Page 144 - 2017 PIM Print Buyers Guide

Graphic Communications Terms Glossary

Page Pixel
One side of a leaf in a publication. Abbreviation for picture element. The separate elements of a bitmapped image on a video monitor.
Page Buffering Pixel Interleave
The ability to spool an entire image to disk and print at one time for uninterrupted flow. System of organizing color data within a computer pixel-by-pixel (i.e., a pixel of yellow, a pixel of
Page Layout Software magenta, a pixel of cyan, a pixel of black, etc.). See also: pixel.
Computer programs used to assemble type and images into page form. Pixel Swopping
Page Makeup A CEPS technique to exchange pixels from one area of a picture for pixels in another area. Example:
(1) The assembly of all elements to make up a page. (2) The electronic assembly of all page elements a window may be removed from a brick building if one area of the brick wall is placed in that area
to compose a complete page with type, graphics, images, and color in place on a display screen for of the picture. Using this technique, blemishes can be removed and objects can be added to the
output to plate or printer. reproduction.
Pagination Pixelization
Numbering pages in order. Also, the process of performing page makeup on a computer. A technique used to represent areas of complex detail as relatively large square or rectangular
Palette blocks of discrete, uniform colors or tones.
The collection of colors or shades available or used in a project, graphic system or program. Plate
Panchromatic Piece of paper, metal, plastic or rubber carrying an image to be reproduced using a printing press.
Film that is sensitive to all colors of light. Plate Cylinder
Panel In lithography, the cylinder that holds the printing plate tightly and in register on press. It places the
plate in contact with the dampening rollers that wet the non-image area and the inking rollers that
One page of a brochure on one side of the paper. A letter folded sheet has six panels. ink the image area, then transfers the inked image to the blanket, which is held on its own cylinder.
Parallel Fold Platemaking
A folding succession in which all folds are made parallel with each other. Preparing a printing plate or other image carrier so that it is ready for the press.
Paste-up Platesetters
Placing graphics and text in a mechanical either manually or electronically. A device that images printing plates directly from digital image data; no film or any analog
PDF (Portable document format) processes are required.
A computer file format that preserves a printed or electronic document’s original layout, type fonts Platform
and graphics as one unit for electronic transfer and viewing. The recipient uses compatible “reader” (1) A computer hardware usually incorporating a specific operating system. (2) The underlying
software to access and even print the PDF file. hardware or software for a system.
PDL (Page Description Language) Plug-and-Play
In digital prepress, a computer language designed for describing how type and graphic elements The ability of a computer to detect and configure a new piece of hardware automatically, without
should be produced by output devices. PostScript is the most commonly used PDL in printing. the user having to reconfigure the hardware elements.
Perfect Binding PMS (Pantone Matching System)
Signatures that are folded and collated on top of one another, as opposed to saddle-stitch binding in A set of preprinted color patches used to choose and communicate color so exact matches can be
which the signatures are folded inside one another. obtained.
Perfecting Press Point
Press that prints on both sides of the paper during a single pass. Unit of measurement commonly used to specify type sizes. There are 12 points in a pica and 72
Perforating points in an inch.
Punching a row of small hole or incisions into or through a sheet of paper to permit part of it to be Point-and-Click Access
detached; to guide in folding; to allow air to escape from signatures; or to prevent wrinkling when Use of graphical-user-interface (GUI) software and a mouse to execute computer commands.
folding heavy papers. Poor Trapping
pH The press condition in wet printing in letterpress and lithography when less ink transfers to
A reference number used for expressing the acidity or alkalinity of solutions. A value of 7 is neutral previously printed ink than to unprinted paper. Also called undertrapping.
in a scale ranging from 0 to 14. Solutions with values below 7 are acid. Those above 7 are alkaline. POP
Photoconductor Point of Presence, terminology for local access to a network or telecom service. Also point of
In digital imaging, special materials used in electrophotography that are light sensitive when purchase.
charged by a corona. They then convert light energy (photons) into electrical energy (electrons). Porosity
Photopolymer Coating The property of paper that allows the permeation of air, an important factor in ink penetration.
In photomechanics, a plate coating consisting of compounds that polymerize on exposure to
produce tough abrasion-resistant plates capable of long runs especially when baked in an oven after Port
processing. The connecting point between an electronic device and the equipment that transfers data to the
Photostat rest of the system.
Brand name for an early diffusion transfer process used to make positive paper prints of line copy Position Proof
and halftones. A color proof that is made to verify that all the elements of the reproduction (text, graphics and
Phototypesetting pictures) are in the correct position and are in register with each other.
Setting type directly on film or photosensitive paper for reproduction. Positive
Pica A reproduction which is exactly like the original.
Unit of measure commonly used in typesetting and design. A pica is one-sixth of an inch. Post Bind
Picking To bind using a screw and post inserted through a hole in a pile of loose sheets.
The lifting of the paper surface during printing, leaving unprinted spots in image areas. This occurs Post Consumer Waste (PCW)
when the pulling force (tack) of the ink is greater than the surface strength of the paper. A paper or board product that has completed its life cycle as a consumer item and would otherwise
Pickup Art have been disposed of as solid waste. Post-consumer materials used in the manufacture of recycled
fiber include office paper, cardboard, newspapers and magazines.
Artwork from a previous job incorporated into a current job. PostScript
Pigment Adobe Systems, Inc. tradename for a page description language that enables imagesetters and
The fine, solid particles used to give color, transparency or opacity to ink. other output devices developed by different companies to interpret electronic files from any number
Piling of personal computers (“front ends”) and off-the-shelf software programs.
The building up or caking of ink on rollers, plates or blankets which will not transfer readily. PostScript, encapsulated
Pinholes A file format used to transfer PostScript™ image information from one program to another.
Tiny areas that are not covered by ink.

138 2017 PIM Print Buyers Guide—www.pimw.org