print opt.s:
Printing
Terms
Image Quality
Electronic
Prep
Paper
Typography
Adobe Postscript Printing Glossary
This is a listing of some common and not
so common terms that are used when dealing with printing in general. (This
page is very long so please use the •
top link at the bottom of each section
to return to this section) Note: that some of the glossary terms have
specific reference to or from the source and may not be industry standard;
however, in some situations we have added a line or two in corection.
We trust you will find the general information useful.
To get started... Click on the Letter of your choice
A : B : C : D : E : F : G : H : I : J : K : L : M : N : O : P : Q : R : S : T : U : V : W : XYZ
ATM®
Adobe® Type Manager® software, which
makes type appear sharp and clear on-screen and in print.
Character Identifiers
(CID)
A new type of font that has a simplified
internal structure and a compact file size, resulting in improved performance
for large character sets such as Chinese, Cyrillic, Japanese, and Korean.
Color Management System (CMS)
Software that allows applications and printer
drivers to access information about the color characteristics of monitors,
printers, and scanners. The Color Management System uses the color information
to provide accurate and consistent color to the output device.
Computer-to-Plate (CTP)
A technology that allows for the delivery
of digital data directly to a plate for printing. CTP efficiency eliminates
conventional films and stripping to significantly reduce prepress materials
and costs, and allow for significant productivity benefits over other
commercial printing solutions.
• top
Device-Independent
Color (DIC)
Color that is independent of the color characteristics
of any particular device used in the printing process. Device-independent
color allows colors to be predictably and accurately matched among various
printing devices.
Direct Digital Printing
Commercial-quality printing in which electronic
source files are processed directly on the printing press or printing
system, rather than through analog steps such as film imagesetting and
platemaking. Direct digital printing systems may be based on lithographic
offset technology or laser/toner technology. Front-end RIPs and servers
are integrated components of these printing systems.
Direct-to-Plate Printing
Imaging directly to the plate material used
in offset lithographic printing. The traditional offset printing process
includes generating film (typically from an imagesetter today), "burning
plates" by exposing the aluminum or poly printing plates with the
film, and mounting the resulting plates on offset presses. Direct-to-plate
printing eliminates the film imaging step by imaging directly on the plate
material.
Distributed Printing
Printing directly to printers (imagesetters
or direct digital presses) that are located far from the operator's workstation.
May include multiple destinations for a single job. Often associated with
on-demand and short-run printing.
Dots Per Inch (DPI)
A measure of the resolution of a device.
The higher the number, the sharper the type and images.
• top
Encapsulated
PostScript (EPS)
A standard file format for importing and
exporting PostScript® language files among applications in a variety
of heterogeneous environments.
• top
Film Recorders
Devices that generate film negatives and
positives for slides and other photographic needs.
Fonts
Typefaces in different styles that give
documents personality.
• top
Graphical Display
Interface (GDI)
The display language interface for Microsoft
Windows systems. GDI printers are compatible only with Windows systems
and do not offer the performance and features available with Adobe PostScript
or Adobe PrintGear® printers.
• top
Imagesetters/Typesetters
Devices that generate the highest resolution
paper, plate, and film output for professional publishing needs.
Imposition
The process of arranging individual pages
on a form in preparation for the printing press so that the pages will
be in proper sequence after printing, folding, and binding.
Interface
The ways a printer may be connected to a
computer or network. Adobe PostScript printers support a wide variety
of interfaces, including serial, parallel, AppleTalk, and Ethernet.
International Color Consortium (ICC)
A group of companies chartered to develop,
use, and promote cross-platform standards so that applications and devices
can exchange color data without ambiguity. Founding members include Adobe,
Agfa, Apple, FOGRA, Kodak, Microsoft, Silicon Graphics, Sun, and Taligent.
Interpreter
The Adobe PostScript Raster Image Processor
(RIP) that translates the instructions in a PostScript language file sent
from the printer driver.
• top
Offset Printing
The most common commercial printing technology
in use today. Offset printing applies layers of ink on the page. For each
layer, a reverse image of the page is placed on a roller in the printing
press. Ink is applied to the non-image areas on the roller, so that as
the roller presses against paper moving through the press, the proper
image is left on the paper.
On-Demand Printing
Commercial-quality printing produced as
needed with turnarounds of a few hours or less. Often associated with
very short runs of a hundred or fewer pieces. A newer class of device
- the direct digital printing system - is usually associated with on-demand
printing.
Open Prepress Interface (OPI)
A set of PostScript language comments for
defining and specifying the placement of images on an electronic page
layout.
• top
Page-Description
Language (PDL)
Software that resides within a printer and
defines how elements such as text and graphics appear on the printed page.
PostScript is the industry-standard page-description language.
Pages Per Minute (PPM)
The maximum speed of the printer's marking
engine as rated by the manufacturer.
Pixel
The smallest dot that can be produced on
a computer screen.
Printer Control Language (PCL)
A set of printer commands, developed by
Hewlett-Packard, that provide access to printer features. PCL printers
are compatible only with MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows systems and do not
offer the complete device independence and range of choice available with
Adobe PostScript printers, or the performance and features available with
Adobe PrintGear printers.
Prepress
The steps required to turn a design into
final form, ready for final printing on a printing press. May include
preflight, color correction, color trapping, imposition, color separation,
proofing, and imagesetting.
Printer Driver
Software that serves as the communication
link between applications and the page-description language used by printers.
• top
QuickDraw
The display language interface for Apple
Macintosh systems. QuickDraw printers are compatible only with Macintosh
systems and do not offer the performance and features available with Adobe
PrintGear printers.
• top
RAM
Random access memory, measured in megabytes.
The higher the number, the more space available for storing data, such
as downloaded fonts.
Raster Image Processor (RIP)
The hardware and/or software that translates
data from PostScript and other high-level languages into dots or pixels
in a printer or imagesetter.
Resolution
The sharpness of text and graphics provided
by any printer or output device, measured in dots per inch.
top
Stochastic Screening
A method that uses a pseudo-random dot size
and/or frequency to create halftoned images, but without the visible regularity
in the dot patterns found in traditional screening.
• top
Trapping
The process of creating an overlap between
abutting colors to compensate for imprecisions in the printing press.
TrueType Fonts
Scalable typefaces for Windows and Macintosh
software.
Type 1 Fonts
Adobe's industry-standard outline font technology
that enables type to be scaled to any size while staying sharp and clear.
More than 20,000 Type 1 typefaces are available from vendors worldwide.
• top
Copyright
2002 © DK Intermedia • Privacy
Policy
All Rights Resevered; All trademark are property of the respective owners