American Business Printing

The following will give you and your staff the basics to establish an understanding of print terminology. Armed with this knowledge you and your staff have a very powerful tool that can and will save you time and money.

LET’S ESTIMATE YOUR PROJECT:


	Overall size: The unfolded size (if project folds when finished) measure your project left to right then top to bottom.

	Folds to size: If when finished your project folds to a finished size, measure it the same way that we did on overall size.

	Number of pages: Regardless of the projects overall size the numbers of “pages” is relatively easy to estimate. For example, is your pre folded sheet size 11 x 17 when folded in half is now 8 ½ x 11 producing 4 pages.

	Assembly: (Also known as the the bindery process) Based on the overall number of pages, the project will be held together by one of the two methods. Saddle stitching is used when the project is of smaller page count. For projects with higher page counts, the perfect bound method is more efficient. See our print terminology list for other print definitions.

PRINT TERMINOLOGY:
The following is a list of commonly used terms to help you estimate your project.

Overall Size: The size left to right and top to bottom before the bindery process or folding process is completed.

“Folds to” or “Finished Size”: This is the measured size of your project after either folded or bound upon completion.

Die Cutting: Any cutting involved in your project other than the initial trim to size process.

Stock: Paper type and weight (weight indicates thickness of paper) and the option of coated or uncoated stock should be indicated.

CMYK: The four colors of ink used to make up the full color or four color print process.
C = CYAN M = MAGENTA Y = YELLOW K = BLACK

Spot color: Any single color used to print either alone or in combination with CMYK to complete the finished project.

Pantone guide: Pantone is the prominent swatch booklet in our market today. It is imperative for anyone in the marketing business to own a copy of the Pantone Formula Guide. Pantone Formula Guides may be purchased through Gans Ink on line at www.gansink.com or at (800) 421-6167.

Embossment: This is a procedure used to give your project a raised image by pressing a logo or desired image using a dye. An umprinted embossment is known as a “blind embossment”. A printed embossment is simply referred to as an embossed image.

Bindery: This is the term used to describe the assembly of any projects that require die cutting, folding, etc.

Saddle Stich: For projects that have multiple pages, usually 24 pages and under that must be held together. The most cost effective way to marry the page4s is to staple them at the fold called “saddle stitching”.

Perfect Bound: When your project has multiple pages (too many to saddle stitch) the pages are trimmed to a designed size and wrapped with the cover to form a book type finish called “perfect bound”.

NOW, LETS TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE:
CLICK ON “FREE QUOTE” AND ENTER THE PROJECT YOU ARE CURRENTLY WORKING ON OR HAVE ALREADY PRODUCED.