Glossary of Printing Terms:C

C Print

Color photographic print made from a negative on Kodak C Print paper.

C-fold

A fold where a three panel piece has both side sections folded inward, one on top of the other. Each section is approximately 1/3 the length of the piece. Also known as a Tri-fold.

C++

A programming language that combines standard C programming with object-oriented capabilities.

C1S

Paper coated on one side.

C2S

Paper coated on both sides.

CA

Certification Authority

A trusted third-party organization that distributes and maintains public and private digital certificates. The role of the CA is to ensure that the individual given the unique certificate is who they claim to be.

Cable Paper

A strong paper used to wrap electrical cables.

Cache Memory

Hardware device used to store the most frequently accessed modules in the computer’’s memory. It reduces access time by eliminating the rotational delay and seek time with disk drives when searching for the modules.

CAD

Computer Aided Design

A graphics system that allows the user to design and edit complicated line drawings on screen.

Cadmium Yellow

A pigment made from cadmium sulfide and cadmium selenide.

Caking

The collection of ink pigment on plates and rollers which transfers onto the sheet in an uneven distribution of color.

Calcium Carbonate

Used as a filler in alkaline papers, calcium carbonate is found in a variety of natural substances such as chalk, limestone, marble, and oyster shells. A key ingredient in paper coatings, it enhances smoothness, brightness, opacity and ink affinity.

Calender Rolls

A set or stack of horizontal cast-iron rolls at the end of a paper machine. The paper is passed between the rolls to increase the smoothness and gloss of its surface.

Calendered Screen Mesh

One or double sided flattened screen printing mesh in order to reduce the ink volume.It is especially used for UV inks.

Calendering

A process where paper is run between a stack of polished steel rollers which progressively smooth and compact the paper as it moves through the rollers.

Calibration Bars

On a negative, proof, or printed piece, a strip of tones used to check printing quality.

Caliper

Measurement of the thickness of paper, expressed in thousandths of an inch (points or mils). The caliper can also be expressed in pages per inch (ppi), pages per centimeter (ppc) or thousandths of a millimeter (microns). Caliper is also the name of the tool used to measure the thickness.

Call

A request for transfer of the control to another program, subroutine, application, or the operating system.

Callout

1.The callout is intended to tease browsers to want to read the article. It’s usually a sentence or two pulled from the article and upsized.

The magazine’s graphic designer will place it, pleasingly, somewhere on the page to break up copy but mostly, to serve as a tease into the article.

2.Text that identifies separate elements of an illustration. It is usually a few words next to the illustration with a line or an arrow connecting the text to the element being described. It can also be any material such as a “pull quote”, that is called out of the text block

CALS

Computer-Aided Acquisition and Logistics Support

A set of national and international standards used in electronic documents and document systems. These standards are specified by the U.S. Department of Defense.

Cameo

A dull coated paper, which is particularly useful in reproducing halftones and engravings.

Camera-Ready Art

Artwork or assembled pages that has all text and graphics in the proper location and is ready to have negatives made for platemaking.

Cameron Belt Press

A type of belt press that both prints and binds a book.

Camino

A free, open source, graphical Web browser based on Mozilla’s Gecko layout engine and specifically designed for the Mac OS X family of operating systems.

The browser is developed by the Camino Project, a community organization.

In place of an XUL-based user interface used by most Mozilla-based applications, Camino uses Mac-native Cocoa APIs.

Camino does not include an e-mail client or HTML editor; it concentrates on providing “just the browser” in a lightweight application.

http://www.caminobrowser.org/

Canadian Lumber Standard

CLS

Cancellation Proof

Final print made once an edition series has been finished to show that the plate has been marred/mutilated by the artist, and will never be used again to make more prints of the edition.

Canvas Board

A paperboard with a surface of simulated canvas, used for painting.

Canvas Transfer

Art reproduction on canvas which is created by a process such as serigraphy, photomechanical, or giclee printing. Some processes can even recreate the texture, brush strokes, and aged appearance of the original work of art.

Cap Layer

The top or outer surface layer of engraving plastic.

Cap Line

An imaginary line across the top of capital letters. The distance from the the cap line to the baseline is the cap size.

CAPP

The Council of Academic and Professional Publishers

Caps

An abbreviation for capital letters.

Caps and Small caps

A style of type that shows capital letters used in the normal way while the body copy is set in capital letters which are of a slightly smaller size.

Capsule Damage

Damage occurs when excessive pressure or friction is applied to the CB coating on carbonless paper, causing capsules to burst and release chemicals prematurely.

Caption

Text that accompanies an illustration or photo.

Caption/Cutline

Text that accompanies an illustration or photo.

Capture

The series of steps you must perform to change paper documents into digital ones before storing them. This can include scanning, image editing, and quality control.

Carbide

An extremely hard material manufactured primarily from tungsten and cobalt. Its hardness and abrasion resistance qualities make it suitable for a variety of cutting tool and wear part applications. Carbide is generally recommended for the majority of engraving cutter applications due to its toughness and long life characteristics.

Carbon Black

A pigment made of elemental carbon and ash.

Carbon Dummy

Used to check the impression quality of a multiple part form. The dummy is made up of the same paper and carbon that will be used on the finished form.

Carbon Paper

1.Lightweight tissue paper that has been coated with a carbon ink that will transfer an image to another sheet when pressure is applied

2.This consists of two sheets of paper, the underside of the top sheets (called CB for coated back) is coated with colourless dye in minute gelatine capsules. The underneath sheet (CF coated front) is coated with a reactive chemical which turns blue or black when mixed with the colourless dye. Pressure from a pen or typewriter on the top sheet causes the gelatine capsules to break, the dye and chemical then mix and the blue or black copy appears on the bottom sheet. There is also an intermediate paper (CFB coated front and back), used between the top and bottom sheets to make multi-part sets. Some types of carbonless paper are not separately coated but incorporate both parts of the dye mechanism within the one sheet.

Carbon Print

The first permanent photographic printing process used between 1866 to 1890. Made in three different tones: black, purple-brown, sepia. It is made by using 3 layers of stable pigment in registration on top of each other and requires a minimum of 12 hours to create a single print. Carbon prints are highly sought after and rare.

Carbon Tissue

A color printing process utilizing pigmented gelatin coatings on paper, which become the resist for etching gravure plates or cylinders.

Carbonize

Applying a carbon coating to paper to enable data entered on the face of one sheet to transfer to the following sheet. The coating is applied to the back side of the paper stock and is commonly used in forms work on applications such as multiple part mailers.

Carbonless Paper

A paper that is most often used for multiple part forms. It contains a chemical coating on the front side (designated as CF) or on the back side (designated as CB), or on both sides (designated as CFB). When a handwritten or machine impression occurs on the first sheet of multiple parts, the impression transfers from one page or ply to the next due to the bursting of tiny microcapsules in the chemical coating used to release a darkened copy of the impression occuring on the first sheet.

Card Deck

Postcard-sized printed advertisements purchased by advertisers, organized and sponsored by publishers and mailed to subscribers of a mag-azine in a prepackaged group, usually to a specific demographic breakdown.

Card Rate

The cost of advertising space quoted on a rate card.

Card Stock

Also called cover stock.A stiff heavyweight paper used when durability is a concern. It is used on items such as postcards, covers, menus, posters, announcements, folders and business cards. The thickness of card stock is generally indicated in point sizes such as 7 pt. or 10-pt card.

Cardboard

A heavyweight sheet generally made from waste paper and has a thickness of more than .006. Used when stiffness is required.

Caret Marks

An indication to the printer of an ommission in the copy indicated as ( ) showing the insertion.

Carrier
  1. In reference to direct mail, it is the package used to hold the pieces to the direct mail program, such as an envelope, box, tube or polybag.

  2. In reference to integrated and affixed products, it is the continuous or laser sheet that the card or label is affixed to or integrated into.

  3. In reference to pressure sensitive labels, it is the layer that holds the adhesive and facestock until time of application. Also referred to as the liner.

Carrier Card

A tag board strip glued with fugitive glue to a booklet, insert or form. The strip is wider than a magna strip and can be folded, creating a hanger for a saddle stitched book. The booklet, insert or form can be removed at a later time leaving only the carrier card in the main book. This process also allows an insert, booklet or form with a closed end to be jogged away from a trim area preventing a fold from being trimmed open.

Carrier Envelope

The outer envelope used to delivery the direct mail package.

Carrier Route

The addresses to which a carrier delivers mail. In common usage, carrier route includes city routes, rural routes, highway contract routes, post office box sections, and general delivery units.

Carrier Sheet

A continuous or laser form that acts as a carrier for another product, such as labels, cards and envelopes.

Carton

A corrugated container used for shipping or storing products.

Cartridge Paper

Slightly rough coated or uncoated printing surfaced paper used for a variety of graphic purposes such as envelopes. Generally noted for good dimensional stability, high opacity and good bulk.

Case

Covers and spine that, as a unit, enclose the pages of a casebound book.

Case Binding

To bind using glue to hold signatures to a case made of binder board covered with fabric, plastic or leather. Also called cloth bind, edition bind, hard bind and hard cover.

Case Sensitive

A condition in which data entries must conform to a specific case, such as lowercase, uppercase, or mixed-case formats in order to be valid.

Casein

A milk byproduct used as an adhesive in making coated papers.

CASS

Coding Accuracy Support System

A service offered, by the U.S. Postal Service, to mailers, service bureaus and software vendors to improve the accuracy of the address information in the mailing list. It checks the accuracy of the delivery point codes, ZIP+4 Codes, 5-Digit ZIP Codes and carrier route codes

Cast Coated

Paper or board with a coating that is allowed to harden while in contact a highly polished chrome surface. This results in an exceptionally glossy coated finish, usually only on one side. Because the high gloss finish is obtained without calendering, the cast coated paper is of high bulk and has high ink obsorbency.

Cast Film

Plastic sheeting manufactured by the casting process, as opposed to the extruding process.

Cast Off

A calculation determining how much space copy will take up after it has been typeset.

Cast Shadow

A cast shadow is similar to a drop shadow with added emphasis on perspective. Cast shadows can be rotated, stretched, and skewed to create a realistic 3D effect.

Cast Vinyl

Vinyl sheeting manufactured by coating a liquid vinyl acetate or similar ester onto a casting paper and curing in a heated oven.

Cataloging in Publication

CIP

The purpose of the Cataloging in Publication (CIP) program is to prepare prepublication cataloging records for those books most likely to be widely acquired by the nation’s libraries.

For further information about the CIP program and how your publishing house may apply for participation in the program, write to:

Library of Congress, Cataloging in Publication Division
COLL/CIP (4320)
Washington, DC 20450-4320

Catching Up

A term that describes a condition in lithography in which the non-image areas of a press plate begin to take ink or scum.

Catchline

A temporary headline for identification on the top of a galley proof.

Cationic

A chemical substance in which the active constituent is a positive ion, thus having an infinity for other compounds or elements that have a net negative charge.

Cationic dyes are now commonly used in the papermaking industry.

Causticizing

The process in which Green Liquor is converted into White Liquor. Technically speaking it is the process of converting sodium carbonate in to sodium hydroxide.

Cavity

Usually refers to the engraving on a rotary die cutter that die cuts a single shape.

CB Paper

Paper that has the carbonless coating applied to the back. The CB paper will transfer an image to the CFB or to the CF paper.

CCD

Charged Coupled Device

The digital camera’’s image sensor which changes the light it senses into numbers or data that represent different levels of brightness. The sensor measures the level of red, green and blue and makes a color interpolation, assigning values to each image pix

CCD Raw Format

To preserve image quality, some digital cameras will record a raw image (also called CCD raw image format) as an uncompressed file or uninterpolated data on the camera’’s sensor where the pixels are built for the final file. This type of file format is not as common as TIFF or JPEG and may provide some difficulty for use with computer programs that alter or re-purpose the images.

CCL

Common Command Language

A standard text retrieval query language proposed by the International Organization for Standardization.

ccTLD

Country Code Top-Level Domain

Atop-level domain used and reserved for a country or a dependent territory.

These are two letters long, and most of them correspond to the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country codes.

There are over 243 ccTLDs.

Most ccTLDs correspond to the two-letter ISO 3166-1 country codes, but there are several differences, explained below.

Each country appoints managers for its ccTLD and sets the rules for allocating domains. Some countries allow anyone in the world to acquire a domain in their ccTLD, for example Austria (at) and Cocos (Keeling) Islands (cc).

Other countries or dependent territories allow only citizens to acquire a domain in their ccTLD, for example Canada (ca).

Lenient registration restrictions on certain ccTLDs has resulted in domain names like I.am, start.at and go.to.

Other variations of ccTLD usage have been called domain hacks, where the Second-level domain and ccTLD are used together to form one word or one title.

This has resulted in domains like blo.gs of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (gs), del.icio.us of United States of America (us), and cr.yp.to of Tonga (to).

(Non country code TLDs have also been used, like inter.net which uses the .net gTLD, probably the first domain hack ever.)

CD-I

Compact Disc Interactive

A data format on CD that is geared toward the consumer, requiring a specialized player which is connected to a television or on a computer. The CD can be accessed in the same manner as a computer memory. The format is backed by Phillips, Sony, Matsushita, and others.

CD-R

Compact Disc Recordable

This is a recordable compact disk storage device. Two-thirds the diameter of a standard CD disk, this type of storage device can be read or connected into any CD drive and can hold 156MB.

CD-RDX

Compact Disc Read-only Data eXchange

A proposed standard, focused on the interoperability of CD-ROMs, for full-text retrieval database systems.

CD-ROM

Compact Disc-Read Only Memory

A compact disk used for the storage of digital data and is capable of playing both visual and audio information. It cannot be randomly accessed like a CD-I. Capacity is generally in excess of 500 MB.

CD-V

CD-Video

The compact disc format that combines analog full-motion video images with digital audio.

CD-WO

Compact Disc-Write Once

Volume and file structure for Read-Only and Write-Once Compact disk media used for information exchange.

Cell

The storage location of one unit of data such as a character, bit, or word. It is also used to describe the intersecting coordinates of a specific row and column in a spreadsheet program.

Cellulose

A high molecular weight, stereoregular, and linear polymer of repeating beta-D-glucopyranose units. It is the chief structural element and major constituents of the cell wall of trees and plants.

Cellulose Acetate

An acetate salt of cellulose, produced from cotton linters and used in archival work.

  1. As a photographic film base (often called “safety film” since it is not readily combustible

  2. In conjunction with an adhesive, such as one of the polyvinyl resins, in laminating, heat sealing, etc.

Cellulose acetate is manufactured in a wide variety of thicknesses, ranging from 0.001 to 0.005 inch, and is clear, hard and glossy.

Cellulose fiber

An elongated, tapering, thick walled cellular unit, which is the main structural component of woody plants. Fibers in the plants are cemented together by lignin.

Center Spread

Any article, ad or other element that covers the two facing center pages of a publication.

Center-Weighted Metering

In digital photography, it refers to measuring the light by averaging the tonal values around the center of the subject matter and adjusting to a middle gray value in order to create the proper exposure.

Centimeter

A metric length measurement. 2.54 centimeters equals 1 inch.

Central Impression

A press with a number of printing units around a large cylinder that serves as the impression cylinder against which the substrate rides.

Century Schoolbook

A popular serif typeface used in magazines and books for text setting which has a large x-height and an open appearance.

CEPS

Color Electronic Prepress System

  1. Sophisticated computer controlled printing equipment, as distinguished from desktop components, designed for high-output presswork work required for data-intensive publications.

  2. Computer, scanner, printer and other hardware and software designed for image assembly, color correction, retouching and output onto proofing materials, film or printing plates.

  3. Computer systems used for high-quality color manipulation and preparation. The systems can consist of a microcomputer and software or it may be a high-end dedicated workstation used for this purpose only.

CEPT

The European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations

Established on June 26, 1959 as a coordinating body for European state telecommunications and postal organizations.

CERES

Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economics

The leading U.S. coalition of environmental, investor and advocacy groups working together for a sustainable future.

http://www.ceres.org

CERN

Conseil Europeen pour la Recherche Nucleaire

Translation: The European Laboratory for Particle Physics.

A particle physics laboratory in Geneva, Switzerland, where the World Wide Web was created in 1991. CERN is known for its pioneering work in the development of HTTP and HTML, which form the foundations of what we have come to know as the internet.

CERT

Computer Emergency Response Team

An organization that distributes information about security threats to the Internet such as worms and viruses. This organization is based at Carnegie Mellon University.

CF

Coated Front Paper

CF Paper

Paper that has the carbonless coating applied to the front. The CF paper does not transfer an image. It accepts the image from the CB or CFB paper.

CFB Paper

Paper that has the carbonless coating applied to the front and back. The CFB paper will transfer an image to another CFB paper or to a CF paper.

CFX

Content File Exchange

A standard established for the publishing industry, which defines the specifications necessary for building a file exchange application. Developers of applications that will transfer job pages, page imposition, and reader order data must adhere to the CFX specifications in order for the file to be imported directly into the proper prepress workflow sequence.

CGI

Common Gateway Interface

A means for transferring information between an internet server and CGI program found on Web pages to scripts or programs run on a Web server, and vice versa.

Two common uses for CGI programs are:

  1. Performing database queries in response to user input.

  2. Creating dynamic Web pages by assembling HTML data on the fly. The most popular language for writing CGI programs is Perl, although almost any language could be used

CGI-Bin Directory

A scripts directory located on the HTTP server in which CGI programs are stored.

Chain Dot

1.Alternate term for elliptical dot, so called because midtone dots touch at two points, so look like links in a chain.

2.Generic term for any midtone dots whose corners touch.

Chain Lines

1.Widely spaced lines in laid paper.

2.Blemishes on printed images caused by tracking.

Chalking

A powdering effect left on the surface of the paper after improper drying of the ink or coating. This occurs when the pigment within the ink or coating does not bind successfully to the paper stock

Chameleon

Software that enables the client to connect to TCP/IP networks.

Chamfer

A sloped surface that starts at the top of the material’s edge and ends part way down the side rather than at the bottom. The bordering appearance is similar to that which is produced by a bevel.

Chapbook

A small book or pamphlet, often a collection of poetry or prose.

Previous to the mid-19th century, the term was used to describe small books of popular, sensational, juvenile, moral, or educational content sold by street merchants, known as “chapmen.”

Character

In typesetting, it is a letter, number, space, punctuation mark, or symbol.

Character Count

The number of characters; i.e. letters, figures, signs or spaces in a piece of copy, line or paragraph used as a first stage in type calculations.

Character Sets

A limited group of characters used by computers traditionally with 256 characters defined by several international standards organizations.

Code page 1251 is the Cyrillic code page.

In typography traditionally called character sets. Code page 1252 is the Latin 1 code page used in most western languages.

Character Spacing

The space used for spacing characters.

Characteristic Curve

A diagram which shows the extent of dot gain occurring in the printing process, and is the graphic representation of the relationship between the tone values of the prepress product, the film or the printing plate and the corresponding tone values in printing.

Printing characteristics describe the extent to which a halftone image will get darker during printing due to dot gain.

The curve is applicable to one press and depends on different parameters. The curve is determined by means of a stepped gray wedge, and much attention must be paid to such factors as paper grade, screen, printing ink, printing press, ink filling, dampening, and even room temperature and air humidity.

Charge

Either a positive or negative property of electricity, charges are used in electrophotography in order to direct or attract toner to form an image.

Charter Subscription

An initial subscription price offer at the start-up of a publication that guarantees that the price will not change if subsequent renewal is done in a timely manner.

Charticle

An article in the form of a chart.

Chase
  1. A metal frame in which metal type, dies, stamps, perforation blades, scoring blades, and/or engravings, are locked into position to make up a page to be printed on a flatbed press.

  2. A metal frame for mounting a negative to use on step and repeat platemaking equipment.

Chat

Chat uses instant text messages which allows you to communicate with another person or group of people through an internet connection. Also called group chats.

Chatter

The vibration produced by a rotating engraving cutter. Generally caused by defective cutters or spindles and results in rough cuts and finishes in the work.

Check Clear Zone

An area 5/8” up from the bottom edge of the check which runs the full width. There should be no magnetic ink printed in this area other than the MICR encoded number. This allows the encoding of the magnetic numbering to be read accurately by the scanning equipment. Regular ink printed in this area must not block out the MICR number. Also referred to as MICR clear band.

Check Copy

1.Production copy of a publication verified by the customer as printed, finished and bound correctly.

2.One set of gathered book signatures approved by the customer as ready for binding.

Check Digit

MOD (Modulus) or check digit numbering involves the selection of a numbering method (MICR, Gothic, OCR, or Bar Code) to be used on documents for which an additional digit will be printed to the right of the base sequential number. Formulas are then used to verify the document sequence and information processing. This digit enables the document owner to verify and control some aspects of the document, its contents, or the intended end use of the document. The digit can be used to assure the reliability of the numeric data entered, to make sure it matches the receiver of the materials listed on the document such as situations in which medications are issued.

Check Paper

Chemically treated in order to betray any tampering with the writing on the checks.

Checkerboards

Ads alternated with editorial text and placed diagonally on the quarter or half page.

Checking

The appearance of very fine cracks in an adhesive, film or coating, such as varnish or lacquer. Also called crazing.

Chemi-Thermomechanical Pulp

CTMP

Pulp produced by refining chemically impregnated, pre-heated woodchips.

Chemical Ghosting

Faint replica of images printed on the other side of the sheet caused by chemical interaction of the inks during drying.

Chemical Pulp

Pulp obtained from the chemical cooking or digestion of wood or other plant material.

Chemical Pulping

The chemical solution used to separate wood fibers from lignin in the pulping process.

Chemical Reactive Inks

This type ink reacts to solvents or chemicals, such as bleach, alcohol or acetone. When exposed to the solvents or chemicals, these inks will run, change color, or cause a stain to develop.

Chemical Reactive Paper

Paper containing the chemical reactive features will turn brown, blue or black when bleach or solvents are used on it in an attempt to wash the ink from its surface.

Chemical Resistance

The resistance of a label to holdup under exposure to chemicals.

Chemical Void

A message is printed on the paper in an invisible chemical reactive ink that usually reads “Void” or “Stop”. When an attempt is made to wash off the ink on a document by using bleach or solvents, the message appears, making it clear that an attempt is being made to alter the document.

Chemical Wood Pulp

Pulp that is prepared from chipped wood by treating with chemicals to remove the non-cellulose material.

Used in the better grade of wood pulp papers, and improves the qualities of mechanical pulp when the two are mixed.

Chemistry

In photography and platemaking, a term used to describe the composition of processing solutions.

Cheque or Security Papers

The grade carrying this term is printed on a paper with a sensitised body as a protection against fraud. Of good quality, the paper is chemically treated in such a way as to show any sign of unauthorised change. Additionally, the paper can contain certain fibres that can only be detected under special light. Another, cheaper type is used for receipt books, forms and coupons.

Cheshire Labeling

Peal and Stick Style labels used for mailing magazines, catalogs, postcards etc.

Cheshire Labels

Labels made of white computer paper. The computer paper is cut into label size pieces and then glued onto the mail piece by a special piece of equipment called a Cheshire machine.

Chiaroscuro Woodcut

A form of woodcut involving several blocks in which one or more of the blocks is used to print large areas of tone.

Typically, a chiaroscuro woodcut will involve a line block to indicate the outlines of the composition and tone blocks with areas carved out to create highlights by allowing the white of the paper to show through. The final effect is similar to an ink wash drawing with highlights and line drawing.

Chill Marking

Marking caused by the chill rollers on a heatset web press, which cool the web after drying.

Chill Rolls or Cooling Rolls

On a press, the rolls used to reduce the temperature of the web and set the ink. They are located immediately after the drying oven on a press. Chill rolls are also used in the manufacture of carbon papers to cool carbon ink on the paper.

China Clay

A naturally occurring mineral, consisting essentially of hydrated silicate of alumina, used as a filler or as a component in paper coating.

Chipboard

A cardboard made up of repulped paper. It is used to add stability to note pads, shrink wrapped packages and other products. It is generally gray or brownish in color.

Chipped

Refers to the condition of a book; a mark or flaw caused by scuffing, gouging, or breaking off of a small piece of the dust jacket, pages, or backstrip.

Chlorine Dioxide

A chemical that has widely replaced elemental chlorine gas as a bleaching agent in pulp mills, resulting in a drastic reduction in the amount of dioxin produced.

Choke

A type of trapping in which a lighter background overlaps a darker object that falls within the background and seems to squeeze or reduce the object.

Chokes and Spreads

Overlap of overprinting images to avoid color or white fringes or borders around image detail. Called trapping in digital imaging systems.

Chroma

A measure of the relative strength of light on a color. The chroma value references the amount of dilution or saturation occurring to a color hue, determined by the extent of deviation from a similarly valued neutral gray.

Chromacheck

DuPont’’s negative overlay color proof.

Chrome

A word used for the color transparency that is used as the original copy.

Chrome Yellow

A lead chromate yellow ink pigment.

Chromolithograph

A color lithograph usually involving a large number of lithographic stones to allow a complex color separation.

The term is often used to describe late nineteenth-century color lithographs that emulate or reproduce paintings.

Chromolithography

A printing process that is done by printing in colors from a series of lithographic stones or plates. Noted for its fresh, bright colors, this process was popular during mid and late 19th century bookmaking.

Cibachrome

A positive print process known for its sharpness, rich color saturation, and permanence. Unless interpositives are made, these prints are made from slides and transparencies, never from color negatives.

Cicero

A typographical unit of measurement which is equal to 4,511 mm (0.178 inches) or 12 didot points.

CICI

Confederation of Information Communication Industries

A grouping of trade associations organised under the auspices of the Publishers Association.

CIE

Commission Internationale de l’’Eclairage

Translation: International Commission of Illumination

This is the organization responsible for setting the world-wide color measurement standards.

CIE Whiteness

Degree of whiteness measured according to recommendations of the CIE.

CIELAB

CIE L a b*

CIELAB is the most complete color model used conventionally to describe all the colors visible to the human eye.

It was developed for this specific purpose by the International Commission on Illumination

The * after L, a and b are part of the full name, since they represent L , a and b*, derived from L, a and b. CIELAB is an Adams Chromatic Value Space.

The three parameters in the model represent the lightness of the color (L , L =0 yields black and L=100 indicates white), its position between magenta and green (a, negative values indicate green while positive values indicate magenta) and its position between yellow and blue (b*, negative values indicate blue and positive values indicate yellow).

CIP

Cataloging in Publication

The purpose of the Cataloging in Publication (CIP) program is to prepare prepublication cataloging records for those books most likely to be widely acquired by the nation’s libraries.

For further information about the CIP program and how your publishing house may apply for participation in the program, write to:

Library of Congress, Cataloging in Publication Division
COLL/CIP (4320)
Washington, DC 20450-4320

CIP3

International Cooperation for Integration in Prepress, Press and Postpress

The manufacturers’ association CIP3 was established in 1995 in order to promote the non-proprietary digital integration of the printing process covering all stages from prepress to press and finishing.

Its most important achievement was in defining the Print Production Format, a data format for recording all information relevant for this process.

In 1999, CIP3 was incorporated into CIP4 which covers a broader sweep of themes.

CIP4

International Cooperation for the Integration of Processes in Prepress, Press and Postpress

Created in the middle of 2000 from the manufacturers’ association CIP3, the manufacturers’ and users’ organization CIP4 headquartered in Zurich, had the goal of providing the basis for the computer-based integration of the entire process involved in the production of print products, from preliminary costing and quotations to delivery and billing.

One of the first results has been the agreement of the Job Definition Format (JDF) as a common standard.

This was achieved in conjunction with Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG, Adobe Systems, MAN Roland, Agfa and the Fraunhofer Institut für grafische Datenverarbeitung (IGD).

Circular Screen

A screen that utilizes a concentric circle pattern as opposed to dots used for halftones and to allow the platemaker to set exact screen angles.

Circulation

The number of paid copies of a periodical, such as a magazine, a journal or a newspaper.

Circulation Specialist

Oversees database-related activities involving subscribers and advertisers, including data warehousing and data mining.

CIX

Organization of commercial Internet providers

http://www.cix.org

CKB

Coated Kraft Back Boards

Board consisting of either bleached chemical pulp or a mineral-coated top layer or both, an unbleached back and a middle layer of unbleached chemical and/or mechanical pulp; used for packaging food and non-food products

CL

Carload

Selling unit of paper that may weigh anywhere from 20,000 to 100,000 pounds (9,090 to 45, 454 kilos), depending on which mill or merchant uses the term.

CLA

The organization which co-ordinates the collection of dues from licensed material.

Clamp Count

A process done on a flat/guillotine cutter. A quantity of sheets are hand counted and placed into the cutter. The clamp is brought down onto the stack and a line is drawn across the clamp and main housing. Additional lifts or sheets are loaded into the cutter and counted by adding or removing sheets until the two lines re-align. This is done when scale counting is necessary. This counting process has an error factor of +/- 5% to 10%.

CLARCS

A service provided by CLA to facilitate copyright clearance for permissions.

Clasp Envelope

An envelope that has a clasp on the flap that is used for closure purposes. The clasp allows for repeated opening and closing of the envelope

Classification

A publication, such as National Motor Freight Classification (motor carrier), that assigns ratings to various articles and provides bill of lading descriptions and rules.

Classified Ad

An advertisement that uses only text, as opposed to a display ad, which also incorporates graphics.

Clay

A natural substance used as both a filler and coating ingredient to improve a paper’s smoothness, brightness, opacity and affinity for ink.

Clean Edge

Refers to a very fine perforation line which simulates the effect of a guillotine cut edge (Also known as Micro-Perf).

Clean Proof

A proof copy that has not been marked up by the proofreader.

Clean-Up

Wiping an offset printing plate or blanket with solvent because paper dirt, dust or ink build-up may cause unwanted specks or holes on the sheet. Printers intermittently clean-up during a print run. Plates and blankets are thoroughly cleaned when the ink color is changed in the fountain.

Cleanedge Carbon

Carbon paper that has an uncoated strip on at least one edge. The cleanedge is used for easier handling or for gluing purposes. Also referred to as clearedge carbon.

Cleaning Utilities

A feature on most inkjet printers where ink is sprayed through the nozzles of the cartridge in order to unclog them.

Clear Area

A required clear space, containing no data marks, which precedes the start character of a symbol and follows the stop character. Also known as the “quiet area.”

Clear Coat

A coating applied to a printed product to protect against abrasion, chemicals, moisture, sunlight or a combination of these.

Clear Cover

A special plastic material designed to work well with the Fastback binders. Unlike some other plastics, Clear Cover will not melt when binding. It is also compatible with the Foilfast binder, allowing you to add foil printing to transparent covers.

Clear Liner

A thin plastic adhesive sheet designed to make book rebinding easier than ever. Ideally suited to the fast repair of non-archival books.

Clear Text

Plain Text – Textual data in the ASCII format that is not encrypted. Most portable format used because it is supported by almost every application on every machine

Clear Zone

The clear zone is an area on a document that cannot contain any printing that will interfere with the bar code, OCR or MICR encoding being read accurately by scanning equipment. Any printing in this area, other than the encoding, must be printed in an ink that cannot be read by the scanner.

Clearcutting

Method of harvest in which most of the trees are removed at the same time, although some trees are left for wildlife and to shade streams. Clear cut harvesting is effective for regenerating Douglas-fir trees, which are shade intolerant and cannot thrive under a forested canopy.

Cleat Bind

Alternate term for Side stitch.

Client

An application operating on a personal computer that needs the server to do some of the operations. For example, World Wide Web clients commonly known as browsers, such as Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator, allow you to access the internet.

Client/Server Architecture

Servers are dedicated to managing files, printers, network traffic, databases, and others. Clients are PCs or workstations on which applications are run and rely on the servers for resources or computing power.

Client/Server Computing

A system in which databases and most programming code are stored on a server which handles the bulk of the processing. A desktop computer, or client provides the user interface but does little of the processing.

Client/Server Network

A network arrangement where each computer on the network is a client or server. The servers manage the disk drives, printers and network traffic. The clients are the workstations that run the applications. The clients rely on the server for all the necessary resources to run the applications.

Clip Art

Illustrations or drawings that are available to use as artwork for your layout. Clip art is available for purchase on glossy sheets or in digital form.

Clipping Path

An outline, embedded into the file, that tells an application which areas of a picture should be considered transparent.

Clipping Service

A company that collects articles of interest from newspapers and periodicals for its clients.

Cloisonne

Metal emblems that are stamped from a die. A colored paste made from ground glass is applied into the recessed areas of the emblem. The emblem is then fired at 1400 degrees and polished by stone and pumice to achieve brilliant color.

Gullies and ridges separate each individual color, so fine lines between colors are difficult to achieve. This is considered a very high-quality product, and is slightly more costly than other alternatives.

Cloning

A procedure used in an image editing program where a pixel or many pixels are duplicated and placed into another area of a picture. Cloning is sometimes used when more or less detail is desired in a specific area.

Close Register

When two colors fit tightly together with little or no trap allowance. This requires precise alignment when printing.

Close Up

A mark used to indicate closing space between characters or words. Usually used in proofing stages.

Closed Face

An envelope that does not have a window

Closed Loop System

A completely automated control system. Software used on printing presses to control color levels and density with the use of an automated densitometer.

Closed Source

Closed source is an antonym for open source software and refers to any program whose license does not meet the definition of open source software. Generally, it means only the binaries of a computer program are distributed and the license provides no access to the program’s source code, rendering modifications to the software technically impossible for practical purposes.

The source code of such programs is usually regarded as a trade secret of the company.

Access to source code by third parties commonly requires the party to sign a non-disclosure agreement.

Closing Date
  1. The final date by which advertising must be delivered if it is to appear in a specific issue or program

  2. The deadline to submit the final version of advertising material or a manuscript for publication to a magazine’s specific issue.

CLS

Canadian Lumber Standard

CLUT

Color Lookup Table

A palette of colors within image editing applications and system software.

CMR

Competitive Media Reporting

Reports strategic intelligence to advertisers, advertising agencies, broadcasters and publishers.

CMS

1. Color Management System

A set of computer programs used to accurately translate color calibration. It ensures consistent color from prepress through print production by calibrating color between scanners, monitors, imagesetters, proofers, printers and other devices in the workflow process.

    1. Content Management System

A software application which allows you to manage your content online through your internet browser. You can find a full list of CMS solutions at www.cmsmatrix.org

CMYK

Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black

The primary pigment colors used in 4 color process printing and most desktop publishing programs. CMY are the subtractive primary colors and are used to reproduce full color on the printed sheet. If these pigments are combined in equal amounts, black is supposed to be produced, but because of imperfections with the pigments, a muddy brown color is produced. For that reason, black (represented by K) is added to give definition to color reproduction and to create bolder text.

Co Palletize

To combine and present together on pallets mail from two or more different or separately produced mail streams.

Co-Extruded Engraving Plastic

A flexible engraving material produced by simultaneously merging two plastics together during the manufacturing process. One plastic forms the cap surface, the other the core.

Co-Extrusions

Film produced by more than one extruder through a common die. Films have been made with as many as 13 layers.

Co-Mailing

Two or more (usually noncompetitive) offers combined in one envelope and sent to prospects to cut down the individual costs of mailing, postage, etc.

Co-Op Advertising

Where two organizations, such as a bookseller and a publisher, share the cost of advertising. The publisher usually pays the larger percentage.

Co-Op Mailing

The joint effort of several organizations to reduce costs by mailing their materials as one mailing.

Co-Op Publishing

A situation in which two organizations produce and publish a book together.

Also called Co-Publishing.

Co-Publishing

A situation in which two organizations produce and publish a book together.

Also called Co-Op Publishing.

Coarse Screen

Halftone screen with ruling of 65, 85 or 100 lines per inch (26, 34 or 40 lines centimeter).

Coated Fine Paper

Fine paper with a pigmented surface layer which increases the uniformity of the printing surface and provides improved printing properties, particularly for the reproduction of illustrations

Coated Free Sheet

Coated paper manufactured with no more than 10% mechanical (groundwood) pulp.

Coated Front Paper

CF

Coated Groundwood

Coated paper that is made up of 10% to 75% mechanical (groundwood) pulp

Coated Paper

Paper that has had a coating applied to give the sheet a better appearance and improve its printability. The coating can be applied to one side or both sides. It can be applied during the manufacturing process or it can be applied by an offline coater.

Coating
  1. The mixture of clay materials that are applied to paper to improve the smoothness of the paper’’s surface and improves ink holdout during the printing process.

  2. In reference to printing, it is a varnish, lacquer, emulsion or other layers added to a printed product to provide protection.

Coating Weight

The amount of coating applied and measured in pounds per ream to a specified sheet size.

COBOL

Common Business Oriented Language

The most common data processing language and one of the oldest. COBOL programs are much longer than other languages, because everything is spelled out, but this makes the programs easier to understand. It is well suited for business applications that run on large computers.

Cocked

Refers to the condition of a book; the spine is no longer straight and appears crooked or twisted.

Also known as Spine Lean.

Cockle

Local deformation of a sheet of paper due to unequal shrinkage giving it a slightly crumpled appearance.

Cockle Finish

A finish that simulates characteristics of hand made paper with a wavy, rippled, puckered finish. The effect is obtained by air drying the paper under minimum tension.

Cockled

Refers to the condition of a book; the wrinkled, puckered, waving, or curling condition of a page or of the boards of a book, which is caused by non-uniform drying and shrinkage.

If the cockled page is made of vellum, the condition is caused by humidity.

In the case of paper or board, the condition is caused by heat and humidity.

In the case of book covers, it can be caused by the use of the wrong type of adhesive or too much adhesive.

COD

Cash On Delivery

The recipient must pay in full at the tme of delivery. The product belongs to the sender until remittance is obtained.

Codabar

A common numerical barcode which is often used in applications for library and medical fields.

Code 128

A type of bar code used mostly in the shipping industry and on labels.

Code 39

The C39 or Code 3 of 9 Bar Code

Readable by all common scanners.

It is often used for ID, inventory, labeling, and tracking purposes, and is the most popular alphanumeric bar code.

Code Character

For the POSTNET bar code, digits from 0 to 9 are displayed as combinations of two full bars and three half bars plus a beginning and ending frame bar.

CODEC

COderDECoder

A device used to convert analog signals such as speech, music, or television to digital form and then back again to the original analog form.

Coder

A person whose primary duty is to write computer programs, but not to design them.

CodeSafe

A patent pending technology that gives maximum security to your documents. A synthetic D.N.A. molecular chemical code is incorporated into the document. The chemical code’’s molecular make up is very rare and thus creates a unique distinguishing feature, making reproduction of this feature almost impossible. With special equipment in a forensic lab, this molecular makeup can be decoded for exact verification of the document.

Codex

An ancient volume of manuscript.

Coding

A list of instructions that allow the computer to perform specified operations.

Cogeneration

An entergy system that consumes a fuel – usually natural gas – to produce electricity and simultaneously captures thermal energy in the form of steam or hot air.

Cogeneration systems use heat energy that otherwise would be wasted.

Cohesion

Cohesive Strength, Internal Bond, Shear

The internal strength of an adhesive, its resistance to flow, and the resistance to failure or splitting when labels are removed or under stress.

Coil Binding

Book binding that consists of a spiral wire or plastic that is wound through holes.

Coil/Spiral Binding

Pages are punched (usually at the left or top edge), and then a single coil (spiral) of plastic or wire is threaded through the punched holes to anchor the pages together. Coil binding is useful for presentations and workbooks because pages lie flat when the finished piece is opened. One disadvantage is that there is no printable spine.

Coin Reactive Ink

The image printed from this ink is white or transparent. The image is revealed when the edge of a coin is rubbed over the ink.

COLD

Computer Output to Laser Disk

Integrated software and hardware solutions for storing and indexing large amounts of data that can be retrieved, viewed, distributed and printed electronically. Data is output to media such as optical or magnetic disks.

Cold Temperature Adhesive

Adhesive that will create a bond when applied to a cold surface in a cold environment.

Cold Type

Type produced without the use of characters cast from molten metal, such as on a VDU.

Coldset Web

A reelfed press with limited or no drying facility.

Only uncoated papers such as newsprint or bond can be printed on coldset webs.

Collage

An image that is created by combining several elements, such as illustrations and photographs.

Collagraph

Printing technique in which proofs are pulled from a block on which the artwork or design is built up like a collage, creating a relief.

Collate

Assembling individual sheets together in a specific order to produce a complete set.

Pages and signatures are assembled to be bound into a complete book and individual parts of a form are assembled to create a multiple part form.

Collated

The content of the work, including all pages and illustrations, has been examined and verified that it is complete and in the proper order.

Collateral

Ad agency term for printed pieces, such as brochures and annual reports, that are not directly involved in advertising.

Collating Marks

Black step-marks printed on the back of folded sheets, to facilitate collating and checking of the sequence of book signatures.

Collator

A machine used to collate individual pieces into a complete set.

Collet

Device which holds collet cutters in the spindle.

Collet Cutter

A cutter that is typically shorter than a standard cutter. Collet cutters are inserted into the bottom of the spindle and held in place by a collet.

Collotype

Method of printing continuous tones using a plate coated with gelatin.

Colophon

A printer’s reference at the end of a book which usually gives the place of printing, name of the printer, and other details about the book.

A printers or publishers identifying symbol or emblem.

See also Imprint.

Color Balance

Maintaining the correct ratio of cyan, magenta and yellow ink to achieve the desired color on the printed piece without unwanted color cast.

Color Bars

Color bars are also referred to as color control bars, color control strips, or proofing bars. Color bars are rows of different colored patches printed in the trim area of the press sheet. They are used by proofers and press operators to control the trapping, ink density, dot gain, and print contrast of the proof or the printed sheet.

Color Break

In multicolor printing, the point, line or space at which one ink color stops and another begins. Also called break for color.

Color Build

Color building is a process used to build up a certain percentage of CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow and black) values to accomplish a specific shade of color.

Color Cast

A dominant color or discoloration in a section of an image or in its reproduction generally caused by improper processing conditions.

Color Control Strips

Color bars are also referred to as color control bars, color control strips, or proofing bars.

Color bars are rows of different colored patches printed in the trim area of the press sheet.

They are used by proofers and press operators to control the trapping, ink density, dot gain, and print contrast of the proof or the printed sheet.

Also See Proofing Bars .

Color Copier

A xerographic machine that reproduces copies in color.

Color Correction

The alteration of color(s) in a scanned or photographed image. Color correction is done to correct a undesirable tone or color cast that may be a result of imaging, to keep colors within the range of reproducible ink colors, or for other reasons, such as customer instructions.

Color Curves

Instructions in computer software that allow users to change or correct colors. Also called HLS and HVS tables.

Color Depth

Digital images are recorded as pixels, which are small square blocks or picture elements that are combined to form the image. Each pixel contains information about the colors recorded. The color depth refers to the number of bits within each pixel and the corresponding number of colors within those bits. When more data can be recorded or captured (higher resolution devices), the bit depth is higher, which results in greater color accuracy. The term applied to the ability of the camera sensor to record the spectrum of colors in the image. Pixels are created as tiny points of light, which have been converted from data compiled by the camera’’s image sensor.

Color Fastness

That property of a pigment or dye, or the leather, cloth, paper, ink, etc., containing the coloring matter, to retain its original hue, especially without fading, running, or changing when wetted, washed, cleaned; or stored under normal conditions when exposed to light, heat, or other influences. Color fastness in paper is measured with a fadeometer, and in cloth by a launderometer.

Color Gamut

The entire range of colors possible to reproduce using a system such as four color process or on a device such as a computer monitor.

Color Key

Negative overlay films developed by 3M which simulate process printing inks and are used as a proofing tool.

Color Lookup Table

CLUT

A palette of colors within image editing applications and system software.

Color Matching System

The use of color charts or color swatches, printed or computer generated, to compare, identify and match specific colors. Also see Pantone Matching System.

Color Model

A color model is a system for describing a set of colors. Each model has a color gamut, or range of colors it can define. No two models have the same gamut.

Color Proof

An image, created by using process color inks, pigments or dyes, showing how the final printed sheet will appear.

Color Scanner

Electronic equipment that uses a laser or high intensity light source to create color separation negatives from reflective prints or transparencies.

Color Separation
  1. Also called seps. The four-color negatives or transparencies produced when a continuous tone photo or art are changed into four color process colors (cyan, magenta, yellow and black) by the use of filters. This process can be accomplished by photographic or electronic means.

  2. The processes of separating the primary color components for printing.

Color Sequence

The sequence in which the four color process inks are printed.

Color Shift

Change in image color resulting from changes in register, ink densities or dot gain during four-color process printing.

Color Space

The use of a color space model to represent color as data. Most models use three dimensions to define the color. RGB or CMY are commonly used color spaces.

Color Strength

The concentration of the coloring material in ink.

Color Substitution

A way to alter the look of an image. One ink is substituted for another, often in four-color process printing. Keep in mind that color is substituted on the entire separation affecting every place it appears on the press sheet.

Color Transparency

A positive photographic image protected by a transparent cover.

Color Transposition

Transposing color negatives (such as, swapping magenta and cyan) is an easy and inexpensive way to achieve intriguing effects with conventional processes. Be sure to preview how the transposed colors will look on press by color proofing the image on the chosen paper stock beforehand.

Color-Fast Papers

Colored papers that will not run when wet or fade under bright light.

Color-Filling

The method of filling deeply cut, rotary engraved characters with ink, paint, or paste to odd color or contrast.

Color-Variant Suite

A set of identical prints in different color schemes.

Colorant

The color ingredient, or pigment in an ink.

Colorfill

Screen printing an image and then debossing it onto the vinyl’s surface.

Colorimeter

Colorimeters are used to generate colour profiles for equipment in the workflow. Accurate colour profiles are important to ensure that screen displays match the final printed products.

Colorsync

ColorSync is Apple’s platform-independent color management system that provides essential services for fast, consistent, and accurate color calibration, proofing, and reproduction.

Column

A vertical section of a page.

Column Gutter

Space between two or more columns of type on one page.

Column Inch

A measurement, one column wide by one inch deep, used by newspapers and magazines to calculate the cost of display advertising.

Column Rule

A vertical line separating columns.

Comb Binding

Plastic combs are another type of binding that allow for the addition or removal of pages from a book. The system involves punching rectangular holes into pages which then slide over the fingers of the plastic comb. The plastic combs allow the book to lie flat when it is open, but the book cannot be folded completely over.

Combination Emboss

The process of embossing and foil stamping the same image. It involves imprinting and aligning foil over and embossed image to create foil emboss.

Combination Plate

A plate that contains a combination of halftones and line copy.

Combination Run

The combining of different jobs to be manufactured at the same time to take advantage of production economies. Jobs are generally similar in size, paper, ink colors and have the same special features.

Also known as a Gang Run

Combo Banding

Combo banding is the use of a shrink label to package two containers together for the purpose of offering it as one product. Using the shrink label for banding purposes allows packaging of different size and shape containers together.

Comma-Delimited File

A data file that uses commas to separate individual fields.

Commemorative Stamp

A Commemorative stamp is one issued to honor a person or event. It is printed once, in relatively small quantities (typically 50 to 100 million in the U.S.), and withdrawn from sale (if not sold out) after a specified time, usually about a year.

Commerce Server

Also known as Electronic Commerce Server, this file server software was developed to help organizations conduct electronic commerce activities over the Internet.

Commercial Invoice

Represents a complete record of the transaction between exporter and importer with regard to the goods sold. Also reports the content of the shipment and serves as the basis for all other documents about the shipment.

Commercial Match

When a paper is manufactured to match the specifications of a sample provided to the manufacuturer.

Commercial Printer

1.A printer that prints many different types of jobs such as brochures, fliers, newsletters, announcements, books, postcards, posters, stickers, business cards, stationery and magazines. They generally print a lot of 4-color process and other color work.

2.Also called job printer because each job is different.

Commercial Register

Color registration measured within plus or minus one row of dots.

Commercial Thinning

Entry into a forest stand before final harvest to selectively remove trees that will produce a profit, while providing a silvicultural advantage to the remaining crop of trees. This technique is unlike a clear cut harvest, which removes nearly all trees in a single harvest operation.

Commissioning Editor

A person employed in a publishing house to seek out authors to write particular books for publication; sometimes used as a synonym for acquiring editor.

Commodity Papers

Paper that is average in quality and produced on very large paper machines at high volumes. It is generally easy to obtain and the price is economica

Comp

Comprehensive Layout

The comp is a full-sized mock-up with most of the details of the finished product such as headlines, blocks of text, and illustrations sketched in the correct size and proper location.

CompactFlash

A removable storage device for holding images which is about the size of a matchbook. This type of storage is a memory card which is pin compatible with PC cards and can hold from 8MB up to 320MB.

Compartments

Ruled lines forming a square border or frame on a binding, which is done in gilt or blind.

Also known as Pannelled.

Compensate

In bindery, to alternate finished product at ninety-degree angles to make a more stackable lift of material. Operators determine compensate quantity unless specifically instructed.

Compensator

In the pressroom, the Compensator monitors the placements of folds and cutoffs on all products delivered off of the press. The Compensator also works with the Stacker to assure that product is stacked correctly so that delivery to the next department or plant will result in minimum waste. The Compensator is responsible for all paperwork related to the completion of press product. The Compensator assists with the make ready process to assure accurate and timely completion to get the press up and running in a minimum amount of time.

Compiler

A program used to translate source code into object code. Most high level programming languages come with a compiler, because in many ways, the compiler is the language. It describes which instructions are acceptable.

Complementary Flats

The second or additional flat(s) used when making composite film or for two or more burns on one printing plate.

Compliance

Complying with legally enforceable rules, regulations, laws or mandates.

Complimentary List
  1. Unpaid distribution of a magazine at the discretion of the publisher. Likely recipients include potential advertisers, printers, agencies, members of the press and other officials.

  2. A list of advertisers or potential advertisers who receive a publication for free.

Compose

Setting content into type for printing.

Composing Stick

A hand tool in which type is assembled and justified.

Composite Art

A layout or mechanical on which the copy for all colors appears on one surface instead of each color having its own separate overlay. A tissue overlay is then used to indicate what parts of the layout print in different colors.

Composite Black

It is a dark color that is the result of over-printing the three process colors – cyan, magenta, and yellow. In color theory the three process colors should produce a perfect black, but in reality, a muddy color is created which is generally not acceptable. Also called process black.

Composite File

A PostScript file representing color pages that contain picture elements that are specified in RGB color space as opposed to black and white “gray level” pages representing the separations.

Composite Film

Also called final film.The negative made by combining the images of two or more negatives. This creates one working negative for burning plates rather than having to burn each individual negative to create the final image on the pla

Composite Proof

A color proof showing all of the final copy, graphics, type and color separations.

Composition
  1. In graphic design it is the arranging of all of the elements, including type, graphics and illustrations, on the page in the proper positions.

  2. In typography it is the setting of the type and arranging on the page in the proper position for printing.

Compositor

A person or company doing the composition. Also known as a typesetter.

Compositor’s Error

An error that is made when the original copy was typeset. Also called a printer’’s error.

Compound Path

The combining of two or more paths (vector shapes) so that transparent areas can be created in the overlapping paths.

Compression

Reducing the size of a file for faster transmission or more compact storage of data. It achieves this by the removal of redundant information.

Compression Ratios

A numeric relationships used to calibrate different image file sizes, such as 1:2, 1:4, 1:7, 1:12, etc. As the ratio increases the quality of the image decreases, causing artifacting, or degradation of the image. A compression of 1:4 will provide a sharp image with no loss of quality. The size of the compressed image will change according to the subject within the image.

Compression-Lossless

Data compression method that rearranges or re-codes data in a more compact fashion and loses no information when decompressed. Because all data are preserved, there is a distinct limit to the amount of compression that can be achieved (for example, 3:1 or 5:1)

Compression-Lossy

Also known as Lossy Compression – Data compression method (for example, JPEG) that selectively discards repetitive information to decrease the file size. Depending on the amount of compression requested, the lost information may or may not be noticeable. At rates of 25:1, the results are easily seen.

Computer Output Paper

Paper that has strength and a surface that is good for printing, generally called form bond.

Computer Software

Software, or program, enables a computer to perform specific tasks, as opposed to the physical components of the system hardware.

This includes application software such as a word processor, which enables a user to perform a task, and system software such as an operating system, which enables other software to run properly, by interfacing with hardware and with other software or custom software made to user specifications.

Concatenation

Forming a single character string by linking other character strings together.

Concertina Fold

A method of folding a sheet of paper, first to the right and then to the left, so that the sheet opens and closes in the manner of a concertina.

Condensed Type
  1. A typeface that has characters that have been reduced in width but not height. The characters are more tightly spaced so you can get more characters per inch.

  2. A style of typeface in which the characters have a vertically elongated appearance.

Condition Guide for Books

Fine/Very Good: F/VG

Fine Book in Very Good jacket.

  1. Fine/Like New: F

No defects, little usage. May show remainder marks. Older books may show minor flaws.

  1. Very Good: VG

Shows some signs of wear and is no longer fresh. Attractive.

  1. Good: G

The average used book with all pages present. Books with loose bindings, highlighting, cocked spine, torn dust jackets, can fall into this category.

  1. Fair: FR

Obviously well-worn and handled but no text pages are missing, however, it may be without endpapers or a title page.
There might be markings, but they do not interfere with readability.

  1. Poor: P

All text is legible but may be soiled and have binding defects.
Reading copies and binding copies fall into this category.

Conditioning
  1. The process of allowing paper to set in the area in which it will be used so that it can adjust to the environment before being used.

  2. Allowing paper to acclimate in the pressroom for a few hours or days before printing, bringing its moisture level and temperature equal to that of the pressroom.

Conductivity
  1. The electrical property of paper which allows it to attract toner. A paper with low conductivity may produce a poor image quality in digital printing.

  2. A property of fountain solutions that must be controlled along with pH.

Conformability

The ability of label material to take on the shape of the object it is applied to.

Conical Cutters

Those having an angled cutting edge which produce a “V” shaped cut.

Conifer

A cone-bearing tree with needles, such as pines, spruces, firs and larches.

Conjugate Leaf

The unsevered second half of a printed page.

Consecutive Numbering

Numbering a form where the number changes sequentially from one form to the next.

Consignee

A person or company to whom commodities are shipped.

Consignment

Material sold on consignment are not invoiced to the customer but paid for as they are resold.

Contact Platemaker

Device with lights, timing mechanism and vacuum frame used to make contact prints, duplicate film, proofs and plates. Also called platemaker and vacuum frame.

Contact Print

A photographic print produced by exposing a sensitized material which is in contact with a negative or positive film.

Contact Screen

A type of screen used when making a halftone.

Container

A truck trailer body that can be detached from the chassis for loading into a vessel, a rail car or stacked in a container depot. Containers may be ventilated, insulated, refrigerated, flat rack, vehicle rack, open top, bulk liquid or equipped with interior devices. A container may be 20 feet, 40 feet, 45 feet, 48 feet or 53 feet in length, 8’0” or 8’6” in width, and 8’6” or 9’6” in height.

Contamination

Any foreign particles or dirt that a material is exposed to.

Contemporary

A term used to describe a work that was published within the last decade or to indicate that all of the components of the book (the binding, the coloring of plates, inscriptions, and side notes) were created at the same time the book was printed.

Content

Any material, other than advertisement, that appears within the context of the magazine, web site or other publishing forum.

Content Provider

A business or individual supplying the data (content) to be used in creating a Web sites. This content can consist of documents, files, photos, etc.

Content Search

A system’’s capability to search through text and find a matching group of characters.

Contents

The list of a book’s chapters or a magazine’s features and departments that appears as part of the front matter.

Continuous Code

A bar code structure that does not have any inter-character breaks.

Continuous Envelopes

Envelopes provided in continuous form so that they can be imprinted on a continuous fed printer. The envelopes are affixed to a continuous carrier or are manufactured as a continuous form with a patch applied to create a pocket.

Continuous Forms

A series of connected forms with holes punched on the left and right sides that allows the paper to be fed continuously through a pinfed printing device. There is a perforation between forms to allow the user to tear them apart. The forms are fanfolded into a stack, at the perforation, when they are manufactured.

Continuous Forms Stacker

The device that refolds and stacks the continuous forms after running through the printing unit.

Continuous Label

Labels that are attached in a continuous stream with a folding perf placed in even increments apart. They are folded in a fanfolded manner to form a stack. They have pinfeed holes at the left and right for the purpose of feeding the labels through a continuous printer.

Continuous Mailer

A product that is manufactured as a continuous form, most often consisting of an outside envelope and internal sheets that are first printed and then collated together. This forms a complete set of materials ready to be addressed and imprinted on impact printers.

Continuous Pulping

Production of pulp in continuous digester as compared to a batch digester.

Continuous Tone Digital Proofing

A proof produced with reliable color directly from a digital file without a halftone pattern. It is generally created by an inkjet or dye sublimination process without producing a set of film separations.

Contract

A legal, binding document signed by the client and Fine Print, Inc. which declares and defines the services to be purchased and provided along with the obligations each party has to one another under the terms and conditions as set forth within the contract, exhibits, riders(s) if required, and pricing attachments.

Contract Carrier

Any person not a common carrier who, under special and individual contracts or agreements, transports passengers or property for compensation.

Contrast
  1. The difference between the lightest and darkest areas of an image. High contrasts would be black on yellow and black on white.

  2. The difference of tonal gradation between light and dark values within an image. A high-contrast image is predominantly highlights and shadows with few gray tones. A low-contrast image has few highlights and shadows with predominantly even tones. Image contrast is sacrificed somewhat when tones are compressed to bring an original’’s density down to a range that can be reproduced on a printing press.

Contre Jour

Taking a picture with the camera lens facing the light source.

Contributing Editor

An editor or writer who contributes to a magazine’s efforts but is not on staff.

Convenient Carton

A term used when it is acceptable for a machine operator to determine the appropriate quantity of finished product to be packed per carton without using filler, maintaining a snug fit in the carton without exceeding thirty-five pounds per carton.

Converting

The processing of paper to change its physical form (as opposed to merely printing on it).

Converting Paper

The processing of paper to produce another paper product, such as envelopes and cartons.

Cookies

A piece of information sent by a Web server to a Web browser that the browser software is expected to save and send back to the server whenever it is requested. You can set your browser to accept or not accept cookies. They contain information that either you entered through electronic forms or by recording your activities. They also remember “shopping cart” information and your user preferences. Cookies do not read your hard drive but they can be used to gather more information about you than would be possible without them.

Cooking

Reacting fibrous raw material with chemical under pressure and temperature to soften and or remove lignin to separate fibers.

Copy
  1. To a graphic designer or a printer, it is all the elements that are to be printed, such as text, rules, graphics and photographs. To a typesetter or editor it is the text.

  2. A duplicate of an original.

Copy Dot

The digitizing of film by scanning each color as a bitmap.

Copy Editor

A person who checks copy for spelling, punctuation, grammar and inaccurate information. They also check that the style conforms to what has been requested.

Copy Fitting

Adjusting type size and spacing to get copy to fit into a certain amount of space.

Copy Paper

Paper suitable to use in photocopy machines.

Copy Supervisor

Oversees proper copy editing and proofreading and acts as liaison between copy editors and printer. Usually reports to the Managing Editor and may have supervisory status.

Copyright
  1. The exclusive right given to an individual or organization to publish, reproduce, and distribute the contents of a literary or artistic work for a specified number of years.

  2. Copyright is a form of protection provided by the laws of the United States (title 17, U. S. Code) to the authors of “original works of authorship” – including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works. This protection is available to both published and unpublished works.

Copyright Infringement

The unauthorized use of material that is protected by intellectual property rights law particularly the copyright in a manner that violates one of the original copyright owner’s exclusive rights, such as the right to reproduce or perform the copyrighted work, or to make derivative works that build upon it.

Core

A hollow cylindrical object that paper, film or labels are wound around to form a roll. They are made of thick sturdy cardboard or metal. The thickness of its walls will vary according to the type and amount of product that will be wound on it. The size of the core opening will depend on the requirements of the equipment it will be used on.

Coreboard

Board produced from recovered papers, sometimes combined with a small proportion of primary wood pulp; used to produce paper cores

Corel Draw

This is a popular drawing program for the Windows market. We don’t support Corel Draw specifically but can usually import its files into Macromedia FreeHand or Adobe Illustrator if needed. Saving your drawings as an EPS (Encapsulated Postscript) file with all the type converted to graphics is another way we can accept this format.

Corewood

Wood located in the centre of the trunk and often darker in colour than the surrounding wood

Corner Copy

The copy located in the upper left corner of the mailing package, generally the return address.

Corner Cut

A diagonal cut made at the corner of a business form.

Corner Marks

Also known as Crop Marks – These are lines printed on a page to indicate where the page should be trimmed after the document is printed and bound. They are also used to show what part of a photo should be used and what part should be cropped off.

Corner Radius

Describes the arc or curvature of the die blades where they meet so that they can impart a rounded corner to a die cut label.

Corona

The element that cleans the photoconductive drum or belt of an electrophotographic system after an image is printed.

Corona Treatment

Altering the surface characteristics by exposing the surface to a high voltage discharge (corona) resulting in an increase in surface energy (dyne level).

Corrected Bill of Lading

In shipping/receiving, bill of lading requiring any update that results in money, or other financially related charges.

Correction Character

For the POSTNET bar code, a digit that is added to the existing digits in the ZIP Code to create a multiple total of 10. It is displayed as five bars that are imprinted directly in front of the right frame bar in the POSTNET bar code.

Correspondence Papers

Paper having an attractive finish and a good writing surface.

Corrugated

Characteristic of board for boxes made by sandwiching fluted kraft paper between sheets of paper or cardboard.

Corrugated Board

Container board consisting of one or several fluted filler boards (corrugating medium), glued to a surface layer of liners (kraftliner, testliner) consisting of one or several layers, used in containers

Cotton Content Paper

Paper made from cotton fibers rather than wood pulp.

Cotton Fiber

Cotton is a natural fiber and one of the strongest and most durable fibers. Generally, given reasonable care, one can expect one year of usable life for every 1% of cotton contained in the sheet. Typically cotton fiber papers are made of either all cotton fiber (100% cotton) or a blend of cotton and wood pulp

Cotton Fibers

Cotton cuttings, free of synthetic fibers, purchased from the textile industry. They are the main source of cotton fibers used in manufacturing cotton content paper.

Cotton Linters

The fine, silky fibers which remain adhered to the seeds of the cotton plant after ginning, including parts of the longer textile fibers, or “lint,” as well as coarse, short fuzz fibers in most upland species of the plant. When purified, linters are used in the manufacture of paper. They can be used to replace from 5 to 35% of the rag content of fine papers with little or no loss of strength. Linters improve uniformity and the color properties of paper, and also provide a cleaner, bulkier sheet.

Cotton Paper

Paper made with a minimum of 25% cotton fiber. Fox River and Gilbert offer a wide choice of writing papers made with anywhere from 25% to 100% cotton fibers, including recycled options with cotton and post consumer waste. Cotton is recognized by the EPA as recovered materials/fibers.

Coupon

A removable label or slip of paper which has some type of redeemable value.

Courtesy/Credit Line

A small line of type next to a photo or illustration that indicates its source and/or the photographer’’s or artist’’s name. Sometimes a Copyright notice is included.

Cover Paper

A paper product with a grammage that is higher than paper, but lower than cardboard.

A distinction is made between single-layer and multilayer board. In the U.S., paperboard is often called “cover paper”.

Cover Stock/Paper

A stiff heavyweight paper used when durability is a concern. It is used on items such as postcards, covers, menus, posters, announcements, folders and business cards. Some cover stocks have matching text or bond paper available. The thickness of cover stock is generally indicated by 80lb, 100lb, and 120lb. Cover Stcok can be as heavy as 200lb.

Cover Wrap

An additional cover, usually a 4 page signature that gets stitched or bound onto the original cover of a finished product. The cover wrap is the outermost part of a finished product.

Coverage

The amount of ink printed on a sheet. Generally indicated by percentage.

CP Strip

Special thermal strip designed to let you bind books that are printed on smooth papers, or are printed with a laser printer that uses fuser oil.

CPIA

The Canadian Printing Industries Association

The Canadian Printing Industries Association is the national voice of the pre-press, press and allied printing industries in Canada.

Since 1939, the Association has served as the collective body to represent the interests of its member firms for policy formation, regulation and legislation.

Through a network of Formally Affiliated Regional Associations (FARAs) across the country and related organizations, CPIA provides management and information services to enhance the efficiency and profitability of its member firms.

The Association also provides industry leaders with a forum for information exchange and acts as an effective voice when making representations to government.

http://www.cpia-aci.ca/

CPISC

The Canadian Printing Industries Sector Council

The Canadian Printing Industries Sector Council is a national not-for-profit collaborative forum that addresses human resource issues within the printing industries.

CPISC was established in April 2006 through the Sectoral Partnerships Initiative of Human Resources and Social Development Canada.

Helping to build and support successful businesses in this exciting and vital industry is a key focus of CPISC. The guiding principle within CPISC is partnership, bringing together labour, business, education, and government to meet the current and future human resource development needs of the Canadian printing industry.

http://www.cpisc-csic.ca/

CPU

Central Processing Unit

The “brain” of a computer which is responsible for processing data, making calculations, interpreting and executing instructions.

CQ

An editing term and usually used in parenthesis next to a word. Signifies that this word is spelled correctly.

CR

Carriage Return

The act of returning to the beginning of a line.

Crack & Peel

Condition where part of the adhesive remains on the face stock and part on the substrate when the label is put under stress or removed.

Cracked

Refers to the condition of a book; there is a long narrow opening or break down the spine or in the cover.

Crash Finish

A paper finish that is created at the mill by embossing the paper to resemble coarse linen.

Crash Numbering

Numbering a multiple part form by the numbering machine making an impression of the number on the form. The number is red on part one and is an image transfer on the other parts made from the impression of the numbering machine. The form must be carbon interleaved or be made carbonless paper for the impression to go through to all parts.

Crash Perforation

A perforation created by cutting through all of the parts of a multiple part form.

Crash Printing

A printing process, such as letterpress, using hard type and heavy impressioning to create an image on the top sheet of a multiple part form, which will transfer through to the other parts. Part 1 is printed with ink and the image on the other parts is transferred by the use of carbon between each part or carbonless paper.

Crash Sequence

When a carbonless set is assembled in the proper order for usage.

Crazing

The appearance of very fine cracks in an adhesive, film or coating, such as varnish or lacquer. Also called checking.

Crease

A crease is made by pressing a rule into heavy paper to allow folding without cracking.

Creative Director

A creative director is a position usually found within the advertising, print media or entertainment industries, but may be useful in other creative organizations such as web development and software development firms as well.

Creative directors normally oversee creative service agencies or departments within a corporation. In advertising agencies, this consists of copywriters and art directors. In media design firms, the team can include printers, graphic designers and computer programmers.

The job entails overlooking the design of branding and advertising for a client and ensuring that the new branding and advertising fits in with the clients requirements and the image they wish to promote for their company or product.

A creative director is ultimately responsible for the quality of the final creative work. They are often praised highly when their team’s efforts win awards, but conversely, the creative director faces the brickbats when an idea goes awry, response falls short of expectations, or an important individual dislikes the idea.

Creep

In saddle-stitch bindng it refers to the inner sheets of inserted spreads or signatures sticking out further than the one it is enclosed in. The inside pages or signatures move away from the spine.

CREF

Computer-Ready Electronic Files.

Crimped

Refers to the condition of a book; a grooved, indented, or pinched condition of a cover or page, which is caused by extreme humidity.

It can also describe a bookmaking process that bends the hinges of loose-leaf books so that the pages of a book will easily turnover and lie flat.

Crimping

A method of fastening the parts of a continuous form, using special blades that look like small teeth or prongs passing over the parts. They push the paper downward, creating a small section of paper to be cut and folded and this holds the parts together.

Critter

A tongue-in-cheek term used for an icon that represents an animal, such as the Merrill Lynch® bull or the Izod® alligator.

CRM

Courtesy Reply Mail

A printed reply mail piece provided by the sender for the purpose of making it more convenient for the recipient to return the response. Postage is paid by the recipient.

Cromalin

Cromalins are a well known photo-mechanical proofing method from DuPont’.

They are capable of producing CMYK proofs as well as spot color and Pantone Matching System proofs.

Crop

To make an image or layout smaller by trimming off one or more of the edges. Cropping is done to focus attention on the main subject of the image by eliminate unwanted details form the outer edges.

Crop Marks

Lines printed in the margin of sheet which indicate to the printer 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.

Cropped

The margins of a book have been trimmed by the binder, usually too close to the text or into the text.

Cropping

The act of trimming the unwanted portions of a photo or layout, allowing the remaining parts of the image to be enlarged to fill the space.

Cross Direction

The direction that is at a right angle to the direction of the grain. The direction of the grain is the direction of the paper running through the machine.

Cross Grain

The paper direction that is at a right angle to the direction of the paper running through the machine.

Cross Head

A heading set in the body of the text used to break it into easily readable sections.

Cross Perforation

On a web press, this is a perforation that runs at a right angle to the direction that the paper web is running through the press. On continuous forms a cross perf is used to separate each individual form.

Cross Web Gluing

A type of gluing that is applied across the web or perpendicular to the stub. This is used for special applications such as on continuous mailers.

Crossover

An image that extends across two facing pages, crossing over the gutter or binding. Also referred to as bridge, gutter jump and gutter bleed.

Crowd

To apply a particularly heavy amount of ink to a plate so that it can print a darker tone.

Crush Cut

A cut made by a rotary blade in contact with an anvil or base roll.

CSA

Canadian Standards Association

A canadian organization that sets up the standards that a product must comply with.

A not-for-profit membership-based association serving business, industry, government and consumers in Canada and the global marketplace.

Like the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI), CSA has a set of standards for sustainable forestry.

CSP

Catalog Service Provider

A company that designs and may also provide the hosting of online catalogs for other companies.

CSR

Customer Service Representative

A CSR is responsible for ensuring that the customer’s needs are being met on behalf of Fine Print, Inc. This is done by managing customer information/specifications and coordinating the creation of final product while meeting or exceeding the expectations of the customer and Fine Print, Inc. with respect to quality, timeliness and cost so that the customer considers Fine Print, Inc. a premier supplier and we can grow as a company in public image and profitability.

CSS

Cascading Style Sheets

Allows far greater control in the physical attributes within HTML. Uniform font types and sizes can be mandated, bypassing user control on altering text size.

This has a great benefit in more tightly controlling what a visitor to your site can physically see, and also allow a site-wide change in font use by changing the css file.

CT

Continuous Tone

An image that has an entire range of black, white, and gray tones, such as a photograph. Continuous tones must be screened to translate the image into dots.

CTMP

Chemi-Thermomechanical Pulp

Pulp produced by refining chemically impregnated, pre-heated woodchips.

CTP
  1. Computer-To-Plate (CTPe) – Imaging a plate directly from the computer instead of having to use a film negative to expose the image on the plate.

  2. Computer-To-Press (CTPs) – A printing system that sends the image directly from the digital files to the image carrier on a direct imaging press without the use of removable plates.

  3. Computer-To-Print (CTPt) – This is a plateless printing process. The computer sends a digital file to a digital printer and the image is printed directly on the paper. Some of the types of processes that use this plateless technology are electrophotography, ink jet, ion or electron deposition, magnetography, thermal transfer, and thermal dye sublimation.

CTPe

Computer-To-Plate

Imaging a plate directly from the computer instead of having to use a film negative to expose the image on the plate.

CTPs

Computer-To-Press

A printing system that sends the image directly from the digital files to the image carrier on a direct imaging press without the use of removable plates.

CTPt

Computer-To-Print

A plateless printing process in which a computer sends a digital file to a digital printer and the image is printed directly on the paper. Some of the types of processes that use this plateless technology are electrophotography, ink jet, ion or electron deposition, magnetography, thermal transfer, and thermal dye sublimation.

CU SeeMe

Developed by Cornell University, this is a videoconferencing application that runs on the Internet.

CUK

Coated Unbleached Kraft

Boards used for food and non-food cartons consisting of a bleached chemical pulp or a mineral-coated top layer or both, an unbleached back and unbleached chemical and/or mechanical pulp middle layers

Cupstock

Plastic-coated board used for paper cup production; suitable for cups for cold or hot beverages and for food and non-food packaging

Cure

Allowing inks, varnishes and other coatings to dry after printing to ensure that they adhere properly and to prevent set-off.

Curl
  1. The tendency for paper to be distorted and not lay flat when it encounters large changes in heat and humidity. Curl occurs either as roll set or structural curl. Roll set curl, which occurs across the grain of the sheet, is created as the result of the paper being formed and wrapped around a roll core in a circular production process.

  2. In paper, the distortion of a sheet due to differences in structure or coatings from one side to the other, or the absorption of moisture on an offset press. Not lying flat and tending to form into cylindrical or wavy shapes.

Cursive

Used to describe typefaces that resemble written script.

Cursor

A marker, such as an arrow or a blinking line on a display screen, that indicates where in a document you are working.

Cursor Keys

Keys that control the movement of the position indicator on the monitor and are usually designed as arrows.

Curved Plate

In letterpress printing, a plate that is precurved to fit the cylinder of a rotary press.

Custom Bookmaking

Hard cover books individually made by hand.

Custom Publishing

A collection of material gathered specifically for publication to a targeted audience.

Customization

The creation of marketing materials with specific content directed toward a target audience. It allows for variable information processing to output materials that have a message directed toward an audience with specific needs and wants.

Customs

Government agency charged with enforcing the rules passed to protect the country’s import and export revenues.

Customs Invoice

A form requiring all data in a commercial invoice along with a certificate of value and/or a certificate of origin. Required in a few countries.

Cut

The photo-engraving used in letterpress.

Cut and Paste

The act of moving blocks of text from one place in a document to another, or to a completely different document. This was originally a manual task, but now it is usually performed electronically within a word processing program, editor, or publishing software.

Cut Flush

A method of trimming a book after the cover has been attached to the pages.

Cut Forms

Forms manufactured as individual sheets.

Cut Rule

Steel rule blades designed to cut material being produced on flat-bed die cutting equipment.

Cut Size

Business or writing papers that have been cut to a standard finished size, such as 8-1/2” x 11”, 8-1/2” x 14” and 11” x 17”.

Cut to Register

Indicates that watermark paper has been trimmed so that the watermark will appear in a predetermined location on each sheet.

Cut-In Index

Style of index in which the pisions are cut into the edge of the book in steps: step index.

Cut-Off

On a web press it refers to the size that the sheet will be cut off at when coming off the press. Allowable cutoff sizes are determined by the circumference of the plate cylinders.

Cut-Sheet

Refers to paper cut to office sizes such as 8-1/2” x 11”, and used in copiers and laser printers.

Cutout

A halftone where the background has been removed to produce a silhouette.

Cutscore

A knife used to cut partway into the paper for folding purposes.

Cutter Grinder

A machine used to sharpen and tip engraving cutters.

Cutter Shank

The main body of an engraving tool.

Cutting Angle

The angle formed between the cutter’s axis of rotation and its cutting edge and determines the shape of the “V” groove produced by conical cutters.

Cutting Die
  1. Usually a custom ordered item to trim specific and unusual sized printing projects.

  2. Sharp edged device usually made of steel rule, to cut paper, cardboard, etc. on a printing press.

Cutting Fluid/Oil

Liquid or gaseous material used to cool or lubricate the material or the cutting tool when rotary engraving or machining some surfaces.

Cutting Machine/Cutter

Machine for accurately cutting stacks of paper to desire dimensions. The machine can also be used in scoring or creasing.

CWT

C is the Roman number for hundred, WT is the abbreviation for weight.

Therefore CWT is the abbreviation used in the print industry for 100 pounds of paper called Hundredweight. (United States, 100 pounds: U.K., 112)

cXML

Commerce XML

An open Internet standard developed for automating e-commerce processes on the Web that require the exchange of transaction data, such as occurs with electronic purchase orders, acknowledgements, change orders, status updates, shipping documents and payment transactions.

Cyan

A shade of greenish-blue also known as process blue. It is one of the subtractive primary colors (the others are magenta and yellow) which form the basis of color printing. Cyan is complementary to, or opposite of, the additive primary red. This is because cyan is formed when the additive primaries other than red, (green and blue) are mixed together.

Cyan Overhang

In contrast to the theory, in most cases in four-color printing you don’t need equal quantities of the three basic colors cyan, magenta and yellow to create a neutral gray. Instead, you generally need a significantly higher quantity of cyan. The extra cyan is known as the cyan overhang.

Cyanotype

A contact print is made with fine quality paper, which was coated with iron salt and potassium ferricynanide.

The image is produced by placing a negative or botanical specimen on the sensitised paper and exposing it to light. Where light reached the paper the area turned a stunning cobalt blue colour; where the light was blocked, it remained white.

This early process was invented in 1840 and is still in use today; it is commonly known as blue print and used for architectural drawings. Contemporary artists are also using this process to great effect.

CyberCash

A company that provides secure payment software to companies doing business on the Internet.

Cyberspace

A term used to describe the virtual world of computers and the internet.

Cylinder

Various rollers on a printing press, such as the plate cylinder, blanket cylinder and impression cylinder.

Cylinder Gap

The gaps in the plate and blanket cylinders where the plates and blankets are clamped onto the cylinders

Cyrillic

A Slavic alphabet used for Russian DDSX and other languages.

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