Glossary
Alignment To line up letters or words on the same vertical or horizontal line.
Baseline The invisible horizontal line on which all characters or letters of a line of type align.
Bleed Image areas printed about 1/8" beyond the trim area of a sheet or page, then trimmed so the image appears to "bleed" off the sheet.
Booklet Several sheets bound with a cover.
Broadside A large single sheet printed on both sides, often folded in half and then half or thirds in the other direction.
Brochure A small booklet bound with a cover, often a self cover.
Caps and small caps Two sizes of uppercase (capital) letters from one typeface used in place of lower case letters.
Caption Descriptive text accompanying an illustration or photograph.
Composite All elements on one sheet or page (type, line art, photos, etc.).
Crop marks Lines outside margins of the artwork to indicate where the printer trims the sheet.
Dingbat Typographical symbols and ornaments (such as bullets, arrows, check marks, etc.) used as design elements or for emphasis.
Drop Cap The first letter of a block of text set in a larger size or display typeface for emphasis or decorating, with the base line for the cap dropped to a line below the baseline of the first line of type.
Dummy A layout showing position of text, photos, illustrations, etc.
Duotone An image reproduced from the same piece of original art, usually a photograph, using two inks, usually black plus another color.
Duplex On two sides.
EM A long dash or space equal to the width of the type size being used (think about the width of the letter M).
EN A short dash (longer than a hyphen) equal to half the width of the type size being used (about the width of the letter N).
EPS Encapsulated PostScript: a format for storing object-oriented vector artwork.
Flat color A printed color produced by using a single ink.
Full or process color A full range of color produced by using three process inks and black.
Flop To turn an image so it faces the other way.
Flush left Lines of type set with an even, or flush, margin on the left, but uneven on the right (ragged right).
Flush right Lines of type set with an even, or flush, margin on the right, but uneven on the left (ragged left).
Flyer A single sheet printed on one side.
Folio A printed page number.
Font All the characters of a typeface that are the same weight and style.
Halftone Illustrations or photographs produced in a dot pattern for reproduction by printing.
Hard copy A printed copy, normally used to check for errors against an electronic document.
Initial cap The first letter in a block of text set in a larger size or display typeface for emphasis or decoration, with the cap and the first line of type are on the same baseline.
Justified type Lines of type set with even margins on the left and the right, achieved by expanding or contracting the word and letter spaces to fill the line to the specified measurement.
Kerning The selective negative spacing between pairs of letters to achieve optimal balance with other letters in the same word.
Leading (pronounced ledding) The vertical space between lines of type, often called linespacing.
Letterspacing The spacing between characters or letters on a line of type, also called tracking.
Linespacing The vertical space between lines of type, measured from baseline to baseline.
Mechanical All copy elements of a page (type, illustrations, position of photos, etc.) in exact position ready to go to press.
Moire An undesirable pattern that occurs with overlapped screens in printing, or improperly aligned screens in process printing.
Offset A printing process where the image is transferred from a litho plate to an offset blanket before being imprinted on the paper, using lithography (image areas receive ink/repel water and non-image areas accept water/repel ink).
Pagination Numbering of pages in consecutive order.
Pamphlet A single sheet, often folded.
Poster A single sheet usually printed on one side intended for posting.
Process or full color A full range of color produced by using three process inks and black in screens or dot patterns.
Proof A document to be marked for corrections.
Ragged left Lines of type set with an even, or flush, margin on the right, but uneven on the left.
Ragged right Lines of type set with an even, or flush, margin on the left, but uneven on the right.
Register Fitting two or more images in exact alignment on the same printed surface.
Register marks Marks made outside the image area for accurate positioning of elements in multicolor printing, most often a cross or circle with a cross.
Runaround Type set to fit around a photo or illustration.
Saddle stitch Wire stitching on the spine of a booklet, originally done by placing the collated, folded sheets of the book on a saddle to position it to receive the stitch (or staple).
San serif a typeface without serif strokes.
Screened Made in to a dot pattern, of graded density for a halftone in printing photos, and of uniform density for a solid area in printing lighter tones of a given ink color.
Self cover The cover of a book made of the same paper as the inside pages.
Self mailer A printed piece designed to be mailed without an envelope.
Serif The small stroke at the end of the main strokes that form a character/letter.
Side stitch A stitch or staple put through the document near the spine, from the front.
Silhouette An outline halftone with all the background removed.
Tint An even tone area of a solid color, such as 20% black or 40% PMS 281.
Tracking The spacing between characters or letters on a line of type, often called letterspacing.
Typeface All the weights, styles, and sizes of a type family.
Self cover The same paper used for the cover as well as the inside pages of a booklet.
Wire stitch A stitch of wire (looks like a staple) put through the spine of a booklet. Wire for stitching comes on a spool like thread. Staples are pre-cut wire.
WYSIWYG What You See Is What You Get
X-height The height of the lower case letters, not including the ascenders and decenders. For example, the height of an o or c, or the height of just the bowl portion of a b or q.