| = A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | R | S | T | U | V | W | Y = |
| ABERRATION - |
General term for various optical errors in photographic lenses which prevent the lens from giving good definition. |
| ABSORPTION - |
(1) Optical term for the partial suppression of light in passage through a transparent or translucent medium or material. (2) The property of a porous material, such as paper, which causes it to take up liquids with which it is in contact. |
| ACROSS THE GRAIN - |
The direction perpendicular to that of the paper grain. |
| AD DUMMY - |
Each day make-up is furnished a computerized printout showing the placement by page number of every ad to appear in a particular issue. All ads are dummied by the name of the ad and the ad jacket number by which the ad was first entered into the Composing Room. |
| AD-LITHO COLORS - |
Standard color inks tested and approved by the Newspaper Association of America (NAA) for process and spot color reproduction. |
| ADJUSTABLE IDLER - |
An idling roller that moves or can be adjusted, to control the printing web. A Pipe Roller. |
| AGATE - |
The name for a specific size of type. Length of columns of type is often measured in agate lines, equal to 14 lines per inch. |
| ANGLE BARS - |
A pair of turning bars used to transfer the web from one side of the press to the other. |
| ANGSTROM UNIT - |
A unit of measurement of the length. It is equal to one ten millionth of a millimeter. There are approximately 254,000,000 Angstroms in an inch. |
| ANTIOXIDANTS - |
Agents which retard the action of oxygen on drying oils and other substances subject to oxidation. |
| APERTURE - |
A small opening. In cameras, the aperture is usually variable in the form of an iris diaphragm and regulates the amount of light which passes through the lens. |
| ARCH - |
The general appearance of a unit type press which has inking rollers going from the floor up to the printing couples which form the top of the arch. |
| AUTOMATIC PASTER - |
Attaching, by means of special equipment, a new roll of paper to an expiring web while the press is running. |
| BACK PRESSURE - |
The squeeze pressure between the blanket cylinder and the impression cylinder. Sometimes called impression pressure. |
| BACKING-UP - |
Printing the other side, of a printed sheet. |
| BALLOON FORMER - |
Former located above the regular former on a press. Also, referred to as an Upper Former. |
| BARE DIAMETER - |
The diameter of the impression or blanket cylinder without blankets, or the plate cylinder without plates. |
| BASIS WEIGHT - |
The number of pounds per ream of paper of a stated size. The weight of 500 sheets of 24 X 36 paper for newsprint (other paper types vary in size). The standard basis weight of newsprint is typically 28 to 30 pounds. To convert Basis weight to grammage multiply by 1.6275. To convert Grammage to Basis Weight divide by 1.6275. Grammage is the number of grams per one square meter. |
| BAY WINDOW LEADS - |
The web is lead to one turning bar and carried outside the angle bar frames to a bay window roller. The web then travels to a second bay window roller, then to another turning bar where it is turned over and positioned above the regular former with its former nose rollers and nipping rollers. |
| BEARERS - |
Bands at each end of the press cylinders which, in contact with each other to gauge or maintain the correct separation or Iron to Iron distance between the cylinders. |
| BEARER PRESSURE - |
The force with which the bearers of opposed cylinders contact each other. |
| BELTS - |
(1) Metal, leather or composition strips which bear against the outside of a roll of paper to act as a brake on the roll and thus increase the amount of pull, or tension, on the web. The belts may be fixed, static belts, or they may move at a speed slightly less than the surface speed of the web. These are called running belts. (2) Leather, fabric or composition strips used to guide the web through the press, usually known as tapes. |
| BIMETAL PLATES - |
Lithographic plates in which the printing image base is formed of one metal and the non-printing area of a second metal. Generally, the printing area is formed of copper, while the non-printing area may be nickel, chromium, or stainless steel. Some plates employ a third metal as a base or backing and could be regarded as trimetallic, multimetallic or polymetallic. |
| BLANKET - |
A fabric reinforced sheet of rubber used on a web offset press to transfer the image from the plate to the paper. |
| BLANKET CREEP - |
The slight forward movement of that part of the blanket surface that is in contact with the plate or paper. |
| BLEED - |
Printed colors that run all the way to the edge of a page. To accommodate the bleed, the printer must make the bleed area larger than the final trim size. The page is then trimmed right through the bleed area. This cannot be done on a normal newspaper run. |
| BLIND FOLIO - |
Page numbers are not printed on the page. |
| BLIND IMAGE - |
In lithography, an image that has lost its ink-receptivity. |
| BLISTER - |
Raised spot on a blanket or the raised portion on a rubber ink roller. |
| BLUE LINE - |
A photographic proof for checking the accuracy of layout and position before the printing plates are made. |
| BROADSHEET - |
A full sized newspaper page. It has no standard dimensions but is between 12 to 16 inches wide by about two feet long. The actual size depends on the size of the web used and the cutoff of the printing press. |
| BUFFERS - |
The additives in an aqueous solution that maintain its pH with the addition of either a base or acid. |
| BUILD UP - |
Build up is a deposit of ink and paper fiber adhering to pipe rollers, turner bars, former or nip/draw rollers. Build up often leads to marking which is usually seen as a general print defect of the copy which is worse behind, and in line with a heavily inked area. |
| BUTT ROLL - |
A roll of newsprint that has been partially used. |
| BUTTON SIDE - |
The operating side of a press. |
| CALENDAR - |
A set of heated rolls, usually made of polished steel used to smooth a paper web at the dry end of a paper machine. |
| CAMERA-READY - |
This is a special classification made for camera-ready ads which require no work other than cutting, waxing and insertion into a page. |
| CHALKING - |
A lithographic term referring to the improper drying of ink; in chalking the pigment dusts off due to lack of binding vehicle; usually caused by too rapid absorption of vehicle into paper. |
| CHARACTERS PER INCH - |
The number of characters per inch that exist within a linear inch of a particular font. |
| CHEEKWOODS - |
Pieces of wood or fiber on both sides of the knife in the cutting cylinders. The cheekwoods press and hold the web against the rubber in the folding cylinder to permit the knife to make a clean cut. |
| CHUCK - |
A device for fastening a paper roll to a spindle or for holding a roll between the spider arms of a reel. |
| CIE - |
The International Commission on Illumination. CIE established several visual color models which have become the basis for several colorimeteric measurements. |
CIRCUMFERENTIAL
REGISTER - |
The position of one plate in relation to another plate around a plate cylinder. A plate or cylinder can be moved or adjusted so that the printing object is moved in the web direction. As contrasted with sideways or lateral register where the plate or cylinder is moved to shift the image across the web direction. |
| CLAMP BAR - |
A metal bar which wedges or clamps the ends of a blanket into a cylinder slot. |
| CMD - |
Short for Cross Machine Direction. |
| COATED PAPER - |
Paper coated with clay, fillers, white pigments, and a binder. |
| COCKING ROLLER - |
An adjustable idling roller that is fixed on one end and adjustable on the other end. Cocking idlers are usually located between the roll of paper and the printing couple. They are used to even or smooth the web after the paper leaves the roll. Sometimes known as a leveling roller. |
| COLLECT RUN - |
On a semi-cylindrical press only, a printing arrangement where one plate on the cylinder prints one page while the opposite plate prints another page. In a collect run, the folder is adjusted so one section of the paper is held back until the next section is ready to go with it around the folding cylinder, hence the term, collect. |
| COLOR BARS - |
Printed tonal scales of the process colors used to monitor ink density on proofs. |
| COLOR HUMP - |
Pressroom terminology for an auxiliary plate cylinder. The term is derived from the hump on the unit profile made by the cylinder and its associated parts. |
| COLUMN - |
Width measure for ads and editorial matter. Usually 6 or 8 columns per page. |
| CONDUCTIVITY - |
Conductivity is a measure of all the ions in solution. Conductivity is a measure of the liquid's capacity to conduct electricity. |
| CONTRAST - |
The difference of tonal graduation between the light and dark areas within an image. |
| COUNTER ETCH - |
The first step in preparing to coat a grained offset metal plate. The purpose is to clean the metal of dirt and oxides without damaging the grain; a weak acid solution is used, such as 1 oz. Hydrochloric acid in a gallon of water. |
| CUTS - |
Veloxes of pictures and halftones. |
| CYLINDER JUMP - |
Deflection or movement of the plate and/or impression on blanket cylinders which result in alternate light and dark horizontal streaks in the printed design. |
| D-MAX - |
The area of maximum density (darkest area) on photographic material. |
| D-MIN - |
The area of minimum density (lightest area) on photographic material. |
| DEADLINE - |
Each edition carries a deadline by which time each page must have been sent to camera for the beginning of the printing process. There must be some very valid reason to miss a deadline. |
| DECK - |
(1) Two printing couples, with their associated mechanisms, arranged to perfect one web. (2) A style of press arrangement in which a number of decks are mounted in continuous framing, as contrasted to unit style. |
| DENSITOMETERY - |
A method of measuring the depth of color based on the light modifying properties of colorants. Densitometers are used to measure the transmission or reflectance of specific colored light through or from transparent or reflective copy samples. |
| DENSITY - |
A photographic term often confused with "opacity" but correctly applied to the quantity of metallic silver (or dyes) per unit area in negatives and positives. |
| DESENSITIZE - |
(1) In lithographic plate making, to make the non-image areas of a lithographic plate non-receptive to ink through chemical treatment of metal. (2) In photography, a desensitizer is an agent for decreasing the color sensitivity of a photographic emulsion to facilitate development under comparatively bright light. The action is applied after exposure. |
| DINKY - |
A common term used to mean a dinky or quarter roll of newsprint. A sheet of newsprint one page wide, hence, the web that is one page wide. |
DIRECT IMPRESSION
METHOD - |
A procedure for adjusting inking rollers. The inking roller to be adjusted is released and two or three strips of paper about four inches wide are placed along the ink roller. The roller is then tightened into position and released. The strips of paper are removed and the ink mark, or impression, obtained from the contact with the other rollers is measured to determine the amount of adjustment necessary. |
| DIRECT LITHOGRAPHY - |
The method of printing lithographically by direct transfer of the ink from the plate to the paper. |
| DOT GAIN - |
An Attribute of printing wherein the halftone dot size increases through successive stages of the reproductive process. Total Dot Gain or Apparent Dot Gain describes the combined effects of both the mechanical and optical increases in tonal rendition. |
| DOUBLE TRUCK - |
A design printed across the center pages of a newspaper section so that there is no center margin. The resulting ad will encompass two pages on a Broad Sheet. |
| DOUBLE WIDTH - |
Pertaining to a newspaper press that is wide enough to print four broadsheet newspaper pages across the web. |
| DRAW DOWN - |
A term used to describe the ink chemist's method of roughly determining the shade of a color. A dab of ink is placed on paper, typically with a reference standard, then spread out with a putty knife to achieve a thin film of ink. |
| DRIVE SIDE - |
Also known as gear side. The side of the press on which the drive shafts, horizontal and vertical are located and most of the drive gears are placed. |
| DRY BACK - |
The change in the print density from the time of printing as the ink is absorbed into the sheet of paper. |
| DUCTOR ROLLER - |
On an Offset press, the roller in either the inking or dampening mechanism which alternately contacts the fountain roller and vibrating drum roller. |
| DUOTONE - |
Color reproduction from a monochrome original. |
| ELITE - |
Formerly a standard size of type. Now used primarily to identify a style of typewriter producing 12 characters per inch. |
| ENGRAVED BLANKET - |
A condition that arises when the image area surface has sunk below the rest of the blanket surface as a result of disintegration of the blanket due to ink ingredients. |
| EXPANSION BELTS - |
Adjustable metal straps used to vary the effective diameter of a folding cylinder to adjust the folder for different thicknesses of product. |
| FANNING - |
Expansion of an offset press sheet across the back edge as it goes through press; caused by sheet not being flat due to edges drying and contracting. |
| FELT SIDE - |
The smoother side of the paper for printing. The top side of the sheet in paper manufacturing. |
| FLOW - |
The property of an ink to move or level out. The viscosity measurement techniques are used to classify the flow of an ink. |
| FLY PAGE - |
Also known as chasers, make-overs or replates. At times, between editions, editorial will get a story considered to be very newsworthy. In this event, the story is put in the paper and a fly page is called for, which means the press is to be stopped and this plate put on as soon as it's ready. |
| FOLIO - |
A page number. |
| FOOT CANDLE - |
A unit for measurement of light intensity. |
FOR POSITION
ONLY (FPO) - |
For position only refers to physical or electronic images which are included on a hard copy or electronic mechanical to indicate only the position of the final artwork or scan. |
| FORMER - |
A triangular metal plate in which the web passes over to receive its first fold, parallel to the web direction. |
| FOUNTAIN BLADE - |
In an ink fountain, the blade that is supported over or under the fountain roller to control the amount of ink fed to the press. |
| FOUNTAIN STOPS - |
Moveable strips of material which are placed to rest on the fountain roller of an offset dampening system to cut down the amount of water supplied to the corresponding area of a press plate. |
| GEAR STREAKS - |
Parallel Streaks appearing across the printed sheet at the same interval as the gear teeth on a cylinder. This can be caused by improper under packing or defective press conditions resulting in different surface speeds between cylinders and pitch diameter of gears. |
| GHOSTING - |
A process in which heavy removal of ink, by a solid or other heavily inked area in the design, results in starvation of ink to another area which is normally inked by the same portion of the form roller (s). Ghosting becomes apparent as a weak repeat image within a solid of half-tone, displaced from the primary image by a distance equal to the circumference of the form roller. Not to be confused with set off or show through. |
| GLAZE - |
On rollers, a hard, shiny appearance caused by improper cleaning. |
| GOVERNOR ROLLER - |
A moveable idling roller, spring loaded or pneumatically loaded, located between the paper roll and the printing couple. It absorbs the shock of any sudden changes in demand for paper and with automatic tensioning systems provides corrective feedback to the tensioning device. |
| GRAINY PRINTING - |
Printing characterized by unevenness, particularly of halftones. |
| GRAMMAGE - |
The weight in grams of a single sheet of paper with an area of one square meter. |
| GRAY BALANCE - |
The relationship of cyan, magenta, and yellow inks required to reproduce a neutral gray scale within a given printing system. |
GRAY COMPONENT
REPLACEMENT (GCR) - |
An electronic color scanning capability in which the least dominant process color is replaced with an appropriate value of black in process work. |
| GREASING - |
Greasing is another term for scumming. Please see scumming. |
| GRAY SCALE - |
A strip of standard gray tones, ranging from white to black. In the case of color-separation negatives for determining color balance or uniformity of the separation negatives. |
| GRIND - |
A term used in assessing the quality of a pigment dispersion in an ink. |
| GRIPPER MARGIN - |
The unprinted area between the edge of the sheet and the lead edge of the printed area, allotted for the press grippers to hold the sheet. Sometimes this is called the Gripper Bite. |
| GUM ARABIC - |
A gum obtained from either of two species of Acacia trees which is used in the graphic arts. Gum Arabic desensitizes or removes any affinity for ink in the non-printing areas of a lithographic plate. |
| GUM STREAKS - |
Streaks, particularly in halftones, produced by uneven gumming of a plate. |
| GUTTER - |
The inside margin of a newspaper. On the plate cylinder, the space between the head and toe of the plate or plates. On a tabloid plate, the space grooved for the inside margin, the center fold, of the paper. |
| HALF DECK - |
An extra printing couple mounted above a unit. |
| HALFTONE - |
A photo having a tone pattern composed of dots of uniform density, but varying in size. |
| HICKIES - |
Hickies are (usually) small imperfections found (usually) on solid print areas. They have a characteristically sharp outline, are completely uninked, and have a solid inked mark in their center. Hickies are caused by hard particles adhering to the blanket, the particle itself prints (the solid center) while the blanket immediately surrounding it is held off from contacting the paper. Hickies may be caused by the ink, the paper, or by contamination of the press by foreign matter. |
| HIGH SIDE - |
On the press, the side of the press on which the plates with the higher page numbers are placed, in most instances this would be the operating side. On the plate cylinder, when plating the press for a collect run, the side of the plate cylinder on which the plates with the higher page numbers are placed. The opposite side of the plate cylinder is known as the low side. |
| HIGHLIGHT - |
The lightest tonal areas in a halftone or color separation film and reproduction. (1 to 30 % dots) |
| HUE ERROR - |
Hue error indicates a deviation from a theoretically perfect process hue. |
| HUE - |
One of the three attributes of color, the others being saturation and brightness. Hue is determined by the color's dominant wavelength in the visible color spectrum. |
| HYDROPHILIC - |
Water loving, prefers to be wet by water rather than oils. Water receptive. The non-image area of a plate is typically hydrophilic. |
| HYDROPHOBIC - |
Water hating, preferring to be wet by oils rather than water. Water repellent. An image area on a plate is typically Hydrophobic. |
| IDLING ROLLER - |
A free turning roller used to guide and control a web through a press. |
| IMPRESSION CYLINDER - |
A large metal cylinder, the circumference of which is usually twice the length of the newspaper, on which is placed a packing of cork or felt, and rubber to permit the necessary depth and resilience for impression printing. |
| IMPRESSION - |
(1) The result of one printing cycle of a plate cylinder. (2) The pressure applied in the printing nip. |
| INCH - |
To run the press very slowly. Used while preparing the press for the run. |
| INK-DOT SCUM - |
On aluminum plates, a type of oxidation scum characterized by scattered pits that print sharp, dense dots. |
| INK-RECEPTIVE - |
Having the property of being wet by greasy ink in preference to water. |
| INK-REPELLENT - |
Having a surface which will attract water and repel greasy inks. |
| INSERT - |
Extra copy, and the negative therefrom, which is to be inserted into a page negative before plates are exposed. In newspaper parlance, a separate printed product, usually an additional section of the newspaper containing advertising or feature material, which is assembled into the newspapers after they are printed. |
| JUMP LINES - |
These are placed at the end of a story continued on another page directing the reader to the page and column where the story is continued. |
| KELVIN - |
In printing, a unit of measure used to describe the color temperature of a light source, such as the 5000K standard viewing condition. |
| KICKER - |
A device, in the delivery section of a folder, which displaces a newspaper in the delivery stream to facilitate manual counting or stacking. Often designed to displace every 25th or 50th paper, or, if electrically controlled, may have provision for setting for other counts. |
| KISS PRESSURE - |
Kiss pressure is the minimum pressure at which proper ink transfer is possible. |
| KNOCKOUT - |
When type or line art is to be printed over a color background, the type is reversed out of the background. The reversal area is the knockout. |
| LAP - |
The slightly extended areas of printing color overprints which make for easier registration of color. |
| LATERAL REVERSAL - |
Turning of a photographic image as to right and left position, achieved either with optical reversing devices, by "flopping" the negative for stripping, or by placement of the image in a transparency-holder during photography. Frequently used to get emulsion-to-emulsion in contact printing of lithographic press plates. |
| LEAD - |
(1) Lead and web are often used interchangeably. A lead is usually used to mean the beginning of the roll of paper, that is being threaded through the press. After the press has been threaded, the paper in the press in known as the web. However, after the press has started, a web break may be referred to as a lost lead; or threading the press may be referred to as webbing the press. (2) Sometimes used to mean the web or the web pattern in the press. |
| LINT - |
Lint is a deposit of mainly paper debris on the blanket. It is usually present to some degree, and is only a problem when severe or when it affects the print quality. Lint may be a result of substandard paper, incorrect ink and water settings, poor press settings, poor blankets, or incorrectly formulated ink. |
| LIVERING - |
An irreversible increase in body of inks as a result of a chemical change during storage or hot milling. |
| LOW SIDE - |
On the press, the side on which the plates with the lower page numbers are placed, usually the drive side of the press. On the plate cylinder, the side on which the plates with the lowest page numbers are placed when plating for a collect run. |
| MAKE READY - |
The work done on a printing press before running a job. (IE. Wash up, Plates, Blankets, Registration, etc.) |
| MARKING - |
Marking is usually seen as a general print defect of the copy which is worse behind, and in line with a heavily inked area. The partially dry ink has transferred from the copy to some part of the press, usually the pipe rollers, bars, or former boards, and subsequently transferred back to the copy. |
| MEMORY COLORS - |
The colors of familiar objects such as food, human skin, green grass, and blue sky. |
| METAMERISM - |
The phenomenon that causes the color of two objects to match under one lighting condition and not in another. |
| MOIRÉ - |
Undesirable patterns occurring when reproductions are made from halftone proofs or steel engravings, caused by conflict between the ruling of the halftone screen and the dots or lines of the original. This is usually due either to incorrect screen angles or misregister of the color impressions during printing. |
| MOLLETON - |
A thick cotton fabric similar to flannel, having a long nap, and used on dampening form rollers. |
| NAA - |
The Newspaper Association of America, formerly know as the ANPA (American Newspaper Publishers Association). |
| NEWTON RINGS - |
An objectionable series of irregular colored circles caused by the prismatic action of interfacing different smooth surfaces together, such as in contact frames, and on other scanner cylinders. |
| OPERATING SIDE - |
The side of the press in which most of the controls are located. Sometimes called the Button side or near side. |
| OVERPACKING - |
Packing the plate or blanket to a level that is excessively above the level of the cylinder bearer. |
| OVERSHOT FOUNTAIN - |
An ink fountain where the fountain blade is above the ink reservoir. |
| PAGINATION - |
Process by which full or partial pages are made up by the newsroom and come to typesetters already made up. Most of the time these are complete except for artwork. |
| PAPER GRAIN DIRECTION - |
The alignment of fibers in the direction of the web travel. |
| PASTER - |
(1) A web splice, made in the pressroom, to join the end of one roll of paper to a second roll. (2) The mechanism used to make a web splice. |
| pH - |
The measurement of the hydrogen ion concentration in an aqueous solution. |
| PICA - |
Unit of measure used in printing trade. Six picas equal approximately one inch. |
| PIN HOLES - |
(1) At the edge of a web press signature, the holes made by the pins of the folding cylinders. (2) Minute transparent spots in a developed photographic negative caused by dust, chemical impurities or air bubbles. |
| POINT - |
Each pica measure is broken down to 12 points per pica. |
| PRIMARY COLORS - |
In printing inks: yellow, magenta (process red) and cyan (process blue). In light: red, green and blue. |
| PRINT DENSITY - |
The light absorbing ability of the printed image or base material. |
| PRINTING COUPLE - |
In a rotary letterpress, the combination of a plate cylinder and impression cylinder which together provide one printing impression. Hence, in an offset perfecting press, the combination of a plate cylinder and its accompanying blanket cylinder. |
| R.O.P., RUN OF PRESS - |
Applies to color printing, indicating that the color is printed as part of the normal press run. |
| R-F-B - |
Abbreviation for roller-front-of-bars in an angle bar arrangement. |
| REEL TENSION PASTER - |
The term used to identify the paper supply system that consists of a reel, an automatic tension system, and an automatic paster arrangement. Also known as RTP. |
| REGISTER - |
Exact correspondence in the position of pages in color printing. |
| REGISTER MARKS - |
Small crosses, guides or patterns placed on the originals before reproduction to facilitate registration of plates and their respective printing. |
| RESIN - |
A solid or semi-solid organic substance used as a binder in printing ink vehicles. |
| REVERSE LEAD - |
The web is threaded through a printing couple so the outside of the sheet is printed first and the inside of the sheet is printed second. Webs are reversed in order to obtain second impression printing on a page that would ordinarily receive a first impression printing. |
| REVERSES - |
Type elements that have been imaged by printing the background areas (non-type) with ink and leaving the unprinted substrate in the type areas. |
| RIDER ROLLERS - |
Metal or rigid plastic rollers in the inking mechanism which contact one or more soft (glue glycerine, rubber, etc.) Rollers and serve to break down, transfer and distribute the ink. Soft rollers are sometimes used as riders on large metal ink drums and serve to break down the ink. |
| RIDGING - |
The formation of peripheral ridges in ink films on rollers due to insufficient sideways distribution. |
| ROLLER TOP OF FORMER - |
The driven roller directly behind the top of the former on a folder. Also known as RTF |
| SCREEN ANGLE - |
Any of the particular angles at which a halftone screen or the original itself is placed for each of the color separation negatives, in order to prevent formation of interference patterns (moiré) in the completed color reproduction. Angles of 30° between colors produce minimum patterns. |
| SCUMMING - |
A lithographic term referring to the press plate picking up ink in the non-printing areas for a variety of reasons; basically due to spots or areas not remaining desensitized; filling in of halftone dots, spreading of image, streaks are often caused by scumming. |
| SEPARATION - |
(1) In color photography, the isolation or division of the colors of an original into their primary hues, each record or negative used for the production of a color plate. (2) The act of manually separating or introducing colors in printing plates. In lithography, direct separations are made with the use of the halftone screen; indirect separations involve continuous-tone separation negatives and screened positives made from these. |
| SETOFF - |
A condition that results when wet ink on the surface of the newsprint transfers to the opposing page in the delivery system. |
| SHOW THROUGH - |
A term used to describe the visibility of printed material from the opposite side of the sheet. |
| SIGNATURE - |
(1) The folded product of a web-fed press. (2) A printed sheet consisting of a number of pages that is correctly folded to form a section of a book. (3) A letter or figure placed at the bottom of the first page of a signature to guide in folding, gathering, and binding of the book. |
| SNAP - |
Specifications for Non-Heat Advertising Printing. |
| SPADEA - |
A type of advertising insert, often printed with Sunday comics but used with other products, that is designed to fold with and partially wrap around the front page of a product. |
| SPRING LOADED IDLER - |
An idling roller held in position by springs. Spring loaded idlers are found on the paper feed arrangement where they absorb the changes in web tension due to increases or decreases in press speed. In some web control systems, the spring loaded idler also controls the amount of tension applied to the roll of newsprint. |
STANDARD ADVERTISING
UNIT (SAU) - |
A copyrighted system developed by NAA, standardizes the size of advertising space. |
| STATUS T - |
A standard wide band densometric response specified in ANSI PH2.18 to be used for color measurements in the graphic arts. |
| STET - |
Printing term meaning to let is stand, disregard prior remarks, and make no changes. |
| STOUFFER SCALE - |
A continuous tone step wedge, used to monitor exposure levels on photosensitive materials. |
| STRAIGHT RUN - |
Each page printed on the web is the same as the preceding page, thus each revolution of the press produces two copies of the paper (On a two around press). |
| STRIPPING - |
(1) The act of positioning or inserting copy elements in negative or positive film to a unit negative; the positioning of photographic negatives or positives on a lithographic flat for form imposition. (2) The condition under which copper rollers fail to take up the ink on lithographic presses and instead are wet by the fountain solution. |
| 10 SIDE - |
Left-hand side of press unit when you are facing the operating side. |
| 13 SIDE - |
Right-hand side of press unit when you are facing the operating side. |
| TABLOID - |
A newspaper with a page size one half or less the standard page size of the press, about 1/2 of the size of the standard newspaper page size. |
| TACK - |
Tack is a relative measurement of the cohesion of an ink film which is responsible for its resistance to splitting between two rapidly separating surfaces. |
| TENSION - |
The amount of pull applied to a web, in the direction of travel. |
| TF ADS - |
Ads which have a definite running date. In other words, the same identical ad may run Monday, Tuesday and Friday of every issue. They are only changed when a copy change order is received. TF refers to until further notice. |
| TINTING - |
Tinting (sometimes called toning) is caused by contamination of the fountain solution by either ink, or some coloring matter from the ink. Since fountain solution is all over the non image area, any coloration will be likewise. Tinting is usually very subtle and often difficult to pinpoint. |
| TONING - |
See Tinting |
| TRAP - |
The ability of a printed ink film to accept the next ink printed on top of the first. |
UGRA PLATE
CONTROL WEDGE - |
A test target used to control the plate making process. The five elements of this target measure exposure level, resolution, minimum dot sizes, tone reproduction, and directional effects of imaging. |
UNDERCOLOR
REMOVAL (UCR) - |
A form of process color reduction that decreases the dot sizes of the cyan, magenta, and yellow inks in the neutral shadow areas and compensates by increasing the dot size of the black printer. See GCR. |
| UNDERCUT - |
In printing presses, the difference between the radius of the bearers and the radius of the cylinder body. This is the allowance for plate or blanket. |
| UNDERSHOT FOUNTAIN - |
An ink fountain with the ink fed from the bottom of the fountain. The fountain roller and a fountain blade whose edge in proximity to the bottom of the roller form the fountain cavity. |
| VELOX - |
Camera reproduction of original art to be used. |
| VIGNETTE - |
(1) A small decorative design or illustration of any kind on or just before the title page, or at the beginning or end of a chapter of a manuscript or book. (2) An original piece of copy. (3) Halftone printing plate of impression in which the background or a portion of the illustration gradually shades off until the lightest tones or extreme edges appear to merge with the paper on which they are printed. |
| VISCOSITY - |
The resistance of a substance to flow. |
| WIPE-ON PLATE - |
A lithographic plate on which a light sensitive coating is wiped manually, or applied by a coating machine, in the printing plant. |
| WIRE SIDE - |
In papermaking, the side of a sheet next to the wire of the papermaking machine; opposite from felt side (q.v.). |
| YIELD VALUE - |
A term describing the minimum force required to produce flow. |
![image: [US Ink Logotype]](media/usink_logo.gif){kind=logo}
