Printers’ jargon explained

Like every industry, printing uses no end of TLAs (three-letter acronyms) as well as numerous technical terms that I’m not sure we even expect anyone else to understand.  So here is my guide to some of the most commonly used, to help you make some sensible print decisions (and look super smart in front of any printers you know!).

Paper weight

Choosing the right weight of paper or card can be critical to achieving the quality you want in your finished printing.  Paper weight is measured in GSM – grams per square metre.  For example, your typical white A4 printer paper is probably 80gsm, whereas Business cards are usually 350 – 400gsm

However, heavier sheets are not necessarily thicker sheets, it all comes down to the way the paper is manufactured – if its coated stock – for example silk or gloss stocks – are compacted and put through rollers to coat them – so although they are a higher weight – they can feel thinner. Uncoated stocks – especially some of the recycled or really ‘toothy; ones can feel thicker or more rigid due to the grain and fibres in them.

Depending on the kind of project there are so many different paper types that may work for you. A leaflet or flyer for example is more likely to be kept or pinned to a notice board/stuck to a fridge if its heavier than a really thin flimsy sheet. If it’s an insert in a magazine – the weight might be critical to keep the overall publication under a set weight for distribution.

In my view, the ‘feel test’ on some samples is often the best way to decide what’s right for your project!

Bleed and crop marks – possibly the most important bit of terminology to master!!

Commercial printers will print on slightly over-sized paper and then trim it down after printing, to ensure a flush neat finish – the bleed – goes pas the crop marks so the finished job actually cuts into the design rather than having a white hairline. Cutting a stack of paper on an industrial guillotine – the blade has to travel through a thick stack and even a quarter of a mm movement and show up like a sore thumb against a dark colour.  A printer, therefore, will almost always ask for print ready files to include crop and bleed. It’s usually easy to add when you save your file and makes for a much more professional finish.

Choose your finish

There are various finishes that can be used to enhance the final feel of a finished job – here are a few:

Lamination – this is a plastic film coating which prevents scratching or cracking on folds of covers where there is a lot of ink coverage – available in gloss, matt, soft touch and anti scratch as a general rule. This is the only true way to prevent white cracking on a fold where there is heavy ink coverage. (The box created for this project was matt laminated, if you’d like to see an example).

Spot UV varnish – done traditionally with a screen or available as a digital finish – this is where an area of a job is highlighted in a very high gloss finish – very very popular in the 90’s and 00’s and making a bit of a come back when used over a soft touch laminate. The digital method allows a build up of resin to give a raised gloss effect – almost like a bit of an embossed feel.

Traditional embossing (raised) is best done on white or very light coloured backgrounds as it needs the shadow to really emphasise it – works best blind. (See white ampersand).

Debossing (sunk in) opposite to embossing – works best on light colours as the shadows emphasize the effect .

Foil blocking – traditional process of using a brass or magnesium metal die which is heated to literally stamp a foil image over a printed image or on it’s own to elevate the feel of a product – often used in packaging/brochure work for a really high end feel. – Foil blocking can also be combined with an emboss or deboss – but this all depends on the design/stock and tooling. (Look at an example of a foiling project here.)

Letterpress – the oldest traditional form of printing – done by literally pressing an inked plate into a soft card to leave a print with a deep impression – used mainly in wedding stationery or packaging – for a really luxurious feel.

It’s a bind…

Binding refers to how you join multiple pages together, for example to make a booklet.  There are so many different binding techniques available, let’s look at some of the more usual options.

Perfect binding is how the average paperback book is bound, the individual pages being glued to the cover or spine.  Think books/reports or indeed paper back books or magazines.

Case binding – or hard backed binding – literally like a hard baked book – the pages are either perfect bound or section sewn together and glued into a pre made hard cover. Think coffee table book or even children’s books that need to be that bit robust!

Saddle stitch – despite the name is actually two metal stitches (staples) on the spine – think smaller brochures up to about 40pp depending on paper weight, magazines, annual reports,  Orders of service

Singer Sewn – as the name suggests literally sewn with thread on the spine for a high end but rustic feel – done on especially adapted sewing machines.

Stab stitch – this refers to staples through a stack of pages – not on a folded spine – think handouts with a staple top corner.

Wiro binding – think reporters note books or diaries – a wire spine holds a stack of punched pages together allowing them to be opened and lay flat when the book is opened flat. Good for instruction manuals and text books with a significant page count.

A few commonly used terms…

In book work you may here the term ‘self cover’ – which means the cover is the same weight as the inner pages (think radio times!)

PP – which stands for printed pages – or sides – this one is especially important when briefing a print job of multiple pages. One sheet of A4 printed both sides is 2pp. So a book might be 4pp cover on a 300gsm weight with 24pp text pages onto 170gsm silk – Saddle stitched books must always have a total number of printed pages divisible by 4.

And a few which always make me chuckle!

I couldn’t finish with adding a few which make me chuckle, even after 30 years in print…!

Creep  No, not your annoying ex!  Creep in printing refers to saddle stitched books of a large number of pages – when folded together to be stitched the inner pages hang out further than the outer ones like thus:

Hickey  not so common these days but used to refer to a spot or halo mark – more often than not caused by a spec of paper dust on the plate during the offset litho print process – sometimes it could – in the olden days of film and plate, be on the film that made the plate but more often than not they come and go throughout the print run..  (They are sometimes called a Bulls eye or fish eye, too).

Finally, you don’t need to be Bart Simpson to appreciate a Butt Register…!  Actually, it’s the point at which ink colours meet precisely, without overlapping or space between.  Where they ‘butt’ up to each other, if you will (disappointingly!). Again this mainly refers to pantone litho printing these days and is not an issue with digital four colour process printing

I have a feeling this blog should be part one of several more, as I seem to have barely scratched the surface!  If you come across a piece of print jargon you don’t understand, let me know and I’ll include it in part two.   If you have any jargon or printers slang you would like explaining please don’t hesitate to get in touch!! I’d love to explain (or research if it’s one I haven’t heard of! )

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