In this section we will talk about important terms about printing world and typography.

Continuing Printing Terms

Unit A single part of a multicolor printing press that can itself print more than one color.
Universal film Color separation film that produces the same results on both litho plates and on gravure cylinders.

Vantage A blank page on a printed sheet.

Walk off Deterioration of the image on a printing plate during printing.
Warehouse work All nonprinting work carried out by a printer, for example, paper- and ink-handling, finishing, and dispatch.

Wash-out process Any printing process using photopolymer plates in which the nonimage areas of the plate are washed out after exposure, thus avoiding the need for routing. Washing up Cleaning ink from the printing plate or blanket.

Web break The accidental breakage of a web of paper while printing on a high-speed web press.
Web (printing) press A rotary printing press that uses continuous paper from a large roll that is fed through a series of rollers (cylinders) on which the plates are mounted. The impression from the plate is offset onto a blanket before being printed onto the paper.

Web-fed A press into which paper is fed continuously from a reel, as distinct from feeding individual sheets ("sheet-fed"). Also known as reelfed or roll-fed. Wet pick The deterioration of the surface of coated paper that can occur when it is rerun through an offset press. Wipe A printing fault resulting in a blurred or double image.

Work and tumble A printing technique in which pages from both sides of the sheet are printed on one side using a single plate. After printing the first side the sheet is then turned, with the back edge becoming the gripper edge (hence "tumble"), and passed through the press for a second time. The technique produces two copies of each page.

Work and turn A printing technique in which pages from both sides of the sheet are printed on one side using a single plate, After printing the first side the sheet is then turned over and, using the same gripper edge, passed through the press for a second time. The result is two copies of each page. Also called half sheet work. An imposition (layout) technique for printing both sides of the sheet using a single plate. The printing film ("flat") is first exposed on one half of the plate and then rotated ("twisted") through 180° to expose the other half. When printed this produces two copies of each page.

Work off To print a job. Working Any printing job in progress.

Zinc plates Metal photoengraving plates used as an alternative to copper or magnesium alloy plates.

Additivity failure In printing, the failure of the combined value of each overprinting ink film to achieve the correct ink density, resulting in thinly printed colors.

After-tack An undesirable, sticky property retained by printed ink after it should have dried
(without tackiness). Aluminum ink Ink containing particles of aluminum, giving the printed result a silvery property.

Aniline An oily liquid — deriving from a nitrobenzine base — that is used in the preparation of dyes and a volatile, quick-drying aniline ink. Aqua-trol The proprietary name (American Type Founders Company) of a device for removing moisture from the inking system of a lithographic printing press.

Backing (away) A printing problem that occurs as a result of an inadequate supply of ink to the fountain roller, resulting in a lighter printed image.

Bad color In printing, uneven color caused either by mechanical faults, such as erratic ink distribution, or by operator faults during make-ready.

Baume scale A scale used to measure the density of liquids used in printing. Bleed An aberration that occurs when the edge of an area of printed ink spreads into an adjacent area of a different color ink.

Body An imprecise term describing the stiffness or softness of printing ink.
Bonding strength The ability of a printing ink to resist various faults in printing, such as "picking."
Breakthrough Penetration of ink through the printed paper.

Bronzing A gold or metallic effect produced by dusting a sheet of paper, on which a special ink has been printed, with a metallic powder. Bronzing In four-color process printing, an undesirable "blotching" effect caused by an imbalance of ink constituents.

Chalking An aberration in printing resulting in loose, dusty ink on the surface of the paper. This is caused by rapid absorption of the ink by the paper, which consequently slows down the drying time.

Cissing A printing defect that occurs when wet ink (or varnish) recedes from the paper surface, leaving small uncoated areas.

Cold-set ink A solid ink that, when used on a "hot press" (one that has a heated cylinder), melts into a liquid that then solidifies on contact with the paper.

Color burnout The undesirable change in the color of printing inks due to chemical reactions, either when the ink is mixed or as it dries after printing.

Color printing Strictly speaking, multicolor printing in inks other than black. However, the term is used more generally to describe any printing process that uses colored inks — including black — and this encompasses four-color process printing. The major commercial printing processes today are offset lithography (either sheet- or web-fed) and web gravure. Screen printing is also widely used, although generally for specialist work in small runs. Color letterpress printing — the oldest method — has all but died out except for very specialist work.

Color rotation/sequence In process color printing, the order in which each of the colors is printed. In four-color process printing, the order is usually yellow first, followed by magenta, cyan, and finally black. This sequence is important since it minimizes the chance of getting undesirable moire patterns on halftone images, and also because it can affect the efficacy of ink "trapping."

Crawling An imperfection in printing that occurs when thick ink over-prints wet ink.
Crocking The undesirable effect caused when printed ink smudges, or dry ink rubs off.
Crystallization The process of ink drying too quickly and repelling overprinting inks, causing poor trapping.

Cure The process of drying ink sufficiently to prevent "setoff" (undesirable transfer of ink from the front of one sheet to the back of the next). Cut To dilute ink, lacquer, or varnish with solvents.

Delamination The separation of the layers in multiple papers and boards. This is sometimes caused during printing by incorrect ink "tack" (stickiness).

Diarylide yellow A pigment used in yellow process inks. DIC Color Guide A proprietary color system of Dainippon Ink and Chemicals used primarily for printing projects in Japan.

Doctor(ing) To alter the constituents of printing ink to improve the quality of a printed job.
Double tone ink A printing ink that produces a secondary tone as it dries, creating the illusion of two-color printing in a single pass.

Drawdown The technique of assessing the color of a printing ink by thinly spreading a small amount on a sample of the paper on which it is finally to be printed.

Drum A roller that distributes ink on a printing press. Dry trapping The property of a printed ink, once dry to accept a wet overprinted ink. Dry-back Changes in certain characteristics, such as color or density, of a printing ink after drying.

Dye-based ink Inks, the colors of which are obtained from aniline dyes, used mainly for flexographic printing and for screen printing onto textiles, In the latter, dye-based inks are sometimes called "dye pastes."

Edge acuity The maintenance of a sharp edge on a printed image, An even ink spread encourages acuity.

Filling in/up A printing fault in which ink fills the spaces between halftone dots or the counters of type to produce undesirable small areas of solid color.

Flat color A uniform color of consistent hue, In printing, this usually means an especially mixed color that is printed apart from any other colors.

Flying A spray of fine ink droplets generated by the ink rollers on a press running at a high speed. Also called ink fly.

Fugitive color An unstable ink color that can change or fade when exposed to certain conditions of light or atmosphere.

Gel A contraction of "gelation" — the drying of printing ink by evaporation or penetration.

Gloss ink Printing ink usually consisting of a varnish or synthetic resin base and drying oils. Such ink dries quickly, and does not penetrate far into the paper and is normally used on coated and low-absorbency papers.

Gray balance The appropriate levels of yellow, magenta, and cyan that produce a neutral gray.

Grayness A quality of yellow, magenta, and cyan process color inks relating to the degree of contamination. An increase in the grayness value indicates a decrease in purity or saturation.

Heat-set ink Inks designed to dry quickly to enable faster printing, based on synthetic resins and volatile petroleum oils. Immediately after printing, the web of paper is heated and then cooled to rapidly dry and harden the ink.

Ink A fluid comprising solvents and oils (called a "medium" or "vehicle") in which a finely ground "pigment" of plant dyes, minerals, or synthetic dyes is suspended to provide color. There are many different types of inks for the various printing processes.

Ink abrasion The abrasive action of certain inks on printing plates, particularly over long print runs.
Ink coverage The measure of the area that a given amount of printing ink is capable of covering satisfactorily.

Ink drier A chemical agent that is added to printing inks to assist and speed the drying process.
Ink penetration The degree to which ink penetrates a substrate, more acute during the moment of impression than after it. Important if smudging or "setoff" is to be avoided.

Ink squash During printing, the spread of ink beyond the details of an image, caused by excessive ink or pressure. Ink strength A term describing the degree of color intensity of a printing ink.

Ink transfer The critical part of the printing process that determines the thickness of the ink film on the plate or blanket and thus the amount of ink transferred to the paper. Ink transparency The degree to which a substrate will show through a printed ink.

Job inks Printing inks used for general printing, comprising 75 percent medium and 25 percent pigment.

Lampblack A pigment made from carbon used to make black printing ink.
Lift An unquantifiable measure of the total amount of ink applied to the surface of paper in multicolor printing.

Long ink Printing ink mixed to such a consistency it does not break when drawn out in a thread. The opposite of "short ink."

Magnetic ink Ink pigments with a magnetic component, used in magnetic ink character recognition (MICR), such as that used on bank checks.

Metallic ink An ink to which a metallic powder such as bronze or aluminum has been added to give the effect of gold, silver, or other precious metals. Misting Mist in a pressroom formed from ink droplets suspended in the air.

Nonreflective ink A special ink used to print information so it can be easily read by OCR devices.

Process ink gamut chart (PIG) A chart that compares the colors that can be obtained from a variety of ink and substrate combinations.

Quick-set inks A type of printing ink that usually contains thin mineral oil and thick varnish. The oil is rapidly absorbed into the paper, permitting quicker handling than with normal inks, while the varnish sets more slowly making the surface more receptive to subsequent printings.

Red lake C A pigment used in printing ink. Reducer A softening agent in printing ink that also reduces its tack.

Resin An ingredient in ink that helps bind color pigment to the substrate. It also adds gloss and hardness to the printed Ink and can provide resistance to chemicals and heat. It is also used to add hardness to the surface of litho plates.

Rhodamine A component of magenta process ink, with a blueish pigment, although, theoretically, magenta does not have any blue (cyan) or yellow in it.

Rich black A percentage of another color — usually 20 to 40 percent cyan or magenta — which is printed under solid black in color printing to produce a denser black.

Roller stripping The failure of ink to adhere to the inking roller. Roller train A series of inking rollers through which stiff ink travels until it reaches the correct consistency. Rub-off The occurrence of dry, printed ink transferring from one printed surface to another.

Secondary color Color produced by overprinting two primary colors. Also called overprint color.
Shade Equivalent to hue in the description and manufacture of printing inks.

Short ink Printing ink that is heavily viscous and does not flow easily The opposite of "long Ink".
Skeleton black A technique involving the use of black to sharpen contrast and enhance detail in four-color reproduction. Also called half-scale black.

Solid An area printed with 100 percent of a color. Strike through A fault caused by the oily medium in printing Ink soaking through the paper and causing it to become transparent.

Tack The degree of "stickiness" of printing ink, in other words, the degree to which it will divide ("split") between two surfaces so some prints on the substrate (without damaging it) while some remains on the printing surface.

Thickening The spreading of ink on a litho plate beyond the image areas.
Three-color black The black that would theoretically result from overprinting solids of cyan, magenta, and yellow. In practice, however, this process often produces a dark brown.

Three-color (process) reproduction The now-defunct method of printing using the three process colors — cyan, magenta, and yellow — without black. The four-color process, with black used to add density, is now the norm.
TOYO colors A system of specifying spot colors, mainly used in Japan.

Vegetable ink An ecologically sound printing ink made from vegetable oils.
Viscosity The degree of resistance of a liquid to flow, expressed in "poises" — the unit of measurement of viscosity Printing inks used for high-speed rotary presses will have a viscosity in the range of 6 to 12 poises, while a hand letterpress machine might require 500 poises.

Watercolor/water-based inks Water-soluble-based, rather than oil-based, inks, sometimes used for printing colors from a rubber surface.

Watercolor printing A printing process using water-soluble inks on porous paper that results in the blending of overlapping layers of color.

Wet printing process inks Quick-drying inks used in multicolor printing; the last color seals the surface. Wet-on-wet printing Printing subsequent colors on a multicolor press while the previously printed colors are still wet.

Wetting The process of adding varnish to ink pigments during manufacture, enabling them to be ground more easily. This, in turn, results in improved ink distribution.
Wrinkle Marks occurring during the drying of the ink surface of a printed page, giving an uneven appearance.