Print Glossary
Below are a few of the more common print terms you may stumble across. We hope this print glossary assists you with any queries you may have, so you can make the best print selection to best suit and promote your brand the way you want.
If you have any questions or queries about any print options or artwork setup that you cannot find in this print glossary, please do not hesitate to contact us by submitting the "contact us" form at the bottom of this page or by emailing info@inknition.com.au
Print Glossary
Below are a few of the more common print terms you may stumble across. We hope this print glossary assists you with any queries you may have, so you can make the best print selection to best suit and promote your brand the way you want.
If you have any questions or queries about any print options or artwork setup that you cannot find in this print glossary, please do not hesitate to contact us by submitting the "contact us" form at the bottom of this page or by emailing info@inknition.com.au
To ensure a print job will print without white lines around it (unprinted sections/paper showing) any solid areas of background artwork must extend 3mm beyond the document size. For example, if you have an A4 document at 297mm x 210mm standard size, you will need to include 3mm of bleed on all 4 edges, which means you actually need to design to 303mm x 216mm.
The reason bleed is important, is because when a print job is printed, things such as skew and trimming can have slight movement, and the 3mm of bleed acts as a safety blanket to ensure that no unsightly white edges/unprinted areas of white paper appear on the final trimmed print product.
Crop marks simply indicate where the guillotine or auto trimmer should trim the artwork to. It acts as a visual guide to assist the operators to create accurate cuts.
GSM stands for Grams per Square Meter. There are thousands of varieties of paper and artboard which have a wide range of properties. The use of the term GSM is a good way for paper manufacturers and printers to identify them. The higher the GSM number, the heavier (thicker) the paper. Lower GSM are perfect for folded brochures, whilst higher GSM are perfect for things such as business cards and A6 postcards.
CMYK represents Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black, where Cyan, Magenta, Yellow are the primary colors in subtractive synthesis. From a theoretical point of view, every possible shade from black to white can be reproduced by combining the CMY colors.
CMYK is a printers terminology for engaging all 4 inks (CMYK) in the print process resulting in full colour printing. If a printer was to only engage the black ink (K) then only black ink would be engaged resulting in a black and white print.
Celloglaze is a type of laminate product that adds a thin, transparent plastic coating to your printing. The celloglaze is applied using a celloglazing machine and adheres to the card stock upon applying heat, along with pressure through rollers.
In comparison to regular laminate, celloglaze is a much thinner product and offers benefits of being able to be trimmed flush without any encapsulation, and creates a desirable, luxurious type appearance and feel, which is perfect for things such as business cards. Celloglaze most commonly comes in matt or gloss finish.
Die cutting is a process of creating a knife block to a certain shape. The knife block is pressed down onto a printed sheet creating a "cookie cut" effect leaving a perfect custom shaped item. Presentation folders are a perfect example of the use of a die cut. The presentation folders are printed on large flat sheets, then the knife block is pressed down onto the sheet leaving a perfect presentation folder shape cutout.
The die cut shape has to first be created during the design process using a line or drawing tool.
Spot UV is a "finishing" process in printing. This means that all ink layers are laid down, any paper lamination is added, such as matt celloglaze and the drying process completed first. The Spot UV is then printed on top of the paper/celloglaze, as a clear gloss, and then dried for the finished result.
The seperation created between the matt celloglaze and the clear gloss ink, creates an appealing effect that has the ability to attract the eye to specific areas of a printed item, such as a logo.
Foiling is a "finishing" process in printing. This means that all ink layers are laid down, any paper lamination is added, such as matt celloglaze and the drying process completed first. The foiling is then applied on top of the paper/celloglaze.
To get an idea of what foil looks like, just imagine the old tin foil you would use in the kitchen. It is essentially tin foil on a roll that comes in a range of colours and can be applied onto the printed sheet via a heat transfer process to specific areas of the print.
The seperation created between the matt celloglaze and the foil creates an appealing effect that has the ability to attract the eye to specific areas of a printed item, such as a logo.
Our stickers all come on white gloss monomeric or polymeric adhesive. Monomeric being for indoor use, whilst polymeric is for outdoor use.
We offer gloss or silk stocks for our flyers & booklet range of products. Gloss will aid artwork that is bright and vibrant and has lots of high quality photos, whilst silk offers a more corporate and luxurious look and feel for more high end brochures.
420gsm artboard is the thickest standard stock we can print onto. A majority of our presentation folders and business cards are printed on this stock to provide a quality look and feel.
Kiss-cut is the name for a delicate cut that only cuts through the media, but not the backing paper, thus allowing the sticker to be easily peeled away from its backing paper. We use this process on our circle, square and rectangle stickers.
