There are a large number of industry specific terms used in the graphic arts field. With new terminology and acronyms being invented almost daily it is difficult to keep abreast of all the terms.
We have provided a list of those terms or acronyms most regularly used. Click below to select a letter or scroll through our Glossary of Terms.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
A
Adhesive A hot-melt or cold-set glue used in bookbinding.
Adhesive Binding A generic term for bookbinding which uses adhesives along the backbone edges of assembled printed sheets. The book or magazine cover is applied directly on top of the tacky adhesive. Examples are perfect bound and burst bound.
Against the Grain - Folding paper at right angles to the grain of the paper.
Back - Inner margin of page.
Backbone - Back of bound book connecting the two covers: also called a spine.
Back Lining - Reinforcing material, paper or fabric, glued to the book block backbone or spine in a casebound book after rounding and backing.
Backing - Shaping the spine of a book block to form a shoulder on its front and back. One of the casebinding operations (see rounding and backing).
Binding - To join the assembled (collated) pages of a printed piece together. Binding takes many forms including saddle-stitching, adhesive binding, mechanical binding, loose-leaf binding. Binding is also used as a general term to describe all finishing operations.
Binders Board - Paper board used in making the front and back covers of a casebound book. Strawboard, pulpboard or boxboard types may be used.
Binders waste - Spoilage allowance that permits the binder to supply the full count required by the job specifications.
Bleed - An area of print that extends beyond the trim size (bleeds off), without leaving a border. For example, a full page photograph or a stipple as part of a chapter opening, bleed is required to make an allowance for a clean cut whilst trimming.
Blind Stamp (Emboss) - Design which is stamped or embossed without gold leaf or ink, giving a bas-relief effect.
Blocking - Lettering or ornamentation impressed into a stock or the cover of a book.
Bolts - Closed edges of a folded sheet which are opened by trimming or slitting.
Book Block - The gathered signatures of a publication before the cover is added.
Book Paper General term used to define a class or group of papers having common physical characteristics that in general, are most suitable for book production.
Building-in - Placing cased-in books in a forming and pressing machine that holds them tightly under heat and pressure while the adhesive is drying.
Burst Binding - A form of binding similar, but more durable than perfect binding, where the spine of each section is slotted or perforated during the folding operation. Glue is pushed up between the perforations during binding and the cover is then drawn on.
Its advantages are that it allows the text pages to remain held together as a folded sheet and the adhesive has a larger area to grip by penetrating the slots and the backs of the signatures.
Caliper - Thickness of paper or board usually expressed in microns (ums).
Case The covers of a Hardback (casebound) book. Usually made of cloth or similar material and boards.
Case-Bound A book bound with a stiff, hard cover which is covered by fabric or other material.
Casemaker - A machine that produces hardcovers for case-bound books.
Casing-in - Insertion of text contents of a book block into the case when binding.
Cleat binding - A method of binding which involves cutting off the spine of the collated book and cutting grooves into the spine in a diamond pattern. Thread is laced into the grooves and the book is then attached into a case.
Cold Melt - Type of adhesive used on unsewn binding
Collate - To bring sections of work together in correct sequence.
Collating marks - a distinctive, numbered symbol printed on the folded edge of signatures to denote the correct gathering sequence.
Colophon - Publishers imprint or trade mark. Generally used on the title page, jacket and binding.
Comb, plastic binding - A curved or rake shaped plastic strip inserted through slots punched along the binding edge of the sheet. It is used to hold the product together mechanically.
Concertina Fold Term used for two or more parallel paper folds which open in concertina fashion.
Contents List of chapter titles, main headings or other divisions of a book inserted in the preliminary pages before the main text.
Cover Paper Papers used for the outside covers of catalogues, brochures and booklets.
Creep - The slight but cumulative extension of the edges of each inserted spread or signature beyond the edges of the signature that encloses it. This results in a progressively smaller trim size on the inside pages. Alternative terms: binders creep, thrust, pushout.
Curl In paper, distortion of the unrestrained sheet due to differences in structure or coatings from one side to the other. The curl side is the concave side of the sheet.
Deboss - a plate-sunk image.
Dummy A Sample of the proposed work made to establish the exact dimensions of the bound book.e.g. size, shape, form, and general appearance.
Dust Jacket - wrapper around a case-bound book to protect the binding.Edge gilding - Coating the borders of book pages with gold leaf
Edge staining Colouring one or more of the trimmed ends of a book.
Embossing - relief image to achieve a raised printed surface (blind embossing gives an
un-inked impression on blank paper).
Endmatter - printed matter (usually explanatory) following the text of a book, e.g. appendices, bibliography, index etc.
Endpapers - an integral step in bookbinding case-bound books. A folded pair of papers attached to the first and last signatures of a book and pasted to the inside covers. Endpapers add to binding strength. Self-endpapers are a type of endpaper which uses the text pages.
Errata slips Correction slips. Tipped in or inserted as separate sheets, after printing
Even Pages Left hand pages bearing even numbers.
Extent - Number of pages in a book. This can be inclusive or exclusive of endpapers, illustrations etc.
Finishing All postpress operations, including folding, trimming, assembling sections and specialised tasks such as diecutting and foil stamping.
Flush Cover - Cover trimmed to the same size as the text pages, e.g paperback books.
Fly-Leaf - Blank leaf at the beginning or end of a book.
Foil Metallic material used for printing (blocking) the wording on the binding case.
Foil Stamping Process which employs the same basic principle as letterpress printing, the ink being replaced by foil, and applied with heat.
Fold Bending and creasing a sheet of paper as required to form a printed product.
Fold marks Guides on the original copy and printed sheet that indicate where a printed piece will be creased.
Folio - The page number.
Fore-edge - Outer margin of a page opposite side to spine.
Foreword - prelude to the true text, usually written by someone other than the author.
French fold A press sheet in which all of the pages are printed on one side and folded, first vertically and then horizontally, to produce a four page signature. The blank side is folded inward before the other folds are made.
French Joint A joint having a deep groove to allow thick binding material (e.g leather) to be used without making the book difficult to open.
Frontispiece Left hand page illustration facing the title page.
Gatefold Flap from the fore-edge, with a fold running parallel to the spine of the book. The finished page is marginally smaller than the normal trimmed page. A double fold, usually of card or heavy board, from the two outside edges of a folder. The two folded pages meet in the centre of the page, edge to edge, rather like a double gate.
Gathering Placing the sections of a book in correct order before binding
Gild To apply gold or other metallic leaf to the trim edges of a book.
Grain Direction - in papermaking, the direction in which most fibres lie corresponding to the direction that the paper travels during the papermaking process.
Grammage - weight of a standard area of paper expressed in grams per square metre, abbreviated to gsm or gm2.
Gripper edge Leading edge of paper blank to receive grippers as it passes through a printing press.
Gripper margin Unprinted blank edge of paper on which grippers bear, usually half an inch or less.
GSM Grams per square metre (gm2): a standard measure of the weight of paper.
Guard Narrow strip of paper or other such material secured into the spine of a book. It may have a sheet such as a foldout map or illustration attached.
Gutter - The inside margin between facing pages, or the margin at the binding edge.
Half-Title - Title of a work printed on the right hand page immediately preceding the title page. Also known as a bastard title.
Hardcover A book with a separate casebound cover.
Head (Margin) - Margin from the of the type area to the top of the page.
Headbands Strips of material (often decorative) placed at the head and sometimes also at the foot of the spine of a casebound book block.
Head to Head imposition Arranging pages on a form during planning so that the top of one page butts against the top of the opposite page.
Head to Tail imposition - Arranging pages on a form during planning so that the top of one page butts against the bottom of the opposite page.
Hot Melt - Type of adhesive used on unsewn binding. See also Cold Melt.
Imposition Laying out of pages so that they will be in correct order after the printed sheet is folded.
Imprint Name and address of publisher or printer or both.
Index Alphabetical listing of topics or subjects in a book showing the page numbers on which they appear.
Inlay A piece of lightweight board glued to the book block spine.
Insert Specially printed piece for insertion in a publication.
Insides Term applied to completed text before binding.
Interleaf Leaves inserted between the pages of a book.
ISBN - International Standard Book Numbering System.
ISO International Standards Organisation.
Jacket - The wrapper placed around a finished casebound book.
Joint - Groove going along the spine on case binding.
Laminate Bonding clear plastic film by heat and pressure to a sheet of paper to protect the print and improve its appearance.
Landscape Page or illustration wider than it is deep.
Leaf - Two pages of a book, the front and back of a single piece of paper.
Library Binding Strong binding suitable for library book usage. Special binding services for libraries. The requirements include stitched signatures, sewn-on four-cord thread, strong endpapers, and backlining extended into the boards.
Lip - The extended edge of one side of a signature that is gripped to open the signature to the centre spread to facilitate the opening of the section. Also known as lap, pick-up.
Loop stitching - a method of saddle stitching whereby the stitch is formed into a semi-circular loop that sticks out beyond the spine of the publication. These loops slip over the rings of a three-ring binder, serving as an alternative to hole punching.
Loose-leaf binding - a process in which individual sheets can be inserted and removed at will from a section of a larger document often held in a three-ring binder.
Make-Ready - Machine preparation for each operation in the binding process. Can be a significant percentage of the cost of binding, particular for short runs.
Margins - Space surrounding printed area of a page.
Mechanical binding A generic term to describe bookbinding by mechanical means, such as ring, post, comb,spiral, wire and wiro, and by holding pages and cover together by staples such as saddle-wired (stitched) and side-wired (stitched).
Offset - Printing in which the image is transferred from plate to paper by means of a rubber covered cylinder. A general term for offset lithography.
Opacity - Property which minimises "show through" of printing from the reverse side of a sheet of paper.
Overhang cover Cover larger in size than the pages it encloses.
Overs Copies of the product produced in excess of the quantity ordered.
Perfect Binding An adhesive-binding method. Signatures are collated, the spine of the book block is sawn off to create loose-leaf pages, and roughened before adhesive is applied and the cover is drawn on. Note that 3mm of the back of the book is trimmed off during binding.
PMS - PMS is the Pantone Matching System, a proprietary name for one of the most commonly used systems for colour matching.
Portrait - Page or illustration deeper than it is wide.
Prelims - The preliminary pages of a book i.e. half-title, title page etc. There is a fixed order for the sequence of prelims.
Recto - Right-hand page of a book.
Register Exact alignment of pages so that they back one another precisely.
Right-Angle fold a term used for two or more folds that are 90 degree angles to each other.
Rounding Creating the round spine of a book block during the hardcover binding process.
Run - Number of copies to be produced. Also called print run.
Running Head - Title repeated at the top of each page of a book.
Run-on - This is a rate usually asked for at estimating stage. The estimate will show the price for producing extra copies after all the preparatory work has been carried out.
Saddle glued A binding method where a line of glue is applied along the spine folds to hold leaves and the cover together.
Saddle stitching - Securing pages by wire staples through the centre fold. In saddle-stitched work the printed sections are inserted one inside the other.
Scoring Furrowing a sheet, particularly if it is heavy stock, so that it will fold without cracking.
Self Cover - Cover printed on the same stock as a book.
Self-Ends - A type of end paper. If the extent of the book is such that blanks are left at front and back, the blanks can be used as end papers and are known as self ends.
Sewn Binding A bookbinding method using threads to hold signatures together e.g thread-sewn, section sewn with either cover drawn on or casebound.
Sheets - Plain or printed paper in the large flat form before folding.
Short-Grain paper Paper in which the machine direction is parallel to its shortest dimension.
Side-Stitching Securing sections of a book by inserting stitches through from the first sheet to the last.
Signature - The name given to a printed sheet after it has been folded Usually as 4, 8,16 or 32 pages.
Signature Mark Used in book work as a guide to gathering. The signature mark is usually a small capital letter but may also be a figure or bar printed at the bottom of the first page of each section (signature) of the book. The sequence of signatures is progressive throughout the book.
Slitting Cutting printed sheets into two or more sections by means of cutting wheels on the folding machine
Spine - Part of a book's cover or jacket, visible when the book is on a shelf.
Spine crack (subway) test - A test to determine the adhesive binding performance of a perfect bound or cover drawn on book. A sample book has the covers opened until they touch. At quarter, half and three-quarter places the book is fully opened. A check is then made for any loose pages, cover separation or adhesion faults.Spiral Binding - Book bound with wires in spiral form inserted through holes punched along the binding side.
Stock Paper or other material to be printed and bound.
Strawboard Board used in bookbinding for front and back covers. The board is covered by suitable cover material e.g cloth or leather or laminated paper.
Tail Margin from the bottom of the type area to the bottom of the page.
Tail-Piece Illustration or decoration at the end of a book or chapter
Text Body matter of a page or book, as distinguished from headings.
Thermoplastic Binding perfect or burst binding. A form of binding in which the pages are attached to a cover by means of a heat set plastic adhesive.
Thread Seal (Sew) A method of sewing where each section is sewn to hold in all pages in that section, but the sections are not sewn to each other as is section sewing.
Throw-Out Folded map or plan printed and bound in a book to fold out to a size larger than the page size.
Thumb Index Alphabetical or subject index cut into the fore-edge of a book (thumb cut) to facilitate quick reference. Dictionaries are sometimes thumb cut.
Tipped-In Illustration or other printed matter separately from the main work and pasted in correct position at its inner edge to the page following or preceding it.
Title Page - Right-hand page at the front of a book following the half-title page. The title page shows the title of the book, the author's name, the publisher's name and the year of publication.
Trim Marks - Marks placed on copy to indicate the edge of the page for trimming.
Unders Numbers of copies short of the quantity ordered.
Up - In printing, two-up, three-up, etc. Refers to imposition of material to be printed on a larger size sheet than would be necessary for only that material, to take advantage of full press and binder capacity.
Veranda Projection of the boards beyond the head, fore-edge and tail of a book. Sometimes known as squares.
Verso - left-hand page of a book.
Wire-O Binding - Continuous double series of wire loops run through punched slots along the binding side of a booklet.
With the Grain A term applied to folding paper parallel to the grain of the paper.
