1. Printing Industry Terms
Printing industry terms refer to the words that professionals and printing staff use to complete
daily functions related to preparing documents for publication. A standard glossary of printing
industry terms will distinguish between different types of binding, paper, printing and
production options. A list of terms that includes references to how to develop color
combinations and prepare copy are important to publishing companies in the business of
producing graphics. Printing industry terms also include references to preparation of printing
press equipment.
Paper
o Publishing and printing companies use different types of paper to
accomplish their tasks. Heavier paper is more durable, and usually more
elegant. "Book" paper, which usually goes inside a brochure, is lighter
than "Cover." Both are sold in weights anywhere between "60 pound," to
"100 pound" for the typical brochure. Printing companies use "dylux" to
create a "blueline," a photographic proof. Companies also use other types
of papers to include "matte finish," which is a type of dull paper and
"gloss," a shinier paper that reflects light.
Copy
o Publishers prepare copy, or material, for printing. This includes imposing
images and reformatting them to fit within a space. A document will
endure different phases of the printing process. For example, the "galley
proof" is a text-only copy without graphics; it is submitted to another
department for desktop layout. On the other hand, a "camera-ready copy"
refers to how the document will look as printed. Therefore, publishers
urge authors, copy editors and typesetters to proofread and ensure that
each page and corresponding graphic is free of mistakes and that the
content is accurate. Printing industry terms for copy also include "crop,"
"hard copy" and "imprint."
Printing
o Printing presses not only prepare documents for printing, but also set up
the equipment to process documents. For example, the printing industry
term "makeready" refers to a process that production staff follow to
prepare the press to print documents. Next, inputting commands to
develop the right color combinations for the graphics within the document
is also a part of the production process. There is a "four-color process" in
which production staff combine four basic colors to create color pictures
suitable for printing. In addition, "density" refers to how dark an image is;

2. that's why publishers use a "densitometer" to measure an ink's density.
Other related printing industry terms include process colors such as cyan,
magenta, yellow and black. These are basic colors used for documents
processed through the printing press, and are usually shortened to "cmyk."
K is the letter for black, to avoid confusion from B for blue.
Binding
o Binding is the last step in the production process. Publishers prefer
popular binding methods such as "perfect bind" and "saddle stitch."
Binding refers to fastening sheets of a complete document by means of
wire, glue or thread. For example, companies that use perfect binding glue
the edges of multiple sheets of paper to a cover; perfect binding is
typically suitable for telephone books, technical manuals and commercial
magazines. In contrast, saddle stitch binding refers to the method of staff
applying staples at the seam of the publication. Printing presses use saddle
stitching to bind booklets, magazines and direct mailers. The process
requires page numbers of a document to be in multiples of four; this
allows the publisher to construct a folded booklet. Another term,
"Eurobind," allows printing companies to produce books that lay flatter
than their counterparts. Printing industry terms for binding also include
references to "spine," "case bind" and "wire-o-binding."
More Resources
 Business Card Printing http://www.samedayprinting.com/business-card-
printing.html
 Flyer Printing http://www.samedayprinting.com/flyers.html
 Postcard Printing http://www.samedayprinting.com/postcards.html
 Poster Printing http://www.samedayprinting.com/posters.html
 Banner Printing http://www.samedayprinting.com/banners.html
 Brochure Printing http://www.samedayprinting.com/brochure-printing.html
 Sticker Printing http://www.samedayprinting.com/sticker-printing.html
 Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM) Printing
http://www.samedayprinting.com/direct-mail-printing-eddm.html