A Printing Terms
primer
A Printing Terms
primer
Intended to Help You Make an Impression Written and Edited by Jason M. Rubin Illustrated by Nick Ramos, Graphismo Designed by JosĂŠ R. Nieto, square zero
s a service of
deschamps printing
Introduction
D
espite all the technological advances of the modern age, printing remains at heart an oldschool business. Over time, however, some of
the traditional terms of printing have gained additional meanings. For example, the seemingly innocent printing term “binding” brings back funny memories of my grandparents eating dinner at our house. Picture a Jewish grandmother admonishing her husband of 50 years to go easy on the starch with the phrase, “Harry, not so much rice. It’s binding.” This primer, then, is designed to achieve two objectives: to help you begin to speak the language of printing, and to entertain you. The former will enhance your relationship with your printer, enabling you to collaborate more clearly and efficiently, thereby increasing quality and satisfaction. The latter is intended to sweeten the learning experience—the spoonful of sugar, as it were. As a professional writer, I rely on printing to give my words a sense of style and authority. I and my message would be far less credible if these words were blurry or spoken into voicemail. The good people of Deschamps have reams of credibility, and hope you enjoy and benefit from this useful little book. jason m. rubin boston, massachusetts
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Creep
{2}
creep: The displacement of leaves in each signature of a book, due to the effect of folding. Creep increases with paper thickness. Also known as “thrust,” “shingling,” and “pushout.” Taken from Alastair Campbell’s The Designer’s Lexicon.
{3}
Ghosting
{4}
ghosting: Ghost images are unwanted images (often faint) that appear in the printed piece. Mechanical ghosting is usually traceable to conditions on the printing press and/or layout of the form. Chemical ghosting (gloss ghosting, dull ghosting, trapping ghosting, fuming, etc.) is usually delayed from the the printing operation, and evidenced later. Chemical ghosting is usually the result of the vapor tranfer of an image, usually weak, from the front of one sheet to the back of another.
{5}
Gum
{6}
gum: A water soluble resinous material (generally naturally harvested gum arabic, but can be a substitute synthetic material derived from cellulose), used to treat the lithographic printing plate and make the non-image area of the plate more wettable and receptive to a dampening solution. Also, the dampening solution usually contains a gum to replenish what was worn away from the plate during printing.
{7}
Gutter
{8}
gutter: The inside margin in a bound piece, between the printed area and the binding; also called gutter margin.
{9}
Hairline Register
{ 10 }
hairline register: Multi-color printing on which the allowable misregister is 1/2 row of dots; also the joining or butting two or more colors, with no color overlap.
{ 11 }
Hickeys
{ 12 }
hickeys: When a foreign material sticks to the printing press blanket or plate in an image area, it interferes with the transfer of ink to or from the blanket surface. The printed imperfection is a hickey (a white area around a dark center); it can be cause by dirt on or around the press, dried ink skin, paper or coating particles, etc.
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Imposition
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imposition: The proper placing of pages on a layout for printing, so that the pages appear in proper sequence in the signature after folding.
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Piling
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piling: The collecting of ink particles upon rollers, blankets, and plates, caused either by the inability of an ink vehicle to hold the ink pigment in suspension, or by microscopic pick and/or removal of pigment from the surface of the paper by the ink, and accumulating in the ink on the blanket; usually evidenced in the trailing edge of the image areas, resulting from extra thickness on the press blanket in the image area.
{ 17 }
Score
{ 18 }
score: The process and the resulting line mechanically pressed into a heavy sheet of paper or board, to prestress the fold line and facilitate folding or improve the appearance of the fold. Most effectively done with the grain of the paper, and is absolutely necessary with the heavier weight paper.
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Separation
{ 20 }
separation: The act of separating (dividing) the colors of an original into its component colors (yellow, magenta, cyan, black, and any spot colors) Each record or negative is used for the production of a single color printing plate.
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Stripping
{ 22 }
stripping: (1) In preparing lithographic plate-making films, the placing of the negative/positives in the proper place on the page. (2) As a defect in lithographic printing, describes the condition when the ink rollers take water preferentially to the ink (the ink roller surface changes from oleophilic to hydrophilic). Usually occurs on metal ink rollers, but can occur in synthetic composition covered rollers.
{ 23 }
Trapping
{ 24 }
trapping: The slight overlap of two colors to eliminate gaps that may occur between them due to the normal fluctuations of registration during printing. Also refers to printing an ink color before the previous one has dried—also called “wet trapping.” Taken from Alastair Campbell’s The Designer’s Lexicon.
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final words
Y
ou now know everything there is to know about printing terms. Actually, that isn’t true. You now know everything you need to know about print-
ing terms. Well, not quite. You now know something about printing terms. Yes, that seems fair. So what’s next? What are you supposed to do with this new information? Here are three responses: (1) It is hoped that you will be so smitten with the colorful language of the printing trade that you will conduct independent study on the history and practice of printing. (2) If you aren’t prepared to devote hours to the study of printing, it is hoped you will at least be able to spice up your next cocktail party with talk of hickeys, scoring, stripping, and the like. (3) If all else fails, know that the experts at Deschamps not only speak the language of printing, but your language as well. They are committed to your success and can advise you on the best options for your project. On behalf of my friends at Deschamps, I hope this book has made a lasting impression on you. jmr
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about deschamps
H
enry George Deschamps and his brother Paul founded Deschamps Printing Company, Inc. in 1916 under the name Deschamps Brothers Printing. They provided typesetting and printing services to a then growing Salem economy. Today, two generations later, Deschamps is a thriving company employing thirty-five craftspeople. It is a completely state-of-the art, mid-size printer offering both offset and digital printing services.
d
about the creators josé nieto José Nieto is principal of square zero, a communication design studio in Salem Massachusetts. Previously, Jose was design director at Northeastern University. His work as designer and art director has been honored by Print, the aiga, the American Graphic Design Awards, the Interactive Media Awards, case National, and the University and College Designer’s Association. José has taught typography at MassArt and is currently vice president of the Boston chapter of the aiga. He lives in Salem, Massachusetts, with his lovely wife Lisa and infant son Lucas. nick ramos Originally from Brazil, Luis Nicolau Carlos Isoldi de Ramos (aka Nick Ramos) started drawing at a very early age. His early influences were European characters like Asterix, Obelix, and Tintin. He moved to the US in his teens, and he learned to speak English by watching Brady Bunch re-runs (so what exactly does “Marcia, Marcia, Marcia” mean?). After high school, Nick attended Massachusetts College of Art, where he studied graphic design. Under the banner of Graphismo, he currently works both as a designer and as an illustrator. Nick lives with his partner Kirby in Austin, Texas. jason m. rubin Jason Rubin has been a professional writer since 1985, when he traded in his Journalism degree from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst for a career as a copywriter. Jason has worked for such leading organizations as wgbh, Cabot Corporation, and Deloitte & Touche. Since 2000, he has been a senior writer at Libretto, Inc., one of the region’s leading providers of strategic messaging services. He fills his none-too-copious spare time doing freelance work and enjoying the company of his wife Laura, daughter Hannah, and a second daughter yet unnamed who is in utero as of press time.
about this book A Printing Terms Primer was printed on Neenah Classic Crest Avon Brilliant White 80lb Text, using four-color fluorescent inks and overall satin varnish on a 5-color Heidelberg 40� press with in line aqueous coating. The binding is a smyth-sewn, hard case bound. Body text is set in itc New Baskerville, designed by John Quartaranta and Matthew Carter, a revival of John Baskerville’s 18th century typeface. Headlines are set in Trade Gothic, designed by Jackson Burke in 1948; printing terms are set in Fenway Park, a contemporary script designed by Jason Anthony Walcott. Background patterns are adapted from a variety of sources, including, The Complete Pattern Library by Keith Hagan (Harry N. Abrams), Patterns of the 1930s (Pepin Press), and Full-Color Decorative Repeat Patterns by Judy Williams (Dover Press).