Jargon Buster
Laying out what the options are and clarifying the terminology 4-Colour - A printing process that uses black (K) in addition to the primary colours (CMY).
6-Colour - A pronting process that uses black (K), light cyan (Lc) and light magenta (Lm) in addition to the primary colours (CMY)
BAT (Bon à tirer) - The final proof accepted by the end-user that is used as the standard for comparing printouts. Normally printers require a signed BAT before production printing to confirm an order.
Bitmap - An image made up of individual pixels (rather than vector coordinates); developed by Microsoft; the file extension is .bmp.
Bleeding - Spreading of ink into the paper or on the surface causing diffusion of the surroundings of shapes and indistinct edges.
Burn - A CD burner is the informal name for a CD recorder. In the recording process, the data is actually etched into the disc (burned) with a laser.
CMYK - Subtractive colour coding system used in inkjet printers for combining primary colours (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black) to produce a full colour image.
Coating - Inkjet receptive layer on a film or paper that fixes inks
Cockle - Puckering or warping of an image after printing due to uneven surface, excessive humidity oroversaturation of ink.
Cyan - The “blue” colour in 4-colour CMYK printing; commonly know as process cyan.
Die-Cutting - The use of a sharp, formed piece of metal to cut out contours in a substrate, for example in self adhesive vinyl to make stickers.
Digital Printer - Any printer capable of transforming digital data files into material copies. The most common printing technologies are thermal inkjet, piezo-electric inkjet, thermal transfer, electrostatic, off-set and laser.
DPI - Dots Per Inch
Dye Sublimation - Colour printing technology in which the images are printed in reverse on a carrier and then transferred to the final substrate; heat or pressure activated.
Encapsulating - Sealing the whole print in plastic for extra durability and waterproofing.
EPS - Encapsulated Postscript; graphic file format that includes 2 images, a resolution independent description of the page layout and content, and a low resolution bitmap picture used to preview the high resolution image; developed by Adobe Systems.
Eyeleting - Allowing you to hang the print easily and smartly.
Floor Graphics - Digital images applied on floors protected by a tough grained laminate.
Full Bleed - Printed picture or background that extends to the final trim edge of the media.
Gamut - The colour range scanable, printable or displayable by a device e.g. if some of the displayable colours are outside the gamut of the printer, they cannot be printed.
GIF - Graphic Interchange Format; a graphic file format that allows exchange of image files across platforms; developed by CompuServe.
Gloss/Matt/Satin - The different coatings on material which effect both the light reflected and the absorption of the ink into the material, gloss is shiny, satin not so shiny and matt a flat coated or uncoated.
GSM/Microns - Weight, which is measured in Grams per square metre of material, this is unlikely to be the same as thickness, which is measured in microns.
Index Colour - Is the provision of a relatively small number (256) discrete colours in a palette.
Indoor/Outdoor - Some materials, (most papers), will quickly come apart in the rain, the wind and sun should also be considered, some Inks are resistant to both sunlight and water.
Inkjet - Printing process where ink is projected as dots onto a substrate in a pattern to form an image. The most common technologies are thermal inkjet that heats ink in the printhead to the boiling point and piezo-electric inkjet that applies an electric charge to a piezo-crystal which in turn changes its shape and thus expels the ink through the nozzles.
Laminating - Usually onto one side a thin plastic coating to protect the image.
Mounting - A choice of boards for different purposes.
Pantone/CMYK - Pantone is a specific colour printed using a single premixed ink, many digital processes including ours, recreate an approximation of that colour through a combination of CMYK inks on the machine.
PDF - Portable Document Format; graphic file format that allows distribution of unalterable documents with the original formatting including pictures and fonts across platforms; developed by Adobe Systems Inc.
Pixel - A pixel is the small square picture element that is filled with colour. Pixels come in various sizes and their size is expressed in terms of resolution.
POS - Point of Sale, advertising at the sales counter of retails shops and stores with direct customer exposure; sometimes also called POP (Point of Purchase).
PVC - Polyvinyl Chloride commonly called vinyl; soft thin plasticised film, mostly white or clear in a variety of surface finishes (gloss, satin, lustre, matt). For printing applications normally self-adhesive; available coated or uncoated; clear versions also used as laminates.
RGB - Red, Green and Blue. The three primary components of white light.
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