Printing Progress Brochure

195 TECHNICAL TERMS AND NOTES The special sublimation dyes have a special quality that turns them from a solid state to a gas at a certain temperature without going through a liquid state. The dye can be absorbed into the material or product coating. When cooling down the material seals the dye making the print extremely wash-proof. The image is not on the surface, but rather part of the surface. Thermal Transfer - A technology that uses heat to deposit dye or resin onto a finished product. It works by using heat and pressure to transfer the ink off the ribbon and onto the substrate that it is in contact with. Trap - a slight overlapping area where two colours meet. Traps ensure that slight errors with print registration do not show up as white gaps on the printed product. INDUSTRY AND TECHNICAL TERMS Bitmap / Raster Graphics Files - The image content is made up of pixels where the pixels contain the information for position, size, angular position and colour and can be addressed individually. These formats are not recommended for promotional products production. Graphics file formats which are Bitmaps: PSD - Adobe Photoshop, EPS - Encapsulated Postscript File, TIFF - Tagged Information File Format, BMP - Windows Bitmap. Caliper - Thickness of paper or other substrate. Camera Ready - Artwork supplied that is of a high quality and ready to be printed. Copy - Any words, sentences or paragraphs or other text to be printed. Crop - To trim or remove unwanted portions from an image. Drop Shipment - An order shipped to more than one location will be charged a fee for each additional destination. DPI (Dots Per Inch) - A measurement of how many (ink or print) dots can fit into one inch. The higher the amount of dots the sharper the image will be. 300 DPI is generally classed as high resolution. EPS (Encapsulated Postscript File) - A file format that transfers easily between computer systems. Often used for high- resolution images that will be added to another document. File Format - Each different type of file has a format. A file format specifies how information is organized. (EPS is a standard format supported by many programs). Font - The term used to describe a complete typeset from a particular typeface style. Examples of these include Helvetica, Times New Roman, Arial etc. FTP (File Transfer Protocol) - The process of copying files between computers over the Internet. Fulfilment: The process of packaging and shipping an order for a distributor. GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) - Is a bitmap image format that was introduced by Compuserve in 1987 and has since come into widespread usage on the World Wide Web due to its wide support and portability. GIF images are generally not well suited for quality printing. High-res - The resolution (Res) of an image indicates the number of dots per inch (dpi). High resolution is usually anywhere from 300 dpi to 2,500 dpi. JPEG or JPG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) - A commonly used method of lossy compression for digital images, particularly for those images produced by digital photography. The degree of compression can be adjusted, allowing a selectable trade- off between storage size and image quality. JPEG typically achieves 10:1 compression with little perceptible loss in image quality. Lead Time - The amount of time required to produce and deliver an order, once an order has been received and approved. Less than Minimum - The fee charged by a supplier for ordering 50% fewer items than the quantity listed in the minimum or first column. This option is not always available on all products. Line Art - Black and white artwork that does not contain any halftone screens. Low-Res - The resolution of an image indicates the number of dots per inch (dpi). Low resolution is usually anywhere from 72 dpi to 250 dpi. Overs / Unders - The number of products that were printed in excess of the quantity specified / the production run of fewer products than the amount specified. The industry standard on most products is + / -5%, with the exception being on paper and plastic bags, which can be up to + / -10%. Pantone Matching System (PMS) - The industry standard colour scale used to precisely match colours for printing. Each colour has a specific unique coded number indicating instructions for mixing inks to achieve the desired colour. Pre-production Sample - An actual physical sample of the product itself produced prior to production. Photoshop - Industry-standard image editing software made by Adobe. PNG (Portable Network Graphics) - Is a raster graphics file format that supports lossless data compression. PNG was created as an improved, non-patented replacement for Graphics Interchange Format (GIF), and is the most used lossless image compression format on the Internet. PostScript - Is a language for printing, meaning it treats fonts, images and graphics as geometrical objects and stores it into one document. Premium - A product or service offered free or at a reduced price if the recipient performs some task, such as purchasing an item, meeting a sales quota, etc. Usually consumer-related. Production Time - The amount of time needed to produce and ship an order, once an order has been received and approved. Stock products with a one-color imprint usually ship within 10-12 working days. Custom products and multi-colour imprints require longer production time. Proofs - A digital representation of artwork on a product. There are five main types of pre-production proof. Paper proof - A printed representation of the colour, size and position of the design. PDF Proof - A digital layout of the item showing the print / decorating position and the print / decorating size to scale. Cromalin Proof /Wet Proof - Seldomseen these days, a high quality photographic run-out of the print used as an accurate colour guide. Digital Proof - Digital photographs or computer generation of the product / print. Full Proof - A physical printed / decorated sample of the product itself. Proof Approval - Proofs are sent for approval by the customer before an order goes into full production. Sometimes proofs can be done live on press at the start of a print run. Register / Registration – Positioning of elements in printing so the images will be located precisely. Resolution - The quantity of pixels that can fit into one inch determines the sharpness and quality of an image. For example, 72 dpi is low-res, 300 dpi high-res). Reverse - A design or text appearing in white or other light colour on a black or dark background. Sometimes called a knockout. RGB (Red, Green, Blue) - When mixed together these colours create white (light). (Example: televisions and computers display colour in RGB.) Run-on - Extra copies above the number of those originally requested. A run-on price is much cheaper per item since the printing set-up costs are part of the price of the print run ordered. Set-up Charge - A fee charged for the creation of screens, foil blocks, embroidery tapes, die stamps or laser tools which applies to most products. Spot Colour - Refers to a method of specifying and printing colours in which each colour is printed with its own ink. Typesetting - To lay out words, text and logos for printing. Vector(ised) artwork - Artwork where the lines, shapes and colours that make up a piece of artwork are stored within the file as mathematical formulae to ensure accurate reproduction as the artwork is enlarged or reduced to fit a particular print area. They are more flexible than bitmapped images because they can be resized / stretched and placed over other images without a white block. (Example: an Illustrator EPS is a vector image.) Web Page Graphics - Graphic images designed for the web are not suitable for use as artwork in promotional products or paper print production. Web page graphics are typically created at 72 dpi. Check to see if high resolution versions are available.