Terminology you will come across in the world of Proofing Paper
Just like any other industry Printing has a vocabulary unique to its own. Here is a sample of the words most likely to be encountered when sorting through the uses, differences and similarities of Proofing Paper products.
Bleed, full bleed - An extra amount of printed image that extends beyond the edge of the page so that when margins are trimmed, the image is trimmed even with the edge of the page.
Brighteners - optical brightening agents (OBAs) make paper whiter and increase it's brightness - brighteners remove the off-white or yellowish appearance of the raw materials in the paper
Brightness - the higher the number the brighter the paper is, the amount of light reflected off the paper
CMYK - The four color process printing using Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black (Key) inks to create all colors.
Contract Paper - The proofing paper produced by the printer becomes part of the contract when the client signs their approval.
Gravure printing - when the image is printed from an etched metal cylinder
gsm - grams per square meter. This is the weight of the paper.
mil - the thickness of the paper - one mil equals 1/1000 of an inch - example: 12 mil paper equals 0.012 inches
Offset printing - The most common form of commercial printing when the image moves from the initial plate cylinder, to a second rubber blanket cylinder, and finally to the paper.
Opacity - the higher the opacity, the less the printing shows through the paper.
Prepress - the prepared image for approval before being sent to print
Proofing Paper - paper used to represent the final printed product
RC - Resin Coated paper that is used when high contrast color is needed.
RIP (Raster Image Processor) - A devise designed to read prepress files and create a document ready for printing.
Substrate - what is being printed on, usually paper.
Thickness - usually measured in mils (1/1000 of an inch) or mm (millimeters, 0.001 inch =.0254mm) A thicker paper does not necessarily mean it is more rigid or heavier than a paper with less thickness
Web - commercial rolls of paper (including newsprint) are known as web.
Weight - inkjet paper is usually measured in gsm, which is how much one square meter of the paper weighs in grams
Index of Proofing Paper articles