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| Word/Phrase | Meaning |
| A0 | ISO paper size - 841mm x 1189mm (A Series). |
| A1 | ISO paper size - 594mm x 841mm (A Series). |
| A2 | ISO paper size - 420mm x 594mm (A Series). |
| A3 | ISO paper size - 420mm x 297mm (A Series). |
| A4 | ISO paper size - 210mm x 297mm (A Series). |
| A5 | ISO paper size - 210mm x 148mm (A Series). |
| Binding | Attaching sheets of paper to one another (e.g. attaching paper sheets together to form a book, booklet or multipage brochure). |
| Bleed | When any image or element on a page touches the edge of the page, extending beyond the trim edge, leaving no margin it is said to bleed. |
| C4 | Envelope which is 229mm wide x 324mm high and fits an A4 sheet of paper. |
| C5 | Envelope which is 162mm wide x 229mm high and fits an A5 or folded in half A4 sheet of paper. |
| Carbonless | Carbonless copy paper, non-carbon copy paper, or NCR paper is an alternative to carbon paper, used to make a copy of an original, handwritten (or mechanically typed) document without the use of any electronics. |
| CMYK | The CMYK colour model, referred to as process colour or four colour, is a subtractive colour model, used in colour printing, also used to describe the printing process itself. CMYK refers to the four inks used in most colour printing: cyan, magenta, yellow, and key black. Though it varies by print house, press operator, press manufacturer and press run, ink is typically applied in the order of the abbreviation. The "K" in CMYK stands for key since in four-color printing cyan, magenta, and yellow printing plates are carefully keyed or aligned with the key of the black key plate. |
| Coated Paper | Paper that has a layer of coating applied to one or both sides (e.g. a gloss, dull or matt finish). |
| Colour Printing | Standard colour printing, called four-colour printing (CMYK), employs magenta, yellow, cyan, and black toner (see CMYK above). |
| Cross Fold | A secondary fold whose axis is perpendicular or oblique to the axis of another fold eg Folding A3 size down to DL. |
| Data | The term data means groups of information that represent the qualitative or quantitative attributes of a variable or set of variables. Data can come in all different formats ranging from text files(.txt), excel spreadsheets (.csv,.xls), PDF's, Post Script (PS) files, XML etc etc. |
| DL | 110 x 220 mm Envelope. |
| DLX | 120 x 235 mm Envelope. |
| Document | A document (noun) is a bounded physical representation of a body of information designed with the capacity (and usually intent) to communicate. A document may manifest symbolic, diagrammatic or sensory-representational information. |
| Drill | Making even, equal holes in paper using a metal drill bit (for use in a ring binder). Drills can neatly perforate a much greater thickness of paper than the office hole-punch. |
| Emulsion Aggregation | Emulsion Aggregation (EA) is a process of growing 1-15 micron size particles from smaller, nanometer size constituents. The process is environmentally advantaged in that it is water based and does not use organic solvents commonly required to make particles in this size range. |
| Envelopes | An envelope is a packaging product, usually made of flat material such as paper or cardboard, and designed to contain a flat object, which in a postal-service context is usually a letter, card or bills. |
| Follower | A plain or printed sheet that usually 'follows' the letterhead in multi-page print jobs. |
| FTP | The File Transfer Protocol, or FTP, allows computers to speak to one other. FTP is used to make files available for transfer safely over the Internet from computer to computer. |
| Gate Fold | A paper fold where both sides fold inwards so the edges come together. |
| Gloss | A shiny coating on paper. Gloss coatings allow very little ink to be absorbed by the paper. This results in the printed material having excellent colour definition (richer colours) and contrast. |
| Grams per Square Metre (GSM) | The weight of a sheet of paper is measured in grams per square meter (gsm). |
| Half Fold | A type of fold where the brochure is folded once, forming two halves. |
| Hardcopy Scanning | Converts a physical piece of paper or photo to an image file such as Tiff, Jpeg or PDF. |
| HTML | An acronym for HyperText Markup Language. The internationally agreed-upon language for writing documents for the World Wide Web. |
| Image Resolution | Image resolution describes the detail an image holds. The term applies equally to digital images, film images, and other types of images. Higher resolution means more image detail. |
| Invoice | An invoice or bill is a commercial document issued by a seller to the buyer, indicating the products, quantities, and agreed prices for products or services the seller has provided the buyer. |
| Jiffy Bag | A padded envelope ideal for mailing breakable, delicate items or items too large for C4/B4 envelopes. |
| Job Number | A number assigned to a printing job, and used for record keeping and job tracking. Also used to retrieve old jobs for reprints or reworking by customer. |
| Laminate | A laminate is a material that can be constructed by uniting two or more layers of material together. |
| Laser Printing | A high quality printing method which prints directly from a computer onto paper or labels. Laser printing can be colour or black. A laser beam projects an image of the page to be printed onto an electrically charged rotating drum coated with selenium. |
| Letterhead | Paper printed with the company details including address and logo. |
| Matt | A coated paper finish that is not shiny like a gloss, and does not have a sheen like satin, but still keeps much of the ink from being absorbed by the paper and provides an excellent image. |
| MICR | Magnetic Ink Character Recognition, or MICR, is a character recognition technology used primarily by the banking industry to facilitate the processing of cheques. The technology allows computers to read information (such as account numbers) off printed documents. Unlike barcodes or similar technologies, however, MICR codes can be easily read by humans. MICR characters are printed in special typefaces with a magnetic ink or toner, usually containing iron oxide. |
| Monochrome Laser Printers | Single colour (black) laser printers. |
| Monochrome | Meaning "one color", is one whose range of colours consists of shades of a single colour or hue; monochrome images in neutral colours are also known as grayscale or black-and-white. |
| Proof | A general term for a variety of options for seeing what your file will look like when printed is a proof. Printing proofs are used for checking that all text and graphics and colors come out as expected before going to print. |
| Saddle-stitch binding | The use of one or more staples on the fold of the document. |
| Scanning | The process whereby an original is analysed and captured line by line to convert the analogue image information from an original into digital data. |
| Score | To press a channel into paper to facilitate folding and prevent cracking of ink or toner. |
| Security Printing | Unit Sets, OCR, UV, Thermochromic ink, Micro signature lines, modulus. |
| Side-stitch binding | Stapling the signatures together on the side rather than the fold. |
| Simplex | Printing on one side only of a sheet of paper. |
| Stapling | To fasten something to something else or in position with staples. |
| Statements | A printed record of all transactions that have taken place over a period of time. |
| Toner | Toner is a powder used in laser printers and photocopiers to form the printed text and images on the paper. In its early form it was simply carbon powder. Then, to improve the quality of the printout, the carbon was melt-mixed with a polymer.Toner particles are melted by the heat of the fuser, and bind to the paper. |
| Trade Only | Ethics of business only allow for dealings with companies within the printing industry, for example advertising agencies, print management companies, printing companies, major mail houses, call centres and copy shops. |
| Window Faced Envelope | Envelopes with a transparent window which allow an address to show through when it's been printed directly on to an address carrier eg letterhead. |
| Wire Bind | A method of wire binding books along the binding edge that will allow the book to lay flat using double loops. |
| XLS | Microsoft Excel (full name Microsoft Office Excel) is a spreadsheet application written and distributed by Microsoft for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. It features calculation, graphing tools, pivot tables and a macro programming language called VBA (Visual Basic for Applications). |
| Z Fold | A paper fold where a piece of paper is folded inwards once and outwards once in a Z shape |
