Printing & Typesetting

The names of typefaces, character anatomy, and traditional point measurements.

• Agatealso ruby
  A traditional type size measuring five and a half points.
• American
  An obsolete, microscopic metal type size measuring exactly one point.
• Astonisheralso screamer, bang
  A slang name used by printers and typesetters to describe an exclamation mark. Shop talk
• B****** type
  A piece of metal type where the face size does not match its standard body size.
• Beardalso neck
  The sloped area of a piece of metal type between the raised face and the flat shoulder.
• Black-letteralso Gothic script, Old English
  A dense, highly ornamented style of typeface based on medieval manuscript lettering.
• Bodyalso shank
  The solid rectangular shank of a piece of metal type that supports the printing face.
• Bourgeois
  A traditional metal type size equivalent to 9-point type.
• Brevealso Brachy
  A curved diacritical mark placed above a letter to indicate a short vowel sound.
• Brevier
  A traditional metal type size equivalent to 8-point type.
• Brilliant
  A very small traditional metal type size equivalent to 4-point type.
• Canon
  A very large traditional type size measuring 48 points.
• Caxton
  A heavy, historic style of black-letter typeface modeled on early English printing.
• Church text
  A tall, condensed style of black-letter typeface traditionally used in liturgical printing.
• Columbianalso Two-line brevier
  A traditional metal type size measuring 16 points.
• Coronis
  A decorative flourish or symbol placed at the end of a chapter or book.
• Counterpunch
  A hardened steel tool used to stamp the inner negative spaces of a letter into a master punch.
• Devicealso printer's mark, publisher's mark
  A decorative emblem or publisher's mark printed on a title page or colophon.
• Diamond
  A historic metal type size measuring approximately four and a half points.
• Display
  Large or prominent type used for headings rather than body text.
• Double great primer
  A traditional type size measuring 36 points, equivalent to two lines of great primer type.
• Double letteralso ligature
  A single piece of metal type bearing two connected characters.
• Double picaalso two-line pica
  An older metal type size measuring twenty-two or twenty-four points.
• Double small pica
  An historic metal type size measuring twenty-one or twenty-two points.
• English
  A traditional type size measuring fourteen points.
• Ennage
  The total count of en spaces in a piece of typeset copy.
• Excelsioralso minikin
  A traditional type size measuring three points, one of the smallest ever cast.
• Factotumalso factotum initial
  A decorative initial block with a blank center where any standard letter of type can be inserted.
• Floweralso fleuron, printer's flower
  A piece of cast metal type bearing a decorative botanical or geometric ornament.
• Gem
  An obsolete, extremely small type size that measures approximately four points.
• German
  A historic, extremely small type size measuring roughly one and a half points.
• Great primer
  A traditional type size measuring roughly 18 points.
• Hair strokealso hairline
  The thinnest line or stroke in the design of a printed typeface.
• Headpiece
  An ornamental design printed at the top of a page to mark the beginning of a chapter.
• Homeset
  The designated default typeface or typographic style established for a specific publication or publisher.
• Incut
  A small block of text or an image set directly into a hollowed-out space within a main paragraph.
• Inferioralso subscript
  A small character set below the baseline of the regular text.
• Ionic
  A historic classification of heavy-faced serif typefaces designed for legibility.
• Jet
  The excess metal attached to the bottom of a freshly cast piece of type.
• Keep down
  To set text using lowercase letters instead of capitals wherever possible. Shop talk
• Lead out
  To increase the vertical space between lines of metal type.
• Lean
  Describing text or copy that is difficult and slow to set by hand. Shop talk
• Letter
  A physical piece of cast metal type, or the collective body of type in a print shop.
• Manchette
  A vertical heading or marginal note placed alongside the main text body.
• Matrixalso mat
  A metal mold used to cast individual type characters or entire lines of text.
• Meridian
  A traditional type size measuring 44 points, falling between double great primer and canon.
• Minikinalso excelsior
  A historic type size measuring approximately 3 points.
• Minion
  A historic type size measuring approximately 7 points.
• Minionettealso Emerald
  A historic type size measuring exactly six and a half points.
• Mixed case
  Text set using a combination of capital and lowercase letters.
• Nick
  A physical groove cast into the front belly of a piece of foundry type.
• Norse
  A historic type size measuring two and a half points.
• Paragon
  A historic type size measuring 20 points, falling between great primer and double pica.
• Parallelalso parallel mark
  A typographic reference mark consisting of two vertical lines used to indicate a footnote.
• Parathesis
  Text that is enclosed within brackets or parentheses.
• Pearl
  A historic type size measuring approximately 5 points.
• Photoletteringalso phototypesetting
  A cold-type process of composing text by projecting light through film negatives onto photographic paper.
• Pica
  A standard typographic unit of measurement equal to 12 points or approximately one-sixth of an inch.
• Put up
  To change a section of text from lowercase to capital letters. Shop talk
• Reglet
  A thin strip of wood used to create blank space between lines of metal type.
• Roman
  The standard, upright style of a typeface as opposed to italic or bold.
• Ruby
  An older British name for a type size measuring about 5.5 points.
• Rule
  A type-high strip of metal used to print continuous lines.
• Run upon sorts
  To rapidly deplete specific letters from a typecase during composition. Shop talk
• Saxon
  An extremely small historic type size measuring about 2 points.
• Shoulder
  The flat, non-printing top surface of a piece of metal type surrounding the raised letter.
• Skeleton
  A typeface characterized by extremely thin, light-faced strokes with minimal contrast.
• Small letteralso lowercase
  A historic term for a lowercase character stored in the lower section of a compositor's typecase.
• Small pica
  A historic type size measuring approximately 11 points, sitting between long primer and pica.
• Small text
  An older European type size measuring approximately 7.5 Didot points.
• Solid
  A block of text set without any extra vertical space between the lines.
• Space linealso lead
  A thin strip of metal placed between lines of type to increase the vertical spacing.
• Space rule
  A short, thin metal rule used in letterpress printing to form lines in tabular layouts.
• Staralso asterisk
  A typographic symbol used for footnotes, emphasis, or decorative breaks.
• Stickful
  The amount of hand-set type that fills a compositor's handheld stick. Shop talk
• Stigmatypy
  A historic typesetting technique that creates images using only punctuation marks.
• Strikeoveralso strikethrough, strikeout
  A typographic effect where a horizontal line is drawn through the middle of text.
• Stylealso stylesheet
  A defined set of typographic and formatting rules applied consistently across a publication.
• Superioralso superscript
  A small character set above the normal baseline, used for footnotes or mathematical exponents.
• Tailpiecealso cul-de-lampe, endpiece
  A small ornamental illustration placed at the end of a chapter or text section.
• Text
  A historic classification of large or heavy typefaces traditionally used for the main body of a book.
• Two-line
  A piece of type cast on a body twice the depth of its standard point size.
• Two-line double pica
  A historic metal type size measuring approximately forty-four points.
• two-line Englishalso double English
  A traditional metal type size equivalent to twenty-eight points.
• Two-line great primer
  A large traditional metal type size equivalent to thirty-six points.
• Two-line pica
  A traditional metal type size measuring exactly twenty-four points.
• Type
  The physical pieces of metal or wood bearing raised characters used in letterpress printing.
• Type-highalso height to paper
  The exact standard height of printing type from its base to its printing surface.
• Typeface
  A specific, cohesive design of lettering that includes an entire set of characters.
• Unlead
  To remove the spacing strips between lines of set type.
• Vignette
  A decorative illustration or ornament printed at the beginning or end of a chapter.

The heavy machinery, hand tools, and mechanical parts used to put ink on paper.

• Airshaftalso air mandrel, pneumatic shaft
  A pneumatic spindle that expands to grip the core of a paper roll.
• Aniloxalso anilox roll, anilox roller
  A specialized cylinder used in flexographic printing to deliver a precise volume of ink to the plate.
• Back grayalso back grey
  A heavy cotton backing cloth used in textile printing to absorb excess ink.
• Ballstock
  The wooden handle attached to a traditional leather inkball.
• Band printer
  An early, high-speed impact printer that uses a rotating metal band of characters.
• Bearer
  A type-high strip of metal or wood used to support the printing pressure evenly.
• Blockalso mounting block
  A solid base used to raise a printing plate to the correct height for the press.
• Bodkin
  A sharp, pointed hand tool used by compositors to extract individual metal letters from a tight form.
• Brayer
  A small hand roller used to apply an even layer of ink to a printing surface.
• Chase
  A heavy steel or iron frame used to hold metal type and blocks securely together for printing.
• Clichéalso stereotype
  A cliché is a relief printing plate cast from a mold of set type or an engraving.
• Composing framealso frame, rack
  A heavy wooden or metal stand designed to hold type cases at an ergonomic angle.
• Composing rulealso setting rule
  A thin metal blade used to support lines of type during manual composition.
• Core
  The sturdy central tube around which a roll of paper or substrate is wound.
• Daisywheel printer
  An impact printer that uses a rotating wheel of raised metal or plastic characters.
• Digital press
  A heavy-duty printing machine that images directly from a digital file onto paper.
• Distributoralso distributor roller
  A roller on a printing press designed to spread ink evenly before it reaches the form or plate.
• Doctor blade
  A thin strip of metal or plastic that scrapes excess ink from the surface of a printing cylinder.
• Dot matrix printeralso impact printer
  An impact printing device that forms characters by striking an ink ribbon with a grid of tiny metal pins.
• Ductoralso ductor roller
  A roller that transfers ink or water from a fountain to the distribution rollers.
• Duplexeralso duplex unit
  A mechanical assembly that turns paper over to print on the second side.
• Electrotypealso electro
  A duplicate printing plate created by electroplating a mold of the original set type or engraving.
• Flyalso fly frame
  A mechanical delivery mechanism on a press that catches and stacks printed sheets.
• Footstickalso Foot stick
  A beveled piece of wood or metal placed at the bottom of a page of type to help lock it into a chase.
• Formalso forme
  A complete body of assembled type and blocks locked into a chase ready for printing.
• Frisket
  A thin iron frame covered with paper that folds over the printed sheet to hold it flat and mask out margins.
• Fudge boxalso fudge
  A specialized mechanical clamp on a newspaper press cylinder for inserting late-breaking news. Shop talk
• Furniture
  Blocks of wood or metal used to fill blank spaces in a chase and establish page margins.
• Galley
  A shallow, three-sided metal tray used to hold lines of set type before they are made up into pages.
• Handpress
  A manually operated printing machine that applies pressure to ink and paper.
• Headband
  A thin strip of metal attached to the tympan of a traditional printing press.
• Hellboxalso hell box
  A bin where damaged or used metal type is thrown to be melted down and recast. Shop talk
• Imposing stonealso stone, imposing table
  A flat, heavy surface used for assembling and locking up metal type.
• Ink-block
  A flat surface used to distribute ink evenly before applying it to the type.
• Inkball
  A historic hand tool used to manually pound ink onto a form of movable type.
• Inkjet printer
  A digital output device that creates images by spraying microscopic drops of liquid ink.
• Insetter
  A machine module that feeds pre-printed webs or sheets into an active press run.
• Intertypealso Intertype machine
  A historic linecasting machine that sets and casts lines of metal type.
• Jobberalso job press
  A small printing press used for short commercial runs like business cards and flyers. Shop talk
• Kick
  To operate a manual printing press using a foot treadle. Shop talk
• Kicker
  A mechanical arm that offsets a single newspaper to mark a specific bundle count.
• Laser printer
  A digital printing device that uses static electricity and a laser to fuse toner to paper.
• Leader
  The unprinted start of a paper roll used to thread the web through a press.
• Letterboard
  A flat wooden or metal tray used to store and move composed metal type.
• Line printer
  A high-speed impact printer that prints a complete line of text simultaneously.
• Linoblockalso linoleum block
  A piece of linoleum mounted on a block for relief carving and printing.
• Metal master
  A durable metal printing plate used in offset lithography.
• Monoline
  A historic linecasting machine that produces a solid slug of type.
• Multigraph
  A compact rotary printing machine used for high-volume office duplication.
• Overlayalso Patch
  A piece of paper added to the tympan to increase printing pressure in a specific spot.
• Perfecting pressalso perfector
  A printing machine that prints on both sides of a continuous sheet or web of paper in a single pass.
• Pica stickalso line gauge, typographic ruler
  A specialized metal or wooden ruler marked in picas and points used by printers to measure type and layout dimensions. Shop talk
• Pinfeedalso tractor feed
  A paper-handling mechanism that uses small sprocketed wheels to advance continuous paper with punched margins.
• Platealso printing plate
  A flat, flexible sheet of metal or polymer that carries the image to be printed.
• Platen
  A flat metal plate that presses paper against an inked typeform to create an impression.
• Quoin
  An expandable wedge used to lock metal type securely inside a chase.
• Rounce
  A crank handle used to move the bed of a handpress under the platen.
• Sheepsfootalso sheep's foot
  A traditional iron hand tool with a claw on one end used by pressmen.
• Sheetfedalso sheet-fed
  Describes a printing press that takes individual, pre-cut sheets of paper.
• Shooting stick
  A wedge-shaped wooden or metal tool used to drive quoins into a chase.
• Short crossalso short crossbar
  The shorter of the two intersecting metal bars inside a printing chase.
• Slice
  A flat, sliding metal or wooden plate that forms the removable bottom of a printer's galley.
• Space suppression
  A printer function that prevents paper from advancing after a line is printed.
• Spirit duplicatoralso Ditto machine, Banda machine
  A historic copying machine that uses an alcohol-based fluid to transfer wax ink from a master sheet.
• Squeegee
  A flat rubber or polyurethane blade set in a handle, used to force ink through a screen mesh.
• Takeoff
  The mechanism or process of removing printed sheets from the press delivery area.
• Tapealso drive tape, folder tape
  A flexible, continuous belt used to guide paper through a printing press or folding machine.
• TIJalso thermal inkjet
  Thermal inkjet, a printing technology that uses heat to expel microscopic droplets of ink.
• Trypograph
  An early stencil-duplicating machine used to produce multiple copies of a document.
• Turtle
  A curved chase or plate holder used to secure type on a rotary printing cylinder. Shop talk
• Turtle-pressalso type-revolving press
  A high-speed rotary printing press that used curved chases to hold type on a cylinder.
• Tympanalso Tympaning, tympan paper
  The padded frame or sheet on a letterpress that holds the paper against the inked type.
• Type baralso slug
  A solid cast line of text produced by a hot metal typesetting machine.
• Typecasealso case
  A shallow wooden tray with compartmentalized boxes for holding individual pieces of metal type.
• Typeformalso form, forme
  The fully assembled block of type and image plates locked together for printing.
• Typograph
  An early linecasting machine that sets and casts entire lines of metal type.
• Typometeralso line gauge, pica pole
  A specialized ruler used by printers to measure type sizes and line spacing.
• Underlay
  Material placed beneath a printing plate or block to raise it to the correct height for printing.
• Varitype
  To set text using a specialized typewriter that allows for interchangeable fonts and proportional spacing.
• Waveralso waver roller, oscillator
  An ink roller that moves side to side while rotating to distribute ink evenly across the press.
• Web
  A continuous roll of paper fed through a high-speed printing press.
• Webbing
  The system of tapes or belts that guide a continuous roll of paper through a press.

The preparation of text, images, and page geometry before the actual print run.

• Bleedalso Bleeding
  An extra margin of printed image that extends beyond the final trim size of a page.
• Bleeding edge
  The outermost perimeter of a document's bleed area, which will be discarded during trimming. Shop talk
• Box
  To surround a layout element with a printed border or rule.
• Branch out
  To insert extra whitespace around text elements to expand the layout. Shop talk
• Camera-ready
  The final state of a document or layout when it is fully prepared to be photographed for plate-making.
• Cast off
  The mathematical estimation of how many printed pages a given manuscript will occupy.
• Catchline
  A temporary heading set at the top of a galley proof to identify the job, author, or section.
• Color separation
  The prepress process of dividing a full-color image into individual primary color channels for printing.
• Colour baralso color bar, control strip
  A colour bar is a printed strip of test blocks used to monitor ink density and print quality.
• Column inch
  A column inch is a unit of space measuring one inch deep by one standard column wide.
• Composealso typeset
  The historic process of hand-setting individual metal type characters into lines of text.
• Contonealso continuous tone
  Describing an image that features smooth, uninterrupted transitions between shades or colors.
• Copyeditalso subedit
  To review and correct raw manuscript text for grammar, style, and formatting before typesetting.
• Counterproofalso maculature
  A reversed print created by pressing a fresh sheet of paper against a wet proof.
• Cropmarkalso trim mark, tick mark
  Fine lines printed outside the artwork area that indicate exactly where the paper should be cut.
• Deleaturalso dele
  A proofreading mark used to indicate that text or an element should be removed.
• Digital decayalso generation loss
  The progressive loss of image quality caused by repeated saving and compression. Shop talk
• Ditheralso dithering
  To simulate unavailable colors or continuous tones by arranging pixels of available colors in a pattern.
• Flong
  A papier-mâché mold pressed against a form of lead type to cast a solid printing plate.
• Galley proofalso galleys, slip proof
  A preliminary printed copy of continuous text pulled before the type is divided into pages.
• Gutter
  The blank space between facing pages or adjacent columns of text.
• Halftone
  An image created by breaking continuous tones into a pattern of dots.
• Headstick
  A piece of spacing material placed at the top of a type form during lockup.
• Impose
  To arrange pages or plates in the correct position so they fold into the proper sequence.
• Imposition
  The arrangement of pages on a press sheet to ensure correct order after folding and trimming.
• Knockout
  A prepress technique where a top color removes the background color underneath it.
• Landscapealso oblong
  An orientation where the printed page is wider than it is tall.
• Latinalso lorem ipsum, greeking
  Dummy text used to fill layout spaces before the final copy is ready. Shop talk
• Lay
  To arrange and position pages or plates correctly before printing.
• Line artalso line drawing, line copy
  Artwork consisting entirely of solid lines or shapes with no continuous tones or shading.
• Make-readyalso makeready
  The preparatory work required to get a printing press ready for a specific print run.
• Master copyalso master proof
  The definitive original document from which all subsequent duplicates or plates are made.
• Multinegative
  A composite film sheet containing multiple negative images arranged for platemaking.
• Multipositive
  A composite film sheet containing multiple positive images arranged for platemaking.
• Overmatteralso overset
  Typeset text that exceeds the available space on a page or layout.
• Overrun
  To push text forward into the next line or column when adding material to an existing paragraph.
• Oversetalso overmatter
  Typeset copy that exceeds the physical space allotted for it on the page.
• Page proof
  A trial print of a document showing exactly how the text and graphics will be arranged on the final pages.
• Photo machinealso phototypesetter, cold type machine
  An older piece of prepress equipment used to expose text onto photographic paper or film. Shop talk
• Photoblockeralso opaque, blockout
  An opaque fluid, tape, or film used to mask out areas of a negative or plate during exposure.
• Portrait
  A page orientation where the vertical edges are longer than the horizontal edges.
• Press proofalso machine proof
  A final test print made on the actual production press using the final ink and paper.
• Printer-friendly
  A digital document formatted to print cleanly on standard desktop printers without wasting ink or paper.
• Proofalso galley proof, press proof
  A preliminary print made to check for errors before authorizing a full production run.
• Proof sheet
  A physical page printed specifically for review and correction by editors or clients.
• PURLalso personalized URL
  A personalized uniform resource locator printed on direct mail to track individual recipient responses.
• Reamage
  The total volume or quantity of paper calculated in reams.
• Repeater
  A repeating design element or pattern block in continuous printing.
• Reproalso camera-ready copy, reproduction proof
  A high-quality proof or camera-ready mechanical used to generate printing plates. Shop talk
• Reverse outalso knock out
  To print the background with ink while leaving the text or design as the unprinted color of the paper.
• Revisealso revised proof
  A second or subsequent proof pulled to check that requested corrections have been made.
• Run in
  To merge text into a single continuous block to eliminate gaps or save space.
• Run onalso run in
  A typesetting instruction to continue text on the same line without breaking for a new paragraph.
• Runaroundalso text wrap
  Text formatted with a modified margin to wrap around an image or graphic.
• Runover
  Text that exceeds its allotted space and spills into the next column or page.
• Sheetwisealso work and back
  A printing method where one side of a sheet is printed, and then a different plate is used for the reverse.
• Sidestickalso side stick
  A wedge-shaped strip of wood or metal placed along the side of a type page.
• Slickalso camera-ready copy, repro
  A high-quality, camera-ready proof used to create photographic negatives for plate burning. Shop talk
• Spirit master
  A two-ply sheet assembly used to create the image template for a spirit duplicator.
• Tableworkalso tabular matter
  The process of formatting and setting data into structured rows and columns.
• Tint block
  A solid plate or surface used to print a flat background color behind text or images.
• Type areaalso live area, text area
  The designated central portion of a page where the main text block is printed.
• Underprintalso rich black
  A layer of color printed beneath black ink to create a richer, deeper black.
• Upmakingalso makeup
  The process of assembling set type and graphics into finished pages.

The specific methods and chemical reactions used to transfer images to a substrate.

• Anastaticalso anastatic printing
  An early relief-printing process using zinc plates to reproduce existing drawings or texts.
• Ben Dayalso Ben Day process, Ben Day dots
  A mechanical shading technique that uses small geometric patterns to simulate colors and tones.
• Bokashi
  A traditional woodblock printing technique used to create color gradations.
• Cast
  The process of pouring molten metal into a matrix to form a printing plate or individual type characters.
• CIJ
  Continuous inkjet is a printing method that forces a steady stream of ink drops onto a substrate.
• CMY
  A subtractive color model using cyan, magenta, and yellow inks to produce a wide spectrum of hues.
• CMYKalso four-color process
  The standard four-color printing process that combines cyan, magenta, yellow, and a key plate of black ink.
• Desensitize
  To treat the non-image areas of a lithographic plate so they repel printing ink.
• Dossil
  A cloth pad used in intaglio printing to wipe excess ink from the surface of an engraved plate.
• Doubleweight
  A paper stock manufactured to be twice as thick and heavy as standard weights.
• Dyelinealso diazo print, whiteprint
  A photographic printing process using diazo compounds to produce copies from translucent originals.
• Editioning
  The practice of printing a strictly limited number of copies of an artwork or fine press book.
• Engraving
  An intaglio printing process where an image is incised into a metal plate.
• Fondualso split fountain, rainbow printing
  A smooth, gradual transition between two or more printed colors.
• Gravurealso rotogravure
  An intaglio printing process that transfers ink from microscopic cells engraved into a rotating cylinder.
• Hot metalalso hot lead
  A typesetting process that casts lines of text from molten lead alloy.
• IJP
  An abbreviation for inkjet printing, a digital method that propels droplets of ink onto paper.
• Impressionalso print run
  A single print run of a publication from the same setup, or the physical pressure applied by the press.
• Intaglio
  A printing method where the image is incised into a surface and holds the ink below the plate level.
• Keyplatealso key plate
  The primary printing plate that holds the detail and outline of an image.
• Letter-quality printingalso LQP
  An older standard for computer printers indicating output that matches the crispness of a good typewriter.
• Letterpress
  A relief printing process where raised, inked surfaces are pressed directly onto paper.
• Linecasting
  The automated process of casting complete lines of text in molten lead.
• Linocut
  A relief print made by carving a design into a linoleum surface.
• Lithographic
  Pertaining to a printing process based on the chemical repulsion of oil and water.
• Monotype
  A printmaking process that yields a single, unique impression from a smooth plate.
• Overprint
  To print one layer of ink directly on top of another.
• Perfectingalso duplexing
  The process of printing on both sides of a sheet or web of paper in a single pass through the press.
• Photo-offsetalso offset lithography, photo-offset lithography
  A lithographic printing process that uses photographically produced plates to transfer images to a rubber blanket.
• Photolithography
  The process of creating printing plates by exposing light-sensitive coatings to photographic negatives.
• Planographyalso planographic printing
  A printing method that transfers ink from a completely flat surface.
• Printer's reamalso perfect ream
  A bundle of 516 sheets of paper, used to account for waste during the printing process.
• Printing paper
  Paper manufactured specifically to accept ink cleanly during mechanical printing.
• Process coloralso four-color process
  A printing method that mixes four standard ink colors to reproduce full-color images.
• R2Ralso roll-to-roll
  A manufacturing process where flexible material is fed continuously from one roll to another.
• Register
  The precise alignment of multiple printed layers or colors on a single sheet.
• Reiterationalso perfecting
  The printing of the second side of a sheet that has already been printed on one side.
• Reverse intaglio
  A printing or engraving technique where a design is carved into the back of a transparent material.
• Screen printalso silkscreen, Screen-printed
  To force ink through a fine mesh stencil onto a substrate.
• Screenless
  Describes a continuous-tone printing method that does not use a halftone dot pattern.
• Slip sheet
  A piece of blank paper inserted between freshly printed sheets to prevent ink transfer.
• Spanishalso Spanishing
  To deposit ink selectively into the recessed areas of a textured material.
• Spot color
  A specific, premixed ink color printed using its own dedicated printing plate.
• Spot UV
  A clear, glossy coating applied to specific areas of a printed sheet and cured with ultraviolet light.
• Stereotypealso stereo
  A solid metal printing plate cast from a papier-mâché or plaster mold.
• Stereotypography
  The historic method of printing using cast metal stereotype plates.
• Stereotypy
  The craft and industrial process of manufacturing stereotype plates.
• Typometry
  The historic technique of printing maps or technical drawings using specifically cast movable type.
• Woodblockalso block
  A block of wood carved in relief to serve as a printing surface.

The standard paper folding patterns and structural elements of finished volumes.

• 12moalso twelvemo, duodecimo
  A book format created by folding a printed sheet into twelve leaves.
• 18moalso octodecimo
  A small book format made by folding a single printed sheet into eighteen leaves.
• 32moalso thirty-twomo, trigesimo-secundo
  A miniature book format produced by folding a printed sheet into thirty-two leaves.
• 4toalso quarto
  The standard abbreviation for quarto, a book size made by folding printed sheets twice.
• 64moalso sexagesimo-quarto
  An extremely small book format made by folding a printed sheet into sixty-four leaves.
• 8voalso octavo
  A standard book format created by folding a printed sheet three times to form eight leaves.
• Bastard
  A shortened or non-standard version of a book element.
• Blind folio
  A page number that is counted in the book's sequence but not printed.
• Cancel
  A replacement leaf printed to substitute a page containing a severe error in an already bound book.
• Catchword
  The first word of a following page printed in isolation at the bottom right corner of the preceding page.
• Colophon
  A publisher or printer's emblem or production note placed inside a book.
• Crown
  A traditional British paper size measuring 20 by 15 inches.
• Dalso 12mo, twelvemo
  A standard library abbreviation for a duodecimo book format.
• Dust jacketalso dust cover, book jacket
  A detachable outer paper cover folded around a hardback book to protect the binding.
• Editio princepsalso Princeps
  The first printed edition of a book that previously existed only in handwritten manuscript form.
• Errataalso corrigenda
  A printed list of errors and their corrections inserted into a book after it has been bound.
• Foalso f, fol
  The standard bibliographic abbreviation for a folio book format.
• Folio
  The printed page number in a publication, or a book size made by folding a sheet once.
• Gold blockingalso foil stamping, hot foil stamping
  A finishing process that uses a heated die to press metallic foil into a surface.
• Guidewordalso catchword
  A word printed at the bottom of a page that previews the first word of the next page.
• Headlinealso running head
  A line of text set at the top of a printed page containing the title and page number.
• Heft
  A single issue, fascicle, or installment of a serialized publication. Shop talk
• Imperial
  A traditional paper size measuring 22 by 32 inches for printing paper.
• Imprimatur
  A formal declaration granting official permission to print a specific book or document.
• Incunabulumalso incunable
  A historic book or pamphlet printed during the earliest days of European typography.
• Leporelloalso concertina fold
  A printed document folded into an accordion pleat style rather than bound at a spine.
• O
  The American Library Association abbreviation for an octavo book size.
• Oddmentalso front matter, back matter
  Any printed component of a book that falls outside the main body text.
• Post
  A traditional British paper size measuring 15.5 by 19.25 inches.
• Quadragesimo-octavoalso 48mo
  A miniature book format made by folding a printed sheet into 48 leaves.
• Quartoalso 4to
  A book size created by folding a printed sheet twice to form four leaves.
• Recto
  The right-hand page of an open book or manuscript, traditionally bearing an odd page number.
• Royal
  A historic standard paper size measuring 20 by 25 inches.
• Sexagesimo-quartoalso 64mo
  A miniature book size created by folding a printed sheet into 64 leaves.
• Sextodecimoalso 16mo, sixteenmo
  A book size created by folding a printed sheet into 16 leaves.
• Signaturealso section, gathering
  A large printed sheet folded multiple times to form a sequential section of a book.
• Tabloidalso 11x17, ledger
  A standard North American paper size measuring 11 by 17 inches.
• Thirty-twomoalso 32mo, trigesimo-secundo
  A very small book format created by folding a printed sheet into 32 leaves.
• Throwoutalso foldout
  An oversized folded page bound into a book that extends beyond the regular page edge when opened.
• Trigesimo-secundoalso 32mo, thirty-twomo
  The formal Latin name for a 32mo, a book format made by folding a sheet into 32 leaves.
• Twenty-foursalso 24mo, vicesimo-quarto
  A printing layout or book format consisting of twenty-four leaves per folded sheet.
• Versoalso reverso
  The left-hand page of an open book or manuscript, traditionally carrying an even page number.
• Vicesimo-quartoalso twenty-fours, 24mo
  A very small book format made by folding a printed sheet into 24 leaves.
• Vigesimo-quartoalso 24mo, twenty-fours
  A book format created by folding a printed sheet to form twenty-four leaves or forty-eight pages.
• With privilegealso cum privilegio
  A historical phrase printed in a book to show the publisher held an exclusive legal right to print it.

The mechanical faults, ink problems, and paper jams that ruin a printed sheet.

• Bite
  A blank spot on a printed sheet caused by an obstruction between the type and the paper.
• Bottle
  To skew or twist out of square during the folding of a multi-page signature. Shop talk
• Doublet
  A typesetting error where a word or phrase is accidentally repeated.
• Foxing
  A brownish discoloration or spotting that appears on old paper.
• Friar
  A pale or unprinted patch on a page caused by insufficient ink application. Shop talk
• Hickeyalso bullseye, fish eye
  A printing defect appearing as a small spot or halo on the printed sheet. Shop talk
• Maculealso mackle
  To blur or double a printed impression during the press run.
• Misregistrationalso out of register
  The failure of successive printed colors or images to align perfectly.
• Mistalso fly
  To spray fine droplets of ink into the air from rapidly spinning press rollers.
• Out
  An accidental omission of words or characters by a typesetter.
• Paper jamalso jam
  A mechanical fault where sheets of paper become stuck inside the feed mechanism of a printing device.
• Pickalso picking
  A printing defect caused by ink pulling small fibers or coating particles off the surface of the paper.
• Pluckingalso picking
  A defect where tacky ink pulls fibers or coating off the surface of the paper.
• Ridealso bind
  To overlap or sit improperly on top of another piece of spacing material in a form. Shop talk
• Scabby
  Describes a printed solid area that looks blotchy, mottled, or uneven. Shop talk
• Scumming
  A lithographic defect where ink adheres to the non-image areas of a printing plate.
• Set offalso offsetting
  To transfer wet ink from the front of one printed sheet to the back of the sheet resting above it.
• Slur
  A printing defect where the inked image appears blurred or doubled in the direction of paper travel.
• Squabble
  To accidentally twist or misalign set type so the characters no longer sit square. Shop talk
• Stack
  Excessive ink building up on press rollers or blankets. Shop talk
• Whiskeringalso feathering
  A printing defect where tiny, hairlike strands of ink bleed out from the edges of printed letters. Shop talk

The specific job titles of the workers who operate presses and assemble type.

• Clicker
  A clicker is a historic term for a foreman or lead compositor who makes up the final pages.
• Flyboy
  A pressroom assistant who removes and stacks freshly printed sheets from the delivery end of a press. Shop talk
• Handmanalso compositor
  A compositor who sets metal type manually character by character.
• Letterfounderalso typefounder
  A specialized artisan or business that casts metal type for printers.
• Pressfeederalso feeder
  A worker who manually loads blank sheets of paper into a printing press.
• Printeralso pressman, press operator
  A person who operates a printing press, or a company that provides commercial printing services.
• Stone editor
  A newspaper editor who finalizes page layouts directly at the imposing stone.
• Stone subeditor
  A junior editor assisting with layout decisions at the imposing stone.
• Typecutteralso punchcutter
  An artisan who hand-carves the original steel punches used to manufacture metal type.
• Upmakeralso makeup man
  A compositor who arranges loose columns of type into finished pages.

The informal verbs and insider phrases heard on the floor of a busy print shop.

• Bang outalso banging out
  A noisy shop floor celebration marking a printer's retirement or the end of an apprenticeship. Shop talk
• Distribute
  To break down a form of handset metal type and return each letter to its correct compartment.
• Distribution
  The act of returning individual pieces of metal type to their proper compartments in a typecase.
• Drive outalso branch out
  To space out text widely to fill more lines or pages. Shop talk
• Fall out
  The historic failure of a locked-up form where loose type drops out of the chase. Shop talk
• Fatalso fat matter
  An older term for typesetting work that is quick and easy to compose, yielding better piece-rate pay. Shop talk
• Go to bedalso put to bed
  To finish preparing a publication and send it to the press for printing. Shop talk
• Gods
  Blank spacing material used by typesetters to play a dice-like gambling game. Shop talk
• Greasealso fat
  A historic term for typesetting work with lots of blank space that paid well. Shop talk
• Ink up
  The process of applying a fresh layer of ink to the press rollers. Shop talk
• Jeffalso Jeffing
  To gamble or throw dice using metal type spaces instead of standard dice. Shop talk
• Knock upalso jog
  To align the edges of a stack of paper by tapping it against a flat surface. Shop talk
• Out of sorts
  A situation where a typesetter has run out of specific character blocks. Shop talk
• Provealso pull a proof
  To pull a test print from a set of type or plates to check for errors. Shop talk
• Put down
  To set a word or passage in lowercase letters rather than capitals. Shop talk
• Put to bedalso go to bed
  To finalize a publication and send it to the pressroom for printing. Shop talk
• Quoin up
  To place and loosely set wedges around a form of type before final tightening. Shop talk
• Risealso lift
  To lift cleanly off the imposing stone as a single locked unit without any loose type falling out. Shop talk
• Set out
  A historic process of arranging composed type and transferring it to the press bed for a print run.
• Set up to oneself
  To compose a block of text that immediately precedes another block previously set by the same compositor. Shop talk
• Slug out
  To quickly cast lines of type using a hot-metal linecasting machine. Shop talk
• Space out
  To insert blank spacing material between letters, words, or lines of type to fill a measure. Shop talk
• Take
  A specific portion of manuscript given to a typesetter to compose at one time. Shop talk
• Token
  A historic unit of presswork production, typically representing 250 printed sheets. Shop talk
• Turnalso turned letter
  To place a piece of type upside down in a line as a placeholder for a missing character. Shop talk
• Union bugalso bug
  A small emblem printed on a piece to indicate it was produced by unionized labor. Shop talk