| Question |
Answer |
| Blanket |
A fabric placed around the blanket cylinder of the press. It receives the inked image from the plate cylinder. |
| Blanket cylinder |
A cylinder of the press which holds the blanket. |
| Bleed |
Any printed material which runs off the edge of the page. |
| Chain delivery |
Positive control of each sheet as it is placed in delivery position |
| Color separation |
Separating artwork of colored prints or transparencies into three or four process colors |
| Continuous tone copy |
A full range of tones from white to black. A black and white photograph is one example. |
| Crop marks |
Marks placed on the image (photograph or illustration) telling the printer what portion is to be printed. |
| Cylinders |
Drum found on the press to support the plate, blanket and the printing stock white it is being printed. |
| Dampeners |
Rollers distribute moisture to the plate |
| Dampening solution |
Solution which keeps the non-image area of the plate clean |
| Densitometer |
An instrument that measures densities of film |
| Density |
A very dense area will not allow light to pass through or reflect light from it, while a light area will allow more light to through or reflect from its surface. |
| Developer |
A chemical solution which creates an image on a piece of film after the film is exposed to the light. |
| Developing |
Preparing the image carrier (printing plate) |
| Distributor roller |
Rollers between the fountain roller and the form roller. |
| Dots |
Small to large clear areas in a negative or positive made by contact screen. |
| Ductor roller |
In the offset inking system, a roller which alernatelv contacts the fountain roller and a distribution roller. |
| Dummy |
As it will appear after printing ; a sample specification. |
| Duplicator |
A small printing machine |
| Feeder |
A section of the press which delivers a sheet to be printed. |
| Flat |
A material which supports the film negative or positive |
| Form rollers |
Ink roller which re-inks the plate |
| Fountain solution |
Water-acid mixture which covers the non image area while printing. |
| Gripper |
Devices on the impression cylinder which holds the sheet while its being printed |
| Gripper edge |
The leading edge or first part of a sheet to go through the press. |
| Gum |
Liquid placed on the surface of the image carrier to protect it when its not being ran. |
| Halftone |
A photograph broken up into a variety of dot sizes which gives a graduation of tones. |
| Impression |
Placing an image on stock, such as paper. |
| Impression Cylinder |
Holds and presses the sheet against the blanket cylinder of the press |
| INK |
The material, which comes in many colors, that adheres to the image area of the press. |
| Ink fountain |
ink supply area on the press. |
| Ink rollers |
Supply ink to the image area of the image carrier. |
| Lithography |
Printing from a flat surface; based on the principle that oil and water do not mix. |
| Masking sheets |
Stock which will filter out ultraviolet rays to which negatives and positives are attached |
| Masking tape |
A light blocking tape used to attach negatives or positives to the masking sheet. |
| Offset lithography |
Printing from a flat surface using the transfer image process; based on the principle that water and oil do not mix. |
| Opaquing |
Painting out an area so that light cannot pass through. |
| Padding |
Gluing one edge of stacked sheets together, used for making scratch pads. |
| Plateband |
Space needed to attach the plate to the cylinder. |
| Press |
The unit which prints a printed product. |
| Proof |
A copy of the final material which is checked against the original. |
| Register |
Accurate positioning of material so that it will line up with another. |
| Register marks |
Symbols used to line up one image with another. |
| Register pins |
Pins which hold the plate flat in exact position while burning plate |
| Signature |
Large sheet of paper, containing several pages, folded down to size of single page. |