AA's: Short for Author's Alterations. It means copy that's been changed after it's already been typeset, at the request of the author or client.

Adobe Acrobat: Suite of applications to create and view PDF files.

Acid-free Paper: Paper made from pulp containing little or no acid so it resists deterioration from age. Also called alkaline paper, archival paper, neutral pH paper, permanent paper and thesis paper.

Acid Resist: An acid-proof protective coating applied to metal plates prior to etching.

Additive Color: color produced by light falling onto a surface,as compared to subtractive color. The additive primary colors are red, green and blue.

A4 Paper: ISO paper size 210 x 297mm used for Letterhead.

Acetate: A transparent sheet placed over originals or artwork, allowing the designer to write instructions and\or indicate a second color for placement.

Against the Grain: At right angles to the grain direction of the paper being used, as compared to with the grain Also called across the grain and cross grain. See also
Grain Direction.

Airbrush: Pen-shaped tool that sprays a fine mist of ink or paint to retouch photos and create continuous-tone illustrations.

Alteration: Any change made by the customer after copy or artwork has bee given to the service bureau, separator or printer. The change could be in copy, specifications or both. Also called AA, author alteration and customer alteration.

Anodized Plate: An offset printing plate having a treated surface in order to reduce wear for extended use.

Anti-Aliasing: The process of removing or reducing the jagged distortions in curves and diagonal lines so that lines appear smooth or smoother.

Anti-offset Powder: Fine powder lightly sprayed over the printed surface of coated paper as sheets leave a press. Also called dust, offset powder, powder and spray powder.

Antique Paper: Roughest finish offered on offset paper.

ASCII: Acronym for "American Standard Code For Information Interchange". This is a standard for assigning numerical codes to characters and control codes. Specifically, an 8-bit code is used with seven-bits representing characters, letters, numbers, punctuation and symbols, with the eighth bit used for parity checks.

Aqueous Coating: Coating in a water bas and applied like ink by a printing press to protect
and enhance the printing underneath.

Artwork: All original copy, including type, photos and illustrations, intended for
printing. Also called at.

Author's Alterations (AA's): At the proofing stage, changes that the client requests to be made
concerning original art provided. AA's are considered an additional cost to
the client usually.

B

Back Up: (1) To print on the second side of a sheet already printed on one side. (2)
To adjust an image on one side of a sheet so tat it aligns back-to-back
with an image on the other side.

Base Art: Copy pasted up on the mounting board of a mechanical, as compared to overlay
art. Also called base mechanical.

Base Negative: Negative made by photographing base art.

Basic Size: The standard size of sheets of paper used to calculate basis weight in the United States and Canada.

Basis Weight: In the United States and Canada, the weight, in pounds, of a ream (500
sheets) of paper cut to the basic size. Also called ream weight and substance weight (sub weight). In countries using ISO paper sizes, the weight, in grams, f one square meter of paper. Also called grammage and
ream weight.

Bid: Usually in the book arena, but not exclusively, the joining of leafs or signatures together with ether wire, glue or other means.

Bindery: Usually a department within a printing company responsible for collating, folding and trimming various printing projects.

Blank: Category of paperboard ranging in thickness from 15 to 48 points.

Blanket: ubber-coated pad, mounted on a cylinder of an offset press, that receives the inked image from the plate nd transfers it to the surface to be printed.

Bleed:Printing that extends to the edge of a sheet or page after trimming.

Blind Folio: A page number not printed on the page. (In the book arena, a blank page traditionally does not print a age number.)

Blind Image: Image debossed, embossed or stamped, but not printed with ink or foil.

Blocking: ticking together of printed sheets causing damage when the surfaces are separated.

Blow-Up: An enlargement, usually used with graphic images or photographs

Blueline: Preress photographic proof made from stripped negatives where all colors show as blue images on white paper. Because 'blueline' is a generic term for proofs made from a variety of materials having identical purposes and similar appearances, it may also be called a backprint, blue, blueprint, brown line, brown print, diazo, dyeline, ozalid, position proof, silverprint, Dylux and VanDyke.

Blurb: A description or commentary of an author or book content positioned on the book jacket.

Board Paper: General term for paper over 110# index, 80# cover or 200 gsm that is commonly used for products such as file folders, displays and post cards. Also called paperboard.

Body: The main text of work not including the headlines.

Boiler Plate: Blocks of repetitive type used and copied over and over again.

Bond paper: Category of paper commonly used for writing, printing and photocopying. Also called business paper, communication paper, correspondence paper and writing paper.

Book Block: Folded signatures gathered, sewn and trimmed, but not yet covered.

Book Paper: Category of paper suitable for books, magazines, catalogs, advertising and general printing needs. Book paper is divided into uncoated paper (also called offset paper), coated paper (also called art paper enamel paper, gloss paper and slick paper) and text paper.

Border: The decorative design or rule surrounding matter on a page.

Bounce: (1) a repeating registration problem in the printing stage of production. (2) Customer unhappy with the results of a printing project and refuses to accept the project.

Bristol aper: General term referring to paper 6 points or thicker with basis weight between 90# and 200# (200-500 gsm). Used for products such as index cards, file folders and displays.

Broadside: The term used to indicate work printed on one f a large sheet of paper.

Bromide: A photographic print created on bromide paper.

Broken Carton: Carton of paper from which some of the sheets have been sold. Also called less carton.

Bronzing: The effect produced by dusting wet ink after printing and using a metallic powder.

Build a Color: To overlap two o more screen tints to create a new color. Such an overlap is called a build, color build, stacked screen build or tint build.

Bulk: Thickness of paper relative to its basic weight.

Bullet: A dot or similar marking t emphasize text.

Burst Perfect Bind: To bind by forcing glue into notches along the spines of gathered signatures before affixing a paper cover. also called burst bind, notch bind and slotted bind.

Butt Register: Register where ink colors meet precisely without overlapping or allowing space between, as compared to lap register. Also called butt fit and kiss register.

Buy Out: To subcontract for a service that is closely related to the business of the organization. Also called farm out. Work that is ought out or farmed out is sometimes called outwork or referred to as being out of house.