialty papers may contain synthetic fibers, such as rayon or nylon. see also ingredients of paper.

Fiber-added Paper paper with visible fibers, flecks, and specks. The term may be a bit misleading because all paper is made from fiber. The most common fiber additives are wood chips, colored cotton fibers, and colored rayon fibers. see also recycled paper, recycled-content paper.

Filler materials like clay added to pulp before it’s formed into paper. Fillers improve a sheet’s smoothness, brightness, and affinity for ink. see also clay, ingredients of paper.

Film Recorders Devices that generate film negatives and positives for slides and other photographic needs.

Finish the surface characteristics of a paper. Finishes may be created on-machine or off-machine. On-machine finishing can be done two ways: for a smooth or vellum finish, pressure is imparted on the sheet with a finishing “stack.” Laid of felt finishes are made with a marking roll, which actually presses the pattern into the paper while it’s still wet. Off-machine finishes are called embosses. This is a separate step that presses the paper between a steel pattern roll and either a hard cotton backing roll (to create the finish on both sides), or a plastic roll (for smoothness on one side). Several generic terms describe the various finishes of uncoated paper, such as vellum, smooth, and laid. Individual paper manufacturers may not use these terms consistently, instead using unique finishes or unique names for common finishes. see also calendaring, embossed, paper-making, super-calender.

Finishing preparing printed pages for use. Most printed jobs require one or more finishing steps, such as trimming, folding, or binding. see also binding, folding, trimming.

Flexography a direct (not offset) printing method that uses relief plates, similar to rubber stamps, which are made from rubber or photopolymer. The flexible plates are wrapped around a cylinder on the printing press. “Flexo” words best when printing large areas of solid color, making it popular for printing plastic bags, wrapping paper, and milk cartons. It’s also used for the Sunday color comics and newspaper inserts. Rubber manufactures, eager to find new uses for rubber, have invested heavily in flexographic research, and improvements have been made in ink coverage and four-color registration. see also four-color process, offset, plate, printing process, registration, relief.

Floatation a method for removing ink from paper during the deinking process by floating if off the paper. see also deinking.

Fluorescent Dye a coloring agent added to paper to increase its brightness. Fluorescent dyes give white papers added brilliance in natural light and may add a slight cast like blue or green. see also brightness, refractiveness, whiteness.

Fluorescent Inks printing inks that both emit and reflect light. Generally, these inks are brighter and more opaque than traditional inks. Using one or more fluorescent inks can actually brighten a printed image especially four-color process printing on uncoated stock. On the down side, fluorescent inks are not colorfast and will fade in bright light and sunlight over time. They can also have a negative effect on dot gain and trapping, making the printing less sharp and without as much detail. see also dot gain, trapping

Focaltone A proprietary color matching system for process color.

Foil Stamping to cover paper with a thin, flexible sheet of metal or other material. The foil, which may be clear or opaque, comes in a range of colors, and is carried on a plastic sheet. Stamping separates the foil from the plastic and makes it adhere to the paper. Foil stamping can be combined with embossing or debossing as an added design element. see also debossing, embossing.

Folding doubling up a sheet of paper so that one part lies on top of another. Folding stresses the paper fibers. To create a smooth, straight fold, heavy papers, like cover stocks and bristols, need to be scored before they’re folded. Multiple fold strength is important in printed pieces like books, maps, and pamphlets. It’s far less important in one-fold operations like greeting cards or envelops, where fold cracking is the vital consideration. Folding strength is negatively affected y the drying heat of various printing and finishing operations. see also binding, finishing, gatefold, imposition, scoring, signature.

Fonts Typefaces in different styles that give documents personality.

Form the assembled pages and images as printed on a single large sheet, before trimming. With the correct imposition, the pages of a form will be in correct order after folding and trimming. Once folded and trimmed, a form becomes a “signature.” see also folding, imposition, signature, trimming.

Formation the uniformity of fibers in a sheet of paper. For example, paper with fine formation has evenly dispersed fibers, and will be smoother and more uniform than a paper with uneven formation. The tighter the fibers are bound, the more uniform the surface, and the better the printed sheet usually looks. see also fiber, grain.

Four-color Process a method that uses dots of magenta (red), cyan (blue), yellow, and black to simulate the continuous tones and variety of colors in a color image. Reproducing a four-color image begins with separating the image into four different halftones by using color filters of the opposite (or negative) color. For instance, a red filter is used to capture the cyan halftone, a blue filter is used to capture the yellow halftone, and a green filter is used to capture the magenta halftone. Because a printing press can’t change the tone intensity of ink, four-color process relies on a trick of the eye to mimic light and dark areas. Each halftone separation is printed with its process color (magenta, cyan, yellow, and black). When we look at the final result, our eyes blend the dots to recreate the continuous tones and variety of colors we see in a color photograph, painting, or drawing. see also color separation, continuous tone, dots per inch, halftone, screen subtractive color, touchplate.

Fourdrinier a paper-making machine with a horizontal continuous wire belt. A slurry of pulp is poured or sprayed onto the wire (forming fabric); the water is then drained off and pressed out; and the paper is dried. see also paper-making.

Free-sheet paper that contains no more than 10% mechanical wood pulp. Most free-sheet papers are “free” of mechanical (groundwood) pulp. see also pulping wood, uncoated free-sheet, uncoated paper

Furnish fully prepared pulp and all its ingredients: fiber, fillers, sizing, and pigments diluted with water and ready for the paper-making machine. Furnish contains about 99% water. see also paper, pulp, slurry.

G

Gatefold two or more parallel folds on a sheet of paper with the end flaps folding inward. see also folding.

GIF An eight bit (256 colors or shades of grey) or less computer file format by Compuserve. Commonly used to post photographic images to computer bulletin boards and the internet, GIF files are almost never used for professional printing.

Gloss the property that’s responsible for coated paper’s shiny or lustrous appearance; also the measure of a sheet’s surface reflectivness. Gloss is often associated with quality: higher quality coated papers exhibit high gloss. Champion Kromekote is a paper noted and sold for its exceptionally high gloss. see also cast coating, coated paper.

Grade a type or class of paper identified as having the same composition and characteristics. Grade is a generic paper category, such as writing, offset, cover, tag, and index paper. It can also refer to the quality level of the paper; or to a mill’s specific rank of paper, such as Champion Carnival, Benefit, or Kromekote.

Grain the direction in which more fibers lie in a sheet of paper. As paper is formed, the slurry of fibers moves forward on the forming wire at high speeds, aligning the fibers in the direction of the movement and creating the grain. At the same time, the machine shakes the slurry of fibers from side to side, so that the fibers crisscross. This crisscrossing creates a web of fibers, and gives the paper strength in both directions while maintaining a predominant grain, or direction. As the moisture in the air changes, the individual fibers take in moisture and swell sideways, rather than from end to end; this explains why paper will expand or shrink across the grain, and is more flexible along the grain and stiffer against the grain. For books and other bound work, the grain should run parallel with the binding, creating a smoother fold, making the pages easier to turn, and allowing the paper to swell across the grain. If the binding runs across the grain, the free ends of the paper will swell or shrink with moisture changes, but the bound ends will not. The book will buckle and the binding will weaken. With sheet paper, the grain direction is indicated by underscoring the dimension along which the grain lies, or by changing the order of the numbers. For example, a 23″x35″ sheet is grain long; a grain short sheet is indicated by 25″x35″, or 35″x23″. On web paper, the grain runs along the length of the paper web. see also binding, formation, grain long, grain short, paper-making, slurry.

Grain Long grain running along the length, or long side, of a sheet of paper (23″x35″). Fibers line up parallel to the long side of the paper. This book in your hands is an example of grain-long binding. see also grain, grain short.

Grain Short grain running along the width, or short side, of a sheet of paper (35″x23″). Fibers line up parallel to the short side of the paper. see also grain, grain long.

Grammage weight in grams of a quantity of paper cut to sheets that measure one square meter. see also weight.

Graphic A non text item, illustration, photograph or artwork.

Graphical Display Interface (GDI)The display language interface for Microsoft Windows systems. GDI printers are compatible only with Windows systems and do not offer the performance and features available with Adobe PostScript or Adobe PrintGear® printers.

Graphic Design A way of communication with visual elements and information to present an idea or concept.

Graphic Designer The person who puts Graphic Designs together, many of whom now use computers, drafting and illustration techniques and other tools to create with.

Gravure a printing process that uses intaglio, or recessed, image carriers. The image carrier, which is flat or cylindrical, moves through an ink pool. A blade scrapes excess ink off the plane of the plate, leaving ink in the recessed wells. A second cylinder presses the paper onto the plates, where it picks up ink from the wells. The high speed of gravure presses and the durability of the metal intaglio plates make gravure an economical printing method suitable for large print runs (more than two million copies). see also intaglio, plate, printing methods

Greek Usually nonsense words and letterforms that are not legible, used in a design to approximate the “color” of a page. Used primarily before final text is available for a client comps.

Gripper the row of clips holding the sheet of paper as it speeds through the press. see also gripper edge.

Gripper Edge the leading edge of paper that moves through a printing press or folding machine. No printing can take place on the outside 3/8″ of the paper on the gripper edge. see also gripper.

Groove Finish a textured paper like Champion Carnival Groove, with shallow, parallel furrows or grooves running along the surface. This finish is created by embossing the paper after it comes off the paper-making machine. see also embossing, finishes.

Groundwood Paper paper that contains between 10 and 75% of groundwood pulp. The groundwood pulping process, also know as mechanical pulping, leaves many natural impurities, like lignin, in the paper. As a result, groundwood paper is less bright and ages faster than free-sheet paper, which is made from chemical pulping. Groundwood paper isn’t recommended for any printed matter that is expected to last over time. The advantages of groundwood are that it’s lightweight, bulky, and economical. An example of a groundwood paper is Champion Maineweb, manufactured for catalogs and magazines. see also bulk, free-sheet, lignin, pulping wood, uncoated groundwood.

Guillotine a machine used to trim stacks of paper, which works like the original French guillotine worked. A cutting blade moves between two upright guides and slices the paper uniformly as it moves downward. see also trimming, trim size.

H

Halftone a printed picture that uses dots to simulate the tones between light and dark. Because a printing press cannot change the tone of ink, it will only print the ink color being used on press. This works well for printing text or line art: the press simply puts a full dose of ink for each letter or line on the paper, creating small solid areas of ink. But black-and-white photographs are continuous tone images, and printing a photograph this way would have the same result: large solid areas of ink. White areas of the photograph would have no ink; black areas would have black ink; and gray areas would have black, not gray ink. The halftone mimics the continuous tone of a black-and-white photograph by converting the picture to dots. Photographing a continuous tone image through a screen creates a duplicate image made of dots. Darker areas of the photograph have bigger dots and lighter area of the photograph have smaller dots. To the human eye, the black of the dots blend with the white of the paper to create shades of gray. The result is strinkingly similar to the continuous tone of a photograph. see also continuous tone, duotone, four-color process, quadratone, screen, tritone.

Hardwood Pulp pulp made from deciduous trees (trees that drop their leaves, such as maple and oak). Hardwood pulp has short fibers, which give paper bulk, body, and smoothness. Papers are often made from a blend of hardwood and softwood pulps, combining the qualities of both into a single paper. see also softwood pulp.

Headbox the compartment that holds pulp slurry before it is sprayed or poured onto the paper-forming wire of a paper-making machine. see also paper-making, slurry, wet-end

Hexachrome A proprietary color separation process, developed by Pantone, that uses six (6) instead of four process colors.

Hickey an irregularity in the ink coverage of a printed area. Hickeys are caused by paper or pressroom dust, dirt, or pick out on the printing blanket, all of which prevents the ink from adhering to the paper surface. see also dust, picking, pick out

Hydropulper equipment used to slurry pulp. Water is added to dry pulp and fillers, and agitated until the mixture becomes about the consistency of oatmeal cereal. see also paper-making, slurry.

I

Illustrator An individual who draws or paints images for use in commercial art. Many new tools allow a variety of expressions with traditional media or new computer enhanced illustration techniques.

Imagesetters/Typesetters Devices that generate the highest resolution paper, plate, and film output for professional publishing needs. Many imagesetters output film at 2400 DPI (dots per inch).

Imposition also called image assembly; refers to assembling printed matter in a way that results in pages appearing in correct sequence. imposition process see also backing up, folding, form, make-ready, manufacturing order signature.

Impression Cylinder the cylinder or flat bed of a printing press that holds paper while an inked image from the blanket is pressed upon it. see also offset planographic.

Inch A unit of measurement equal to six (6) picas or seventy two (72) points.

Index Paper a stiff, inexpensive paper with a smooth finish. The high bulk but low weight of this paper makes it a popular choice for business reply cards. The basic size of index paper is 25.5″x30.5″. see also basic size.

Ingredients of Paper all the materials used to make the mat of fibers known as paper. The one essential ingredient is cellulose fiber. The rest of the ingredients enhance the paper adding body, reducing cost, or changing color. see also cellulose fiber, clay, filler, furnish, paper-making, pigment pulp, resin, sizing.

Ink a combination of pigment, pigment carrier or vehicle, and additives. Careful ink formulation by the printer can reduce or prevent smudging, unevenness, picking, and additional printing problems associated with ink. The ink used for a particular job depends on the paper specified and the printing process used. see also dry trap, tack, UV ink, vegetable-based ink, wet trap.

Ink Absorption capacity to accept or absorb ink. see also absorbency, ink holdout.

Ink Holdout resistance to the penetration of ink. Coated papers tend to have good ink holdout. The ink pigments sit on the surface of the coating, and are not absorbed into the spaces between the paper fibers. This minimizes dot spread and results in a sharp image. Uncoated papers tend to absorb ink into the sheet, but printers can compensate for this and still produce a very bright, sharp image on uncoated paper. see also coated paper, dot compensation, ink absorption.

Intaglio a method of printing in which an image or letter is cut into the surface of wood or metal, creating tiny wells. Printing ink sits in these wells, and the paper is pressed onto the plate and into the wells, picking up the ink. see also engraving, gravure, printing methods.

Interface The ways a printer may be connected to a computer or network. Adobe PostScript printers support a wide variety of interfaces, including serial, parallel, AppleTalk, and Ethernet.

International Color Consortium (ICC) A group of companies chartered to develop, use, and promote cross-platform standards so that applications and devices can exchange color data without ambiguity. Founding members include Adobe, Agfa, Apple, FOGRA, Kodak, Microsoft, Silicon Graphics, Sun, and Taligent.

Interpreter The Adobe PostScript Raster Image Processor (RIP) that translates the instructions in a PostScript language file sent from the printer driver.

J

Jog to shake a stack of papers, either on a machine or by hand, so that the edges line up. Printers jog the paper to get rid of any dust or particles, and to ensure proper feeding into the press.

JPEG Joint Photographic Electronic Group. A common standard for compressing image data.

K

Kern To adjust the lateral space between letters.

L

Laid Finish a paper with a translucent pattern of lines running both parallel to, and across the grain. Laid finished paper like Champion Mystique is created by dropping a patterned dandy roll onto the paper machine while the paper is still wet. see also dandy roll, finish.

Laser Compatible paper that performs on a laser printer or copier. Laser compatible paper has good dimensional stability that keeps it from curling, changing shape, and causing paper jams in printers and copiers. All of the premium writing grades that Champion manufactures are laser compatible. see also dimensional stability, xerography.

Leading The space, measured in points, between consecutive lines of type. (Original name derived from the strips of lead placed between lines of hot type in the early 1900’s.)

Letterpress a relief printing method. Printing is done using cast metal type or plates on which the image or printing area are raised above the non-printing areas. Ink rollers touch only the top surface of the raised areas; the non-printing areas are lower and do not receive ink. The inked image is transferred directly to the page, resulting in type of images that may actually be depressed or debossed into the paper by the pressure of the press. see also printing methods, relief.

Lignin the natural, glue-like substance that holds together the cellulose fibers of wood plants. Lignin that is left in pulp causes paper to age and yellow over time. see also acid-free, cellulose fiber, groundwood paper.

Like-sided paper that has the same appearance and characteristics on both sides (the opposite of two-sided). see also twin-wire machine, two-sidedness.

Linen Finish a paper finish that is similar to the texture of linen fabric, such as Champion Carnival Linen. Linen finishes are embossed after the paper comes off the paper machine. see also embossing, finish.

Lines Per Inch (lpi) the number of lines in an inch, as found on the screens that create halftones and four-color process images (for example, “printed 175-line screen”). The more lines per inch, the more detailed the printed image will be. With the demand for computer-generated imagery, the term “dots per inch” (which refers to the resolution of the output), is replacing the term “lines per inch.” see also dpi, four-color process, halftone, screen .

Litho short for lithography or offset lithography.

Lithography a printing process using flat surface planographic plates nally stone) that is based on the principle that oil and water don’t mix. The image to be lithographed is created on the plate with greasy material that repels water. Water is run over the plate, and the non-image areas absorb it. When the oily ink hits the plate, it’s attracted to the similarly greasy image, and repelled by the rest of the wet plate. When paper is pressed onto the plate, it picks up the ink (and a bit of the water). This process is now used primarily for limited-edition prints. see also offset, planographic, plate, printing process.

Lupe From the German word for magnifying glass, a lens used by photographers, printers, and designers to examine details in printed materials.

M

M weight the weight in pounds of 1,000 sheets (or two standard 500-sheet reams) or paper. On the label of a paper ream, the M weight is often given after the dimensions of the paper in the ream: for example, 23″x29″-42M. The capital letter M, like the Roman numeral M, designates 1,000; the 42 indicates that the 1,000 sheets weigh 42 lbs. see also basis weight, ream weight, weight.

Machine Coated paper that is coated on the paper-making machine. see also coated paper.

Machine Finish a paper texture of finish imparted onto the paper white it’s still on the paper-making machine. see also felt finish, finish, vellum.

Make-ready all the activities involved in preparing a printing press for a print run, such as setting the registration, balancing the color, and adjusting the plates and blankets for paper thickness. see also imposition, impression cylinder, plate, printing methods, registration.

Making Order see manufacturing order manufacturing order also know as making order. A quantity of paper manufactured to custom specifications, such as a special weight, color, or size not available as a standard stocking item. Special order requirements are necessary, and should be discussed with a local paper consultant. see also imposition, paper consultant, stock

Match Color a custom-blended ink that matches a specified color exactly. Match colors are used to print line copy and halftones in one, two, three, or occasionally more colors. The specified colors are chosen from color systems. The most widely used systems are the PATONE MATCHING SYSTEM, Colorcurve, and Toyo. see also Colorcurve, PANTONE MATCHING SYSTEM, Toyo.

Match Print A color proofing system developed by 3M. A high quality proofing system.

Matte Coated a non-glossy coating on paper, generally used to refer to papers having little or no gloss. A matte coated sheet is often specified when there is a lot of type, since it makes for easier reading. see also coated paper, dull coated, finish, gloss.

Mechanical Pulping separating wood fibers for pulp by grinding wood chips mechanically, rather than by using a chemical process.

Merchant a distributor of papers, often representing several different paper mills or manufacturers.

Metamerism the tendency of color to change with the light source in which it’s viewed. For example, two reds may appear to match under fluorescent light, but clash badly in the light of the sun.

Mill the physical site where paper is manufactured;refers to a company that manufactures paper. Champion premium papers, for example, are manufactured at the Hamilton, Ohio mill. Champion is also referred to as a mill.

Mill Broke paper generated at the paper mill prior to completion of the manufacturing process. Wet mill broke originates at the wet end of the paper-making machine, while dry mill broke comes from the dry end of the paper-making machine. see also dry end, wet end

Moire a pattern created by printing several repetitive designs on top of each other. In four-color process printing, four screens of colored dots print on top of each other. If the angles of the halftone screens of each of the four colors are not properly aligned with each other, an undesirable, blurry pattern, called “moire” appears in the final image; the term is from the watery or wavy pattern seen on moire silk. see also four-color process, halftone, rosette, screen.

N

Newsprint Paper a grade of paper made primarily from groundwood (mechanical) pulp rather than chemical pulp, resulting in a short lifespan. Newsprint is one of the least expensive printing papers. see also groundwood paper, pulping wood.

O

OD100 Process a proprietary term used to describe Champion’s bleaching technology that combines oxygen delignification and 100% substitution of chlorine dioxide for elemental chlorine. see also bleach filtrate recycling, elemental chlorine free, oxygen delignification.

Offset Printing (Offset lithography) Currently the most common commercial printing method, in which ink is offset from the printing plate to to a second roller then to paper.

Office Reprographic Paper commonly referred to as reprographic paper, includes a variety of business paper grades (both cut-size and copier rolls), like bond, mimeo, duplicator, and reproduction papers. see also bond paper, electronic printing, xerography.

Off-machine Coating coating paper after it comes off the paper-making machine rather than while it is still on the machine. Off-machine coaters may be used to add a single layer of coating to a paper, or to add a second layer to a paper that has already been machine coated. see also coated paper.

Offset Printing The most common commercial printing technology in use today. Ink is transferred to paper from a blanket that carries an impression from the printing plate, rather than directly from the printing plate itself. Generally, when we say “offset” we mean “offset lithography,” even though other printing processes, such as letterpress, may also use this indirect technique. The term offset (or “set off”) can also refer to the smudges created when ink from one printed sheet transfers to another. Offset spray is used to prevent this. see also impression cylinder, lithography, planographic, plate, printing processes.

Offset Papers book and text weight papers that are made to withstand the rigors of offset printing. These papers are more resistant to water and less susceptible to picking. Most book and text grades of paper can be used on offset presses. Often the term “offset” is used synonymously with “book.” The basic size of off-set papers is 25″x38″. see also basic size, book papers, picking, text paper.

On-Demand Printing Commercial-quality printing produced as needed with turnarounds of a few hours or less. Often associated with very short runs of a hundred or fewer pieces. A newer class of device – the direct digital printing system – is usually associated with on-demand printing.

Opacity a measure of how opaque a paper is. The more fibers or fillers a paper has, the more opaque it is, and the less it allows “show-through” of the printing on the back side or on the next page. Opacity isn’t always determined by thickness or weight; a thinner paper may have more opacity than a thicker paper if opacifying thickeners are used. see also calcium carbonate, fillers, thickness, titanium dioxide, weight.

Opacity a measure of how opaque a paper is. The more fibers or fillers a paper has, the more opaque it is, and the less it allows “show-through” of the printing on the back side or on the next page. Opacity isn’t always determined by thickness or weight; a thinner paper may have more opacity than a thicker paper if opacifying thickeners are used. see also calcium carbonate, fillers, thickness, titanium dioxide, weight.

Open Prepress Interface (OPI) A set of PostScript language comments for defining and specifying the placement of images on an electronic page layout.

P

Page-Description Language (PDL)Software that resides within a printer and defines how elements such as text and graphics appear on the printed page. PostScript is the industry-standard page-description language.

Pages Per Minute (PPM) The maximum speed of the printer’s marking engine as rated by the manufacturer.

Pallet a platform with a slatted bottom, used to hold and ship cartons of paper stacked on top of each other.

PANTONE MATCHING SYSTEM the most widely used system for specifying and blending match colors. The PANTONE MATCHING SYSTEM identifies more than 700 colors. It provides designers with swatches for specific colors, and gives printers the recipes for making those colors. PANTONE MATCHING SYSTEM was developed by neither a commercial printer nor an ink manufacture, leaving the choice of ink brand up to the printer. see also Colorcurve, match color, Toyo.

Paper a complex matted web of cellulose fibers.

Paper Consultant a representative from a paper mill or merchant who has the expertise to help designers and printers choose just the right paper for a specific job. see also manufacturing order, merchant, specifying paper.

Paper Cut the excruciating, often unforeseeable, and usually invisible-to-the-naked-eye cut received when skin slides along the edge of a piece of paper at just the wrong angle.

Paperboard paper with a caliper greater than .012 inches, or 12 points. Paperboard is used primarily for packaging and construction materials. Paperboard doesn’t need to have the same white-ness and brightness as premium printing and writing papers, and because the process of de-inking is less important in its manufacture, it is a perfect product for using recovered fiber. see also caliper, de-inking

Paper-ink Affinity the tendency for paper and ink to attract and stay attracted to each other. This keeps the ink on the paper and off the reader’s hands or the next sheet. An incompatibility between ink and paper can cause printing problems. see also dry trap, tack, wet trap

Paper-making creating a web of fiber from plant cellulose (or, less commonly, from synthetic fibers). Paper-makers today follow the same steps that its inventor, Ts’ai Lun, followed almost two thousand years ago: pulping vegetable matter and leaving the cellulose fibers behind; mixing the pulp with lots of water; draining it; forming paper on a sieve-like mold; pressing the paper to remove some of the water; and drying it to remove the rest of the water. Technology has sped up the process and helped to improve the smoothness, brightness, and printability of the paper, but it hasn’t changed the essence of paper-making. paper-making process see also additives, alkaline paper-making, calendaring, chemical pulping, de-inking, dry end, drying, felt finish, felt side, Fourdrinier, grain, ingredients of paper, lignin, pulping wood, semi-chemical pulping, super-calendar, wet end, wire side

Papyrus an aquatic plant found in northern Africa. Although papyrus is considered to be the first paper, it’s not, in the strict definition of the word, paper (which is a matter web of individual fibers). Rather, early papyrus “paper” was made by peeling the plant, which is constructed like an onion, and placing one layer on top of another. The natural juices acted like glue, bonding the layers and leaving the cellular structure of the plant layers intact. see also scrolls

Parchment a writing substance made from the skin of animals. Today, parchment-like paper, or vegetable parchment, is made by dipping paper quickly into sulfuric acid, then quickly washing it and neutralizing the acid. This melts the fibers on the outside, which in turn coats the other fibers and fills the void between them. The result is a grease resistant sheet that is difficult to recycle.

PDF Portable Document file. A proprietary format developed by Adobe Systems for the transfer of designs across multiple computer platforms.

Perfect Binding A book binding process where pages are glued together and directly to the cover of the book. The appearance is of a flat spine on the end of the book such as a paperback book.

Perfecting Press a printing press that simultaneously prints both sides of a sheet of paper as it passes through the press. On other presses, printing both sides means running the street through the press to print one side, allowing the ink to dry, turning the paper over, and then running the sheet through the press again to print the other side. see also imposition, printing methods.

Permanence a paper’s ability to resist tears, fading, and general aging over time. The national standard for permanence requires a pH of 7.5-8.5; at least 2% calcium carbonate; and no ground wood or unbleached fiber. The standard also has specific fold endurance and tear resistance requirements. Paper meeting the standard for permanence can be expected to last more than 100 years. Paper with a pH level of 5.5 or higher can be expected to last up to 50 years. see also alkaline paper-making, archival paper, pH

Petroleum-based Ink an ink using petroleum as the vehicle for carrying the pigment. Ink manufacturers are seeking new vehicles to reduce the need for petroleum-based solvents, which may be toxic at high levels. see also ink, vegetable-based ink

pH the measure of the acidity or alkalinity of a material. Paper with a pH below 7.0 is considered acidic; paper with a pH above 7.0 is considered acid-free, or alkaline. see also acid-free paper, alkaline paper-making, archival paper.

Photo CD A proprietary format developed by Eastman Kodak for storing photographic images on a compact disc. Usually 35mm format. Images can be easily accessed for use in professional printing.

PhotoCopy A mechanical printing process that uses a light sensitive printing element, magnetic toner and a heating element to fuse the toner to the paper.

Photo Illustration An image, primarily consisting of a photograph or composite image containing a photograph.

Photo Plate A light sensitive printing plate. The plate is developed like film, then used on a printing press.

Photograph An image or picture made by exposing light sensitive film with a camera.

Pica A unit of measurement equal to twelve (12) points or one sixth (1/6) of an inch. Used by designers and other graphics professional for its precision.

Pick Out a problem on press caused by unevenly sealed paper, or paper with low bonding strength. The ink “picks” off weak ares of the paper, lifting coating from a coated stock, or lifting fibers from an uncoated stock, and transferring them to the printing blanket. These fibers will eventually be transferred back onto the sheets being printed, causing inking and surface inconsistencies. see also bonding strength, hickey, picking, sizing

Pick Resistance the ability of paper fibers to hold together during the printing process. see also bonding strength, pick out sizing

Picking a problem generally resulting from using an ink that’s too tacky for the paper it’s printed on. The ink actually pulls tiny pieces of the paper off the surface of the sheet. Two types of picking are fiber bundles and coating picking. Fiber bundles are caused by weak fiber bond, and coating picking occurs when the adhesive properties of coating binder aren’t strong enough to hold up the high tack of the offset printing process. see also bonding strength, pick out, sizing

Pigment a material, such as titanium dioxide, added to pulp before it is formed into paper. White pigments boost brightness and opacity; colored pigments and dyes control the shade or change the color see also fluorescent dye, ingredients of paper, opacity, titanium dioxide

Pixel The smallest dot that can be produced on a computer screen.

Pixel Depth The amount of data used to describe each colored dot on the computer screen. i.e. Monochrome is 1 bit deep. Greyscale is 8 bits deep. RGB is 24 bits deep. Images to be printed as CMYK separation should be 32 bits deep.

Planographic a method for printing ink onto paper, where the image sits on the same surface as the printing plate. The image area is greased to attract ink, while the rest of the plate attracts water and repels ink. As the paper is pressed onto the flat surface of the plate, it picks up ink from the greasy image areas and a small bit of water from blank areas. This is the printing process used in lithography and offset lithography. see also lithography, offset, plate, printing methods.

Plate brief for printing plate, generally a thin sheet of metal that carries the printing image. The plate surface is treated or configured so that only the printing image is ink receptive. see also electronic printing, intaglio, letterpress, lithography, offset, planographic, printing methods, relief

Plate Ready Film Final photographic film used to “burn” printing plates.

PMS color (Pantone Matching System) A proprietary color system for choosing and matching specific spot colors. Almost all printers worldwide use this system for color matching.

Point in measurements of the thickness of paper, one point is 1/1000 or .001 inches; measurements of the size of type, one point is 1/72 inch. see also caliper, thickness

Porosity refers to the openness or compactness of the fibers in a paper, is measured by the ability of air to pass through the sheet. The more open a paper is, the greater its porosity.

Pre-consumer Recovered Paper paper recovered after the paper-making process, but before use by a consumer. see also recovered paper, recycled content paper, recycled paper

Post-consumer Recovered Paper paper material recovered after being used by a consumer. see also recovered paper, recycled content paper, recycled paper

PPI paper per inch, or the number of sheets in a one-inck stack of paper; used to describe the bulk of a paper. see also bulk, caliper, thickness.

Precision Sheeting converting rolls of paper into finished sheet sizes in a single operation.

PrePress The various printing related services, performed before ink is actually put on the printing press. (i.e. stripping, scanning, color separating, etc. . .) The steps required to turn a design into final form, ready for final printing on a printing press. May include preflight, color correction, color trapping, imposition, color separation, proofing, and imagesetting.

Press Proof a test printing of a subject prior to the final production run. Press proofs are generally printed on the paper stock that will be used for the finished project. A few sheets are run as a final check before printing the entire job.

Printability how well a paper performs with ink on press. Absorbency, smoothness, ink holdout, and opacity all affect printability. see also absorbency, dimensional stability, ink holdout, opacity, relative humidity

Printer Control Language (PCL) A set of printer commands, developed by Hewlett-Packard, that provide access to printer features. PCL printers are compatible only with MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows systems and do not offer the complete device independence and range of choice available with Adobe PostScript printers, or the performance and features available with Adobe PrintGear printers.

Printer Driver Software that serves as the communication link between applications and the page-description language used by printers.

Printing The process of applying images to a variety of surfaces. Some printing processes include: offset lithography, thermography, la gravuer, letterpress, silkscreen, digital, laser, dye sub, photographic.

Print Quality the overall excellence of a printed piece. Paper, ink, press, and the skill of the press operators all affect print quality. see also printability.

Printing Methods a means or tool for placing ink on paper. Most printing is done with a plate. The four main types of printing methods are relief, where words or images are raised above the surface of the plate; intaglio, where they are etched through the surface; planographic, on the same plane as the surface; and stencil, or screen printing, cut below the plate surface. Words and images may also be “printed” electronically, using photocopiers and inkjet printers. see also electronic printing, intaglio, letterpress, lithography, offset, planographic, plate, relief, screen printing, stencil, water-less printing, web press Process Colors the four process colors: magenta (process red), cyan (process blue), yellow, and black used to print four-color images. see also color separating, four-color process, subtractive colors

Process Color The mechanical process of reproducing a full color image with the three primary subtractive color inks (CMYK/ Cyan, Magenta,Yellow and Black) and black. When viewed under a lupe, the individual color halftone dots can be seen in a process color image.

Production Artist (Paste-up Artist) A skilled laborer who produces finished camera ready or plate ready artwork from the visual elements and instructions provided by the designer or client.

Pt. abbreviation for “point.” see also point

Pulp a wet slurry of fibers and water that is the basic ingredient of paper. see also cellulose fiber, pulping wood, slurry, wet end

Pulping Wood transforming wood, the raw material of most paper, into pulp. Pulping breaks wood apart, separating the rows of cellulose fibers that are stuck together with lignin. These separated fibers will later create the matted web of fibers we know as paper. Paper may be made with pulp from just one of the following processes, or by mixing mechanical and chemical pulps. types of pulping techniques see also cellulose fiber, free-sheet, ground-wood paper, lignin, paper-making.

Q

Quadratone a black and white image printed with four screens and four colors, such as one or more blacks and different shades of gray, used to enrich the contrast between light and dark ares. see also continuous tone, duotone, halftone, screen, tritone

QuickDraw The display language interface for Apple Macintosh systems. QuickDraw printers are compatible only with Macintosh systems and do not offer the performance and features available with Adobe PrintGear printers.

R

Rag Paper paper with at least 25% and as much as 100% cotton fibers. see also cotton paper

Raster Image Processor (RIP) The hardware and/or software that translates data from PostScript and other high-level languages into dots or pixels in a printer or imagesetter.

Ream a package containing 500 sheets of printing paper.

Ream Weight the actual weight in pounds of a ream (500 sheets) of paper. see also actual weight, basis weight, weight

Recovered Paper paper that has been separated, diverted, or removed from the solid waste stream.

Recyclable, recycled paper, recycled paper recyclable suited for recycling. This term may be misleading. For example, it may be physically possible to recycle a given material, but if it is too costly to do so, or if a collection process is not in place, recycling may be impossible or economically not feasible.

Recycled Content Paper a paper product containing some, but consisting of less than 100% recovered fiber. Champion Carnival is an example of a recycled content paper. see also deinking, pre-consumer recovered paper, post-consumer recovered paper, recycled content paper

Recycled Paper a paper product consisting of 100% recovered fiber. Recovered fiber includes pre and/or post-consumer sources. Champion Benefit is an example of a 100% recycled paper. see also de-inking, pre-consumer recovered paper, post-consumer recovered paper, recycled content paper

Refining the process of cutting, breaking, and flattening the cellulose fibers in pulp. In order to form a strong, flexible paper, pulp fibers need to be flattened and frayed. The refiner has metal discs that can be adjusted to create longer or shorter fibers. see also hydropulper, paper-making

Refractiveness a measure of how much a sheet of paper deflects the light that hits it. The more light a sheet deflects, the greater its refractiveness, allowing a printed image to be more brilliant and detailed. see also brightness, whiteness

Registration The process of alignment of the different elements in a printing job. Such as the different colored inks on a print job, so they are correctly printed next to each other or over each other . (i.e. If the inks can be seen to overlap improperly or to leave white gaps on the page, the printing is said to be “out of registration” or “poorly registered”.)

Relative Humidity balance the relative humidity of the pressroom compared to the relative humidity of the paper to be printed. Relative humidity is a measure of how much moisture air or paper can hold versus how much it is actually holding at a given temperature. Before printing a job, the printer must “cure” the paper by letting it sit, wrapped, in the pressroom for a determined amount of time. This will bring the paper to the same temperature and humidity as the pressroom, helping to prevent several printing problems. For instance, ink on cold paper takes longer to dry than ink on room-temperature paper. Ink on dry paper may “chalk” if the dry paper absorbs the liquid in the pigment before the solid pigments adhere to the paper. Paper with too much humidity will expand, causing it to wrinkle on press. This can cause misalignment and a lack or registration in the printing. see also registration

Relief a method for printing ink on paper, using type of images that rise above the surface of the printing plate. Ink sits on top of these raised surfaces, and as the paper is pressed onto them it picks up ink. Letterpress, flexography, and rubber stamps all use relief plates. In letterpress, intense pressure can cause images to be slightly debossed or depressed below the surface of the paper. see also flexography, letterpress, plate, printing methods

Reprographic paper see office reprographic paper

Resilience the ability of paper to return to its original form after being stressed by bending, stretching, or compressing during the printing and finishing processes. see also bonding strength, dimensional stability, runnability, tensile, strength

Resin a generic term referring to the materials used by paper manufactures to “size” paper. Rosin, a natural resin from pine trees, is used in the manufacture of acidic paper. Synthetic resins are used in the manufacture of alkaline and acid-free papers. see also acid-free, alkaline paper-making, alum, ingredients of paper, rosin, sizing.

Resolution The sharpness of text and graphics provided by any printer or output device, measured in dots per inch (DPI).

RGB Red Green Blue, the colors used by a computer monitor to create color images on the screen. When all three colors are combined over each other the color of light is white.

Rosette the formation created by the dots that make up four-color images. The dots, in magenta (red), cyan (blue), yellow, and black, overlap each other in a cluster. Because the dots are not perfectly round, and because they are turned at angles to each other, this cluster resembles the arrangement of petals in a rose. see also four-color process

Rosin a natural resin from pine trees, used to size acidic paper. see also ingredients of paper, resin.

Runnability the ease with which a paper moves through a printing press. For example, offset lithography puts more stress on paper than other printing processes because of: how the paper moves through the press; the great amount of water used in the process; and the tackiness of the inks that are used. In order to have good runnability, paper for offset printing must be strong, have great tear resistance, and possess good dimensional stability. It must also be water resistant and have a strong surface so the paper doesn’t pick. Runnability is also a term for measuring the number of mechanical web breaks per 1,000 rolls of paper run on a press. see also dimensional stability, offset, printability.

S

Saddle Stitch A book binding process where pages are stapled together through the spine of the book. Traditionally performed on V shaped saddle. Many magazines are saddle stitched or stapled.

Sans Serif A type face that has no tails or curled points (serifs) at the ends.

Scaling Images Here is one of my favorite ways to scale a photo or graphic for the printer, it is a simple formula that is pretty much foolproof. Using a pica ruler, points, or even inches if you wish but in decimals points only. SIZE TO ________ Divided by: SIZE FROM __________ percent key = ________ (answer) Here is an example: scaling TO 4.5 inches divided FROM 9 inches, percent = 50 percent.

Scoring pressing a channel into a sheet of paper to allow it to fold more easily. Scoring and pressing the paper fibers together creates an embossed channel that does two things: acts as a guide for easier folding, and creates a hinge that keeps the fiber stretch short. The score should run parallel to the paper grain; the thicker the paper, the wider the score should be. Paper should be folded with the scored side on the outside, making two short stretches rather than one long one. The outcome is a straight, durable fold that doesn’t crack or break. see also finishing, folding, grain

Screen the lined glass, now called contact film, through which images are photographed to create halftones. Shooting through the mesh of a screen breaks an image into tiny dots. The closer the lines of the screen, the smaller the dots and the more dots per inch; the farther apart the lines of the screen, the bigger the dots and the fewer the dots per inch. The higher the dots per inch, the smaller the dots are, therefore creating a finer, crisper image. The coarseness or fineness of the screen is measured in the number of horizontal and vertical lines per inch. The less a paper absorbs and spreads ink, the finer the screen that can be used. Newspapers use coarse screens with 55 to 85 lines per inch. Most trade publications use 85 to 110 lines. With traditional printing, a coated paper can hold the small dots from a 200-line screen. With waterless printing, the paper can hold the dots from an even finer screen, 400 lines and greater. Though this approaches the quality of continuous tone, it is hard for the eye to discern the differences in resolution above 200 lines per inch. see also absorbency, continuous tone, dot gain, dpi, stochastic.

Screen Printing a printing process also called silk screening, where ink is transferred through a porous screen, such as nylon, onto the surface to be decorated. An emulsion or stencil is used to block out the negative, or non-printing areas of the screen. A squeegee forces ink through the open areas of the screen and onto the paper, plastic, cardboard, wood, fabric, glass, or other material. see also printing process, stencil.

Script A type face that mimics the appearance of hand written text.

Scrolls long sheets of papyrus, parchment, or paer rolled for storage. see also papyrus, parchment.

Self Cover a booklet having a cover made of the same paper as the inside or text pages.

Semi-chemical Pulping using chemicals and mechanical grinding to separate the cellulose fibers of wood. Because this pulping process doesn’t remove lignin, it isn’t generally used for fine printing and writing papers. It’s used instead for papers not requiring permanence. see also pulping wood, cellulose fibers, lignin.

Serif The curls and points that appear as outward lateral extensions of the bottoms and tops of letterforms on some type faces. Many designers consider serif type used for body text for easy readability. Times Roman is a well known serif type-font.

Service Bureau The facility that provides professional services to graphics and printing professionals especially related to computer output. (i.e. plate ready film, match-prints, color keys, etc…)

Shade the color depth and hue in comparison to papers that are the same color; also used to describe the color achieved by adding dye to pulp slurry. There is a wide shade variety in white papers, as well as in colored papers.

Sheet-fed Press a press that prints single sheets of paper, rather than a continuous roll or web of paper. A sheet-fed press prints more slowly than a web press, and is typically used for shorter runs. see also offset, web paper, web press

Sheetwise see imposition

Sheffield a test used to measure the smoothness of paper by measuring the rate of air flow over the surface of the sheet. The lower the number, the smoother the sheet. see also smooth finish, smoothness

Show-through see opacity

Signature the collated pages of one folded and trimmed form, making up one section of a bound book. see also binding, form, imposition, trimming

Silk Screen see screen printing

Sizing a Resin, such as rosin, added to pulp before it’s formed into paper, or added to the surface of the paper after it’s dry. Sizing acts as a glue to keep the fibers of the finished paper tight, since loose fibers on the surface of the paper can cause printing problems. Sizing also helps the finished paper repel water, which is an especially important property for stock that will be used for offset printing. see also bonding strength, ingredients of paper, resin, rosin

Skid a platform built with a solid wood bottom, for holding stacks of paper not packed in cartons. Paper may be ordered in skids or cartons. When printers are printing a large job, they generally prefer skids to cartons.

Slurry a thin, watery mixture. The mixture of pulp and water that is poured onto the paper-making machine is often referred to as slurry. see also headbox, hydropulper, paper-making, wet end.

Spot Color Single colors applied to printing when process color is not necessary (i.e. one, two and three color printing), or when process colors need to be augmented (i.e. a fluorescent pink headline or a metallic tint).

Spread 1) A design that encompasses two or more facing pages (i.e. the center spread in the morning newspaper)

Spread 2) Spreading the ink beyond the edge of an object so that there is no gap between it and the next colored object. “Choke and Spread” are common methods of trapping elements of a printing job.

Smooth Finish paper finished to a Shefield smoothness between 50 and 150. see also finish, Sheffield, smoothness

Smoothness the surface property of paper that describes its degree of uniform evenness and flatness. When printing, the smoother the paper, the better the ink dot formation and the sharper the image. see also cast-coating, coated paper, Sheffield, smooth finish, super-calendar, uncoated paper

Softwood Pulp pulp made from coniferous trees (evergreen tress with cones and needles, such as pine and fir trees). Paper is often made using a blend of pulps; softwood pulp has long fibers, giving paper strength; hardwood fibers are short, lending smoothness, bulk, and body. see also hardwood pulp, pulping wood

Specifying Paper choosing the appropriate paper for a specific printing job, in order to meet its individual design, printing, handling, and economic requirements. Designers and printers are frequently assisted by a paper merchant or a paper mill consultant when choosing a paper. see also paper consultant.

Spot Color Single colors applied to printing when process color is not necessary (i.e. one, two and three color printing), or when process colors need to be augmented (i.e. a fluorescent pink headline or a metallic tint).

Spread 1) A design that encompasses two or more facing pages (i.e. the center spread in the morning newspaper)

Spread 2) Spreading the ink beyond the edge of an object so that there is no gap between it and the next colored object. “Choke and Spread” are common methods of trapping elements of a printing job.

Stencil a sheet of plastic, paper, or other material with letters or an image cut out of it. When placed on a surface and inked, it reproduces the cut-away images onto the material behind it. see also printing methods, screen printing

Stochastic a relatively new method for creating halftones. Rather than producing the regularly space dots of lined screens, stochastic screening generates randomly placed dots. Because the generation of the dots is frequently modulated, the technique is also called FM screening. Registration on press is slightly more difficult than with lined screens, but the colors rests can be brilliant. see also continuous tone, dpi, halftone, registration, screen

Stock Paper or other material that will be printed. To a paper mill, a “stock item” is a manufactured item that is inventoried, as opposed to a “manufacturing order,” which is custom made. see also manufacturing order.

Style Sheet A method of designating the type faces to be used in a design. i.e. Headlines, captions and body text, this is listed on a “sheet”, usually in a “floating pallet” on a program like Page-maker.

Subtractive Colors the three primary process printing colors; magenta, cyan, and yellow, as opposed to the three additive primary colors of green, red, and blue. Color separations are created by shooting or scanning a color through filters of additive colors to generate halftones of subtractive colors. Subtracting the additive color of green from white light leaves magenta; subtracting red leaves cyan; and subtracting blue leaves yellow. The subtractive color halftones are then combined on a printing press to create full-color images. see also color separation, four-color process, halftone

Super-calender Alternating steel and fiber-covered calendar rolls that increase a sheet’s gloss and smoothness. The super-calender is a separate piece of equipment located close to the dry end of the paper machine. see also calendaring, gloss, paper-making, smoothness

Swatchbook a booklet containing paper samples and paper specifications for a line of paper. Champion produces individual swatchbooks for each of its fine printing papers.

T

Tack Stickiness Tack is a critical property of the ink used in lithography. Because the ink sits on a flat surface, it needs internal cohesion; in other words, it needs to stick to itself so that it doesn’t run all over the plate. However, too much tack can cause it to pull the paper apart. When printing two or more ink colors in line, the ink tack and sequence must be adjusted in order for the ink to adhere to each other as well as to the paper. see also dry trap, lithography, plate, wet trap

Tag paper a heavy utility grade of paper used to print tags, such as the store tags on clothing. Tag paper must be strong and durable, yet have good affinity for printing inks.

Tear Strength a measure of how likely a paper will continue to tear once started. Tear strength will be different with and against the grain of paper. Paper that will be punched should have good tear strength. see also bonding strength, grain

Tensile Strength a measure of how likely a paper is to break when pulled at opposite ends, in opposite directions. A web offset paper must have good tensile strength if it is to withstand the high speed of the printing press. see also bonding strenght, web break, web paper, web press

Text Paper premium uncoated printing paper of fine quality, manufactured in weights suitable for the text of books or brochures. Text papers are made in a wide variety of finishes, including smooth, antique, vellum, laid, felt, and embossed. They are characterized by excellent folding quality, printablity, and durability. Text papers are used most often for books, annual reports, brochures, booklets, advertising collateral material, and announcements, and have a basic size of 25″x 38″. see also basic size, book paper, cover paper, offset paper

Thermography a finishing applied after printing that creates the raised effect of engraved printing. Special inks are used during offset printing; a powder is applied to the paper; and the paper is passed through a heater. see also engraving, offset, printing methods

Thickness the thickness of a single piece of paper, as measured in thou- sandths of an inch, called “caliper.” Thickness measurements define the bulkiness of a sheet of paper, but the actual number of sheets in an inch-high stack of paper is referred to as PPI, or pages per inch. see also bulk, caliper, ppi

TIFF Tagged Image File Format, a bitmapped file format used for the reproduction of digitally scanned images such as photographs, illustrations & logos.

Tint to vary a color by adding white. Also, a very light or delicate variation of a color.

Titanium Dioxide an exceptionally opaque and expensive compound used as a white pigment and opcifier in paper-making. Elemental titanium is a lustrous, lightweight, white metal with exceptional strength. see also ingredients of paper, opacity, pigment

Tooth refers to paper’s surface roughness, a characteristic that allows it to take up ink.

Touchplate in four-color process printing, an additional fifth plate of ink that adds more of one color to enhance the image. see also four-color process, subtractive color

Toyo a system used for color matching. see also Colorcurve, match color, PANTONE MATCHING SYSTEM

Trapping printing ink over previously printed ink. Trapping is also used to describe the very slight overlapping of adjacent colors to compensate for imprecisions in the printing press. Trapping color is achieved by use of chokes and spreads. see also dry trap, tack, wet trap.

Trim Size the final size of a printed piece once it’s been cut to specification.

Trimming cutting paper after printing to make all sheets the same or a specified size. After binding printed papers, the head, foot, and edge of a book are often trimmed in a guillotine to make all the papers even. The inner papers of each signature have a tighter fold and will be slightly longer than the outer pages. see also finishing, guillotine, signature, trim size

Tritone a black and white image printed with three screens and three colors, such as one black and two grays, used to enrich the contrast between light and dark areas. see also continuous tone, duotone, halftone, quadratone, screen

TrueType Fonts Scalable typefaces for Windows and Macintosh software.

Twin-wire Machine a paper making machine with two continuous forming wires, rather than just one. Twin-wires were designed to create a less two-sided paper than manufactured on a Fourdrinier paper machine. Other techniques for reducing two-sidedness have since been developed, enabling paper manufactures to created paper on single-wire machines with little side-to-side variation. see also felt side, Fourdrinier, two-sidedness, wire side

Two-sidedness the tendency of some papers to have slightly different characteristics and printing results from side-to-side. see also self side, like-sided, wire side

Type 1 Fonts Adobe’s industry-standard outline font technology that enables type to be scaled to any size while staying sharp and clear. More than 20,000 Type 1 typefaces are available from vendors worldwide.

U

Uncoated Free-sheet uncoated paper containing no more than 10% mechanical wood pulp. Most uncoated free-sheet paper is entirely free of mechanical wood pulp. Most uncoated printing and writing papers are classified into the broader category of uncoated free-sheet. see also mechanical pulp, pulping wood, uncoated paper

Uncoated Groundwood all paper, that isn’t coated, containing more than 10% ground-wood fiber in its furnish. see also furnish, groundwood paper, newsprint paper, uncoated paper

Uncoated Paper paper that doesn’t have coating. Uncoated papers are manufactured in a great variety of finishes, colors, and weights, and offer the versatility needed to meet the creative and practical demands of most print jobs. see also book paper, cotton paper, cover paper, furnish, offset papers, text papers, vellum

UV Coating a very slick, glossy coating applied to the printed paper surface and dried on press with ultraviolet (UV) light. The slick surface of UV coating makes it eye catching, and therefore very popular for printing the covers of paperback novels. Because UV coating can cause slight variations in match colors, consulting with an ink manufacturer or printer will yield best results.

UV Ink ink specially formulated to dry quickly with ultraviolet (UV) light while still on press. UV drying improves turnaround time because it eliminates waiting for the first side to dry before printing the second side. This eliminates the need for the paper to pass through the press more than once. see also dry trap, ink, wet trap

V

Varnish a coating printed on top of a printed sheet to protect it, add a finish, and/or add a tinge of color. An entire sheet may be varnished, or certain areas, like halftones, may be spot varnished to add emphasis and appeal.

Vegetable-based Ink and ink using vegetable oil, rather than petroleum solvents, as the vehicle for carrying pigment. Vegetable ink colors tend to be more vibrant than petroleum-based inks, but may take longer to dry. This book, Words on Paper, is printed with soy-based ink, a type of vegetable-based ink. see also ink, petroleum-based ink

Vellum an uncoated paper finish that is fairly even, but not quite as even as a smooth finish. Vellum is probably the most popular finish for uncoated paper. see also finish, uncoated paper

Velox a paper type imaging material created by using a large printers camera and exposing the paper to light through a lense. Used for camera ready logos, half tones.Virgin fiber fiber that has never been used before in the manufacture of paper or other products.

W

Washing see deinking

Waterless Printing a printing process that runs on offset lithography presses, but without using water. The non-image areas of the plate are coated with silicone, allowing the ink to run off freely into shallow wells, in the plate. Because finer dots can be used in waterless printing, the image is very detailed. The cost for this printing process is high, but the results can be magnificent. see also dryography, offset, plate

Watermark a mark in fine papers, imparted during manufacture, that identifies a paper. It doesn’t leave an impression in the paper, instead it leaves behind a translucent mark. see also dandy roll

Web a roll of paper. see also web paper

Web Break a tear through a roll of paper, either while it is being manufactured at the mill, or while it is running through a printing press. When the web breaks, either at the mill or on press, machinery must be shut down, causing a loss of production time. see also paper-making, web paper, web press

Web Paper paper that comes in a roll rather than in sheets. A web press runs this paper, folding and/or cutting it after it is printed. web press a press specifically designed to print rolls of paper called webs, rather than sheets. A web press runs much faster than a sheet-fed press: as many as 40,000 images per hour versus a maximum of about 14,000 per hour on a sheet-fed press. see also offset, sheet-fed press, web, web paper.

Web Press A high speed printing press that prints on both sides of a continuous roll of paper. Web presses are used for high volume printing such as newspapers and magazines.

Weight the tonnage or poundage of a quantity of paper. The weight of paper may be expressed as basis weight, ream weight, M weight, or grammage. Basis weight is the weight in pounds of 500 sheets of paper cut to a given standard size (called basic size), such as 25″x38″, depending on the grade of paper. Ream weight is the actual weight in pounds of 500 sheets of paper, regardless of basic size of grade. M weight is the actual weight of 1,000 sheets of paper. Because this is twice the quantity of a ream of paper, it is also twice the ream weight. Grammage is a metric measure similar to the basis weight of paper. Unlike basis weight, which uses different basic sizes for different grades of paper, grammage always uses the same sheet size – one square meter regardless of the paper grade. see also actual weight, basis weight, grammage, M weight, ream weight

Wet End the front end of the paper-making machine, including the head-box, wire, and presses. Paper is more water than fiber in this section of the machine. see also dry end, headbox, paper-making, slurry

Wet Trap Printing a layer of wet ink over, or adjacent to, a previous layer of wet ink. see also dry trap, tack, trapping

Whiteness the measure of the amount of light reflected from a sheet of paper. How white a paper is depends on how evenly it reflects all colors in the visible spectrum. If it reflects more blue than red and yellow, it will have a cool, blue tinge to it, making it appear brighter than white. A cool paper will appear brighter than a similar paper with a warm tinge. A cool or warm tinge doesn’t affect paper quality, but it does create optical impressions. For example, in color printing with blues and blacks predominating, a cool white sheet tends to brighten the colors. But color printing with reds, oranges, and yellows predominating, a neutral or warm white sheet tends to make the colors appear clearer and stronger. see also brightness, fluorescent dye, refractiveness

Wire Side the bottom side of the paper that comes in contact with the wire (now called the forming fabric) of the paper machine during the paper-making process. The top side of the paper is called the felt side. As the water drains through the wire during manufacture, it carries fibers, fillers, and other chemicals with it, depositing more of them on the wire side than on the felt side of the paper. This can result in the wire and felt sides having slightly different textures. see also felt side, paper-making, tooth, two-sidedness

Work and Back see imposition

Work and Tumble see imposition

Work and Turn see imposition

Wove Finish uncoated paper that has an even finish with slight toothiness. see also finish, tooth

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