Jargon A-Z

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A-Z of commonly used printing terminology

Click on a letter  below to view details.

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Machine Direction
The path of paper through a papermaking machine that dictates the
grain of the paper.
 
Machine Proof
A final proof made on a machine similar to the one on which it will be
printed (if not that actual machine).
 
Magenta
The special shade of red that is one of the four process colours used
in four-colour printing, sometimes called process red. Theoretically,
magenta contains no blue (cyan) or yellow.

Metallic Ink
A printing ink which produces an effect of gold, silver, copper, or bronze.
 
Moire
An aberration occurring in halftone reproduction when two or more
colours are printed, giving a halftone image, an appearance rather like
that of watered silk. This is caused by two or more dot screens being
positioned at the wrong angles, or sometimes, by the rescreening of an
image to which a halftone screen has already been applied. The angle
at which screens should be positioned depends upon the number of
colours being printed, but the norm for four colour process printing, and
thus the default setting for most computer applications that support four
colour separation is cyan 105 degrees; magenta 75 degrees; yellow 90
degrees; black 45 degrees.