UPMSP Vocational Printing key terms

A relief process in which raised type or plates are inked and pressed directly onto paper, leaving an impression; historically the dominant method for books and newspapers before offset took over.

A planographic process where the inked image transfers from a plate to a rubber blanket and then to the substrate, keeping ink and water in balance on a flat surface.

Any process in which ink sits on raised areas of a printing surface and transfers under pressure, as in letterpress and flexography; non-image areas stay below the ink level.

A printing method based on the mutual repulsion of grease and water, in which image and non-image areas lie on the same plane and are separated chemically rather than physically.

Individual reusable characters cast or carved so they can be assembled into a page, rearranged, and reused; its adoption in Europe is associated with Gutenberg in the mid-fifteenth century.

An intaglio process in which the image is engraved or etched into small cells below the cylinder surface; ink fills the cells and is doctored off before transfer to the substrate.

A rotary relief process using flexible photopolymer plates and fast-drying fluid inks, widely used for packaging films, labels, corrugated board, and newspapers.

A stencil process in which ink is forced through a fine mesh screen onto the substrate, leaving ink only where the stencil is open; suited to thick ink films and irregular surfaces.

The craft of arranging type so text is legible, readable, and visually appropriate to its purpose, covering typeface selection, size, spacing, alignment, and layout hierarchy.

A single, consistent design of letterforms, digits, and symbols sharing stroke weight and style, such as a specific serif or sans serif family design.

A small stroke or foot projecting from the end of a letter's main strokes; typefaces with such strokes are called serif faces and are often used for continuous body text.

The vertical distance from one line of text's baseline to the next; historically achieved with strips of lead, it controls text density and readability.

Selective adjustment of space between specific pairs of characters so they sit visually evenly, for example tightening the gap between an uppercase A and V.

Uniform adjustment of spacing across a whole run of characters, used to loosen or tighten a word, line, or block rather than individual pairs.

A traditional typographic unit equal to 12 points, roughly one-sixth of an inch; it is used to express column widths, margins, and page dimensions in composition work.

The smallest standard typographic unit, traditionally one-twelfth of a pica; type sizes and rule thicknesses are commonly specified in points.

A reproduction technique that converts continuous-tone images into patterns of dots of varying size, creating the illusion of shades of grey or colour when viewed from a distance.

The number of halftone dot rows per inch or centimetre on a printed image, usually stated in lines per inch; finer rulings hold more detail but demand better paper and control.

The increase in apparent halftone dot size from prepress file to printed sheet, caused by ink spread, pressure, and substrate absorbency; uncontrolled gain darkens midtones and shifts colour.

The prepress step of dividing a full-colour image into the process ink channels, traditionally cyan, magenta, yellow, and black, each producing a separate printing plate.

The four process inks cyan, magenta, yellow, and black used in subtractive colour printing; combinations of screened dots of these inks simulate a wide range of colours.

A prepress technique that slightly overlaps adjacent colour areas so small registration errors during printing do not leave unprinted paper gaps between them.

The arrangement of individual pages on a large press sheet so that after printing, folding, and trimming they fall in correct reading order in the finished product.

The image carrier in lithographic and some other presses; the image area accepts ink while non-image areas repel it, and the plate is mounted on the plate cylinder.

A rubber-covered cylinder in offset printing that receives the inked image from the plate and transfers it to the substrate, protecting the plate and reducing wear.

The precise alignment of successive printed images or colours on the same sheet; poor registration shows as colour fringes, misaligned text, or visible gaps at edges.

A small printed target, often a cross or circle, placed outside the trim area so press operators and bindery staff can check and correct alignment of successive impressions.

A measure of an ink's resistance to flow; it affects how readily ink transfers through rollers and into the substrate and must suit the press and process in use.

The stickiness or internal cohesion of an ink film, governing how it splits between rollers and how firmly it grips the paper; tack order matters in multicolour wet-on-wet printing.

The uptake of ink vehicle into the pores of a paper or board, influencing drying speed, gloss, and dot gain; highly absorbent stocks can dull colours and spread dots.

Paper whose surface carries a mineral coating, usually clay or calcium carbonate with binder, giving a smooth finish that holds fine screens and produces sharper detail and higher gloss.

The orientation in which most paper fibres align during manufacture; it governs how paper folds, tears, and feeds, and folding across the grain causes cracking.

A folded press sheet that forms a section of a book; multiple signatures are gathered in order and bound together to build the complete volume.

A binding method in which gathered pages are cut at the spine edge and glued into a flexible cover, common for paperbacks and thicker catalogues.

A binding method in which folded sections are nested over a saddle and joined with wire staples through the spine fold, typical of thin booklets and magazines.

The progressive outward shift of inner pages in a saddle-stitched booklet, caused by the thickness of nested folds; it must be compensated in imposition or trimming.

Extra image or background colour extending beyond the final trim line so that slight cutting variation leaves no unprinted white edge on the finished piece.

A short printed line outside the finished page area that shows where the guillotine or cutter should cut, removed with the waste after trimming.

A test copy produced before the full run to check content, colour, layout, and imposition; proofs may be paper, digital, or soft copy depending on the accuracy required.

A row of small measurement patches printed in the waste area, carrying solid and tint patches plus registration targets so operators can monitor ink density and dot gain during the run.

The digital process behind most laser and LED printers, in which a charged photoconductor is exposed to light, developed with toner, transferred to paper, and fused by heat.

A non-impact digital method that forms images by ejecting tiny droplets of ink onto the substrate, ranging from wide-format graphics to high-speed production presses.

Digital production in which text, images, or codes change from one copy to the next within a single run, enabling personalised mailers, labels, and serialised documents.

Volatile organic compounds, solvents that evaporate from many inks, washes, and adhesives; they contribute to air pollution and occupational exposure and are regulated in printing workplaces.

A document supplied with a hazardous chemical that lists its composition, hazards, safe handling, storage, first-aid, and disposal requirements; workers must be able to consult it.

Safety items worn by workers, such as gloves, eye protection, aprons, and respirators, selected to reduce exposure to inks, solvents, dust, and machine hazards.