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Glossary
Aliasing
In bitmapped graphics, the jagged boundary along the edges of different coloured shapes within an image.
Anti-aliasing
A technique for reducing the jagged appearance of aliased bitmapped images.
Authors Correction
Changes made after proofing by artwork originator, usually incurring extra cost.
Banding
An artefact of colour gradation in computer imaging, when graduated colours break into larger blocks of a single colour, reducing the "smooth" look of a proper gradation.
Bit depth
The number of bits used to represent the colour of each pixel in a digital image, e.g. bit depth of 8 = 256 colours; bit depth of 16 = 65,536 colours; bit depth of 24 = 16 million colours. The more bits of information per pixel means more available colours and more accurate colour representation.
Bitmap(BMP)
An image made up of dots, or pixels. Refers to a raster image, in which the image consists of rows or pixels rather than vector co-ordinates.
Bleed
Image area (usually 3mm) beyond the trim area of a sheet or page. The "bleed" gets cut off during trimming.
Calibration
The act of adjusting the colour of one device relative to another, such as a monitor to a printer, or a scanner to a film recorder. Or, it may be the process of adjusting the colour of one device to some established standard.
Coating
Special finish given to paper during manufacture - Gloss, Matt and Silk coatings are common.
Colour Proof
A test print made on the output device to be used for a particular job.
Colour Wheel
This is an aid to be used when selecting colours for a harmonious colour scheme. You can easily identify and split complementary colours.
Crop
Trimming or masking of photos/graphics/illustrations. Cropping may include changes in size.
Densitometer
A tool used to measure the amount of light that is reflected or transmitted by an object.
Dithering
A method for simulating many colours or shades of gray with only a few.
Dots Per Inch (DPI)
In halftone screens, a measurement of resolution or detail. Sometimes called lines per inch.
Driver
A software utility designed to tell a computer how to operate an external device. For instance, to operate a printer or a scanner, a computer will need a specific driver.
Dummy
Facsimile of artwork or finished piece used in planning or indicating production. Not necessarily to size. Can be made using blank production materials.
EPS
A graphic file format that allows PostScript data to be stored and edited.
Font
A specific typestyle in a type family (sometimes refers to the entire type family).
GIF File Format
Stands for Graphic Interchange Format, a raster oriented graphic file format developed by CompuServe to allow exchange of image files across multiple platforms.
Halftone
Representation of a continuous-tone photograph with a regularly spaced grid of dots of various sizes.
Hard Copy
Any output from a machine that is readable copy on paper.
Hue
A term used to describe the entire range of colours of the spectrum; hue is the component that determines just what colour you are using.
ICC
International Colour Consortium established in 1993 by eight industry vendors for the purpose of creating, promoting and encouraging the standardisation and evolution of an open, vendor-neutral, cross-platform colour management system architecture and components.
Imposition
The arrangement of pages for printing of a large sheet in such a way that they appear in order when the sheet is folded or trimmed.
JPEG
A technique for compressing full-colour bit-mapped graphics JPEG Compression. It uses a combination of DCT and Huffman encoding to compress images. JPEG is a "lossy" form of compression, slightly degrading image quality.
Lines per inch (LPI)
A measurement of litho screen resolution, typically 133-400lpi.
Mid Tones
The range of tones between the highlights and shadows of a photograph or halftone - between 30% and 75% value.
Moire
Undesirable screen patterns that occur when screened reproductions are made from halftone proofs.
Offset
Litho printing process that uses a blanket to transfer the image from the plate to the sheet.
Overprint
To print one ink over another.
Perfect Binding
To bind sheets by trimming at the spine and gluing them to a paper cover. Gives a square-backed finish.
Pixel
The smallest element of a digitised image. Also, one of the tiny points of light that make up a picture on a computer screen.
Pixels per inch (PPI)
A measure of how much detail you see in your images.
PMS
A system for colour selection, mixing and matching.
PostScript
A page description language developed by Adobe Systems, Inc. to control precisely how and where shapes and type will appear on a page. Software and hardware may be described as being PostScript compatible
Process colour (CMYK)
Colour separations made using standard inks of cyan (blue), magenta (red), yellow, black.
Proof
Test sheets focussing on one or more aspects of a job and may not be a reflection of the actual completed job
Raster
Raster images are made up of individual dots; each of which have a defined value that precisely identifies its specific colour, size and place within the image. (Also known as bitmapped images.)
Registration marks
Cross-hair lines on films that are used as guides to align colours.
RIP
A piece of hardware or software that converts object-oriented graphics and fonts into the bit maps required for output on a printer.
Saddle Stitch
Binding by stapling sheets together where they fold at the spine.
Self cover
Using the same paper for the cover and the inside pages.
Show through
Printing on one side of the paper that can be seen on the other side.
Tick marks
Marks indicating where to trim. Also called crop marks, or cut marks.
TIFF
The standard file format for high-resolution bit-mapped graphics.
Trapping
Used in litho colour printing to prevent gaps from appearing between butting colours. Usually involves expanding the lighter of the two colours to overlap into the darker colour.
Unsharp Masking
Unsharp Masking
Vector graphics
Scalable resolution independent graphics.
Velo-binding
Binding process that punches holes in the pages and uses two long plastic strips to hold them together.
Wire-o binding
Trade name for a method of mechanical binding using loops of wire.
