Printing Terminology

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Helpful Definitions

A glossary of graphic, typography, prepress, print and bindery
terms, to help you understand terms unique to our industry.

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There are 16 names in this directory beginning with the letter P.

Page Count

The total number of pages in a book, magazine or publication. Sometimes referred to as the extent.

Pagination

The numbering of individual pages in a multi-page document

Parchment

A hard finished paper that emulates animal skin used for documents, such as awards, that require writing by hand.

Perfect Binding

A binding process where the signatures of a book are held together by a flexible adhesive.

Perfecting

A printing press that prints on both sides of a sheet in a single pass through the press.

Perforating

Punching small holes or slits in a sheet of paper or cardboard to facilitate tearing along a desired line.

Picking

An occurrence in printing whereby the tack of ink pulls fibres or coating off the paper surface, leaving spots on the printed surface.

Pigment

The particles that give ink its specific colour by absorbing and reflecting certain light frequencies.

Pixel

Abbreviation for Picture Element, the smallest discrete element of an image or picture on a computer screen; the smallest image-forming unit of a video display; a single element of a raster image.

Plastikoil

Plastic spiral binding is a new alternative to wire binding, with the benefits being that it is strong and durable - yet flexible and lightweight. Pages are much less likely to pull apart and the coil will not bend or distort during delivery. Bound books lay flat when opened, and can fold back a full 360 degrees. Available in a wide range of colours.

PMS

The abbreviation of the Pantone Colour Matching System.

Portrait

A document layout in which the height is greater than the width. (the opposite of Landscape)

PostScript

A tradename of Adobe Systems, Inc. for its page description language. This language translates a digital file from an application into a language a compatible printer or other device can use to create its output.

Preflight

The practice of inspecting incoming or outgoing jobs (ads, pages or complete flats) before trying to process or send them.

Press Check

When a client visits a printing company to view actual printed sheets of their project before a full production press run is started.

Proofreading

To read and check for errors in artwork composition, typography, spelling, grammer and layout positioning.

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Products

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which you can order online or ask us for a special price.

We can print a range of full colour, quality printed products, which you can order online or ask us for a special price.

Tips n Tricks

We want to share our expertise to help our clients succeed,
so keep checking back to find out the latest advice about marketing ideas,
creative design, colour management, fonts and paper and ink selections

We want to share our expertise to help our clients succeed, so keep checking back to find out the latest advice about marketing ideas, creative design, colour management, fonts and paper and ink selections

Marketing Ideas

Make an impression with business cards

Business cards play a major role in first impressions, especially in the business world. We’ve been in print for a long time, so we’ve got our own list of tips and tricks to share.

November 8, 2018

Creative Design

What is bleed and how do I add it to my design

Ink that prints beyond the trim edge of the page to ensure it extends to the edge of the page after trimming. You should always create 3mm bleed on all edges where needed.

November 8, 2018

Creative Design