PREPRESS

Indesign

Its specific purpose is for laying out printed materials. This could be brochures, newsletters, ads,
business cards or books. Virtually anything that is made up of a combination of blocks of text, photos or
other artwork. Its purpose is to take the elements that you create in Illustrator and Photoshop and put
them together in one place.

Limitation: It doesn’t have any photo editing capabilities

Illustrator

Vector based. Used for creating and editing vector based illustrations such as logos and brand marks or
other design elements. Vector graphics are scalable images that can be sized as small or as large as you
need them to be, and still maintain their resolution and clarity.

Drawbacks:

1. Illustrator doesn’t have a way to setup master pages the way that InDesign does. This is a
necessary tool when you’re building documents that use templates.

2. Illustrator doesn’t allow you to automate page numbers. This is another feature InDesign
supports, which can be especially useful when dealing with larger documents.

Photoshop

Photoshop is for creating and editing photos and raster (pixel) based art work.

Do not create logos with Photoshop – It’s a bad idea that will do nothing but cost you time and
money. Again, Photoshop is pixel, or raster based. If you create a logo with it, the files that it creates
can not be enlarged or manipulated in the same manner that an Illustrator-based logo can.

Do not set type in Photoshop for print projects – For type to print at its clearest, it needs to be
vector based; Photoshop exports type as pixels. Now, you can save your Photoshop files in as an
.EPS file which allows you to export type as vectors, but still this is not a best practice, so just don’t
do it.
 GLOSSARY
Binding– The assembly of separate pages into a finished book or booklet by adhering the edges
together by smyth sewing, gluing, or stapling.

Bleed– The area past the trim line used to conceal cutting variances for artwork that extends to the
edge of the page.

Collating– The process of organizing pages together in number order to produce a book body.

Computer-To-Plate (CTP)– Plate producing technology that uploads images to a software

- computer to plate refers to the ability to create a printing plate directly from a PDF, removing the
need for film. CTP can reduce cost and time needed for plate creation process.

Die Cutting– A specialty feature that creates unique shapes with steel blades that cut through paper.

Lamination– A film applied to a printed sheet to protect the printed surface. Comes in two styles,
gloss or matte.

Matte– A coating that gives a dull shine to paper.

Gloss– A coating that adds a reflective shine to paper.

Paper Coating– A coating applied during paper manufacturing for appearance purposes such as
gloss, matte, or uncoated.
Paper Weight– The thickness of paper stock.

Perfect Binding (softcover)– Binding method used for trade paperbacks and softcover books, results
in books with a square spine.

PrePress– Everything in the production of a print project that happens before the project goes to
press (file review, proofing, imposition, plate manufacturing).

Rubber Blanket– Rubber sheet in the printing press that transfers ink to paper.

Saddle Stitching– Simplest binding method in which pages are folded and stapled together.

Trim Marks– Marks that show where pages will be trimmed.

Uncoated– Paper that does not have a matte or gloss coating and therefore feels raw and natural.

Resolution – A measure of the sharpness of images using the density of dots or pixels.

DPI/PPI – Short for dots-per-inch and pixels-per-inch, interchangeable references to image

BINDING
Coated Paper - is type of paper coated with white clay or a similar substance to provide a smooth
surface for printing detailed illustrations. The finish is often glossy but can be dull.

Flyleaf - the leaf (or leaves) forming that part of the folded endsheet not pasted down to the inside
of the cover board. Its function is to protect the first or last leaves of the textblock.

Case making - The operation, done by hand, of joining two boards together with the covering
material to make a case.

Book Block — Folded signatures gathered, sewn and trimmed, but not yet covered.

Case Bind — To bind using glue to hold signatures to a case made of binder board covered with
fabric, plastic or leather. Also called cloth bind, edition bind, hard bind and hard cover.

Deboss — To press an image into paper so it lies below the surface. Also called tool.
Emboss — To press an image into paper so it lies above the surface. Also called cameo and tool.

End Sheet — Sheet that attaches the inside pages of a case bound book to its cover. Also called
pastedown or end papers.

Finished Size — Size of product after production is completed, as compared to flat size. Also called
trimmed size.

Foil Emboss — To foil stamp and emboss an image.

Hinged Cover — Perfect bound cover scored 1/8 inch (3mm) from the spine so it folds at the hinge
instead of, along the edge of the spine.

Mechanical Bind — To bind using a comb, coil, ring binder, post or any other technique not
requiring gluing, sewing or stitching.

Saddle Stitch — To bind by stapling sheets together where they fold at the spine, as compared to
side stitch.

Side Stitch — To bind by stapling through sheets along, one edge, as compared to saddle stitch.

Self Cover — Usually in the book arena, a publication not having a cover stock. A publication only
using text stock throughout.

Spine — Back or binding edge of a publication

Spiral Bind — To bind using a spiral of continuous wire or plastic looped through holes.

Trim Size — The size of the printed material in its finished stage (e.g., the finished trim size is 5 12 x
8 12).

UV Coating — Liquid applied to a printed sheet, then bonded and cured with ultraviolet light. We
offer gloss, satin and soft touch.
Varnish — Liquid applied as a coating for protection and appearance.

Full Bound – a binding style in which the book is bound in one material (leather, cloth, etc.).

Half bound – a binding style in which the spine and a small portion of the sides or the corners of a
book are bound in one material and the sides are covered in a different material.

Quarter bound – a binding style in which the spine and a small portion of the sides of a book are
bound in one material and the sides are covered in a different material. Note: the corners of a book
are not bound in the same material as the spine, thus differentiating quarter binding

Headband – A decorative band, usually colored, which originally protected the top and bottom
edges of the spine but in modern books is strictly decorative. The band can be plain or colored, and
was originally worked over leather, cord, or rolled paper.
TYPES OF BINDING
Perfect Bind — To bind sheets that have been ground at the spine and are held to the cover by glue.
Also called adhesive bind, cut-back bind, glue bind, paper bind, patent bind, perfecting bind, soft
bind and soft cover.

Spiral Bind -