Printing Jargon, L through P

     Printing jargon is so arcane and misused that parsing and sharing it feels like a public service. In two earlier blogs, I lifted, excerpted, and simplified a number of terms and definitions from a worthwhile print industry website, http://www.printindustry.com (go there and click on “Glossary” for more detail than we provide at White Poppy Press, The Sensible Way to Self-Publish). This is a continuation, L through P, and will be followed by Q through Z.

 

L

laminate: a thin, transparent, glossy plastic coating that is applied to cover stock to help protect it against spills and heavy use, and to accent color

landscape: style in which the width is greater than the height (portrait style is the opposite)

lay flat bind: method of “perfect” (glued) binding that allows a book to lie open without having to break the spine, as is usual for “perfect” binding

layout: format

leading: amount of space between lines of type

leaf: a sheet of paper in a book (each side of a leaf is one “page”)

letter paper: in the U.S. and Canada, an 8 1/2 x 11 inch sheet

legend: directions about how to use or interpret the symbols of a specific image, table, or map and how to use it

letterpress: method of printing from raised surfaces or from plates with etched surfaces (also called block printing)

lignin: substance in trees that holds cellulose fibers together

line copy: a high-contrast image (also called line art or line work)

logo (logotype):a design that denotes a unique entity, usually of a company, partnership or corporation

looseleaf: binding method allowing insertion and removal of pages, as in a 3-ring binder

loose proof: a proof that is not assembled with other elements from a page (compared to a composite proof) (also called first proof, random proof, scatter proof, and show-color proof)

 

M

machine glazed (MG): a paper with a high-gloss finish on one side (also C1S, coated one side)

magenta: one of the four process colors

make-ready: all of the activities needed to prepare a press for a specific printing or binding job (also called setup)

manuscript: an author’s original form of work (handwritten, typed or on disk) submitted for publication (also called ms)

margin: space around the edge of the printed material, especially between the text area and page top, bottom, and sides

mark-up: instructions written on a “dummy”

master: paper or plastic plate used on a duplicating press

matte finish: a smooth but not glossy finish on coated printing paper

mechanical: camera-ready assembly of type, graphics, and other copy complete with instructions to the printer

mechanical bind to hold sheets together (bind) using a comb, coil, ring binder, post or other technique t hat does not involve gluing, sewing, or stitching.

metallic ink: ink containing powdered metal or pigments that simulate metal

metallic paper: paper that has been coated with a thin film of plastic (or pigment) whose color and gloss simulate metal

midtones: in an image, the tones that are created by dots that only cover 30 to 70 percent (other degrees of coverage are known as highlights and shadows)

misting: when droplets of ink are thrown off the roller train (also called flying ink)

mock up: a drawing or other illustration of how printed matter  should be arranged

moire: undesirable pattern that happens when halftones and screen tints are done poorly or when a pattern such as a plaid fabric in a photo interfaces with a halftone dot pattern

mottle: spotty, uneven ink absorption on a page (ink absorption is also called sinkage; a mottled image is also called mealy)

mull: a type of glue used for book binding

multicolor printing: printing in more than one ink (spot) color but not four-color CMYK process colors (also called polychrome printing)

M weight: weight of 1,000 sheets of paper

 

N

natural color: very light brown paper (also called antique, cream, ivory, off-white, mellow white)

nested: signatures assembled inside one another preparatory to binding, as compared to gathered (also called inset)

Newton ring: flaw in a photograph that looks like a drop of oil or water

nonimpact printing: printing that uses lasers, ions, ink jets, or heat to transfer images to paper

novelty printing: advertising by printing on coasters, pencils, balloons, golf balls, ashtrays, and other objects

 

O

offset printing: well-established printing technique

opacity: (1) characteristic that prevents printing on one side of a sheet of paper from showing through on the other side (2) characteristic of ink that prevents the substrate from showing through

opaque:(1) not transparent (2) to cover flaws with tape or paint before printing (also called block out and spot)

overrun:extra books that were printed

overage/underage policy:a printing establishment’s policy about who takes financial and other responsibility for overruns or underruns (also called an over- or under-clause)

 

P

page: one side of a leaf of paper in a publication

page count: total number of pages ina publication (also called extent_

page proof: paper or electronic file showing the type and graphics, including headings, footers, etc. as they will look on the finished page

pagination: numbering of pages

painted sheet: sheet printed with ink edge to edge (bleeds on all four sides)

panel: one page of a brochure

paper plate: a printing plate made of strong paper for short run offset printing

PE: “printer error,” a proofreader mark that shows a mistake by a prepress service or printer

perfect bind: to bind sheets that have been ground at the spine and glued to a paper cover (also called adhesive bind, cut-back bind, glue bind, paper bind, patent bind, perfecting bind, soft bind, soft cover; related to burst perfect bind and notched perfect bind)

perfecting press: press capable of printing on both sides of paper during a single pass (also called duplex press and perfector)

pica: a unit of measure approximately 0.166 inche; 12 points to a pica

picking: phenomenon of ink pulling bits of coating or fiber away from the surface of paper, leaving unprinted spots

pickup art: artwork used in a previous job that will be incorporated into a current job

pixel: a dot made by a digital device (also called picture element or pel)

plate: piece of paper, metal, plastic, or rubber carrying an image to be reproduced using a printing press

pleasing color: color the customer considers satisfactory even though it may not precisely match the original

PMS: color identification system that has been replaced by “Pantone Colors”

point: (1) for paper, a small unit of thickness (2) for type, a small unit of measure (1/12 pica or 0.013875 inch  or 0.351mm)

point of sale distributed print:digitally output and glued retail product using an in-store machine such as the Espresso book machine (or Sprouts, no longer in operation)

portrait: a design in which the height is greater than width (opposite of landscape)

post bind: to bind loose sheets using a screw and post inserted through a hole in each sheet

prepress: camera work, color separations, stripping, platemaking, and other functions performed by the printer or a service bureau prior to printing (also called preparation or make-ready)

prepress proof: any color proof made using ink jet, toner, dyes or overlays (compared to a press proof made using ink) (also called dry proof or off-press proof)

press check: when makeready sheets are examined before full production is authorized to begin

press proof: proof made on press using the plates, ink and paper specified for the job (also called strike off or trial proof)

press time: (1) amount of time that a printing job spends on press, including time required for makeready (2) time of day at which a printing job goes on press

price break: quantity at which unit cost of paper or printing drops

print-on-demand: digital output of product (also called sell-then-print)

printer pairs: consecutive pages as they appear on a flat or in a signature

printer spreads: mechanicals made so they are imposed for printing (as compared to reader spreads, which are pages in sequence for reading)

printing: any process that transfers to paper or another substrate an image from an original such as film, electronic memory, stencil, die, or plate

printing plate: surface carrying an image to be printed

process camera: camera used to photograph mechanicals and other camera-ready copy (also called copy camera or graphic arts camera, and sometimes stat camera)

process color (inks): yellow, magenta, cyan, and black

proof: test sheet made to reveal errors or flaws, predict results on press, and record how a printing job is intended to appear when finished

proofreader marks: standard symbols and abbreviations used to mark up manuscripts and proofs (also called correction marks)

proportion scale: round device used to calculate percent that an original image must by reduced or enlarged to yield a specific reproduction size (also called percentage wheel, proportion dial, proportion wheel, scaling wheel)

publishing paper: paper suited to books, magazines, catalogs, and free-standing inserts

Printing Jargon F–K

Printing jargon is arcane and confusing, so much so that extrapolating and sharing the actual meanings of printing terms seems like a public service. I wish someone would do the same for me regarding computer-ese.
Last week here, I lifted, excerpted, and simplified a number of terms and definitions from an excellent print industry website, http://www.printindustry.com, letters A through E. Go to that site if you are looking for more detail than we at White Poppy Press and Modern Memoirs provide on either of our websites, and click on the turquoise box near the top that says “GLOSSARY”.
This is a continuation of the glossary of printing-related terms, F through K.

F
face: (1) the outside edge of a book or magazine (opposite the spine) (2) a font family
felt finish: soft woven pattern in text paper
finish: (1) surface characteristics of paper (2) general term for trimming, folding, binding and other post press operations
fixed costs: costs that are the same regardless of the number of books printed (e.g. ISBN number, editing, images, design and formatting, page proofs)
flat color: (1) any color created by printing only one ink; also called block color and spot color (2) color that seems weak or lifeless
flyleaf: the part of the sheet at the front or back of a hardcover book that is not glued to the case
foil stamp: method of printing that releases foil when stamped with a heated die; also called block print, hot foil stamp, and stamp
folio (page number): actual page number in a publication
form: each side of a signature
format: size, style, shape, and layout of a book
for position only (FPO): inexpensive copy of images that are used to indicate placement and size but is not intended for reproduction
foot(er): the margin area at the bottom of a page
four-color process printing: printing that uses black, magenta, cyan, and yellow to simulate full-color images (also called color process printing, full-color printing, and process printing)

G
galley proof: traditionally, hard copy of type (text only) before adding graphics; contemporary, electronic or digitally output hardcopy of pages including text and art (also called checker and slip proof)
gather: assemble sheets of paper folded into signatures in the proper sequence preparatory to binding (also called stacked)
ghosting: (1) when a faint image appears on a printed sheet where it was not intended to appear (chemical ghosting refers to the transfer of the faint image from the front of one sheet to the back of another sheet; mechanical ghosting is the repeat of the image on the same side of the sheet) (2) when a printed image is too light because of “ink starvation” (inking is too light)
gloss: how much light reflects on things like the actual paper, or the ink, laminate, UV coating, or varnish
grain direction: the predominant direction in which fibers in paper are aligned (also called machine direction)
grain long (paper): paper whose fibers run parallel to the long dimension of the sheet (also called long grain paper)
grain short (paper): paper whose fibers run parallel to the short dimension of the sheet (also called short grain paper)
graphic arts: industries and professions related to designing and printing
graphic design: arrangement of type and visual elements and specifications for paper, ink colors, and printing processes that, when combined, convey a visual message
graphics: visual elements that supplement type to increase the clarity or interest of printed messages
gray balance: printed cyan, magenta, and yellow halftone dots that accurately reproduce a neutral gray image
gray scale: a strip of gray values (shades of gray) ranging from white to black (also called step wedge)
grind edge: the binding edge of “perfect-bound{ (glued) books
grindoff: in offset printing, approximately 1/8 inch along the spine that is ground off gathered signatures before being glued in “perfect binding” (irrelevant for print on demand)
gripper edge: edge of a sheet held by grippers on a sheetfed (offset) press, thus going first through the press (also called feeding edge and leading edge)
groundwood paper: inexpensive pulp paper made from wood chips that have been ground mechanically rather than refined chemically
GSM: unit of measurement for paper weight (grams per square meter)
gutter: a book’s inside margins (toward the binding)

H
hairline (hairline rule): subjective term referring to a thin line
halftone: a particular type of scan that has been prepared for printing
halo effect: when a faint shadow (fringe) surrounds an image (also called halation)
head(er): the margin area at the top of a page
hickey: spot or imperfection in printing, most visible in heavy ink coverage, caused by dirt on the printing plate or blanket (also called bulls eye or fish eye)
highlights: lightest portions of a photograph or halftone, as compared to midtones and shadows
hinged cover: perfect-bound (glued) cover that has been scored (1/8 inch from the spine) so that it folds there instead of at the spine itself
hot spot: printing defect caused by dirt or an air bubble
house paper (sheet, floor sheet): paper that is kept in stock by a printer
hue: a specific color such as yellow or green.

I
imprint: (in printing) to print new copy on a previously printed sheet (also called surprint)
ink holdout: characteristic of paper that prevents it from absorbing ink (or allows it to absorb ink) (also called holdout)
ink jet printing: method of printing by spraying droplets of ink through computer-controlled nozzles
integral proof: color proof on one piece of proofing paper (also called composition proof, laminate proof, plastic proof, or single-sheet proof)
ISBN: number assigned to a published work and usually found on the title page or copyright page (stands for International Standard Book Number), available for purchase through www.myidentifiers.com

J
job number: number assigned to a printing project in a printing company
jogger: a vibration machine with a slopping platform to even-up stacks of printed materials

K
K: abbreviation for black in CMYK (four-color process printing term)
keylines: lines on a mechanical or negative showing the exact size, shape, and location of graphic elements (also called holding lines or For Placement Only, FPL)
kiss impression: the lightest possible impression that will transfer ink to a substrate

PRINTING JARGON: A through E

There’s as much inscrutable jargon in printing as in, say, InDesign. Here we parse some printing terms that begin with letters A thru E, based on a print industry website

Kitty Axelson-Berry

The world of printing and binding is arcane and can be terrifically confusing, but it is important for anyone interested in self-publishing or simply getting a better understanding of publishing. So here is a short dictionary, A through E, of useful terms to understand. The rest of the alphabet will come later.

I excerpted this list, then simplified and (hopefully) clarified it, from a terrific print industry website, http://www.printindustry.com/GLossary.aspx. I highly recommend that site for anyone looking for more information than  White Poppy Press and Modern Memoirs (that’s us!) are able to satisfactorily provide on either of our websites.

A

artwork: original photos, illustrations, and formatted text for printing

author’s Alterations (AA’s): Changes requested by a client after a manuscript has been formatted and is near-ready for printing (usually charged per alteration)

B

bind: join sheets or signatures of paper together with wire, glue, thread, clips, bands, or other means

bindery: a company (or department) responsible for collating, folding, and trimming papers and then binding them together

Bleed: printing that extends to the edge of a sheet or page after trimming

blind folio: A page number that isn’t printed on the page; blank pages traditionally do not have page numbers, and page numbers on chapter-start pages, photo pages, and genealogy chart pages are optional

Blow-up: Enlarge a graphic image or photograph bigger

blurb: A description or commentary about the book’s content or author, appearing on the dustjacket (for a hardcover) or back cover (for a softcover book)

body: The main text, not including chapter titles, subtitles, subsection titles, headers, or footers

book paper: Category of paper suitable for books and other items; book paper can be uncoated (also called offset), coated (also called art, enamel, gloss, and slick paper) and text paper. Same as “stock.”

burst perfect-bind: To bind by forcing glue into notches along the spines of gathered signatures before affixing a paper cover. Also called burst bind, notch bind and slotted bind.

C1S and C2S: Abbreviations for paper that is coated on one side and coated on two sides

case bind: To attach sewn signatures (pages folded and sewn into groups) of a book to a hardcover; also called cloth bind, edition bind, hard bind, and hard cover. Glue is used to attach sewn signatures to the cover, which is different from a strictly glued binding, called “perfect,” in which glue is used to attach separate pages to each other and then to the (paper) cover.

commercial printer: Printer producing a wide range of products such as announcements, brochures, posters, booklets, stationery, business forms, books and magazines. Also called job printer because each job is different.

commercial publisher: Publisher that invests time and money in manuscripts that it hopes will be profitable; bona fide commercial publishers pay their writers upfront as well as in royalties and determine the direction of the book, including editing, marketing, and distribution.

composition: the assembly and arrangement of words (type) and graphic elements into pages ready for printing

contrast: The degree of tones in an image such as a photograph

D

digital proofing: Computer-generat

Book design, formatting and printing make books user-friendly

ed page proofs that have been output on paper

dpi: “Dots per square inch,” a measure of detail (resolution) used in printing

dull finish: Flat (not glossy), somewhat smooth finish on coated paper

E

electronic proofing: Computer-generated page proofs that can be viewed or downloaded

endsheet: Paper that attaches a book’s pages to its hard cover. Also called endpapers, they are heavier than regular text paper and are often specially designed to suit the book.

THE RIGHT STUFF (in sequence): No need to dribble all over your frontmatter. Correct sequencing of your book's front pages isn’t rocket science. Here's what it is.

Reblogged from Publishmemoir's Blog:

So what if we’ve produced dozens of gorgeous books, most of them life stories, each of them with properly labeled, dressed, and sequenced frontmatter (aka front pages)— here at Modern Memoirs and White Poppy Press, we still have to consult our little list, like unlike a seder, culled down from lots of excess verbiage over the years to a rather simple formula.

Read more… 378 more words

THE RIGHT STUFF (in sequence): No need to dribble all over your frontmatter. Correct sequencing of your book’s front pages isn’t rocket science. Here’s what it is.

So what if we’ve produced dozens of gorgeous books, most of them life stories, each of them with properly labeled, dressed, and sequenced frontmatter (aka front pages)— here at Modern Memoirs and White Poppy Press, we still have to consult our little list, like unlike a seder, culled down from lots of excess verbiage over the years to a rather simple formula.

For your benefit, if there really is a “you” and if you are really interested in being a book writer, here it is. Please let me know if you have questions or comments, e.g. what is a recto? a quarto?, for the editor.

(Apparently, getting conversations going is the right thing to do for social networking, whose sole purpose from the point of view of someone like us is to increase company visibility on web search engines. It’s not that we’re mean or stingy with information. I’m just no longer in the newspaper, that is, the “information-sharing” business. Sorry about the switch from the plural to the singular personal pronoun.)

page        i. half-title page

ii. frontispiece, if any

iii. title page

iv. copyright notice page, including copyright owner, date of copyright, and such information as: ISBN, apology in advance for libelous statements herein or statement of “just fiction”; credits; publisher information; printer and print edition information

v. dedication

vi. blank

vii. table of contents

viii. blank

ix. lists, if any, e.g. images, genealogy charts, original maps, contributors (if an anthology and contributors have not already been included in the ToC) (ToC = Table of Contents), and so on or interviewer if there are interviews

x. blank

xi. foreword (about the book, written by some expert or other, not the author)

xii. blank

xiii. preface (why/how the book was written, by the author)

xiv. blank

xv. acknowledgments (don’t forget your mother,  especially if this is a memoir or personal history)

xvi. blank

xvii. introduction, often from the writer or his/her editor

xviii. blank

xix. list of abbreviations, or short glossary, or chronology, or relationships, or similar information (this could alternatively go in the back of the book)

xx. blank

xxi. second half-title page

xxii blank

BACK-OF-BOOK, starting on recto pages

afterword

index

list of abbreviations, or short glossary, or chronology, or relationships, or similar information (this could alternatively go in the frontmatter)

appendices

endnotes

bibliography

colophon (typeface families  used in the design of the book)

NOTES:

1) for the relatively undistinguished memoir writer, frontmatter amounts to 10 pages, with half-title page, title page, copyright page, ToC, dedication, acknowledgments, preface OR introduction, and second half-title page.

2) for the relatively undistinguished narrator, it is advisable to skip the bibliography and acceptable to skip the index; also, endnotes at the chapter- or book-end are vastly preferable to footnotes, which are archaic

Seeking manuscript submis…

Seeking manuscript submissions for a collection of first-person stories on the topics of:
   natural death and dying;    loss of friendship circles (ex-communication) after divorce;    dehumanization;   veterans’ experiences;    and the terrifying speed of technological change.

Take Courage and Self-Publish (like these famous writers)

By Pamela Hopkins with Kitty Axelson-Berry

Even before the age of digital self-publishing and print on demand, some of our most influential authors have been self-published. Edgar Allen Poe, Virginia Woolf, Henry David Thoreau, Beatrix Potter, and dozens or hundreds of others took their words into their own hands instead of waiting for a commercial publisher to invest in their work. As an aspiring writer, this gives me courage, a sense that independence is possible and opportunities for literary success beckon.

Whether the following esteemed writers chose private publishing as a better financial option than to work with an agent and commercial publisher, or were just eager to get their books out into the world, they all achieved recognition using their own money to get their books printed and distributed.

Some established their own publishing houses. Anais Nin, for instance, author of commissioned short stories as well as a lengthy personal history or pseudo-personal history, began her own publishing house in New York. Virginia Woolf and her husband, Leonard, ran Hogarth Press from their home near London in order to help their Bloomsbury Group friends and colleagues.

Looking at the following list of books (from Dan Poynter, www.parapublishing.com, a wiz at writing and publishing about self-publishing since before it was bread and butter) that were self-published, I recognized more than half of my high school English curriculum, so really, don’t think you’re alone or unworthy. If you’re thinking of self-publishing your manuscripts, take courage from these famous authors.

 

FAMOUS SELF-PUBLISHED BOOKS

 

What Color is Your Parachute by Richard Nelson Bolles

Life’s Little Instruction Book by H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

The Wealthy Barber by David Chilton

A Time to Kill by John Grisham

Ulysses by James Joyce

When I Am an Old Woman I Shall Wear Purple by Sandra Martz

In Search of Excellence, by Tom Peters

The Adventures of Peter Rabbit, by Beatrix Potter

Remembrance of Things Past by Marcel Proust

The Joy of Cooking by Irma von Starkloff Rombauer, Marion Rombauer Becker, Ethan Becker, Maria Guarnaschelli

The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield

Robert’s Rules of Order by Henry Martyn Robert, Sarah Corbin Robert

The Elements of Style by William Strunk, Jr. and one of his students, E. B. White

The Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller

 

FAMOUS SELF-PUBLISHED AUTHORS

Edgar Rice Burroughs, Deepak Chopra, Stephen Crane, e.e. cummings, William E.B. DuBois, Alexandre Dumas, Benjamin Franklin, Zane Grey, Rudyard Kipling, Anais Nin, Thomas Paine, Edgar Allen Poe, Ezra Pound, Carl Sandburg, Bernard Shaw, Upton Sinclair, Mark Twain, Gertrude Stein, Henry David Thoreau, Walt Whitman, Virginia Woolf

 

FAMOUS REJECTED AUTHORS

Richard Bach Jonathan Livingston Seagull –20 rejections

Pearl S. Buck The Good Earth –14 rejections

John Creasy –774 rejections before selling his first story (he went on to write 564 books under 14 pseudonyms)

Mary Higgins Clark –first short story –40 rejections

Patrick Dennis, Auntie Mame –15 rejections

Anne Frank, The Diary of Anne Frank

Theodore Seuss Geisel (Dr. Seuss) – 24 rejections

John Grisham , A Time to Kill – 15 publishers and 30 agents (he ended up self-publishing)

Alex Haley–200 rejections  before Roots

Joseph Heller, Catch-22 –22  rejections

Jerzy Kosinski –13 agents and 14 publishers rejected one of his best-sellers when he submitted it under a pseudonym

Louis L’Amour–200 rejections

Jack London –600 rejections

Norman Mailer, The Naked and the Dead –12 rejections

George Orwell, Animal Farm

Robert Persig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance –121 rejections

Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen, Chicken Soup for the Soul –33 rejections

If these authors can pick up and

Self-publish for yourself or others or both but don't waste your talents

self-publish, can you?