Z

zig-zag folding – Folding used with continuous forms with alternating position (head and foot). Commonly used to convert roll paper to easily managed flat-back.

Y

Yankee dryer – A device that dries paper as it comes off the wet end of the papermaking machine by pressing one side against a cylinder that steam-heats it and imparts a glazed finish at the same time.

yellow – Hue of a subtractive primary and a 4-color process ink. It reflects red and green light and absorbs blue light.

yellowing – Describes a transformation inherent to all vegetable fibers which is caused by aging. Paper made of vegetable fibers will turn various degrees of yellow as its environment couples with aging to produce this phenomenon. Yellowing is very evident in groundwood papers and only a few hours in direct sunlight is enough to yellow newspaper.

X

xerography – Copying process that uses a selenium surface and electrostatic forces to form an image.

W

walk-off – Deterioration of part of image area on plate during printing.

warm color – Color of ink falling in the red-orange-yellow family.

wash-up – Operation between ink/color changes. Time required between ink color changes.

water ball roller – A roller which runs in the fountain solution pan.

water fountain – The metal trough on a lithographic press which holds the dampening solution.

water in ink – A press condition of too much water, which breaks down ink.

water resistance – Quality of a sheet of paper to resist penetration by water from one surface to the other.

waterless plate – In platemaking, printing on a press using special waterless plates and no dampening system.

watermark – A term referring to the impression of a design, pattern or symbol in a sheet while it is being formed on the paper machine wire. It appears in the finished sheet as either a lighter or darker area than the rest of the paper. Two types of watermarks are available. A shaded watermark is produced by a dandy roll located at or near the suction box on the Fourdrinier. The desired design is pressed into the wire covering the surface of the dandy roll similar to an intaglio engraving. As the wet pulp moves along the web the dandy roll presses down and creates an accumulation of fibers, thus the watermark is seen as being darker than the rest of the sheet. The second type of watermark, called a wire mark, is accomplished by impressing a dandy roll with a raised surface pattern into the moving paper web in a similar manner to the shaded mark. This creates and area with less fiber making it lighter and more translucent Placement. Watermarks come in a variety of placement styles. Random, the least expensive to create, is a watermark that appears repetitively throughout the sheet in no particular order. A localized watermark is one that appears in a predetermined position on each sheet. Paraded watermarks appear in a line, either vertically or horizontally on each sheet. A staggered watermark pattern consists of several watermarks on each sheet in a predetermined fashion. See dandy roll.

waviness – Characteristic of a pile of sheets when the outer edges retain more moisture from the air than the center does or when the center retains more moisture then the outer edges do. It is a form of paper curl.

wavy edges – A warping, “wave like” effect in paper which is the result of the edges of the sheet having picked up moisture and expanded to a larger size.

web – Roll of paper used in web or rotary presses and most often folded, pasted and converted in one continuous form. Also a ribbon of paper as it unwinds from a roll and threads through the press.

web break – Break in a roll of paper while it is on the machine during manufacturing or while on the printing press during production.

web offset paper – Paper that is made to be printed in a continuous manner from a roll. It can be coated or uncoated and must be strong enough to withstand the rigors of web offset printing at high speeds.

web press – An offset press that uses web paper as opposed to sheet fed paper.

web tension – Amount of pull applied in direction of the travel of a web of paper by the action of a web-fed press.

weight tolerance – Acceptable degree of variation in a paper’s shipped weight, usually within 5 percentage of the paper’s nominal weight.

well-closed formation – Bonding of fibers in a sheet that provides overall uniformity. Opposite of wild.

well-sized – Hard sized.

wet rolls – Water or dampness on the edge of the roll can weld or bond the paper together, which will then break on the infeed, a problem easily determined by the press crew.

wet rub test – A test of the moisture resistance of paper.

wet strength - The strength retained by a sheet when completely wetted with water; generally, tensile strength.

wet-end – Beginning of the paper machine where the headbox, moving wire and press section are located. At this point the paper is still a suspension of fiber and water.

wet-end finish – Category of finishes such as antique, eggshell, vellum applied to the wet paper web by machine rolls and the presses at the wet end of the papermaking machine.

wet-strength - Wet strength is measured most accurately as the percentage ratio of wet-tensile strength to dry-tensile strength. Example: a paper containing 30% wet strength actually possesses 30 percent of its original dry-tensile strength.

wet-strength papers – Once wet, ordinary papers lose most of their original dry-strength properties. Wet strength papers possess properties that resist disintegration and rupture when saturated with water. Papers are classified wet strength when they retain 15 percent or more of their dry-tensile strength. Superior quality wet strength papers may retain as much as 50 percent or more dry strength following immersing in water. Wet strength papers range in weight from tissue to paperboard.

wetting agent – A material capable of lowering the surface tension of water and water solutions and increasing their wetting powers.

white paper – A tern often applied to printing and writing grade papers and envelopes.

whiteness – Whiteness of pulp and paper is generally indicated by its brightness.

whitewater – Water that has been used in the papermaking process that is milky in color.

wholesaler – See distributor.

winder - Unit at the end of the paper machine that takes the paper web from the reel, trims it, winds it into rolls and slits it to make smaller rolls if desired.

wire – At the wet end of the paper machine, a copper, bronze or synthetic screen that receives the suspension of water and fiber from the head-box. The wire moves the suspension along to the dry end of the machine. The wire terminates at the couch roll at which point the paper web is 90 percent water and can be transferred to the wet felt. In business forms, to stitch or fasten sheets to form a book or fastened set; may be side or saddle wired.

wire binding – A continuous double series of wire loops running through punched slots along the binding side of a booklet.

wire mark – On the bottom or wire side of the paper, these are impressed traces of the machine wire.

wire side – Opposite of felt side, this is the side of the paper that was against the wire during manufacture. A watermark will read backward from this side of the sheet.

with the grain – Parallel to the direction in which the paper fibers lie.
woodfree pulp – Chemical pulp.

work and turn – To print one side of a sheet of paper then turn the sheet over from left to right and print the second side. The same gripper and plate are used for both sides.

work and tumble – To print one side of a sheet of paper, then turn it over from gripper to back using the same side guide and plate to print the second side.

wove – Finish characterized by the impressions of a felt dandy roll covered in woven wire and without laid lines.

wove dandy – A dandy roll without a watermarked design.

wrinkles – (1) Creases in paper occurring during printing or folding. (2) – In inks, the uneven surface formed during drying.

writing paper – A general term applied to papers used for writing purposes.

wrong-read image – A mirror image such as that appearing on the blanket in offset printing.

V

varnish – Thin, protective coating applied to a printed sheet of paper for protection or improved appearance.

vehicle – The liquid part of an ink that gives it flow, enabling it to be applied to a surface.

vellum – Term usually applied to a paper finish that exhibits a toothy surface which is very similar to eggshell or antique finishes. A vellum finish is relatively absorbent to provide good ink penetration.

vellum paper – Very strong, good quality, cream colored or natural paper made to impersonate calfskin parchment. Also, the term is often applied to the finish of paper rather than a grade of paper. Stationery is often referred to as vellum. Also, tracing paper used by architects and artists.

velox – A black and white print for proofing or for display.

vignette – Halftone whose background gradually fades away to blend with the surface of the paper.

virgin stock – New, unused wood pulp.

virkotyping – Another name for thermography or raised printing.

viscosity – Broad term that encompasses the properties of tack and flow as applied to inks.

U

unbleached – Paper not treated with bleaching. It has a light brown hue.

uncoated – Paper that has not been coated.

undercolor removal – To improve trapping and reduce ink costs in the process color web printing, color separation films are reduced in color in areas where all three colors overprint and the black film is increased an equivalent amount in these areas.

underrun – Term refers to an order produced or delivered that is less than the quantity specified by the customer. Allowances are permitted in trade practices for under-runs.

undertrimmed – Trimmed to a size smaller than the specified trim size.

uniformity – Being uniform in the structure of the paper, the color and finish.

unit – Refers to the combination of inking, plate and impression operations to print each color. A 4-color press has 4 printing units each with its own inking, plate and impression functions.

UV - Ultra Violet radiation method of drying process color inks on high-speed multicolor offset presses.

UV curing – The drying of UV inks by a light reaction, rather than by heat and/or oxidation.

UV inks – In printing, solventless inks that are cured by UV radiation. They are used extensively in screen printing, narrow web letterpress and flexographic printing.

T

T4S – Abbreviation indicating that the paper has been guillotine trimmed on all four sides. Literal translation: trimmed four sides.

tabbing – During binding, the cutting or adhering of tabs on the edges of pages.

tack – The pulling power or separation force of ink causing picking or splitting of weak papers.

tag – Grade of dense, strong paper used for products such as badges, and file folders.

tagged image file format (TIFF) – A file format for graphics suited for representing scanned images and other large bitmaps. TIFF is a neutral format designed for compatibility with all applications. TIFF was created specifically for storing grayscale images, and it is the standard format for scanned images such as photographs, now called TIFF/IT.

TCF – see Totally Chlorine-Free.

tear test – A test to determine the tearing resistance of paper.

tearing strength – The ability of a paper to resist tearing when subjected to rigorous production demands of manufacturing, printing, binding and its conversion from flat sheets into envelopes, packaging materials, etc.

tensile strength – Tensile strength relates to the stress and strain to which paper is subjected in its many end use applications. It is defined as the maximum force required to break a paper strip of a given width under prescribed laboratory conditions. Tensile strength is usually defined as pounds-per-inch width of the testing strip, or as kilograms per 15-millimeter width. Tensile strength is measured in both the grain and cross-grain directions, however, it is always greater in the grain direction.

text paper – A general term applied to various grades of printing paper designed for deluxe printed booklets, programs, announcements and advertising. May be watermarked.

thermography – Letterpress printing in which a special ink, while still wet, is dusted with a retinous powder. Then the sheets are baked fusing the powder with the ink, giving it a raised effect.

thermomechanical pulp – Made by steaming wood chips prior to and during refining, producing a higher yield and stronger pulp than regular groundwood.

thickness – Measurement in thousandths of an inch.

tint – Shading of an area in a form.

tint plate – Printing plate with customized surfaces to print solid colors or patterns, stipple line or dot arrangements in tints of inks. Tint blocks are also used to deepen colors in an illustration.

tinting – An all-over color tint on the press sheet in the non-image area of the sheet, caused by ink pigment dissolving in the dampening solution.

titanium dioxide – Chemical substance used as loading or coating material to increase the whiteness and brightness of a sheet and contribute to its opacity.

tolerance – Permissible degree of variation from a pre-set standard.

tooth – Characteristic of paper. A slightly rough paper which permits acceptance of ink readily.

top - (1) Designates the felt side of a sheet of paper. The top side of a sheet is the side not against the wire during manufacture. (2) In paperboard, the top is the side that exhibits the best quality.

top-sizing – Tub sizing of paper which has previously been beater sized.

Totally Chlorine-Free (TCF) – Means that 100 percent virgin fiber (including virgin tree-free fiber) is unbleached or bleached with non-chlorine compounds. It may also include wood or alternative fibers, such as kenaf. The term TCF cannot be used on recycled paper because the content of the original paper is unknown.

translucency – Ability to transmit light without being transparent.

translucent papers – Papers that will allow information to be seen through them but not totally clear like acetate.

transparency – Photographic positive mounted in a clear or transparent image.

transparent ink – A printing ink which does not conceal the color beneath. Process inks are transparent so that they will blend to form other colors.

trapping – The ability to print a wet ink film over previously printed ink. Dry trapping is printing wet ink on dry paper or over dry ink. Wet trapping is printing wet ink over previously printed wet ink.

tree-free fiber – Includes many crops, such as kenaf and industrial hemp, which are grown specifically for their fiber content. These tend to grow faster than trees and are more efficient per acre. Tree-free fibers are also derived from agricultural by-products, such as sugarcane bagasse, and industrial by-products like cotton scraps.

trim – Excess of the paper allowed a printed sheet for gripper and bleed.

trim margin – The margin of the open side, away from the bind; also called thumb, face or outside margin.

trim marks – In printing, marks placed on the copy to indicate the edge of the page where to cut or trim.

trim size – The final size of a printed piece after trimming.

trimmed size – The final size of a printed piece after all bleeds and folds have been cut off.

trimmer – Machine equipped with a guillotine blade that can cut paper to the desired size.

tub-sized – (surface-sized) – Sizing added to the surface of paper by passing a web through a tub or bath of sizing, removing the excess, and drying.

tumble – Head to foot printing.

twin-wire machine – A paper machine with two wires instead of one producing paper with less two-sidedness.

two-sheet detector – In printing presses, a device for stopping or tripping the press when more than one sheet attempts to feed into the grippers.

two-sidedness – In paper, the property denoting difference in appearance and printability between its top (felt) and bottom (wire) sides.

two-up – Printing the same page or group of pages from two sets of plates, thereby producing two impressions of the same matter at one time.

two-up binding – Printing and binding in such a way that two books are bound as one, then cut apart into separate books.

type face – A design of letters of the alphabet intended to be used in combination.

S

saddle stitch – Binding process for pamphlets or booklets, which works by stapling through the middle fold of the sheets (saddle wire).

saddle wire binding – To fasten a booklet by wiring the middle fold of the printed sheets of paper.

scanner – Optical scanner. Also electric device used in making color separation.

scanning – Point-by-point electronic scanning of color separations under computer control.

Schopper’s tester – An instrument for testing the folding endurance of paper.

score/scoring – The process and the resulting line or crease mechanically impressed in the paper to facilitate folding while guarding against cracking of paper and board. Scoring is essential when heavyweight papers are to be folded across the grain.

screen – The ruling used to determine the dots per unit area in developing tonal values in the printed piece. Screens from which letterpress halftones of photographs are made range from 60 lines-per-inch for printing on newsprint to 150 lines for printing on coated paper. Offset halftones for printing on most surfaces range from 133 lines to 200 lines.

screen angles – In color reproduction, angles at which the halftone screens are placed with relation to one another, to avoid undesirable moire patterns. A set of angles often used is: black 45°, magenta 75°, yellow 90°, cyan 105°.

screen process printing – This printing process uses a screen of fine-mesh silk (thus the common name silk screen printing) taughtly stretched across a frame. A squeegee drawn across the screen forces ink through the open image areas which are cut-out by hand using lacquered tissue prior to its adherence to the silk. Special photographic negatives are adhered to the screen when faithful reproduction of intricate designs are sought.

screen range – The density difference between the highlight and shadow areas of copy that a halftone screen can reproduce without a flash exposure.

screen ruling – The number of lines or dots per inch on a halftone screen.

screened print – A print made from continuous-tone copy that was screened during exposure.

screentone – A halftone film having a uniform dot size over its area, and rated by its approximate printing dot size value, such as 20 percent, 50 percent, etc.; also called screen tint.

scuffing – See rub-off. The disrupted appearance of an ink film as a result of abrasion to either the wet or dry ink film.

scumming – A term referring to the press plate picking up ink in the non-printing areas for a variety of reasons, basically due to spots or areas not remaining desensitized.

sealed - Term often applied to cut-size sheets which are packaged “ream sealed”, 500 sheets to the package.

seasoning – Process of allowing paper to adjust to atmospheric conditions of the plant in which it will be used.

secondary fiber – A term used for wastepaper. Also referred to as paper stock.

self cover – A cover that matches the inside text pages.

semi-chemical pulping – Pulp made using a combination of chemical and mechanical methods and usually used for corrugated mediums.

semi-concealed cover – A cover for mechanical binding that is a single piece scored and slotted or punched for combining with the mechanical binding device, formatting a closed backbone on bound units.

sensitivity guide – A narrow, calibrated, continuous tone gray scale with each tone scale numbered.

separation negative - One of the images of a color set.

serif – Short cross line at the ends of the stroke of a Roman letter.

setback – In platemaking, the distance from the front edge of the press plate to the image area, to allow for clamping to the cylinder and also for the gripper margin.

set-off - The undesirable transfer of ink from freshly printed sheets of paper to another. Also called off-set.

set-up sheet – A sheet drawn in plate prep on the craftsman table from computer specifications; used as a master for the layout and positioning of pages on the job for which it was drawn.

sewn book – A popular style of bookbinding; in which the signatures are gathered in sequence and then sewn individually in 8s, 16s, or 32s. The sewing threads are visible at the center of each signature.

sewn-on tapes – Strips of reinforcing cloth sewn to the spine of the book sections and extending slightly past the edge of the spine; used to strengthen the binding of a casebound book.

shadow – The darkest parts in a photograph, represented in a halftone by the largest dots.

sharpen – To decrease in color strength, as when halftone dots become smaller; opposite of dot spread or dot gain.

sharpness – A photographic term for perfectly defined detail in an original, negative and reproduction.

shave – To cut a slight trim from bound books or paper, printed or blank.

sheet – Term which may be applied to a single sheet, a grade of paper, or a description of paper, i.e. coated, uncoated, offset, letterpress, etc.

sheet delamination – Directly related to poor surface strength in that if the sheet has poor surface strength, delamination will occur in the printing process. Sheet delamination could also create a problem of a blanket smash. If the delamination is large enough and thick enough, as the press continues to run, it will create a depression in the blanket, so that when the delamination buildup is removed from the blanket the depression will remain, rendering the blanket unusable. These defects pertain to both sheet-fed and web-fed equipment.

sheeter – In paper manufacture, rotary unit over which the web of paper passes to be cut into sheets. In printing, rotary knife at the delivery end of web press that slices press lengths.

sheet-fed – Any printing press requiring paper in a sheet form as opposed to printing in rolls.

sheeting – The process of cutting a roll or web of paper into sheets.

sheetwise – To print one side of a sheet of paper with one plate, then turn the sheet over and print the other side with another plate using same gripper and opposite side guide.

shell – (1) A slip case for holding bound volumes of a set. (2) The copper (or nickel) duplicate of type or engravings produced in the plating tanks on impressions in wax or other molding mediums.

Sheridan saddle stitcher-trimmer – A machine used to gather, cover, stitch, and trim saddle stitch books.

shives - Undercooked wood particles that are removed from the pulp before manufacture of paper begins. Sometimes shives will appear as imperfections in the finished sheets.

short-grained paper – Paper in which the predominant fiber orientation is parallel to the shortest sheet dimension.

show-through – In printing, the undesirable condition in which the printing on the reverse side of a sheet can be seen through the sheet under normal lighting conditions.

shrinkage – Decrease in the dimensions of a sheet of paper or loss incurred in weight between the amount of pulp used and paper produced.

side guide – On sheet-fed presses, a guide on the feed board to position the sheet sideways as it feeds into the front guides before entering the impression cylinder.

sidestitch – A method of binding in which the folded signatures or cut sheets are stitched with wire along and through the side, close to the gutter margin. Pages cannot be fully opened to a flat position; also called side wire.

signature - Section of book obtained by folding a single sheet of printed paper in 8, 12, 16 or 32 pages.

silhouette – Halftones from which the screen around any part of the image has been removed.

silk-screen – Print from a stencil image maker where the ink is applied by squeegee through a silk screen.

silk-screen printing – Another name for screen process printing.

silverprint – A proof print made from single negatives that are used to produce the final proof prior to printing.

size or sizing – Additive substances applied to the paper either internally through the beater or as a coating that improves printing qualities and resistance to liquids. Commonly used sizes are starch and latex.

size press – Part of the paper machine, near the end, where sizing agents are added.

size tub – Container holding sizing material during the tub sizing process.

skid – (1) A reusable platform support, made of wood, on which sheets of paper are delivered, and on which printed sheets or folded sections are stacked. Also used to ship materials, usually in cartons which have been strapped (banded) to the skid. (2) – A quantity of paper, usually about 3000 lbs., skid-packed.

slack size – A paper that is slightly and therefore will be somewhat water resistant.

slip-sheeting – Placing pieces of paper between folded sections prior to trimming four sides, to separate completed books.

slitter – A sharp disk which cuts a paper into pre-determined widths.

slitting – Cutting printed sheets into two or more sections by means of cutting wheels on a folder.

slur-gauge (The GATF Slur Gauge) – A combination dot gain and slur indicator supplied in positive or negative form. It is a quality control device that shows at a glance dot gain or dot loss. It also demonstrates whether the gain or the loss occurs in contacting, platemaking, proofing or on the press.

slurring – The smearing or elongation of halftone dots or type and line images at their trailing edges.

slurry – Watery suspension of pigments, etc. which is used in coating or papermaking.

smashed or weak blanket – An area of a blanket that is no longer firm and resilient, and that gives a light impression in the center of a well printed area. Usually caused by physical damage of the blanket at impression.

smashing (nipping, compressing) – The binding operation following sewing in which the folded and sewn sheets are compressed to tighten the fold free of air to make the front and back of the sheets the same thickness.

smearing – A press condition in which the impression is slurred and unclear, because too much ink was used or sheets were handled or rubbed before the ink was dry.

smooth finish – A finish on paper that has been made smooth by passing through various rollers.

smoothing press – Prior to reaching the driers, the paper web is smoothed, if necessary, by two rolls working together.

smoothness – The flatness of a sheet of paper, which generally determines the crispness of the image printed upon it.

Smyth sewing – A method of fastening side-by-side signatures so that each is linked with thread to its neighbor, as well as saddlesewn through its own centerfold. Smyth-sewn books open flat. The stitching is on the back of the fold.

soda pulp – A chemical pulp that has been derived from wood chips digested in a solution of caustic soda. Both hardwoods and softwoods can be used in this process.

soft dot – A camera term describing halation or fringe around the edge of a dot which is excessive and almost equals the area of the dot itself.

soft ink – A term that describes the consistency of lithographic inks.

softcover – Another term for paperback or paperbound books.

softwood – Wood from coniferous trees having long fibers.

solid – An area completely covered with ink, or the use of 100 percent of a given color. In composition, type set without space (leading) between the lines.

spacing – Intervals between lines of type.

spec’d (specified) – Spec’d copy gives details of item such as paper, bindery techniques, type, etc., which have been determined for a given job.

specialty papers or boards – Paper or board that is manufactured, or subsequently converted, for a specific use. These grades usually cannot be used for anything other than their intended special purpose.

specifier – The designer or printing production worker who determines the types of paper to be used under various circumstances.

spectrophotometer – Sophisticated instrument that measures color across a visible spectrum and produces data describing the color of a given sample in terms of the three parameters in color space.

spectrum – The complete range of colors in the rainbow, from short wavelengths (blue) to long wavelengths (red).

spine – Backbone of a book.

spiral binding – Wires in a spiral form inserted through specially punched holes along the binding edge.

splice – An overlapping joint used to join the ends of webs together.

splice tag - Tab or marker giving the location of a splice.

split fountain – A technique for simultaneously printing two colors from the same ink fountain.

spot - Smallest visible point that can be displayed or printed. The smallest diameter of light that a scanner can detect, or an image-setter or printer can image. Dot should not be confused with spot.

spot varnish – Press varnish applied to a portion of the sheet, as opposed to an overall application of the varnish.

spotting out – Fine opaquing such as in removing pinholes or other small transparent defects in a negative. Also called Opaquing.

spray powder – A powder used at press to prevent setoff (offset) of wet ink. Also called anti-offset spray.

square halftone (square-finish halftone) – A halftone whose four sides are straight and perpendicular to one another.

square sheet – A sheet which is equally strong and tear resistant with and against the grain.

stabilize – A term used to describe paper that has been seasoned so that the moisture content is the same as the air surrounding it.

stacker – Device attached to delivery conveyor to collate, compress and bundle signatures.

stamping – Pressing a design onto a book cover using metal foil, colored foil, or ink, applied with metal dies.

standards (paper) – Terms used to indicate the manufactured specifications of a paper. Includes color, basis weight, sheet dimensions, and grain direction.

starch – Material used as a sizing agent for paper. Usually made from corn.

static electricity – An electrical charge frequently found in paper which is too dry or which has been affected by local atmospheric conditions.

static neutralizer – In printing presses, an attachment designed to remove the static electricity from the paper to avoid ink setoff and trouble with feeding the paper.

steel engraving – An engraved plate used in relief printing.

step-and-repeat – Technique of affixing multiple images on a film or plate to extremely close tolerances.

stepover – In multiple imposition on a lithographic press plate, the procedure of repeating the exposure of a flat by stepping it along the gripper edge; side-by-side exposure.

step-up – In multiple imposition on a lithographic press plate, the procedure of repeating the exposure of a flat by stepping it back from the gripper edge of the plate; up-and-down exposure.

stiff – An ink with too much body.

stiffness – Property of paper and paperboard to resist bending.

stitched book – A popular method of sewing the signatures of a book together by stitching all the sheets at one time, either through the center of the inserted sheets or side-stitched from front to back. A very strong style of binding but not flexible as compared with sewing.

stitching – Use of wire fastenings as a permanent fastening for continuous forms.

stochastic screening – A digital screening process that converts images into very small dots (14-40 microns) of equal size and variable spacing. Second order screened images have variable size dots and variable spacing. Also called Frequency Modulated (FM) screening.

stock – General term with many meanings. (1) Paper or board that is on hand in inventory. (2) Paper or board that has been designated for a particular use and only awaits the printing or converting process. (3) Pulp which has been processed to a state where dilution is the only step necessary for it to be made into paper or board. (4) At any stage in manufacture wet pulp is referred to as stock. (5) Wastepaper.

stock sizes – Standard sizes of paper or board.

stock weights – Weights of papers stocked by mills and merchants.

stocking items – Papers manufactured in popular sizes, weights, colors, etc. on a regular basis to maintain adequately stocked inventories in mill warehouses.

stocking merchant – Paper distributor that stocks in his own warehouse facilities enough paper to immediately fill anticipated orders in the market. This eliminates the delay of ordering from the paper manufacturer, taking delivery, and delivering to the customer.

stopping out – An application of opaque to photographic negatives. Also the application of special lacquer to protect areas in positives in dot etching; staging of halftone plates during relief etching; protecting certain areas of deep-etched plates so that no ink will be deposited on the protected areas.

stream feeder – A type of press feeder that keeps several sheets of paper, overlapping each other, moving toward the grippers.

stretch - Describes the “give” of a sheet of paper when it is subjected to tensile pressure.

stretch resistance – Stretch properties are essential for paper to fold well and to resist stress in use. Stretch resistance is measured on tensile testing instruments.

strike-in – Penetration of printing ink into a sheet of paper.

strike-through – Penetration of printing ink through a sheet of paper.

string and button envelope – An envelope made with two reinforced paper buttons, one on the flap and the other on the back of the envelope. To close, a string which is locked under the flap button is wound alternately around the two buttons.

strip-in – A negative which must be combined with another, to give a single page negative which contains all components. Also called set-in.

stripping – In offset: negatives are properly positioned on a masking sheet (goldenrod masking paper). In photoengraving: film containing the photographic image from the wet-plate is moved and turned.

substance weight – Same as basis weight.

sucker – A rubber suction cup on machine feeding devices.

suction box – Device that removes water from the paper machine by a suction action located beneath the wire at the wet end.

suction feed – A term applied to suction grippers which feed paper.

sulphate – Alkaline process of cooking pulp also known as the kraft process. Wood chips are cooked to a high brightness without fiber degradation in a substance of sodium sulfate and sodium sulfide.

sulphite – Acid process of cooking pulp. Wood chips are cooked in a solution of bisulphite.

supercalender – Off machine calender rolls that heat and iron paper to provide a high gloss finish.

supercalendering – Alternating rolls of highly polished steel and compressed cotton in a stack. During the process the paper is subjected to the heated steel rolls and “ironed” by the compressed cotton rolls. It imparts a high gloss finish to the paper. Supercalender stacks are not an inherent part of the paper machine whereas the calender rolls are.

surface plate – One of the two basic types of lithographic press plates; a colloid image is formed on the light-sensitized metal plate by the action of actinic light passing through photographic negatives.

surface sized – Term applied to paper that has been sized by applying a sizing agent when the web of paper is partially dry. Purpose is to increase resistance to ink penetration.

surface texture – The relative roughness, smoothness or unevenness of the paper surface.

surprint – An additional printing over the design areas of previously printed matter. Its equivalent in stripping uses overlay positive films on negatives, or photographic contact procedures to produce such overprints as “Sale,” “$1.98″ “Sample,” etc. Also called overprint.

swatchbook – Same as sample book. A grouping of papers, usually in bound form, that displays the weights, colors, finishes and other particulars of a collection of papers to aid in the selection of grades.

R

rag paper – Today it is usually referred to as cotton fiber paper. It is made from cotton cuttings and linters.

rag pulp – Pulp made by disintegrating new or old cotton or linen rags and cleaning and bleaching fibers.

random watermark – See watermark.

ream – Five hundred sheets of printing paper.

ream marked - Pile of paper is ream marked by the insertion of small slips of paper or “ream markers” at intervals of every 500 sheets.

ream marker – Piece of rectangular shaped paper used to mark off the reams in a stack of paper.

ream weight – Weight of a given ream of paper.

ream wrapped – Paper which has been separated into reams and individually packaged or wrapped.

recycled paper – Paper made from old paper pulp; used paper is cooked in chemicals and reduced back to pulp, after it is de-inked.

reducers – In printing inks, varnishes, solvents, oily or greasy compounds used to reduce the consistency for printing. In photography, chemicals used to reduce the density of negative or positive images or the size of halftone dots (dot etching).

refining – The mechanical treatment of pulp fibers to develop their papermaking properties.

reflection copy – In photography, illustrative copy that is viewed and must be photographed by light reflected from its surface. Examples are photographs, drawings, etc.

register – In printing, register is the placement of two or more images on the same paper in such a manner as to make them in perfect alignment with each other. When a printing job is in exact register succeeding forms or colors can be printed in the correct position relative to the images already printed on the sheet.

register mark – Mark placed on a form to assist in proper positioning of after-printing operations. Two short lines at right angles are called an angle mark. Also, bulls-eye marks placed on camera-ready copy to assist in registration of subsequent operations.

registration – Alignment of one element of a form in relation to another. Also, alignment of printed images upon the same sheet of paper.

relative humidity (RH) – The amount of water vapor present in the atmosphere expressed as a percentage of the maximum that could be present at the same temperature.

repeatability – The ability to keep photo film and the images thereon in proper register. Repeatability is usually measured in micrometers.

rerun – A term referring to printing again from standing negatives.

retarders – Chemicals that slow setting time of printing inks.

reverse – When the background is completely printed, and the design area is left unprinted.

rewinder – Equipment which slits and rewinds paper webs into smaller rolls.

right side of paper – The felt side of a sheet, also the side on which the watermark, if any, may be read.

right-angle fold – Term used for two or more folds that are at 90 degree angles to each other.

right-read image – Image similar to the original or intended final copy.

rigidity – Stiffness, resistance to bending.

roll – Web of paper. Paper wound around a core or shaft to form a continuous roll or web of paper.

roller stripping – In lithography, a term denoting that the ink does not adhere to the metal ink rollers on a press.

rosin size – A size added to paper to make it water resistant.

rotary press – Printing press in which the plate is wrapped around a cylinder. There are two types, direct and indirect. Direct presses print with a plate cylinder and an impression cylinder. Indirect rotary presses (sheet-fed offset presses) combine a plate cylinder, a blanket cylinder and an impression cylinder.

rotogravure – Intaglio process. The image is below the surface of the plate. (Letterhead image is raised, the offset image is flat).

rub-off (1) – Ink on printed sheets, after sufficient drying, which smears or comes off on the fingers when handled. (2) Ink that comes off the cover during shipment and transfers to other covers or to the shipping carton or mailer. Also called Scuffing.

rub-proof - In printing, an ink that has reached maximum dryness and does not mar with normal abrasion.

rubylith – A separable two-layer acetate film of red or amber emulsion on a clear base. It has many uses in graphics, most often for color separations by hand in the composition or stripping departments.

rule weight – Thickness of lines; hairline rule; medium rule (1/2 point); heavy rule (1 point).

runnability - Paper’s performance on a press and its ability to withstand the stresses of a running press unaltered. Not the same as printability.

Q

quick-set inks – Those inks that set-up faster and dry faster, usually from top to bottom. These inks are used when sheets have to be sent back through the press faster than normal drying time will allow.

quadratone – Printing with four half-tone images at different screen angles using four different colors. Usually the four colors would have a color slant or cast towards a selected tone or color; for example a sepia-tone or overall brown slant or cast.

quarter tone – In printing, a printing dot that has a percentage that is close to the 25% printing dot size.