A-size envelopes: A family of envelopes used for smaller cards and invitations. These envelopes are available as standard products for most specialty papers.

AAs (Author’s Alterations): Used by printers to designate changes made by the client in printer proofs. AAs result in additional charges.

accessibility for Web sites: Standards and practices that render web sites more accessible to people with disabilities, such as blind users who can't see images.

accordion fold: A foldout brochure that opens like the folds of an accordion.

bad break: 1. A word hyphenated incorrectly at the end of a line of type. 2. A misleading or unsightly arrangement of type at the bottom or top of a page or column, a word or two set at the top of a page or column, or a subheading falling at the bottom of a page or column.

barrel fold: A very common fold used in most trifold brochures. The right side of the paper folds in, and the other panels keep roll-folding in until the last panel becomes the front cover and opens left.

binding: 1. The cover for the pages of a publication. 2. The process by which a cover is attached; for example, saddlewire, adhesive, or spiral.

bleed: A block of color or type that extends to the edge of the printed piece. For a printing estimate to be accurate, a printer must know if a publication will have bleeds.

blind emboss: To create a raised image without ink or foil.

blind folio: A page number that does not appear in print; for example, a blank page carries a blind folio.

bluelines: A one-color (usually blue) printer proof generated from film that shows a piece in its finished form. The blueline accurately reflects the position of type, graphics, and images. This proof should be reviewed carefully for editorial errors, placement errors, and inconsistencies. (As technology advances and more printers generate plates digitally, bluelines are being replaced by color proofs.)

boards: A representative printout of the design, typically used for a design presentation, pasted onto large cardboard sheets.

booklet envelope: A family of different-sized envelopes in which the opening is along the long side of the envelope. These are available in numerous standard sizes and paper brands.

body type: Type used for the main text in a printed piece or on a Web site.

catalog envelope: A family of different-sized
envelopes in which the opening is along the short edge of the envelope. These are available in numerous standard sizes and paper brands.

coated paper: Paper to which a surface coating has been added. Coated papers can range from matte to very shiny finishes.

color proofs: Proofs that show the project in full color. Color proofs for projects printed with Pantone inks may not be completely accurate, so color should be assessed using Pantone chips or drawdowns. Four-color–process proofs should be very accurate, or perhaps slightly lighter, than the final printed piece.

copyedit: To edit for accuracy and for the application of a consistent style.

cover stock: Weights of coated or uncoated stock suitable for the cover of a document. The standard weight for publications is 80# cover. Note: Cover weight can be used as text pages in a brochure.
 

digital proofs: Proofs created straight from a computer file. As the technology advances, digital proofs are becoming more accurate and more popular, replacing film proofs (see “bluelines”). With digital proofs, any AA charges are less costly because making changes is easier. Printers tend to have certain brands of proofs including rainbows, iris, Kodak approvals, and Pola proofs.

display type: Type that is larger than body type, used for headings, title pages, and so on.

domain name: The address, or URL, of a Web site. For example, www.neu.edu is the domain name for Northeastern University.

drawdown: A sample of a Pantone or special-mix ink printed on the requested paper. A drawdown is useful in deciding between two similar colors, or it can be used as a tool to proof the desired ink color.

drop folio: A folio printed at the bottom of a page.

duotone: A halftone reproduction that consists of two intensities of the same color, or black and a color, or two colors.

emboss: To create a raised image or raised type by using a stamp. When no color or foil is added, it’s called a blind emboss.

flat size: The size of a piece before it is folded and bound.

flopped: Inversion, sometimes accidental, of an image, such as a photograph, so that its mirror image is produced.

foil: The metallic leaf used in stamping.

folio: The page number displayed at the foot or head of a page.

font: The complete assortment of a given size and style of type, including capitals, small capitals, and lowercase letters, along with numbers, punctuation marks, and commonly used symbols and accent marks.

font family: A group of fonts used on a Web site. At Northeastern, we use Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif.

four-color process: Printing in "full color" where photographs and type can replicate in any color(s). This process is also referred to as CMYK, named after the four inks used: cyan, magenta, yellow, and black.

gatefold: A foldout that opens to double the page size.

GIF: A file format for graphics used on the web. Usually appropriate for simpler images, such as logos, lettering, cartoons, and line drawings. For more complicated images, such as photos, see JPG.

gutter: The margin where the insides of two facing pages meet.

halftone: A process by which an image, especially a photograph, is represented through the use of dots of varying sizes. When printed, the dots merge to give the illusion of continuous tone.

hard copy: A printout of text, a Web page, or artwork.

HTML: A mark-up language that uses tags to structure web site text into headings, paragraphs, lists, and links. It tells a browser how to display Web text and images. You can see a web page's HTML code if you select view source from the View menu in your Web browser.

JPG: A file format for graphics used on the Web. Usually appropriate for photos, artwork, and other complicated images. For simpler graphics, see GIF.

justify: To format type in such a way so that both margins are aligned.

kerning: The adjustment of the space between characters to avoid unsightly gaps.

knock out: Also known as k.o. Type or an image that reverses out to the paper and requires no ink.

launch: The moment when a Web site "goes live" on the Internet and is available to the public, as in, "When are you launching your Web site?"

layout: The designer’s formatting of text and illustrations.

number 10: 1. Name for a standard-size business envelope. 2. Also, printed pieces that easily fit into such an envelope (for example, a #10 brochure).

overrun: Delivery by the printer of more than the desired quantity of a printed piece. Vendors usually charge a percentage of the unit cost for each extra piece delivered. As with underruns, the industry standard is 10 percent of the requested quantity. Northeastern University has a policy of not accepting more than 5 percent overrun of the requested quantity.

PCE: The project cost estimate, which breaks down the estimated costs of producing a piece.

PEs (Printer’s Errors): Used to designate errors in printer’s proofs that are the fault of the printer. PEs will be corrected at no cost to the client.

Pantone: Ink matching system used universally by printers and designers. These inks are used as spot colors instead of, or in addition to, four-color process. Pantone inks are referenced by their individually assigned number. Also known as PMS colors.

perfect binding: A method of binding a book in which the pages are glued into the cover at the spine. A common method for producing catalogs and magazines, perfect binding is most economical when producing pieces with high page counts and high quantities. The spine of the book must be at least 1/16 inch to consider perfect binding. Unlike saddlewire, page count in a perfect bound book can vary although it is most cost-effective to produce books with page counts divisible by four.

pica: Twelve points, or approximately 1/6 inch.

point: One twelfth of a pica, or approximately 1/72 inch.

press check: To review a project while it is printing. The designer or production manager can adjust color levels to make the piece look its best. A press check is recommended for high-profile and four-color–process pieces.

print run: The number of copies printed.

process color: Also known as four-color process. (See "four-color process.")

proofread: To read layouts or proofs closely, usually against the manuscript, to review their accuracy.

reverse out: When a solid block of color surrounds white type or an image, the type or image is said to reverse out.

revise(s): Corrected proof(s).

roman: Regular type, as opposed to italic type.

rule: A thin line on a printed page or a Web page.

run in: To merge copy without beginning a new line or new paragraph.

running foot: The copy along the bottom (or foot) of a page that informs the reader of location in the publication.

running head: The copy along the top (or head) of a page that indicates section heading, publication title, or publication author.

saddlestitch: Binding option usually used for booklets where staples are affixed along the binding. Also called a saddlewire binding.

scanning: Process of converting photographs and drawings to an electronic computer file suitable for printing.

screen: 1. Using a spot color at less than 100 percent. 2. A halftone screen; also the dot pattern in the printed image produced by such a screen.

search engine optimization (SEO): The process of selecting keywords, page titles, and text that accurately reflect the content of a Web site, and placing them within a meta tag to catch the attention of search engines, and the people who use them.

self-cover: A cover printed on the same paper stock used for the publication’s text pages.

self-mailer: A publication with a mailing panel that allows the piece to be mailed without an envelope. Self-mailers must fit within the U.S. Postal Service’s regulations for first-class or bulk-rate mail.

show-through: An undesirable effect in which printed matter on one side of the sheet is visible through the other side.

small caps: Small capital letters that are approximately the same size as that font’s lowercase x.

solid: Using a spot color at 100 percent.

spot varnish: A glossy or dull protective coating applied to an area of a printed piece.

stamp: To imprint an image or type; foil or ink may be added to a stamped image.

stock: Paper used in printing or binding.

style: The rules of uniformity in spelling, punctuation, grammar, structure, abbreviations, and other matters of English usage. Creative Services has style guides for both print and Web.

tearsheets: 1. Actual pages pulled from a publication in which an article or advertisement has run. 2. Manuscript created from the printed pages of a publication or book.

text stock: Weights of coated or uncoated stock suitable for use as text pages of a document. The standard weight for publications is 80# or 100# stock. Text stock also can be used as a cover on a self-cover piece or for posters and self-mailers.

thumbnails: Small images of a design. Also, smaller versions of Web images.

trim size: The finished size of a printed piece.

typeface: The design or style characteristics of a complete font of type.

uncoated paper: Paper with no coating added. Finishes and colors span a wide range of options. Most specialty papers are uncoated.

underrun: Delivery by a printer of less than the desired quantity of a printed piece. As with overruns, the industry standard is 10 percent of the requested quantity. Northeastern University has a policy of not accepting underruns from its vendors.

University style: The style used by Northeastern University, explained in the publications style guide and the Web style guide.

varnish: A protective coating, either glossy or dull, applied to a printed piece.

widow: A short last line of a paragraph appearing at the top of a page; a word or part of a word appearing alone as the last line of a paragraph.