Glossary
Printing terms, explained plainly
Every word you will meet on a quote or a proof, written by the people who run the press rather than copied from a dictionary. Each one says what the thing is, what it costs you, and when it is the wrong choice.
Most looked up
The ones people ask about first
- Dieline A dieline is the flat engineering drawing of a package — every line the…
- GSM GSM stands for grams per square metre: the weight of a single sheet measuring…
- Hot foil stamping Hot foil stamping presses a thin metallic foil onto the sheet using a heated…
- Matte lamination Matte lamination bonds a clear non-reflective film to the printed sheet. It gives a…
- Panaflex Panaflex is the flexible PVC-coated fabric used for banners, hoardings and backlit signage. Originally…
- Spot UV Spot UV is a high-gloss varnish applied to selected areas of a printed sheet…
- UV coating UV coating is a liquid varnish flooded over the printed sheet and cured instantly…
No term matches that. Try a shorter word — or ask us directly and we will explain it and add it here.
Structure
How a box is drawn, cut and folded.
- Bleed Bleed is artwork deliberately extended past the line where the paper will be cut — normally by 3 mm on every edge.… Read more about Bleed
- Crash-lock A crash-lock bottom is a carton base whose flaps are glued to each other in advance, so that when the flat box… Read more about Crash-lock
- Crease A crease is a line pressed into board by a rounded steel rule so that it folds in a controlled place without… Read more about Crease
- Die-cutting Die-cutting is the process of cutting printed sheets to a shape that is not a rectangle, using a steel-rule die pressed into… Read more about Die-cutting
- Dieline (commonly searched) A dieline is the flat engineering drawing of a package — every line the knife cuts, every line the board creases, and… Read more about Dieline
- Folder-gluer A folder-gluer is the machine that takes flat die-cut blanks, folds them along their creases, applies adhesive and delivers finished cartons —… Read more about Folder-gluer
- Glue flap The glue flap is the narrow tab, usually on one end panel, that is glued to the opposite panel to turn a… Read more about Glue flap
- Perforation Perforation is a line of small cuts separated by uncut ties, so that a section can be torn off cleanly by hand.… Read more about Perforation
- Safety margin The safety margin is a band just inside the trim line where nothing important may sit. Text, logos and anything that would… Read more about Safety margin
- Score A score is a line impressed into paper or board to control where it folds. The word is often used interchangeably with… Read more about Score
- Steel-rule die A steel-rule die is the physical tool that cuts a packaging blank to shape. Steel blades are set edge-on into laser-cut slots… Read more about Steel-rule die
- Tuck end A tuck-end carton closes with flaps that tuck inside the box rather than being glued. In a straight tuck end (STE) both… Read more about Tuck end
- Window patching Window patching is the process of applying a clear film behind a die-cut aperture in a carton, so the product inside is… Read more about Window patching
Materials
Boards, weights and what each one is for.
- Caliper Caliper is the physical thickness of a sheet, measured in microns or in points (thousandths of an inch). Where GSM tells you… Read more about Caliper
- Corrugated flute The flute is the fluted, wave-shaped layer glued between the flat liners of corrugated board. Those arches are what give the board… Read more about Corrugated flute
- Duplex board Duplex board is coated white on one side and grey on the reverse. The white side takes the print; the grey side… Read more about Duplex board
- Greyboard Greyboard is thick, dense board made from recycled fibre. It is the structural core of a rigid box and of a hardback… Read more about Greyboard
- GSM (commonly searched) GSM stands for grams per square metre: the weight of a single sheet measuring one metre by one metre. It is the… Read more about GSM
- Kraft board Kraft board is uncoated board, usually brown, made by the kraft pulping process that gives it unusual strength for its weight. It… Read more about Kraft board
- SBS board SBS stands for solid bleached sulphate: board made from bleached virgin pulp so that it is white all the way through rather… Read more about SBS board
Prepress
What happens to your file before it reaches a press.
- CTP (computer-to-plate) CTP stands for computer-to-plate: the printing plate is imaged directly from the digital file by laser, with no photographic film in between.… Read more about CTP (computer-to-plate)
- Imposition Imposition is the arrangement of your job on the press sheet — how many copies fit, in what order and which way… Read more about Imposition
- Make-ready Make-ready is everything that happens on press before the first saleable sheet: mounting the plates, setting the ink keys, getting the colours… Read more about Make-ready
- Mock-up A mock-up is a physical sample of the pack, cut and creased in the actual production board on the actual dieline. It… Read more about Mock-up
- Preflight Preflight is the systematic check a print file gets before anything is committed to plate or press. It looks for missing fonts… Read more about Preflight
- Printing plate A printing plate is a thin aluminium sheet carrying the image for one colour of your job. It is wrapped around a… Read more about Printing plate
- Proof A proof is the version of a job produced for you to check and approve before production begins. What it can prove… Read more about Proof
- Registration Registration is how accurately each printed colour aligns with the others. In register, the separations sit exactly on top of one another… Read more about Registration
- RIP RIP stands for raster image processor. It is the software that converts your vector PDF — text, curves, placed images — into… Read more about RIP
- Screening Screening converts a continuous-tone image into a pattern of tiny dots, because a press can only put ink down or leave it… Read more about Screening
- Trapping Trapping is a deliberate, very small overlap built between two adjacent colours. Paper shifts fractionally as it travels through a press, and… Read more about Trapping
Colour
Why colour shifts, and how it is matched and measured.
- CMYK CMYK is the four process inks printing uses: cyan, magenta, yellow and key (black). Screens instead use RGB light, which can display… Read more about CMYK
- Delta E (ΔE) Delta E, written ΔE, is a single number describing how different two colours are. Zero means identical. The larger the number, the… Read more about Delta E (ΔE)
- Overprint Overprint means printing one ink directly on top of another rather than knocking a hole in the lower colour first. Its opposite… Read more about Overprint
- Pantone Pantone, or PMS, is a standardised system of numbered ink colours with published mixing recipes. Specifying "Pantone 286 C" gives a printer… Read more about Pantone
- Rich black Rich black is a black built by adding cyan, magenta and yellow underneath the black ink, producing a deeper, denser solid than… Read more about Rich black
- Spot colour A spot colour is an ink mixed to a specific colour before it reaches the press and printed from its own plate,… Read more about Spot colour
Finishing
Coatings, laminates, foil and relief — what each costs you.
- Anti-scuff coating Anti-scuff is a coating or laminating film formulated to resist the surface marking that matte finishes are prone to. On dark matte… Read more about Anti-scuff coating
- Aqueous coating Aqueous coating is a water-based protective coating applied inline on press and dried with heat and air. It is the lightest of… Read more about Aqueous coating
- Cold foil Cold foil applies metallic foil using an adhesive printed from a plate rather than a heated metal die. Because it runs inline… Read more about Cold foil
- Debossing Debossing presses an area of the sheet below the surrounding surface, leaving a recessed impression. It is the exact inverse of embossing,… Read more about Debossing
- Drip-off varnish Drip-off is a technique that produces contrasting matte and gloss areas in one inline pass, by printing a matte primer where the… Read more about Drip-off varnish
- Embossing Embossing raises part of the sheet above the surrounding surface by pressing it between two matched dies — a raised male die… Read more about Embossing
- Gloss lamination Gloss lamination bonds a thin, clear, shiny plastic film to the printed sheet under heat and pressure. It makes colours look deeper… Read more about Gloss lamination
- Hot foil stamping (commonly searched) Hot foil stamping presses a thin metallic foil onto the sheet using a heated metal die, so the foil transfers only where… Read more about Hot foil stamping
- Matte lamination (commonly searched) Matte lamination bonds a clear non-reflective film to the printed sheet. It gives a soft, flat, understated surface that reads as more… Read more about Matte lamination
- Soft-touch lamination Soft-touch lamination is a matte film with a distinctive velvety, almost suede-like surface. It is chosen for how it feels rather than… Read more about Soft-touch lamination
- Spot UV (commonly searched) Spot UV is a high-gloss varnish applied to selected areas of a printed sheet rather than the whole surface, then cured instantly… Read more about Spot UV
- UV coating (commonly searched) UV coating is a liquid varnish flooded over the printed sheet and cured instantly by ultraviolet light rather than left to dry.… Read more about UV coating
- Varnish Varnish is a clear coating applied like an ink, from its own unit on the press. It protects the printed surface and… Read more about Varnish
Process
The printing processes themselves, and large format.
- Digital printing Digital printing images each sheet directly from the file, with no plates and no make-ready. That means it starts producing immediately and… Read more about Digital printing
- Offset lithography Offset lithography is the process behind most commercial printing. Ink goes from a plate to a rubber blanket and only then onto… Read more about Offset lithography
- One-way vision One-way vision is a perforated adhesive film applied to glass. From outside it reads as a solid printed graphic; from inside, people… Read more about One-way vision
- Panaflex (commonly searched) Panaflex is the flexible PVC-coated fabric used for banners, hoardings and backlit signage. Originally a brand name, it is now used across… Read more about Panaflex
- Plotter cutting Plotter cutting uses a small blade driven along a vector path to cut material to shape. It is how contour-cut stickers, cut… Read more about Plotter cutting
- Variable data printing Variable data printing changes elements of the design from one printed piece to the next, driven by a data file. Serial numbers,… Read more about Variable data printing
Next
Where these terms actually get used
The glossary explains the words. These explain the work.
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