Mar 10 2010

Glossary of Terms for
Paper and Printing

"C"

C

Abbreviation for Cyan in the four-colour printing process.

C-SIZES

The international ISO range of metric sizes for envelopes, designed to accommodate equivalent A sizes.

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

A stack of highly polished metal cylinders at the end of a paper machine that smoothes and shines the paper surface as sheets pass through. It increases its smoothness, gloss and reduces it's bulk.

CALENDERED

Paper that has been smoothed and polished between sets of rollers called a calender; this process is usually done at the dry end of a papermaking machine.

CALENDERING

Calendering is the last operation on the paper machine, takes place on a special machine calendar. The paper is drawn between a series of rolls of varying hardness and composition. The sheets are in effect 'ironed out'; giving them added smoothness and gloss.

CALIBRATION

In a general sense calibration refers to the task of coordinating devices to ensure correct operation. At the prepress stage, input and output devices - monitors, scanners, imagesetters and so on - are generally calibrated to test how colours are depicted and to take corrective action if necessary

CALLIGRAPHY

Calligraphy (from the Greek: kalos = beautiful, grafein = writing) is the art of handwriting.

CALLIPER

Thickness of paper / board measured in microns (1000microns = 1mm).

CAPSTAN IMAGESETTER

As the name suggests, capstan imagesetters operate using a capstan roller, which moves the film material for imaging. The film material is stored on a roll. A laser beam is used for imaging, and its movement is set in line with the film transport so that the imaging process takes place line by line. The use of roll material means that the length of the output film format is theoretically unlimited. This is an important feature of this type of imagesetter.

CARBONLESS PAPER

Paper commonly used to produce multi-part business forms. Chemically transfers images from one sheet to another without carbon paper. The sheets are coated on one or two sides with an emulsion of colourless dyes and oils. A set is made up of three types of papers: 1. CB (coated back), which is the top, white sheet in the set; 2. CF (coated front), which is the bottom sheet; 3. CFB (coated front and back), which is used for middle sheets of a multi-part form. The accepted colour sequence is White, Canary Yellow, Pink, Green, Golden.

CARTOGRAPHY

Is the science of producing maps. The special problems of cartography include the correct determination of ground elevations (topography) and the most realistic possible rendering of the curved surface of the earth on plane map material. By nature, only compromises are possible in this connection. Aerial views taken from airplanes, and satellite photos in more recent times, have today largely replaced the originally very complex and arduous methods of terrestrial surveying for the production of maps.

CARTON BOARD

A material of defined thickness and weight made from one or more layers of fibrous cellulose material to form a rigid or semi-rigid construction.

CARTRIDGE PAPER

Paper made from chemical woodpulp having good strength and a rough surface.

CASEBINDING

The kind of binding used for hard-cover books. Case or edition binding: Commonly used for hardbound books, case binding brings folded sheets together into signatures, which are sewn together with thread and glued to a spine, with gauze extensions to hold together the end papers.

CAST COATED

Paper coated and dried against a polished cylinder for a high-gloss finish.

CCD

Charged Coupled Device. Light sensitive cells used in digital cameras and digital exposing devices.

CD-ROM

Compact Disk

CeBIT

Centrum für Büro und Informations-Technik (center for Office and Information Technology). The largest Trade Fair for the Information and Telecommunications Industry in the world, which takes place every spring in Hannover.

CELLULOSE FIBRE

The fibrous structural support of plant cells that is processed into pulp for papermaking.

CELLULOSE WRAPPING PAPER

Cellulose wrapping paper
Cellulose wrapping paper is a stock that comprises at least 65% primary pulp (sulphite and groundwood pulp) and a maximum of 30% wastepaper.

CENTRE OR CORE

A steel, wood or cardboard tube on which paper is reeled, or re-reeled.

CHARACTER SET

The term 'character set' refers to the range of letters, numbers and other characters that a font contains or that an input or output device can process.

CHEMI-THERMO MECHANICAL PULP (CTMP)

Same as TMP only chips are also sprayed with chemicals.

CHEMICAL PULP

Pulp made by cooking the wood in the present of chemical agents (acids or alkali) which eliminates most of the non fibrous material.

CHEMICAL PULPING

The chemical solution used to separate wood fibres from lignin in the pulping process. Wood chips are cooked with chemicals to separate cellulose fibres and dissolve lignin. Papers made from this process are known as freesheet.

CHINA CLAY

A mineral, obtained largely from Cornwall, used by papermakers to obtain finish and consistency; also for coating art and chromo paper. Also called Kaolin.

CHINA GRASS

Is a fibrous material which is obtained from the subtropic nettle plant 'ramie'. Its high purity and strength make it ideal in the production of banknote paper.

CHIP BOARD

A board made from waste paper used mainly in packaging, especially with a white liner and coating.

CHROMO PAPER

Chromo paper includes woodpulp or woodfree stocks coated on one side. The coating is always waterproof and is designed for maximum embossing, varnishing, and bronzing performance in offset environments. Chromo paper is used mainly to make labels, wrappings, and cover paper.

CIE

The Commission Internationale de l'Eclairage (CIE) is an international Organisation, which has developed and defined a number of generally used Colour definitions. The best known of these is the CIE Lab colour space, which was defined in 1976.

CIELab COLOUR SPACE

The CEILab colour space was defined by the Commission Internationale de l'Eclairage (CIE) in 1976 and represents a three-dimensional, rectangular coordinate system. The vertical coordinate L specifies the lightness of a colour, the 2 horizontal coordinates a and b represent the hue and the saturation on red/green and blue/yellow axes respectively. The CIELab colour space is also ideal for representing colour differences, since geometric distances in the colour space more or less approximate the intuitive colour differences.

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 PROOF

A page proof not requiring any alterations after reading.

CLEARTYPE

As a further development of the methods used by the font software TrueType and Adobe Type 1, Cleartype serves to generate the clearest possible typeface on computer screens. This is primarily achieved by 'anti-aliasing' to smoothed lines and edges that have a staircase-like appearance due to the pixels of the monitor. Developed by Microsoft, Cleartype is specifically intended to improve the legibility of fairly small fonts on colour LCDs, such as those used or envisaged for laptop computers and electronic books (e-books).

CLIENT/SERVER

A relationship in which one computer program (the client) requests information from another computer program (the server), whereby the server responds in fulfilling the request. In terms of 'client/server architecture,' it is the design model for applications running on a network. The bulk of the back end processing, such as performing a physical search of a database, takes place on a server. In terms of a 'client/server network,' LAN resources are allocated so that computing power is distributed among the computers in the network, but some shared resources are centralized in a file server. With the advent of powerful individual workstations, most computers can act as both client and server in different situations; this is often described as 'n-tier computing,' where 'n' refers to the multiple levels of clients and servers that exist. For security reasons, the client/server model requires user authentication.

CLOSED SYSTEM

The system of operating a paper or board making machine whereby the water drained from the sheet during formation is collected and returned for re-use Instead of being discharged to waste.

CLOTHING

The felts, wires and fabrics used on a papermaking machine.

CMYK

A subtractive colour model used for full-colour printing. Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black inks are combined to produce the maximum range of colour with the most efficient use of ink.

CO2

Carbon Dioxide. A colourless, odourless gas present in the atmosphere as a result of the decay of organic matter and the respiration of living organisms. It is also produced by the combustion of fuels containing carbon (wood, oil, coal, gas etc.) and is used by plants as part of the growing process. Carbon dioxide contributes to the greenhouse effect

COALESCENCE

The pooling or puddling of ink on inkjet output. A common defect in low-quality media.

COATED PAPER

Paper or Board with a coating to produce a smooth, ink receptive finish that will enhance the sharpness and gloss of the printed image.

COATING

A layer of minerals applied to one or both sides of paper or board to improve brightness, gloss and printability; the coating is held together and stuck to the paper by a binder.

COCKLE

The puckering or wrinkling of inkjet output. Caused by expansion of paper fibres as a result of overloading the ink receptive layer with ink.

COCKLING

When the relative humidity is lower in the environment than in the paper, the edges of stacked sheets can dry out and contract (tight edges), causing the paper to buckle in the middle.

COD

Chemical Oxygen Demand. A measure of the amount of oxygen required for the chemical breakdown of organic matter in effluent.

COLD PRESSED

A paper surface with slight texture produced by pressing the finished sheet between cold cylinders.

COLD-SET INKS

A variety of inks that are in solid form originally but are melted in a hot press and then solidified when they contact paper.

COLLATE

To gather sections of printed work in the correct sequence for binding.

COLLATING MARK

The collating mark is the name given in book printing to a short line which is printed in a staggered position in the gutter between the first and last page of each sheet. Once the sheets have been folded and collated, the lines appear on the spine of the book block, enabling the sequence of the individual sheets to be checked based on the position of these lines.

COLOUR DENSITY

The term colour density describes the optical density of areas printed in colour. This value is important when monitoring quality in printing processes and can be measured using special instruments (reflected light densitometers). However, it is only ever possible to compare the colour densities of an individual hue with each other.

COLOUR DEPTH

The term colour depth (or bit depth) refers to the number of bits used to store the colour information of a pixel in the pixel format.

COLOUR LASER

A laser printer in which four passes of the print mechanism lay down cyan, magenta, yellow and black toners to produce a colour image.

COLOUR MAMUT

The entire range of colour that can be reproduced by a particular printer or display. In printed output it depends upon the printer, ink and media.

COLOUR MANAGEMENT

Colour management refers to the control of colour reproduction in a digital graphic production process. The various input and output devices from the scanner to the printing press support different colour spaces, depending on the device. In order to standardize the way colours appear throughout the production process, colour profiles are generated for the devices and processes involved in the process. The combination of these colour profiles makes it possible to calculate the coefficients necessary for data conversion. Those colours in a given colour space that cannot be displayed in another are approximated as closely as possible.

COLOUR PROOF

A colour proof is used for a binding, advance check of the colours of a printed product. It entails much less effort than a press proof on the press itself and can also be produced away from the printing site.
In addition, there has been in more recent times a major drop in the price of printers that reliably produce high-quality colour prints. The prerequisite for an accurate colour proof is, however, the reliable control of the (electronic) preprint process with a colour management system that also includes the press and the paper used.

COLOUR SEPARATION

The process of separating full-colour artwork or transparencies into the four primary printing ink colours of magenta (red), cyan (blue), yellow and black by using various photographic/scanning methods. Today separations are typically made using electronic laser scanners.

COLOUR SUBSTITUTION

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

COLOUR TRANSPOSITION

Transposing colour 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 colours will look on press by colour proofing the image on the chosen paper stock beforehand.

COLOUR-FAST PAPERS

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

COLOURCURVE SYSYEM

A colour matching system based on light reflectance curves rather than on ink formulations. This system addresses the tendency for some colours to appear different on different surfaces, materials and lighting conditions.

COLOURFAST

Paper colour which resists change when exposed to light.

COLUMN

In common speech, the term 'column'(from the Latin 'columna')refers to the vertical sections in a newspaper or magazine, or also to a brief, regularly published opinion article in this format. In technical printing terminology, a column is the text designed for a page of a printed product. The titles at the top edge of a page are called 'heads'. In this context, a distinction is made between running heads and folios. The former vary according to the content of the respective page. The latter do not change and contain, for example, fixed section titles or page numbers.

COMPREHENSIVE (COMP)

A full-size mock-up of the proposed design, showing layouts of images and type, as well as use of colour and paper.

CONCERTINA FOLD

A concertina fold is the continuous parallel folding of brochures and similar printed products in the manner of an accordion, where the fold is alternatively made to the front and back.

CONSISTENCY

Bone dry concentration of fibre in grammes per 100 ml of suspension. Ratio for solid to liquid expressed as a percentage.

CONTAMINANT

Any material harmful to the recycling process when included with recyclable material.

CONTENT

The textual and graphical information contained in a Web site, as well as the structure and design in which the information is presented. Writers and companies who create this information are known as content providers. Content is one of the three big C's (content, commerce, and community), and Web sites often get judged and rated on the quality, quantity, and navigational flow of this information.

CONTINUOUS INKJET

One of the first implementations of the inkjet concept in which drops are expelled continuously from the print head and the image is formed by an electrostatic mechanism, which selects those drops that are allowed to pass through the selector to reach the paper. This is the basis of Iris and Stork printers. The technology employs very small drops and is therefore capable of high image quality.

CONTINUOUS TONE

Images that are represented, nor by dots or lines or primary colour, but by a series of evenly graduated tones, as in a photograph - sometimes referred to as a contone.

CONTONE ORIGINAL

Contone originals are generally print originals with more than one lightness level for the colours. Because printing technology can only recognize full colours, contone originals must be screened before reproduction, i.e. broken down into dot systems. By varying the size or frequency of the screen dots, the impression of different shades is created in the printed image.

CONTRARIES

Materials unsuitable for papermaking, present in some raw materials and waste paper.

CONTRAST

The tonal gradation between highlights and shadows in an image. High contrast features extreme light and dark areas.

CONVERTER

A company that specialises in converting reels and sheets of paper and board into packaging or finished goods for sale to the public.

CONVERTING

A manufacturing plant which uses paper to make paper-based products, such as packaging or consumer products.

COPIER/LASER PAPERS

Lightweight grades of good quality and dimensionally stable papers used for copying correspondence and documents.

COPPER GRAVURE

As the most popular rotogravure process today, copper gravure (also known as halftone gravure) uses copper-coated impression cylinders onto which the motif (text and image) is transferred directly using a screening process throughout. This is done either using chemicals (etching) or by engraving recesses using a stylus or other means. Copper gravure is ideal for long runs. High setup costs are offset by long print runs that can be increased to several million copies by chrome-plating the prepared press roller. What is more, the use of low viscosity, fast drying inks allows high printing speeds. One of the special features of this printing process is the high print quality of images that can even be achieved with low grade papers, though fine type suffers from the screening which is used throughout. Copper gravure presses also offer greater flexibility in print formats than is possible with rotary offset presses, since impression cylinders of different circumferences can be used in a single press.

COPY

Text content.

CORE

A steel, wood or cardboard tube on which paper is reeled or re-reeled.

CORE SIZE

The inside diameter of the insert that the product is wrapped around.

CORPORATE DESIGN

Corporate design is part of corporate identity and refers to a company projecting a consistent, identifiable corporate image through its communication media, such as brochures, Catalogues or packaging. This includes graphic elements, such as a distinctive company logo, the company's 'house colours' or a particular typeface. In many cases corporate design also encompasses product design and can even extend to include the architecture of the company building.

CORRECTION MARKS

The print industry uses special characters and rules for correcting texts, and these have also been made into a binding standard embodied in DIN 16 511.

CORRUGATED BOARD

Corrugated board is a packaging material which, in its simplest form, consists of a corrugated sheet of paper which is produced using two intermeshing, grooved rollers with the application of pressure and heat, with flat paper sheets glued to either one or both sides. Corrugated board was invented in the USA in 1871. and, thanks to its excellent packaging characteristics (high strength and low weight) quickly grew in popularity.

COTTON PAPER

Paper made with a minimum of 25% cotton fibre.

COUCHING

The process of transferring paper from the mould onto felt for drying.

COVER PAPER

Heavyweight stock used for covers of catalogues, brochures, books or business cards.

CROP MARKS

Printed lines beyond the page area which indicate where the page should be trimmed. See also Trim and Tick marks.

CROSS DIRECTION

The direction across the grain. Paper is weaker and more sensitive to changes in relative humidity in the cross direction than in the grain direction.

CROSSMEDIA

Crossmedia is a term used to describe the common processing of content for different media. By way of example, texts and images saved in a database can be used to produce printed Catalogues, but also corresponding data media (CD-ROM) and electronic Catalogues which can be accessed via the Internet. One important benefit of this procedure lies in the fact that changes to the content only need to be performed once for all three media jointly.

CSR

Corporate Social Responsibility. The continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as of the local community and society at large, including the environment.

CTP (COMPUTER-TO-PLATE)

The term Computer-to-Print covers all printing processes which do not require physical printing plates. Using processes derived from computer technology - e.g. laser printing - appropriately equipped presses can print directly from suitably processed data. Computer-to-Print is ideal for short runs, and in particular personalized printing.

CURL

Tendency of paper by itself to bend or partly wrap around the axis of one of its directions. Usually caused by changes in weather, faulty drying on the paper machine or in a multi-ply sheet with differing ply composition.

CURL

Deformation of a sheet of paper or board over all its surface, which therefore tends to roll up into the form of a cylinder. This curling sometimes occurs along the edges of a sheet when the paper is exposed to extreme humidity changes or other physical stresses. This tendency is less likely in papers with recycled content because the paper fibres are shorter.

CUT SIZE

Writing and business papers that are cut to a finished size of 8 1/2" x 11", 8 1/2" x 14", or 11" x 17". Cut-size papers are usually packed in reams of 500 sheets and sold in office supply stores.

CUT SIZE PAPER

Cut size paper is, in contrast to roll paper, and as the name suggests, cut to a certain format.

CUT-OFF

A term used in web press printing to describe the point at which a sheet of paper is cut from the roll; usually this dimension is equal to the circumference of the cylinder.

CYAN

One of the four process colours (blue) in litho printing.

CYAN OVERHANG

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

CYRILLIC TEXT

The Cyrillic alphabet (named after the Slav apostle Kyrillos, who lived from 826/27 to 869) originated from the Greek uppercase alphabet which was intended originally for church use and was adapted to the phonetic peculiarities of the Slav languages. The alphabet today is used in a simplified form in Russia, in several states of the former Soviet Union as well as in Bulgaria, Serbia and Mongolia.