- DESCRIPTION:
- What type of printing item do you need the printing quote for? (Book printing, brochure printing, and catalog printing).
- QUANTITY:
- How many of the items printing do you need? It is a good idea to bracket your printing quote up, as the unit pricing is more favorable once you are on a printing press and running.
- NUMBER OF PAGES:
- How many pages does your book printing or printed brochure have? This is different from how many sheets of paper you are printing with (a sheet of paper has two sides and is therefore two pages).
- TRIM SIZE FOLDED:
- What is the size of your final piece that is printing, once folded. (Example: if you fold a letter to fit an envelope, the folded size is the "trim size folded=3 2/3 x 8 1/2"
- FLAT/SPREAD SIZE:
- This is the size of your piece that you are printing, before folding. (Example: an 8 1/2 x 11" 4 page brochure spread out as a 2 page "spread" would be 17 x 11”) Note: The width is always the first dimension given.
- TEXT STOCK:
- The paper you require for the inside of your periodical that you are printing or entire piece if there is not a different cover paper when printing.
- COVER STOCK:
- This is the paper you require for the outside 4 pages of your periodical you are printing and differs in either weight or style from the inside text.
- TEXT INK:
- The ink you require for the inside of your piece you are printing. This is described by the number of inks you require and the two numbers used are separated by a slash sign “/”. If the front of your piece that you are printing has 4 colors and the back has 1, then your piece would be described as 4/1 or "four over one". There are 2 main kinds of inks, CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow and black) for process, such as color photos and Pantone inks also known as spot color.
- COVER INK:
- If different from the printing of the text.
- BLEEDS:
- A bleed occurs when your design allows the ink to the very edge of the paper you are printing on.
- CAMERA READY ART:
- This is art on board or paper output that can be photographed. Photographs should not be included within the camera-ready art, but photographed as "half tones" in a separate process.
- COMPOSED FILM:
- This is print ready film that requires no other work than "stripping" for plating.
- OUTPUT READY DISK:
- A disk that is complete and does not require any further production.
- SCANS:
- Scanning is the process that records your images as a digital file from a photograph.
- HALF TONES:
- A black and white photo shot with a camera with a honeycombed lens or scanned for single color.
- DESIGN:
- Combining your type, images, colors logo and other items into a finished eye pleasing piece.
- OUTPUT FILM:
- To rip your digital files and recreate your art as final film.
- BLUE LINES:
- A contact proof from the film used to verify that the film is correct.
- COLOR KEY:
- A contact proof from the film made from acetate. There is one sheet per process color, which is overlaid with each other to verify that your color film is correct.
- MATCH PRINT:
- A multiple piece of contact proofing that is pieced together and laminated as a single piece. This is the most accurate proofing method.
- DIE SCORE OR CUT:
- To die score a piece is to make a "steel rule" die, composed of thin pieces of steel that will stamp a line or rule where your piece needs to fold. This action compresses the paper and allows for ease of folding and prevents cracking. To die cut is to create a steel rule die and to cut the printed piece like a cookie. The most common example of this is a "presentation folder or press kit with pocket".
- FOLD TYPE:
- The type of fold you require in order to finish your piece. A letter fold is a paper folded in thirds with each end folding towards the center.
- SADDLE STITCH:
- Two staples added to the center of the piece on the fold line.
- PERFECT BIND:
- A squared off edge with scored hinges for ease of opening and glued in pages define this type of bindery. An example would be your standard "pocket" or "soft cover" from a book printer.
- PERFORATE:
- To perforate or die score in holes that allow one to cleanly remove a coupon or page from the piece with ease.
- HOLES:
- Punching or drilling to allow for insertion to a binder or other use.
- FOIL:
- A stamping tool, known as a die, stamps a material onto the paper. The material usually is seen as metallic gold or silver.
- EMBOSS:
- To stamp the paper from the rear with a die in order to create a raised effect. De-bossing would stamp the paper from the front in order to create a sunken effect.
