Glossary

The glossary of printing a book

•  Artwork / composition: Stage during which the elements of a book are placed according to typographical standards.
• Author alteration: Change requested by the client or essential adjustment that the printer must make to the document.  Author alterations are subject to additional charges beyond the agreed price.
• Banner: Long, narrow paper band around a book.
• Binding: Technique to hold together the parts of a book (pages, signatures, cover, etc.).
• Blanket: In offset printing, rubber cylinder that transfers ink to the rollers.
• Bleed: A margin that allows the background of the image to spread to the edges of the printed document when it is cut to the final format.
• Book block: Set of book pages ready to be bound.
• Bookmark: Page marker, also used as a book promotional item.
• Catch letter: Large initial letter at the beginning of a book chapter.
• Case binding: Hardcover book whose page block has been glued together (perfect binding), without sewing, before being attached to the hard cover.
• Coated paper: Paper with a smooth, glossy finish.  Coated papers are available in matte or silk finishes.
• Collating: Combining a book’s signatures for binding.
• Collating mark: A mark on each section (signature) of the book block, printed in a different spot for each signature to provide a visual cue and make it easier to collate and bind the book.
• Computer graphics / graphic design: Techniques for electronic creation and layout of text and images.
• Crop marks: Lines added to the margin of a document, used to define where the final cut will be made.  The marks should be placed ⅛ (0.125) inch from the final edge.
• CMYK: See four colour process.
• Density: Total amount of ink on a given dot.
• Digital printing: Printing directly from a computer without using plates.  Printing is done with a digital press using different kinds of toner (liquid and solid), depending on the type of press, that are bound to the paper by heat.  Digital printing is usually less expensive than offset for short press runs.
• Dots per inch –DPI: DPI, or dots per inch, is the number of screen dots within an inch in an electronic file.  The standard is 300 DPI (with a minimum of 266) for a quality printed image with sufficient resolution.
• DPI: See Dots per inch.
• Dust jacket: Removable protective jacket that includes two flaps folded over the book cover.
• Edge: Each of the three sides of book that are not part of its binding (top, bottom and fore edge).
• Electronic file: Document intended for printing that has been typeset using a computer program.
• Embossing: Technique used to create raised surfaces on paper.
• EPS (Encapsuled PostScript): Exchange format for images, used especially for line art or cropping.
• Even page: Left-hand page in a book. 
• Exchange file: Electronic file in which a document is saved so that it can be opened with other programs or applications different than the one used to create it. (Ex.: PDF, TIFF, RTF, HTML).
• Flap: Part of a book’s cover that is folded towards the inside.  The flap is found on the front cover, back cover or both.
• Foil stamping: Technique used to transfer a thin coloured film (usually gold or silver) to paper using a heated matrix.
• Folding: Stage during which the sections of a book are put together.  Large flat sheets are strategically and precisely folded so that page mirrors are symmetrical and book pages follow each other in their proper sequence.
• Folding marks: Lines added to the margin of a document to indicate where it should be folded.  The marks should be placed ⅛ (0.125) inch from the final edge.
• Foliation: Action of numbering the leaves or sheets in a book (rather than the pages which are printed on both sides of the leaves).
• Folio: Page number.
• Font: Type of lettering used in typography.  The word “font” is said to come from the period when lead was founded (melted) to produce characters.
• Four colour process (CMYK): Colour standard for printing using four basic inks: three primary colours, cyan (C), magenta (M) and yellow (Y), and black (K).  This process makes it possible to reproduce a wide gamut of colours.
• FSC®: Acronym of the Forest Stewardship Council®.  FSC® is an international system for certifying forests and forest products and a traceability system that follows paper from production to sale.
• FTP (File Transfer Protocol) site: Server on which it is possible to put electronic files, even very large ones that cannot be sent by ordinary e-mail.  Data transfer speed will depend on the size of the file to be transferred and the speed of the sender’s Internet connection.
• Ghost halftone: A normal halftone that has had its density reduced to produce a very faint image ; it is often overprinted with text. See Watermark.
• Gold foil: See foil stamping.
• Grain: Orientation of paper fibres.
• Greyscale: Printing done with black ink, but with a percentage of dots per inch varying between 10% and 90% in order to create shades of grey.
• Hardcover: Book cover made of very thick, unbending cardboard.
• Headband: Piece of coloured fabric used to protect the top and bottom of a case binding.
• Imposition: Crucial prepress stage during which the pages of a document are arranged according to a specific plan, in order to make subsequent production operations possible.
• Insert: An element added to a document at a predetermined or random spot.
• Insertion: Action of nesting sheets to form signatures; or, action of putting an insert in a document. 
• ISBN (International Standard Book Number): An international serial number for a book. Each title has its own ISBN.
• JPEG (Joint Photographic Expert Group): Exchange format for colour images.  It is better not to modify a JPEG, because it loses some of its quality each time it is saved.
• Justification: Length of lines of type.
• Lamination: Application of a fine plastic film on paper using a thermal process.
• Layout/artwork: The definitive page layout of a book. .
• Line art: Images or drawings without gradation of tones or shades of grey.  Usually printed in black.
• Lines per inch (LPI): Number of lines of dots per inch.
• Make ready: To prepare and adjust equipment in order to carry out the various stages of a book’s production.
• Misprint or typo: Typesetting error in a document.
• Native file format: Source electronic file before transfer to an international standard format (i.e. an exchange format such as PDF).  Usually, a native file can only be opened with the computer program used to create it. The native file contains the fonts, images and other resources used in the document. (Ex.: QuarkExpress, Indesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, etc.).
• Odd page: Right-hand page in a book.
• Offset printing: Offset is the most widespread printing process. It uses plates, ink and water (although a waterless offset process does now exist), and is based on the repulsion between water and the oil in the ink.  On the plate, printed zones are sensitive to ink (oil).  The rest of the plate is sensitive to water, and therefore repels the ink. Ink zones are transferred to paper by the rollers of the press.
• Original: Document to be reproduced.
• Outside back cover: A book’s back cover.
• Outside front cover: The book’s front cover.
• Page: One side of a sheet or leaf of a book.
• Page mirror: In typography, the mass formed by graphic elements and the text to be printed. The page mirror should be aligned on the recto and verso sides of the page; odd and even pages should be symmetrical.
• Pagination: See foliation.
• Pantone colour (Pantone (couleur)): Pantone is the Pantone company’s ink system (PMS, or Pantone Matching System).  The company created its own basic (primary) colours, which are combined in such a way as to produce a range of colours that can be systematically reproduced on any offset press.  The Pantone inks are often used to print solid (flat) colours, or to complement standard four-colour process printing.  Fluorescent and metallic inks are part of the wide range of available colours.  Press operators use charts of inks and ink recipes to make up the blends before printing.
• Pass: Number of times a document needs to go through the press for printing purposes.
• PDF: Acronym of Portable Document Format.  PDF is a universal file format. The PDF file preserves the fonts, images, graphic objects and layout of any source document (native document).
• Perfect binding: Perfect binding is a thermal binding that consists in using hot glue to glue the book block, then applying a rigid paper cover to the block.
• Plate: Piece of metal or polymer used in offset printing.  The document to be printed is burned onto the plate.  Depending on the zone, ink either fastens to the plate (print zones) or is repelled (blank zones, non-printed margins). From the plate, the ink is then transferred to paper.
• Pluggng: Oversaturation of screen dots with ink.  Abnormally thickened dots make it impossible to see nuances in the font or image.
• PMS: See Pantone.
• Prepress: Set of tasks to be carried out before printing.
• Press: Machine used to print.
• Press proof: Version of a document printed with the definitive printing process, used for final verification before binding.
• Press run: Action of printing, the result of printing.
• Proof: First printed version of a document after typesetting, used for checking and making corrections as needed.
• Recycled paper: Paper whose fibres come from postconsumer material or the residue of recycled wood.
• Register: A term used to describe an extremely precise printing process in which graphic elements are perfectly superimposed.
• Reprint: New printing of a book, usually without any changes.
• Resolution: Resolution is connected to the quality of images.  It is calculated in pixels (dots) per inch (PPI or DPI).  For optimal printing quality, images need a resolution of 300 DPI.
• Resource: Element used to create the document (font, image, logo, drawing, etc.).
• RGB: Standard display profile for screen colours: red (R), green (G), blue (B).
• RIP: Acronym for Raster Image Processing.  Last stage in the transformation of the computer file before printing.
• Rule: Typographical line of the same thickness as a dot.
• Saddle stitching: A form of binding that uses staples in the centrefold.
• Saturation: Maximum intensity of colour or ink during printing.
• Scanning: Process used to create an electronic image of a printed document.
• Scoring/score: Machine-made crease, making paper easier to fold.
• Screen: Printing dots.  A colour may be screened at different percentages to increase or decrease its intensity.
• Screen dot: Smallest element of a reproduced image.  There are usually 300 dots per inch in a high-resolution print document.
• Self-editing: Process in which an author takes charge of editing his or her own work, without going through the intermediary of a publisher.  Usually implies self-publishing.
• Self-publishing: Producing and distributing a book without intermediaries, with the person initiating the project taking responsibility for it.
• Sheet: Paper document with two sides, recto and verso.  In a book, a sheet includes two pages.
• Signature (also known as gathering): Group of printed and folded pages forming a section of a book.
• Smyth-sewn case binding: Hardcover book whoe pages have been nested and sewn into a block before being attached to the hard cover.
• Smyth-sewn perfect binding: Perfect binding of pages which have previously been nested and sewn together as signatures, then as a block.
• Softcover: Book cover made of paper or thin cardboard that remains flexible.
• Spine: Backbone of a book.
• Spiral binding: Type of binding that uses a plastic spiral.  With this binding, it is easy to keep documents flat, which is helpful for documents that need to be consulted (agendas, practical guides, exercise handbooks, etc.).
• Spot varnish: A varnish applied to certain zones to create contrast.  It is usually shiny against a laminated matte background.
• Spread (double-page): Spread or double page display modes are used to read a document.  For printing, documents must be provided as single pages.
• TIFF (Tagged Image File Format): Exchange format for images that are to be printed in high resolution.  This is the format most suited for work in Quark Express and Indesign.
• Tip-ins: Pages containing illustrations, images or photographs that are printed on a different kind of paper than the rest of the book. Once printed, the pages are inserted into the book.
• Tolerance: Amount of excess copies or losses to be foreseen when carrying out a print run in a manufacturing environment.  Tolerance is a predetermined percentage within which the order is considered complete.
• Trim: Last stage in the production process in which the edges of a book are cut.
• Type: Print letter.
• Uncoated paper: Paper whose matte finish is more porous than that of a coated paper.  Some uncoated papers have a smooth finish; the word “uncoated” is related to the way the paper fibres are woven.
• Varnish: Layer of transparent ink applied by the press to a printed document to protect it and protect the paper.
• Watermark: Drawing printed in the paper, visible when the sheet is held up to light. See Ghost halftones.
• Widow/orphan: A widow is the last line of a paragraph that finds itself isolaged at the top of a page.  An orphan is the first line of a paragraph that is isolated at the bottom of the page.  Typesetters try to avoid widows and orphans.
• Wire-o binding: Metal spiral used to bind documents.
• With the grain: Expression meaning that the paper is handled in the direction of its fibres.  If it is handled against the grain, the fibres may break, leading to less attractive results.
• Word division (hyphenation) (césure): Breaking long words between lines.