NEMA Glossary of Graphic Design Terms

Printing using Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black to produce a full color image.

Full Color on one side, Blank Back

Full Color on one side, Black Ink on Back

Full Color on all Sides

Abbreviation for Aqueous Coating: A clear water based coating used to seal and protect the printed sheet. This is available in both a gloss and a matte finish.

A clear water based coating used to seal and protect the printed sheet. This is available in both a gloss and a matte finish.

All computer files including layout, images and fonts needed to produce the final printed product.

The part of a lowercase letter that falls above the body (x-height) of the letter. "b", "d", "f", "h", "k" and "l" are all examples of letters with ascenders.

ASCII text file or .TXT is a file format is commonly used by clients to store mail list data.

Smoothing or blending the transition of pixels in an image. Anti-aliasing the edges on a graphic image makes the edges appear smooth, not jagged.

The name of the curves making up the outline of a character in PostScript format. Also called paths or vector curves

All options available to a product after it has completed printing. This includes cutting, folding, drilling, etc.

A bitmap or raster image is a graphic file that is made up of square dots (pixels). Scaling these images to larger sizes result in these pixels becoming larger which can make the image look blocky with jagged edges.

In typography it is a syle of typefaces evolved from the broad-nip penstyle of gothic lettering used by scribes. Also known as Old English.

Method used in print to have ink printed right up to the edge of a page. The way this is done is by having the document printed on a larger page. Then the printer prints 1/8th (usually) of an inch beyond the document size on each side, and is then cut to size.

An image pressed into a sheet without ink or foil.

Paper grade used for letterhead and forms.

Medium weight paper used for fliers, posters and inside pages of books. Available in both coated and uncoated finishes.

The brilliance, or "whiteness" of a paper. The higher the number, the brighter the sheet.

In typography is a style of typefaces having the appearance of free-hand writing with a brush.

Cyan: One of four colors used in Full Color Printing.

Coated One Side: Sheet is glossy on front, flat with no coating on back.

Coated Two Sides: Sheet is glossy on both sides

A single letter of typography sign or symbol

The thickness of paper measured in 1/1000".

A method used in graphics programs to shrink the size of image files. Jpegs use compression to shrink down file sizes, and TIFs have the option to compress using LZW for example.

The initials of the four process colors. They are cyan, magenta, yellow, and black. K is used for black to not confuse people into thinking blue.

Smooth finish paper with a Matte or Glossy finish. Available in Book and Cover.

Adjusting color separations to make accurate reproduction, accommodating them to the limitations of a particular press, inks, paper, and technology used.

Specifying flat colors according to numbered samples on a color chart available from the printer or in a swatch book, such as Pantone®. Process colors are usually specified in percentages of screens of the four colors, for example, XY 5M 2C 1K (X usually means 100 percent, so here it calls for 100 percent yellow, 50 percent magenta, 20 percent cyan, and 10 percent black). The letter K designates black to avoid confusion with the word blue, which is often used instead of cyan. Often the word red is used instead of magenta.

A representation of the final printed product for checking color accuracy and other elements. A color proof can be created in a number of ways: when the piece is in digital form, a composite proof can be printed on a desktop color printer; from the plate-ready negatives, a "dry-proof" can be created with a system such as 3M's Matchprint or DuPont's Chromalin; or, after the printing plates have been made, a "press proof" can be printed on a printing press.

Heavy weight paper used for book covers, postcards, folders, etc.

Coverage is the total amount of ink per sheet side, usually given in percentages.

This involves removing the outside edges of a photograph to remove excessive or irrelevant background content of a photo. This technique is often used to create interesting framing for images. Note that this is not the same as resizing, which keeps the image intact.

Printed lines showing the edges for trimming.

Printing across the gutter or from one page to the facing page in booklets or other multi-page documents.

Comma separated values or tab-delimited is a text file format that contains information separated by commas or tabs. This format is commonly used to store mail list data.

To dry inks and coatings after printing to ensure good adhesion.

Deboss means to press an image into paper so it lies below the surface.

A stylized typeface that is often used for headline intended to catch the reader's attention.

The degree of color in an image or photograph.

The part of a lowercase letter that falls below the body (baseline) of the letter. "g", "j", "p", "q" and "y" are all examples of letters with descenders.

Device made out of sharp steel that is used to cut irregular shapes,or to score, foil stamp, or emboss .

To cut irregular shapes using a die.

The transfer of information from a file directly to the plate, producing high-quality printed pieces.

A typeface designed to be set at relatively large sizes (usually 18 points and above) and used in titles, headlines, signs, etc. (See Decorative typefaces.)

This is a process used in making an image (like in a GIF file that has 256 colors or less) appear to have more colors than it really does. This is done by blending pixels using patterns that approximate the colors it is trying to produce. Up close, this dithering looks quite dotty and speckled, but at a normal viewing distance, the effect of more colors and cleaner transitions can be obtained.

This specifies the resolution of an output device, like a printer or printer press. This print resolution varies depending on what kind of output is required. Suggested image resolution for best print quality is 300 dpi.

To punch holes in the printed sheet.

This is a technique which mixes two colors (Duo) which can provide richer toned image than a monotone graphic. The sum can be greater than its parts and give the impression of more colors than just the two. This can be an effective way of designing with a limited color output budget.

Pressing an image into paper to create a raised image.

There are two distinct types of .EPs files, one of which is a vector based graphics file and can be opened and easily edited for type, color, etc. in Adobe Illustrator or PC vector based programs like Corel Draw. They can be CMYK color, or flat pantone color based. These files could be "placed' or "imported" into inDesign (or Word, Quark, etc.), but not opened by it. They can be almost infinitely scaled in size without degrading the output because they are vector based. The other is an .EPS photo file, flattened, set resolution "picture" type file. It can be opened in PhotoShop or other image editing programs, also placed or imported into InDesign(or Word, Quark, etc.), but it will be significantly degraded if scaled beyond the set resolution. These are usually CMYK files, or can be set as Pantone duo-tone, tri-tone files.

Cost of producing a custom printing order.

Excel spreadsheet or .XLS is a file format commonly used by clients to store mail list data.

The process of saving a graphics file to a format that can be opened in another program. These formats are usually not the native format of the program you are exporting from.

File extensions are three-digit codes at the end of a file name that indicate what format the file has been saved in.

Size of product after completion of all bindery options.

Method of printing on a Web press using rubber plates with raised images. This enables printing to be achieved on non-flat surfaces extensively used in the packaging industry.

This is a prepress program that reads a file (or other media) and checks for and identifies missing fonts, embedded graphics, which then it collects to send to printer. FlightCheck also checks, colors used, bad traps, and many other potential problems.

Size of product after printing and trimming, but before all other bindery options.

The combination of foil stamping and embossing.

Using a die to place an opaque metallic image on paper.

A complete set of characters (letters, figures, punctuation, etc.) in a typeface. In digital typography, the data that describes the complete character set for a given typeface. For example, using PostScript technology, screen fonts are made up of displayed fonts or pixels, while printer fonts are scalable outlines that can print characters of virtually any size.

The process of combining four basic colors to create a printed color picture or colors composed from the basic four colors.

To reproduce two or more printed pieces or multiple copies of the same piece simultaneously on one sheet of paper.

This is a widely used graphics format for the Internet that allows transparency and animation. The limitation of this format is that it the maximum number of colors is 256. GIFs are often dithered, which can give the illusion of more colors.

Paper type with a shiny surface; best used with images.

This is a gradual transition from highlight to shadow or vice versa of one, two or more colors.

The direction in which the paper fiber lie and it folds most readily.

This is a color mode where there are no colors in use. There is just black, white, and various shades in between. Grayscale is a strip of 256 gray values ranging from white to black. In the print world, a greyscale image is actually made up of just black ink. The value of the grey depends on the density and size of the black dots printed. In photographs, halftones are produced to simulate various shades.

This is a user interface based on graphics (icons and pictures and menus) instead of text. When designing a website, it is important to design the GUI effectively.

Process used in print for Photographs, paintings, and drawings. Because most printing presses cannot produce continuous tones, images are converted to halftones to simulate continuous tones. Using fine dots of varying size and spacing, halftones can reproduce the shades and textures of the original image.

Spots that appear in the printed image from dust or lint on blanket or plate.

Images with a resolution of 300 dpi or greater.

This is THE standard format for the Internet. Html pages can include text, images, animation, video, sound, and more.

This is another term for color.

An Image is a computerized representation of a picture or graphic.

An expression used to describe a computer file consisting of image data. Examples of such files, not all of which are acceptable for printing, are TIFF, EPS, RIFF, BMP, PCT, PCX, GIF, PNG and JPG.

This is a web graphic technique used to have an image appear in steps (with a rough image appearing first, and then progressively getting more detail), rather than waiting for the full source image to appear. This is getting less and less used as broadband Internet picks up steam.

This is the slanting forward of serif fonts.

This is a language used to do things on the Internet that html coding often cannot.

This is the main format used on the Internet (and elsewhere) for photographic/continuous toned images. Because the Jpeg format uses compression, you can often obtain much smaller file sizes and still maintain photographic quality. For printing it is recommended that jpeg images are not compressed.

The alignment of text along a margin or both margins. This is achieved by adjusting the spacing between the words and characters as necessary so that each line of text finishes at the same point.

Black: One of four colors used in Full Color Printing

This is the process of selectively adjusting the spacing between letters pairs to improve the overall appearance. The letter pairs that most often need some kind of kerning treatment are AV, AY, PA, and AT. These letter pairs often look awkward together, and need to either be moved closer together, or further apart manually.

This is an image placer in layout that represents where an image is to go when it is printed. This placeholder doesn't print, but it fits the position and size of the image that will b e printed in that spot. This Keyline often is a rectangle with an x through it.

This is 1,024 bytes of digital information.

The absence of printing inks in a specified area. An object of a given color is often printed over an identically shaped knockout of other colors to avoid mixing inks in that area. The alternative is an overprint in which one object is printed on top of another.

Work in which the width of the sheet or layout used is greater than the height. It is also used to indicate the orientation of tasks or illustrations, which are printed "sideways". (See Portrait)

The arrangement of text, image, drawing or sketch of the image as they are to appear on a particular page.

This is the distance between the baseline of one line of text to the next baseline of text.

Two letters drawn as a single character of type such as Æ

Paper finish that simulates a linen cloth.

Method of printing using a chemically coated plate whose image areas attract ink and whose non-image areas repel ink.

A group of letters, words and/or symbols combined as a character or graphic. When applied to phototypesetting, the term is usually applied to describe a graphic that can be set within the limits of maximum character height.

Images with a resolution less than 250 dpi.

Magenta: One of four colors used in Full Color Printing.

Paper type with a dull surface; best used with heavy text, and some images.

Instrument used to measure the thickness of paper.

A technique used on the Internet where an object changes to when the mouse pointer moves over the it. An example of this is a button where it looks like it is being pressed down when you move the mouse pointer over it.

Usually the term applied to electronically sloped typefaces.

Basic uncoated book grade of paper.

Main printing techinique used on products offered on our site.

Images of one sheet transferring to sheet below it.

The amount of show-through on a printed sheet.

To print one image over another image, such as printing type over a screen background image.

One side of a sheet.

Total number of pages in a book.

Size of page to be printed by image-setter. Most commonly encountered formats are: A4 210 x 297 mm A3 420 x 297 mm US Letter (A) 216 x 279 mm (8.5 x 11 inches) Tabloid (B) 280 x 430 mm (11 x 17 inches) Broadsheet 400 x 600 mm approx.

Pantone, Inc.'s check-standard trademarks for color reproduction and color reproduction materials. The PANTONE MATCHING SYSTEM (sometimes referred to as "PMS") identifies over 500 colors and the formulas for creating inks in those colors. Four-color process printing can only approximate many of these colors. You can select PANTONE Colors in various illustration and desktop publishing software programs.

This format developed by Adobe makes it possible to keep the exact fonts, format, and layout of a document across any platform. These files can be created in Adobe Acrobat, or any program that can output to PDF. An Adobe Acrobat Reader which is a free download is needed to view or print these files.

A sheet fed printing press that prints both sides of a sheet in one pass.

A line of small dotted holes for the purpose of tearing-off a part of a printed matter.

Pica is a unit of measure commonly used in graphic design. Six picas equals roughly one inch (precisely, six picas equals .9957 inches). Most graphic design programs round off picas so that six picas exactly equals one inch.

The basic unit in which a scanned or output image is divided. For contones each pixel also has a gray level component. The number of pixels per inch in an image that can be captured by a scanner or output by an image setter or LaserWriter is referred to as their resolution.

Pixels per inch, a measure of the resolution of a computer screen of scanner. (See also DPI, LPI.)

This is a lossless compression format that is used on the Internet to display high color graphics like photographs. You can also have transparency with PNGs, but the file sizes can be larger.

A unit of measure for specifying type, about 1/72nd of an inch or 1/12th of a pica. In paper, a unit of thickness equating 1/1000 inch.

The orientation of a document that displays the longest sides of the document vertically. An example of this is an 8.5X11 paper viewed normally.

A Page Description Language (PDL) developed by Adobe Systems that renders text and graphic images on computer monitors and output devices, such as image-setters, laser printers, and other devices using PostScript RIP's from various front-ends. PostScript™ has been the language used by most printing technology since the mid-1980s. PostScript information can also be stored in EPSF files. (See EPSF)

Print-Ready files are digital artwork files that are 100% ready to print, requiring no adjustments.

Colors that are made up of the CMYK. By using halftones, you can obtain photographic full color images using just CMYK. Also known as Full Color.

A PDF or Hard Copy showing a preview of art files submitted.

Cost of producing a custom printing order.

The video format developed by Apple that is used on the Internet and other desktop applications.

The conversion of computerized image data into tiny dots. Raster dots are distinct from halftone dots; everything on a rasterized page, whether a solid area of a halftone, is made up of raster dots. For instance, when an image-setter rasterizes and prints an entire page at 2540 dpi, including a 150-LPI halftone, each halftone dot is composed of thousands of raster dots.

Paper made entirely or in part from old paper.

Position marks on artwork to help keep printing in register.

The number of dots available to represent graphic detail in a given area. On a computer screen, resolution is measured in pixels per (liner) inch, or PPI; on a printer, it's measured in dots per (linear) inch, or DPI; on a scanner, in pixels or dots per (linear) inch; and in a halftone, in lines per (linear) inch, or LPI. The sharpness of definition of a digitized image depends on the number of PPI, DPI, or LPI. The suggested Relosution for a document that will be printed is 300dpi while a document intended for viewing on screen (internet) is 72dpi

Abbreviation for red, green, & blue. This is the common color space used on computers. Website graphics are saved as RGB, as well as other output that involves a monitor. Colors are determined by mixing these 3 colors together with values ranging from 0 to 255. Black has an RGB value of R=0, G=0, B=0. A light purple could be a value of is R=180, G=0, B=255.

Binding a booklet or magazine with staples in the seam where it folds.

This is type that lacks the strokes on the end of letters that can be found on a Serif Typeface. An example of a typeface that is San Serif is Arial.

To pre-crease paper along a straight line so it folds more easily and accurately.

A book where all pages are made of the same stock.

These are the exaggerated strokes at the ends of letters. Type that has these markings are known as Serif type. An example of a typeface that has serifs is Times New Roman.

Press that prints sheets of paper, as compared to a web press.

This refers to a color that does not go through the CMYK process to obtain color values. Instead, each color in a document is created using that exact color, not a mixture of CMYK halftone values. Spot colors are used most often in limited color jobs where the cost of ink is too high for 4 color CMYK printing, or where a particular color (say for a logo) used must be exact.

Comma separated values or tab-delimited is a text file format that contains information separated by commas or tabs. This format is commonly used to store mail list data.

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A file format for exchanging bitmapped and grayscale images (usually scabbed) among applications. Care must be taken when using TIFF as many different standards have been created, not all of which are compatible with each other.

Printed lines showing the edges for trimming.

Size of product after printing and trimming, but before all other bindery options.

ASCII text file or .TXT is a file format is commonly used by clients to store mail list data.

Variations of blackness to the regular design of a typeface. There are no absolute standards, but the Helvetica number series is a good example, whereas Helvetica 25 is ultra-thin and Helvetica 95 is Helvetica Black.

The practice of arranging type and the study of type forms. Sometimes used inaccurately in PCs to mean "typeface".

Paper without clay coating applied.

Printing multiple copies of same artwork on one sheet.

Capital letters of a typeface, e.g., A, B, C.

Liquid applied to a printed sheet, then bonded and cured with ultraviolet light.

A graphics format that uses shapes and lines, called paths. Vector graphics are resolution independent graphics that appear smooth and crisp regardless of how magnified the image is on screen. They also can be enlarged as big as you want them without having jagged edges. This format is best for line art and logos that don't require complicated coloring or textures.

An image created in paper at the time of manufacture that can be seen by holding the paper up to a light.

This is a single word or line of text that is left on the top of a page or column that was continued from a previous page or column. This is a no no in page layout.

Bond paper with a smooth finish.

This is the vertical height of a typeface that is measured from the baseline to the top of lowercase letters without ascenders. X is a letter that can be measured this way (hence the name), as well as a, c, e, m, n, s, and so on.