CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black)

The four process colors used b output devices. Black is called “K” because in process printing it is the key plate or keyline color.

Contour Cut

With print-and-cut digital-printing devises, the ability to cut around the outlines of an image, both on the outer border and along any internal closed-loop borders.

DPI (Dots Per Inch)

Unit of measure used to describe the printing resolution of an output device, or the printed resolution of images, based on the number of separate ink droplets represented either horizontally or vertically in one inch.

EPS (Encapsulated PostScript)

File type that allows different information, such as colors and fill patterns, to be carried between software programs. Files can include raster and vector information, including low-resolution files for thumbnail previews. Versions of this include variations from Adobe Illustrator.

Four-Color Process

Any printing method that utilizes the subtractive primaries (CMY) plus black (K) to create the illusion of different colors.

Jaggies

The informal name for aliasing (visual stair-stepping) in raster images that occurs when the resolution is too low.

JPEG/JPG (Joint Photographic Experts Group)

Graphics file format designed for use with photographs and other color bitmaps. The JPEG format uses a mathematical compression technique to reduce file sizes by removing a user-selectable percentage of the image’s data information.

Opacity

Measurement of the resistance to light passing through a substrate, on a scale of 0 – 100%, indication the propensity for show-through of underlying type or images. Computed by measuring the density of the substrate over a black background and over a white background.

Pass

Describes the travel of a printhead across media. Each pass of the printhead increases color density and resolution of the image.

PDF (Portable Document Format)

An electronic document format from Adobe Systems for the distribution of files across platforms, that allows a document to be displayed as originally designed and formatted without requiring the original software application or fonts on the viewing computer.

Pixel

A combination of the words “picture” and “element,” denoting the smallest part of a picture that can be located and placed along the X and Y axes of a bitmat.

PPI (Pixels-Per_Inch)

A measurement of the number of pixels that will occur within the vertical and horizontal planes of a one inch area in a raster image. The higher the number, the greater the resolution and maximum viewable size without aliasing.

Pixelization

The result of simply enlarging pixels to increase image size, with lowers PPI without an increase in detail and leads to jaggies along diagonal edges.

Printhead

The device in a printer that sprays droplets of ink onto the substrate. Printheads contain nozzles (grouped by colors), and typically shuttle back and forth across the substrate as ink droplets are forced out of the nozzles.

Process Color

Cyan, magenta, yellow and black (CMYK), combined in a matching system, to recreate thousands of colors in offset and direct digital printing.

Raster Image

An image comprised of a collection of pixels arranged in a rectangular array.

Reflective

When referring to color, the ability of a surface to return some or all of the wavelengths of light that strike it.

Resize

To change the reproduction size. Files can generally be resized so prints can be made smaller or larger. Significant up-sizing often results in jaggies.

Resolution

The number of pixels per inch a device is capable of recognizing or producing, measured in horizontal columns (width) by vertical rows (height). Megapixels can be calculated by multiplying pixel-columns by pixel-rows.

RGB (Red, Green and Blue)

The three additive colors used by monitors and scanners for transferring and representing color data. The rule of thumb in imaging is that input and display are in RGB, while output is done in CMYK.

Ultraviolet (UV)

Electromagnetic radiation (light) existing in the bandwidth. UV-curable inks react to the ultraviolet light source in an arc lamp and are transformed into a solid polymer.

UV-Cure Printing

Printing process in which a lamp emitting ultraviolet rays is used to transform monomer-based liquid inks (deposited onto a substrate) into polymer-based solid inks.

Vector Image

A computer image that uses geometrical primitives (such as points, lines, polygons and Bezier curves) to produce mathematical descriptions of paths for a graphic.

Zip

To reduce file size by using compression algorithm programs such as PKZIP or WinZIP; a file made with zip software.