GLOSSARY

Bleed:
Printed colors that extend past the edge of a page. To cut the job to its actual size the processor has to make sure the job gets printed with 1/8 of an inch bleed some jobs may require more than that. For example if the job is a business card (3.5" x 2") the file size with bleed would be (3.625" x 2.125").

C2S paper:
Paper coated on both sides. Our 14pt and 16pt paper are examples of C2S. (AQ Coating or UV Coating are seperate options and are not effected by this)

Card Stock:
Also called cover stock. Mostly heavyweight papers are called cards stock. The thickness of card stock is indicated with point sizes such as 14pt, 16pt. Some people will also refer to 100lb gloss cover as a card stock.

CMYK:
The primary colors used in 4-color printing. CMYK are used to reproduce full color on the printed sheet. CMYK also called PROCESS COLOR

C: Cyan (Blue)
M: Magenta (Red)
Y: Yellow
K: Key (Black)






Coating:
The mixture of clay materials that are applied to paper to improve the smoothness of the paper's surface and improve ink holdout during the printing process. Examples are Aqueous coating (AQ) and UV coating. UV coating adds a gloss finish to the product and also improves the vibrancy of the printed colors. Spot-UV can be applied to selected portions of the piece, while keeping the rest a matte finish.

Color Types
4:4 - 2 sided, full color on front and on back
4:1 - 2 sided, full color on front, black on back
4:0 - 1 sided, full color on front

Crop Marks (Guide Marks):
Lines printed in the margin of sheet that indicates to the cutter and bindery where the finished product should be trimmed. They are also used to show what part of a photo should be used and what part should be cropped off.

Dots Per Inch (dpi):
A measurement of resolution of input, output and display devices. 300 dpi means that when printed, each square inch of your image will contain 90,000 pixels (dots), the higher the dpi (the more pixels per inch) the more crisp the printed image will be. Our electronic (digital files) have to have a resolution of at least 300 dpi. Anything less than that is considered as low resolution and may appear blurry when printed.

Full Bleed:
Printing that goes to the edge of all four sides of the page.

Gloss Finish:
A coating on paper that provides a higher reflection of light, which results in a shiny appearance. Gloss coatings reduce ink absorption, which allows excellent contrast and color definition. All jobs business card and post card jobs use Gloss Finish unless Matte Finish is selected.

Matte Finish:
A coated paper finish that is flat, not shiny like a gloss, but still keeps much of the ink from being absorbed by the paper and produces an excellent image.

Line Screen:
A transparent screen which has been etched with fine lines. It is used to convert a picture or photograph into a halftone dot pattern so that can be printed. Our presses use 200-line screen.

Margin:
The non-printed areas around the image area of a page.

Offset Printing:
The transfer of an inked image from a plate to a blanket cylinder, which in turn transfers the image to the printing material as it passes between the blanket and the impression cylinder and pressure is applied. Also referred to as offset lithography.

Pixel:
The smallest unit of a digitized image created by a digital device, such as a computer, camera, or scanner. Pixel is short for Òpicture elementÓ. The more pixels per inch the better the resolution. On computer monitors, the display is divided into rows and columns containing thousands or millions of pixels. Each pixel is composed of three dots representing the three color channels of red, green, and blue light that are necessary for creating a color image on computer monitors and television screens. Because of their small size, the pixels appear to merge, simulating a continuous tone image, but when magnified they appear to be tiny square blocks of light, as shown in the illustration.

Resolution:
The measurement of output quality expressed in pixels (dots) per inch on a computer monitor or dots per inch on printed media. For example, a monitor displaying a resolution of 800 by 600 refers to a screen capable of displaying 800 pixels in each of 600 lines, which translates into a total of 480,000 pixels displayed on the screen. When referring to printed media, a 300 dpi (dots per inch) printer for example, is capable of outputting 300 dots in a one-inch line, which means that it has the ability of printing 90,000 distinct dots per square inch (300 x 300).

Round Cornering:
Using a machine to die cut the corners of forms, cards and books to create a rounded corner.

Trim:
The process of cutting the product to its finished size. The excess that is cut off is also referred to as the trim.

Turnaround Time:
The accumulated time between receipt of an order and completion of the finished product. Most business cards and postcards have a 2-4 days business days turnaround. This does not include shipping time.

UV Coating:
A liquid coating applied to the printed piece, which is then bonded and cured with ultraviolet light. This coating is used to provide a protective coating to the printed image. Please note that you CAN NOT write or imprint on a uv coated jobs.