Skip to Content

Publishing Glossary

Resources

Glossary of some printing & publishing terms & abbreviations
If you can't find it here, check the acronyms or Glossary of technical terms

"Dictionaries are like watches: The worst is better than none, and the best cannot be expected to go quite right." Dr Johnson

A

  • A series; A system of paper sizes
  • AA  AC; author's alteration /correction
  • A/W; abbreviation for artwork
  • Accordion fold; parallel folds which open like an accordion (aka concertina fold)
  • Acetate; transparent plastic sheet with images, sometimes in layers or placed over artwork to protect and allow designer to write instructions
  • Acknowledgements; part of the prelim pages where thanks and special permissions are recognised
  • Acid-free; paper resists yellowing from age, made from pulp containing little or no acid
  • Addendum; additional material normally printed at the start of main text
  • Additive Colour; adds the primary colours red, blue and green
  • Advance; Money paid to the writer to allow them to live while the book is written and published but offset against the royalties the book will earn
  • Advanced copies; books sent by printer or publisher before publication date
  • ADSL the domestic, high-speed data link
  • Against the grain; at right angles to the grain of the paper
  • Agent, Agency; person or organisation representing authors and selling their work
  • Airbrush; paint is applied in a fine mist with compressed air
  • Align; to line up type or graphics
  • All up; a term to denote that all text has been set
  • Alteration; Change in copy or specifications implying it is after production has begun
  • Ampersand; is the & sign
  • Angle brackets; are the <> characters
  • Annotate; Provide additional comments or explanations to a text
  • Apostrophe; In English it has two main functions- 1: marks omissions 2: assists in marking the possessives of all nouns and many pronouns
  • App; Small Application or programme, normally on a portable device like a phone
  • Appendix, appendices; Supplementary material to a text which is inserted as a section at the end of the main text
  • Aqueous; any water-based product
  • Arabic numerals; 0123456789 (ie not Roman numerals i,ii etc)
  • Art paper; smooth, coated paper
  • Artwork; original photos and illustrations including copy
  • Ascender; part of lower case letter above the upper half of the vertical in letters such as b or d
  • ASCII; American Standard Code for Information Interchange - the digital representations of letters and symbols - with numerous national variations so this is a non-standard standard
  • Autobiography; A person's life story written by the person themself
  • Author's Alterations (AA)
  • Author's copies; Complimentary copies given to an author on publication - normally 6!
  • Authors corrections (AC); at proofing stage
Index

B

  • B series; set of paper sizes for chart and posters
  • Back lining; A strip of paper, linen or gauze glued to the spine of a traditionally bound book to give strength
  • Backing up; to print the second side of printed sheet possibly aligned back-to-back
  • Backlist; Books in a publisher's catalogue that are not being actively promoted but are still in print and available
  • Balloon; a circle or bubble enclosing copy in an illustration
  • Banding; packaging using rubber or paper bands to bind
  • Banner; title extending across page width
  • Bar code; Machine readable code printed on products
  • Base artwork; requires additions such as halftones before printing
  • Baseline; for the bases of letters
  • Basis/Basic Size/Weight; (mainly North America) in pounds of a ream of paper cut to the basic size. Europe uses ISO paper sizes
  • Bed; the base on which the paper is held in a press
  • Bind/Binding; join leafs or signatures with stitching, glue etc
  • Bleed; layout that extends beyond the trim marks on a page; pictures ‘bleed’if they go to the edge of the page which is often intentional
  • Blind Folio; an unprinted page
  • Block; bound pages of a book
  • Block out; Mask part of a picture
  • Blog: Diary-style personal website
  • Blow up; an enlargement
  • Blueline; marks with special pencil on proof that do not show up on printing plates
  • Blurb; a short description of a book/author on a book jacket
  • Board; paper generally more than 200gsm
  • Body size; the height of the type normally measures in points
  • Body; or body text; main text not including the headlines
  • BOGOFF; Buy One Get One For Free
  • Boiler Plate; repetitive type similar to a template
  • Bond paper; durable high-quality paper grade used for letters and legal forms
  • Bookland; A mythical land that allows a 10 bit isbn to be transformed into on with the European Article Numbering (EAN) 13 digits. The 'national' prefix is 978 + ISBN
  • Bookplate; A label pasted inside the cover possibly with the owner's name
  • Book Block; trimmed pages before a cover is added
  • Border; design surrounding printing on a page
  • Bounce; repeating registration problem
  • Breve; a curved phonetic mark ? to indicate a short vowel
  • Bristol board; a board for drawing
  • Broadside; printed on one side of a large sheet of paper
  • Bromide; a photographic print normally part of plate making
  • Bulk; measure of thickness of paper in thousandths of an inch or number of pages per inch
  • Bullet; a large dot preceding text
  • Burn; make a permanent copy of a digital file on CD
  • By-line; the name of the writer or photographer printed with a magazine or newspaper article
Index

C

  • C1S and C2S; coated one side and coated two sides
  • Calender /Calendered; roll paper surface smooth by pressing during manufacture
  • Calligraphy; Fine or ornamental handwriting
  • Calliper; paper thickness
  • Camera ready copy or CRC; artwork pasted up ready for reproduction
  • Cap line; an imaginary line across the top of capital letters
  • Caps; an abbreviation for capital letters
  • Caption; text identifying a picture or illustration
  • Caret marks; mark-up pointer for the printer indicating an omission awaiting an insertion or correction
  • Cartridge; a thick paper used for printing, drawing or wrapping
  • Case Bind; also cloth bind or hard cover Bind using glue to a board cover
  • Cast off; a typographic calculation to work out the space copy will take
  • Catch line; a temporary headline to identify proof
  • Centred point; a dot that is raised from the line and used for currency
  • Chalking; deterioration of a printed image caused if ink absorbs into paper too fast or has long exposure to sun making image look dusty. Also called crocking
  • Character count; the number of characters; i.e. letters, figures, signs or spaces in a piece of copy
  • Chase; a metal frame in which metal type and engraved blocks are locked to make a page
  • Chrome; a term to measure colour transparency or saturation
  • Chromalin; colour photo used to check accuracy of colours by printers
  • CIP; Catalogue in Publication data operated by British Library and Library of Congress

    The national library of the United States, which offers a massive amount of information easily available, including details about copyright registration. http://lcweb.loc.gov/homepage/lchp.html

    .
  • Close up; a proof correction mark to reduce the amount of space between characters or words indicated as (')
  • Cloud computing; Very close to another term for the Internet
  • CMYK; abbreviation for cyan, magenta, yellow and key (black), the four process colours
  • Coated paper; printing papers surface coated with clay for a smoother finish
  • Co-Edition; Co-publishing; A work published simultaneously by separate publishers in different formats or language markets
  • Collate; organize printed matter in the order specified
  • Colour Balance; amounts of the colours required
  • Colour bar or guide; quality control spots of ink on the edge of a sheet
  • Colour Blanks; sheets with photos or illustrations, but without type
  • Colour Cast; unwanted colour in an image
  • Colour Correct; adjust the process colours to achieve desirable colours
  • Colour Separation; process to divide continuous-tone colour images into four half-tone negatives
  • Colour Sequence; order in which inks are printed, also called rotation
  • Column inch; a column inch is one column wide by one inch deep and used to measure area in newspapers (to calculate the cost of display advertising)
  • Column rule; a light vertical line used to separate columns of type
  • Comb bind; bind by inserting the teeth of a flexible plastic comb through holes punched along the edge of a stack of paper
  • Commercial A; the @ sign (aka the at-each cost)
  • Compose; to set copy into type
  • Composite film; Combining two or more images on one or more pieces of film
  • Compositor; person who sets type (typographer in US)
  • Concertina fold; a method of folding giving a concertina or pleated effect
  • Condensed; a style of typeface in which the characters have an elongated appearance
  • Condition; storing paper to allow moisture content and temperature to reach that of the production area
  • Consignment; Payment when item is sold
  • Continuous-tone; photographs and illustrations with shades rather than dots
  • Contrast; a measure of tones in an image ranging from light to dark
  • Copy; all material used in the production of a printed product
  • Copyright; protection to the originator of material to prevent use without their permission
  • Corner marks; marks printed on a sheet to indicate the trim or register marks
  • Cover Paper; thick paper used for products such as posters and covers of paperbacks
  • Cover Parts; 1-outside front, 2-inside front, 3-inside back, 4-outside back
  • Coverage; extent to which ink covers usually expressed as light, medium or heavy
  • CPI; Characters per inch
  • CPL; Characters per line
  • CPS; Characters per second as a measure of a line printer
  • CRC; camera ready copy
  • Creep; unwelcome habit of middle pages to stick out or margins to move. Shingling is the solution
  • Crimping; punctures holding business forms together
  • Crop marks; printed lines showing where to trim a printed sheet
  • Crop; cut off parts of a picture or image
  • Cropping; cut parts of an image not required
  • Cross head; like a headline but set in the body of the text
  • Crossover; artwork that continues from one page of a book or magazine across the gutter
  • Crowd sourcing; Developing an idea or piece of work from the contributions of many individuals.
  • Cure; dry inks or coatings after printing sometimes with heat
  • Cursive; a typefaces that resembles hand writing
  • Cut flush; a method of trimming a book after the cover has been attached
  • Cutting Die; trims or marks paper
  • Cyan; blue - one of four standard process colours
Index

D & E

  • Dagger and double dagger; symbols used as reference marks for footnotes
  • Data Compression; technique of reducing the amount of storage required to hold a digital file to reduce the disk space the file requires and allows work to be processed or transmitted more quickly
  • Deckle Edge; of paper left ragged as it comes from the papermaking machine. Also called feather edge.
  • Defamation; (also called vilification, slander, and libel) starts with the communication of a statement that makes a false claim ...read on
  • Depository; Use now to mean a web-based location for material. Often called a Subject Depository as they tend to be based around certain disciplines. (See self-archiving)
  • Descender; the part of a lower case letter that extends below the line
  • Desk Copy; a copy requested by an education institution with a view to adopting the title for a course - The desk copy is the copy used by the department.
  • Diacritic; small sign added to a letter to alter pronunciation
  • Diazo; light sensitive diazonium coating used for making printing plates
  • Die; a device for cutting, scoring and embossing
  • Display type; larger type normally 18 point or larger
  • DOI; digital object identifier - actionable id part of metadata
  • Dot Gain, Growth or Spread; halftone dots spread on the paper reducing detail and contrast
  • Dot; the basic element of halftones
  • Dots-per-inch; measure of resolution Abbreviated DPI
  • Double Bump; print twice to give two layers of ink
  • Double page spread or DPS; textual material on the left hand side continues across to the right hand side
  • DPI; dots per square inch, a measure of resolution for monitors, printers and scanners, typically 60, 300 and 1200 respectively
  • DRM; Digital Rights Management provides the software locks put on information distributed digitally to prevent unauthorised distribution
  • Drop cap; a large initial letter at the start of the text that drops into the line or lines of text below
  • Drop-out; part of artwork that does not print
  • Dummy; A mock-up of the layout at finished size
  • EAN; European Article Number - ISBNs have been harmonised with EAN but instead of having a national identifier at the start, books from a fictional place called 'Bookland'.
  • Earning out; Enough copies of the book are sold so that the agreed royalties cover the amount of the publishers advance
  • Em; a square unit with edges equal to the chosen point size, named from the letter M which was the widest letter
  • Emboss; an image pressed into paper to create a relief
  • Encapsulated; PostScript computer file with images and PostScript commands - EPS  format
  • End pages; material after the main text
  • End papers/sheets; the four pages at the front and back of a book pasted to the cover boards
  • Engraving; printing method using a plate, also called a die, with an image cut into its surface
  • EP; abbreviation for envelope
  • E pub; the standard agreed for ebooks
  • Escalators; Bonuses paid to the author based on the work meeting certain goals set out in the writer's contract
  • Etch; an image cut into metal, glass or film by abrasive chemicals
  • Eurobind; A patented method of binding perfect bound books so they will stay open
  • Extent; page count in a book
Index

F & G

  • Face; an abbreviation for typeface
  • Fast Colour; inks that resist fading
  • Fine Screen; ruling of 150 lines per inch or more
  • Flats; diagram showing imposition and colours for plate making
  • Flood; To cover a printed page with ink, varnish, or plastic coating
  • Flop; The reverse side of an image
  • Flush left; copy aligned to left margin
  • Flush right; copy aligned to right margin
  • Flyer; cheaply produced circular for promotional distribution
  • Flyleaf Leaf; side of the end paper not glued to the case at the front and back of a casebound book
  • Foil blocking/emboss/stamping; a process for stamping a design on a book cover without ink by using a coloured foil with pressure from a heated die or block
  • Foldout/Gatefold; sheet bound into a publication, often used for a map or chart
  • Folio (page number); actual page number in a publication
  • Font (or fount); a set of characters in a typeface
  • Form letter; a letter template in which the address and other details can be semi-automatically inserted by a word processor
  • Form; type and blocks assembled in pages in a metal chase for printing
  • Format fee; payable as a part of an option if the idea or concept of a work is re-used
  • Four colour process; printing in full colour using four colour separation negatives; yellow, magenta, cyan and black
  • Foxed; book pages discoloured with brownish marks
  • 'Fremium'; a combination of Free and Premium to describe quality, but free magazines
  • French fold; two folds at right angles to each other fold to form a four page uncut section
  • Full measure; a line set to the entire line length
  • Full point; a full stop
  • Galley proof; copy of text for checking before it is finally assembled for print run
  • Galleys; the long metal trays used to hold type after it has been set and before the press run
  • Glossary; A word list. The etymology from the Greek means 'to make stand out'.
  • Gatefold; fold-ins for oversize pages such as maps in a book
  • Gathering; the operation of inserting the printed pages, sections or signatures of a book in the correct order for binding
  • GEM; Digital Research's Graphics Environment Manager
  • General Publishing, also referred to as trade publishing; publishing intended for the general consumer market
  • Generation; first generation of original copy should yield the best quality
  • Ghosting; Image appears too light because of ink starvation or a faint printed image that appears where it was not
  • Ghost-writing; writing a book, often an 'autobiography' for someone else
  • Gilding; gold leaf on the page edges
  • Gloss; A shiny look reflecting light which is achieved with ink that dries without penetration
  • Glyph; A symbol or stylised figure, such as an arrow, that imparts information nonverbally
  • Golden ratio; proportion of height to width thought to produce the most pleasing result 1;1618
  • Gothic; typefaces with no serifs and broad even strokes
  • Grain Direction; direction of fibres in paper
  • Granularity; a property of data which allows it to be incorporated in a way determined by the user
  • Grammage; weight of paper in grams per square meter (gsm)
  • Graphic Arts Film; emulsion which yields high contrast images (also litho film and repro film)
  • Gravure; a rotary printing process using an etched metal plate
  • Grey Balance; Printed cyan, magenta and yellow halftone dots that reproduce a neutral grey
  • Green box; Returned stock for restocking (see red box)
  • Green ink; an expression for complainants or critics whose views might be described as eccentric
  • Grey scale; range of luminance values from white to black
  • Grind off; approximately 3 mm of spine ground off before perfect binding
  • Gripper Edge; of a sheet held by grippers on a sheet-fed press
  • Grippers; metal pins on a printing press that move the paper through the press
  • GSM; Grams per square metre
  • Gutter; in newsprint, central blank area between left and right pages. With books, the inside margins toward the binding edge
Index

H I J & K

  • Hairline; A very thin line or gap
  • Half-tone Screen;   piece of film or glass covered in parallel lines. Two screens placed approximately at right angles break the image below into dots
  • Half-tone; technique of breaking original tone into a pattern of dots of varying size. Light areas have small dots and dark areas have large dots
  • Halo Effect; faint shadow around half-tone dots printed. Also called halation or fringe
  • Hanging punctuation; punctuation outside the margins of the text
  • Hard copy; output of a computer printer as compared to digital data on a disk
  • Head(er); the margin at the top of a page
  • Helvetica; a sans serif typeface
  • Hickey; unplanned spots that appear during printing due to dust
  • Highlight; lightest areas in a picture compared to midtones and shadows
  • HLS; abbreviation for hue, lightness, saturation in graphic software
  • House style; copy editing rules for spelling, punctuation, etc used in a publishing house or publication
  • Hue; specific colour such as yellow or green
  • Icons; pictorial images used on screen to indicate function in software
  • Image area; part of paper which can be printed
  • Imposition; positioning of pages so they will be in order when page is folded and cut
  • Impression; another word for printing but colour images take multiple impressions
  • Impression; putting an image on paper
  • Imprint; (noun) the name and place of the publisher and printer normally required by law (verb) add print on a previously printed sheet
  • Ink Balance; relationship of the densities and dot gains of process inks to each other and to a standard density of neutral grey
  • Ink Jet; printing by spraying droplets of ink
  • Intaglio; printing method with two levels- gravure and engraving are examples of intaglio
  • International paper sizes; ISO paper sizes based on A, B and C series A is for printing and stationery, B for posters and C for envelopes
  • ISBN; International Standard Book Number
  • ISTC; International Standard Text Code
  • Italic; type with sloping letters
  • Ivory board; a smooth board used for business cards
  • Job Lot; discounted paper possibly not of first quality
  • Jogger; vibration machine to stack printed materials evenly
  • Justify; alignment of text with both margins
  • K (Kilobyte); 1024 bytes, a binary 1,000 Abbreviation for black in four-colour process printing in CMYK
  • Kerning; adjustment of spacing between certain letter pairs
  • Keyline; an outline drawn on artwork showing position of an illustration
  • Kill fee; payment due to a writer if they do not get the right to adapt their work as a script
  • Knock out; mask out an image
  • Kraft paper; a tough brown paper used for wrapping and packing
Index

L & M

  • Laid finish; implies simulating the surface of handmade paper
  • Laid; paper with a watermark pattern showing the wire marks used in paper making
  • Laminate; a thin transparent plastic coating applied to paper providing protection or accent colour
  • Landscape; format in which width is greater than height. Portrait is opposite
  • Lap Register; ink colours overlap slightly compared with butt register
  • Laser printer; high quality image printing using a laser beam to transfer dry powder to paper
  • Lateral reversal; image transposed left to right as a reflection of the original
  • Lay Edge; the edge of a sheet of paper feeding into a press
  • Lay Flat Bind; perfect binding that allows a publication to lie fully open
  • Layout; a sketch of a page with instructions
  • Lead or Leading; originally strips of lead inserted between lines of metal type added between lines of type to space them
  • Leaf; sheet of paper
  • Legend; caption below an illustration or directions about a how to position an illustration
  • Letraset; a proprietary name for dry transfer lettering used in artwork
  • Letter fold; two folds creating three panels. Also called barrel fold
  • Letterpress; uses raised image to produce an impression by pressing paper against the inked surface
  • Library picture; picture not specially commissioned, available normally for a fee
  • Ligature; letters joined to a single bit of type; connecting stroke in handwriting
  • Line copy; high contrast copy i.e. not half-tone
  • Linen Finish; cloth pattern visible on paper surface
  • Lines per inch; rows of dots per inch (in a halftone)
  • Linotype; manufacturer of phototypesetting machines
  • Literary Agent, Literary Agency; person or organisation representing authors and selling their work
  • Lithography; printing process where printing area will accept oil based inks while rest is water coated
  • Loose leaf; method of binding which allows the insertion and removal of pages
  • Loupe; A magnifying glass
  • Low Key; details in shadow
  • Lower case; small letters
  • M Weight; weight of 1,000 sheets of paper in any specific size
  • Magenta; Process red, one of the 4 process colours
  • Magnetic ink; machine readable, still used on cheques
  • Manilla; tough brown paper
  • Manuscript (ms); the original handwritten or typewritten work
  • Margins; non printing areas
  • Mark up; copy prepared with typesetting instructions
  • Mask; Block light from parts of a printing plate
  • Masthead; details of publisher
  • Matt art; a coated printing paper with a dull surface
  • Matt finish; non-glossy paper or ink finish
  • Mechanical Bind; using a wire or plastic comb or coil through holes drilled in the bound edge
  • Mechanical separation; overlays for each colour
  • Mechanical tint; a pre-printed sheet of dots, lines or patterns
  • Mechanical; camera ready art
  • Metadata; Information attached to digital data to enhance its searchability, but not normally displayed
  • MG (machine glaze); high gloss finish on one side
  • Middle/mid-tones; in a photograph that are approximately half as dark as the shadow area
  • Midlist; term used in publishing to denote books which are neither lead titles nor genre fiction
  • Mnemonic; can never remember what this means
  • Mock-up; the rough visual for a design
  • Modern; type styles dating from end of the 19th century such as Times Roman
  • Moiré pattern; normally undesirable pattern when halftones are made with inappropriately aligned screens
  • Monospace; a font where all characters occupy the same width
  • Montage; an assemblage of several images
  • MS (Manuscript); original written or typewritten work
  • Multicolour Printing; colour printing that is not the four-colour process
Index

N & O

  • Neutral; Greys without a colour hue
  • News Print; low quality, absorbent paper used for newspapers
  • Newton Ring; flaw caused by dust that produce rainbow rings
  • Nipping; a stage in book binding where sheets are pressed to expel air at the sewing stage
  • Non-impact Printing; uses lasers or ink jet to transfer images to paper
  • Non-reproducing blue; a blue colour that can be filtered from the camera & used to mark up artwork and in TV to superimpose images
  • OCR (Optical Character Recognition); converts a scanned image into the digital codes that can be edited in a computer
  • Offprint; a reprint of an article previously published in a magazine
  • Opacity; amount of show-through on a printed sheet
  • Opaque; to cover flaws in negative
  • Oprah effect; boost to sales from exposure on a high profile TV show
  • Option; the negotiated right of assignment for plot, characters or place in a book
  • Orphan; part of a paragraph on its own at the top or bottom of a page
  • Orthography; method of representing a language, or the sounds of language, in written symbols; also study of spelling
  • Ostracon (pl Ostraca); inscribed pottery
  • Over Run; additional print run beyond order
  • Overlay; acetate overlays with separate colours and type
  • Overprint; print one image over a previously printed image
  • Overs; additional printing to compensate for spoilage
  • Ozalid; a trade name describes a method of copying page proofs from paper or film
Index

P & Q

  • Page Count; total number of pages including blank pages
  • Page Printer; produce a complete page rather than a line
  • Page Proof; stage following galley proofs where type and sometimes graphics are laid out as they will look on the finished page
  • Pagination; the numbering of pages in a book
  • Pantone; a registered name for an ink colour matching system
  • Papyrus; Writing material made from layers, beaten stem of the plant
  • Parallel fold; two parallel folds to produce six panels
  • Paste up; elements mounted as camera-ready artwork
  • Pattern carbon; special carbon paper incorporated in multi-part business forms to transfer only certain areas of impact printing
  • PDF (Page Description Format); popular format for Adobe Acrobat reader for text and graphic material
  • PDL (Page Description Language); a programming language which enables text and graphics to be described in mathematical statements such as PostScript and DDL
  • PE; proof reader mark meaning printer error, compared to an error by the customer
  • Perfect Bind; bind sheets and cover with glue, common for paperback books
  • Pica; Unit of measure in typesetting One pica = 1/6 inch
  • Pin Register; used to align film to plates to press and ensures proper registration
  • Pinholing; unwanted holes in printed areas
  • Plate; paper, plastic or metal carrying an image to printing press
  • Point; a unit of thickness for paper, (1/1000 inch); for typesetting a unit of type height (1/72 inch or 1/12 pica)
  • Portrait; an upright image or page where the height is greater than the width and the opposite of Landscape layout
  • Pre-print; The stage between an article or books acceptance and its publication
  • PostScript; a page description language developed by Adobe Systems
  • Primary colours; cyan, magenta and yellow which mix to produce black or other colours
  • Process blue; blue or cyan colour in process printing
  • Process colours; cyan (blue), magenta (red), yellow and black
  • Proof correction marks; a standard set of signs and symbols in the margin to indicate any corrections on proofs
  • Proof; a copy to check printing
  • Proportional spacing; each character has varying width
  • Pulp; the raw wood chips, rags or other fibres used for paper making
  • Quarto; sheet folded twice making an 8-page signature traditionally measuring about 9x12 inches
  • Quire; 1/20th of a ream (25 sheets)
  • QSOS; methodology for assessing open source software
Index

R

  • Rag paper; quality stationery made from cotton rags
  • Ragged left; type justified to the right margin with line lengths varying on the left
  • Ragged right; type justified to left margin
  • Ranged left/right; type aligned to left or right margin
  • Ream; 500 sheets of paper
  • Recto; right-hand page of an open book - The normal side to start a story or chapter
  • Red box; Book returns designed for recycling (see green box)
  • Reference marks; symbols in text linked to a footnote
  • Register marks; cross-hairs used to position film, plates or paper correctly
  • Register; correct positioning of an image
  • Resolution; measurement used to express image quality. Measured in dots per inch
  • Reithian; describing high is rather stuffy and formal standards of content and quality
  • Retouching; altering artwork to correct or improve an image
  • Reverse out; reproduce as white on solid background
  • Review copy; sent to the media and people with the hope that they will publish a review or promote the book (see also Desk copy)
  • Revise; as in first revise, second revise indicates the stages of corrections
  • RGB; red, green, blue - the additive colour primaries
  • RIP (Rest in Proportion); artwork to be enlarged or reduced in proportion to an image or text
  • Rip film; method of making print negatives from PostScript files from DTP
  • Roman; type-face
  • Rough; preliminary sketch
  • Royal; printing paper 20in x 25in (508 x 635mm) and also popular book size
  • RRP; Recommended Retail Price
  • Rule Line; used to separate or organize copy
  • Run; time taken to produce a given quantity of books and often taken to mean the quantity
  • Run on; copies printed beyond the specified number, perhaps to be sold at a much lower price
  • Running head or footer; a line of type at the top of a page which repeats a heading
Index

S

  • S/S; (Same size)
  • Saddle Stitch; bind by stapling sheets together in the seam where it folds
  • Sans serif; a typeface that has no small strokes at the end of main stroke of the character
  • SC (Super calendered) paper; paper with a polished appearance
  • Scaling; calculating enlargement or reduction to accommodate an image in a design
  • Self-archive; is a deposit for digital documents
  • Semantic web; is being developed to all different data sets to relate to each other
  • Semiotic; relating to signs and symbols
  • SEO; (Search Engine Optimisations) or the theory of how to raise your profile with search engines
  • Social networking; Uses special sites to allow users to create a profile and form communities. examples are Facebook, MySpace, Delicious
  • Social DRM; Using social pressure to inhibit the abuse of copyright. In place of an embedded Digital Rights Managements system, the ID of the owner is watermarked on the file so that they can be traced if the item finds its way to a free-download site
  • Score; crease paper along a straight line to fold accurately
  • SCORM; sharable content object reference model is a standard for tagging training material to allow users to access it in their own way
  • Screen Printing; method of forcing ink through mesh of fabric to print an image
  • Script; the dialogue and instructions for a play or film
  • Section mark ( ); a character used at the beginning of a new section
  • Section; a printed sheet folded to make a multiple of pages
  • Security paper; paper incorporating watermarks etc
  • Self Mailer; printed item which can be mailed without envelope
  • Separations; separate films with images for each print colour
  • Serif; a small cross stroke at the end of the main stroke of the letter
  • Set off; unintentional transfer of wet ink image to the back of next sheet
  • Shade; is made darker by the addition of black - not the same as tint
  • Shadows; darkest areas of an image
  • Sheet fed; a printing press which prints single sheets of paper, not rolls
  • Shingling; allowance to compensate for creep
  • Show-through; image that can be seen on the other side of paper
  • Side stitch; staple sheets along, one edge
  • Signature; sheets of pages which when folded become a part of a book. Formerly indicated by a letter to assist correct assembly
  • Size; compound based on starch added to reduce absorbency
  • Size (as in quantity);
  • Unit Relationship Sheets
    1 quire   24
    1 ream 20 quire 480
    1 bundle 2 ream 960
    1 dozen   12
    1 gross 12 dozen 144
    1 great gross 12 gross 1,728
  • Skid; printers pallet
  • Slurring; smearing of the image
  • Slush-pile; informal term used to describe unsolicited submissions
  • Small caps; capital letters of equal size type to the lower case letters
  • Solid; area  with 100% ink coverage
  • Spine; back or binding edge of a book or publication
  • Spiral Bind; continuous wire or plastic looped through holes punched along bound edge
  • Spoilage; anticipated paper waste during printing
  • Spot Colour; ink applied to just part of a sheet
  • Spread; open page size of a book
  • STM; scientific, technical and medical
  • Stet; proof correction cancels a correction i.e. let the original copy stand
  • Stock; material, normally paper, to be printed
  • Strap-line; subheading used above the main headline in a newspaper
  • Stenography; a method for the rapid recording of words using symbols for common sounds or letter combinations. (shorthand)
  • Strip; positioning film for plate making
  • Subscript; small characters set below the normal letters
  • Substrate; any surface on which printing is done
  • Subtractive colours; also known as 'process colours' which with black are the inks used in colour-process printing - yellow, magenta and cyan
  • Superscript; small characters set above the normal letters
  • Surprint; re-printing again on the same substrate
  • Swatch; a colour sample
Index

T

  • TAC (Total Area Coverage); percentages of coverage in the final film
  • Tag; a word that is part of the meta data for some creative output that help people to identify the content. Tag cloud - see Wordle
  • Template; standard layout with basic page and layout dimensions
  • Thermography; resin heated to produce raised printing
  • Thumbnails; sketches, or small versions, of an image
  • Tied letters; letters joined to a single bit of type
  • TIFF (Tagged Image File Format); format for digital information
  • Tints; shade of a colour
  • Tip in; insertion of an extra page in a book after the normal process
  • Tissue overlay; transparent paper for protection of artwork
  • Tone; colour or shade printed onto page
  • Trade Publishing; term used inside publishing for publishing intended for the general consumer market
  • Transparency; photograph or picture which can be viewed by transmitted light
  • Trap; print one ink over another
  • Trim marks; register marks where to trim sheet
  • Trim Size; finished size
  • Trim; cut product to the finished size
  • Typeface; the raised surface carrying the image of a type character cast in metal. Also used to refer to a complete set of characters forming a family in a particular design or style
  • Typescript; a typed manuscript but still a manuscript
  • Typo; typographical error
  • Typographer; a designer of printed matter
  • Typography; planning printed material
Index

U & V

  • uc/lc; upper/lower case
  • UCC; Universal Copyright Convention
  • Under-run; print fewer copies than ordered
  • Unical : modification of the squared-capital form of manuscript writing which introducing curves (from about 4 BCE).
  • Up; multiple images printed in one impression on a single sheet
  • USP; Unique Selling Point is a feature that makes something such as a book 'special'
  • UV coating; laminate cured with ultraviolet light
  • Varnish; clear liquid applied after printing for glossy appearance and protection
  • Vellum; treated skin of a calf used as an ancient paper (still used in the UK Parliament for Parliamentary Acts) but generally used to describe a thick, rough book paper
  • Verso; left-hand page of an open book
  • Vignette; design or illustration that fades to white so has no border
  • VOC; volatile organic compounds
Index

W X Y & Z

  • Watermark; design created inside paper surface during manufacture
  • Web Gain; stretching of paper
  • Web press; type of press that uses rolls of paper rather than pages
  • Web; roll of printing paper
  • Weight; measure of paper thickness and boldness of a font
  • Wet Trap; print or varnish over wet ink
  • wf; correcting proofs to indicates wrong font
  • Widget; piece of code that can be installed in another HTML site
  • Widow; a few words left on the last line of a paragraph which falls on a new page
  • Wire mesh; used at the wet end of the paper making process
  • Woodfree; special paper made without wood pulp
  • Word wrap; adjustment of the words on a line to match the margins
  • Work and tumble; one side printed then turned to print the second side
  • Work and turn; two images printed on the same sheet which is cut to produce two copies
  • Wordle; An app which will analyse the words in an article to display the words in a size that is related to the frequency that the word appears - it is a type of Tag Cloud
  • Wove paper; a finely textured paper without visible wire marks
  • Wrong Reading; image or text that is flipped or reversed
  • WYSIWYG; what-you-see-is-what-you-get
  • Xerography; the Xerox photocopying process using an electrostatic charge to attract powder to a rotating drum which is then sealed by heat

     

    If you can't find it here, check the acronyms or Glossary of technical terms and there are publishing terms