Glossary

We have compiled many of the technical terms found in printer descriptions to help you better understand what you are buying.

A

‘A’ Sized Paper – Common paper sizes from A8 (smallest) to A0 (Largest).
Absorption – The drying capabilities of ink printed on porous material.
Acid-Free Paper – Paper developed to contain no acid, helping increase longevity.
Adhesion – The bond between the material and printed ink.
Art Paper – Generally referring to wood-free papers of high quality.

B

Basis Weight – The weight of paper in grams per square metre (GSM).
Binding – The process of fixing paper sheets together.
Bond – A paper grade often favoured in business correspondence.
Bleed – The section of a printed image outside of the area to which the finished sheet will be printed and cut.
Blend – Also known as ‘Graduated Tint’, the smooth transition between printed colours.
Bulk – The thickness and substance of paper.

C

CMYK – The four tones used in printing: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Key (Black).
Continuous Stationery – Paper supplied on a continuous reel, ready for folding or perforation.

D

Digital Printing – The process of applying artwork directly from a digital file without the use of plates or film.
Dot Grain – The amount each dot within a print increases when it is printed.
DPI – Short for ‘Dots Per Inch’, indicating print quality.

E

Embossed Paper – A type of paper which has a raised or depressed design, produced by pressure during the printing process.
EPS – Short for ‘Encapsulated PostScript’ a computer file type widely used in the printing industry.

F

Folio – The number of pages to be printed.
Fonts – Styles of letters, numbers and punctuation marks following unified rules. Also known as typeface.
Four-Colour Process – The process of printing using the CMYK scale.

G

Gb – An abbreviation of ‘Gigabyte’ – the measurement of computer file size.
Ghosting – A printer fault wherein the density of ink is inconsistent due to uneven capacity on the printers rollers.
Grain – The direction of the paper’s fibres.
GSM – An abbreviation of ‘Grams per Square Metre’.

H

Half Perf – A perforated line stretching only halfway across a sheet’s width.
Hatching – The irregular patterns printed on top of text to make contents unreadable for confidentiality reasons.

I

IBC – Inside Back Cover
IFC – Inside Front Cover
Inkjet Printer – A type of printer which prints using a spray of ink droplets.

J

Justified – The alignment of text in the centre of a page.

K

Kerning – The adjustment of space between set letters.

L

Lamination – The process of strengthening paper or changing its properties.
Laser Printing – A method of printing which uses an intense laser to draw the image or text on a drum.
Layout – The appearance of the printed output.
Leading – The space between lines of text.
Line Perf – A perforated line stretching across the width of the sheet.

M

Manilla – A light brown paper made of wood pulp.
Matt Paper – Sheets of paper with a dull even finish.

N

NCR – No Carbon Required

O

OBC – Outside Back Cover
OFC – Outside Front Cover

P

Pantone Colours – Premixed ink colours on the Pantone Scale. Can be developed by mixing colours on the CMYK scale.
PMS – Abbreviation for Pantone Mixing System – the system by which registered Pantone colours are developed.
PPI – Pixels per Inch

R

Ream – 500 sheets of paper.
Resolution – The number of printed DPI (Dots per Inch) in an image.
RGB – An abbreviation of Red, Green, Blue – a common colour scale used by computer monitors.

S

Saddle Stich – A function of some multifunction printers: the binding of printed copy through the centre fold using saddle wire.
Satin Finish – Smooth paper with a reflective exterior.
Score – A mark or cut in paper designed make folding simpler and more accurate.
Solid – An area which has been completely covered in ink.
Spread – Two or more adjoining sheets of paper.

T

Tint – A tonal area of printed copy used to lighten the density of the colour being used.
Toner – A chemical used in laser printing and photocopying.

W

Watermark – A design on printed paper which only becomes visible when the material is held up to the light.

For a full range of printers and consumables, visit the Printerland homepage or call our dedicated team on 0800 840 1992.