Imprinting Glossary
What is moire? What is a line screen?
Learn about imprinting terms with the glossary below.
- Bleed
- The printed area on a mechanical layout which extends 1/8" beyond the visible print area.
- Chokes and Spreads
- The overprinting of multiple colors to prevent unprinted areas from showing due to potential press movement. Also referred to as Trapping.
- CMYK
- Acronym for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black. Printing colors for Process Color reproduction.
- Dots Per Inch (DPI)
- A measure of the resolution of an image. The more dots per inch, the finer the screen, and the greater the detail. Also referred as "LPI" , lines per inch. DPI or LPI tolerances are dependent on the method of printing along with the finish of the printing surface.
- Fill-In
- The undesirable effect of type or copy filling in with ink, usually occurring when reverse copy that is not bold or thick enough.
- Flexographic Printing
- Method of printing most commonly used to print paper and poly bags, using flexible rubber or photopolymer materials to create the printing plates. Plates are mounted onto cylinders of various diameters for rapid, continuous imprinting.
- Halftone
- The reproduction of a continuous-tone image, through a screening process, which converts the image into dots of various sizes and equal spacing between centers. Generally refers to one-color dot imprints.
- Hot Stamping
- The process in which foil is directly transferred by means of pressure and heat to a hot stamp printable surface.
- Knock Out
- Also known as reverse imprint. When printed surface allows for image to reproduce in reverse. Base stock bag material shows through the surrounding inked area.
- Line Screen
- A uniform measurement of dots in rows or lines per square inch.
- Moire
- The undesirable effect of an unplanned pattern which can be created when two or more screens overlap or overprint with each other at certain incorrect angles.
- Negative
- Photo film that is a reverse representation of the original copy. All printed areas are clear, and non-print areas are black. Negatives are required to make Blue Lines, Color Keys, and Plates.
- PMS Colors
- An acronym for the Pantone Matching System, an internationally recognized standard color pallet of colors allowing designers and manufacturers to consistently specify and reproduce an exact color tone.
- Pre Printing
- Custom print of paper or poly film prior to converting into a bag.
- Process Printing
- A printing method which uses screen separations of the four basic colors, CMYK. Reproduces vast color spectrum with photographic clarity.
- Step and Repeat
- A printed design in which an element is copied and reproduced over a given area, maintaining equal spacing and direction between elements to create a pattern. Most often identified with simple logo design in repeat pattern on tissue and gift wrap.