Printing Partners Glossary of Terms
Printing Partners  Printing Partners Glossary of Terms
Printing experience
Every industry has a collection of words that are unique. The printing industry is no exception.
We have gathered a group of what we consider to be the most important terms in printing and finishing. Hopefully you will find this glossary useful.

The following definitions are offered to provide a common understanding for phrases such as “we’ll print your brochure 4/4 work/turn with satin aqueous coating.”

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Glossary

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Ragged Left
Type that is justified on the right margin and ragged on the left.

Ragged Right
Type that is justified on the left margin and ragged on the right side.

Raster Image Processor
A combination of computer software and hardware that controls the printing process by calculating the bitmaps of images and instructing a printing device to create the images. Most Postscript systems use a hardware RIP built into the printer.

Ream
Five hundred sheets of paper.

Reducers
Varnishes, solvents, oily or greasy compounds used to reduce the density of negative or postive images or the size of halftone dots.

Reflection Copy
Illustrative copy that is viewed and must be photographed by light reflected from its surface. Examples are photographs, drawings, etc.

Register
Fitting of two or more printing images in exact alignment with each other.

Register Marks
Target repeated in the same location on each plate of a multi-color job. When the targets overprint perfectly, the color is in register.

Relative Humidity (RH)
The amount of water vapor present in the atmosphere expressed as a percentage of the maxium that could be present at the same temperature.

Resolution
1. Ability of a scanner or digital camera to detect tone, color and detail. 2. Ability of a printing system to render tone, color and detail.

Respi Screen
A contact screen with 110 line screen ruling in the highlights and 220 line in the middle tones and shadows to produce a longer scale and smoother gradation of tones in the light areas of the copy.

Retrofit
Backwards integration of advanced capability into a device or program not orginally intended for that purpose.

Return Service Requested
One of four ancillary service endorsements, this instructs the Postal Service to return undeliverable mail to the sender with address notification or reason for nondelivery. There is no charge for first class. Standard mail is charged the appropriate single-piece first class rate.

Reverse
Technique of creating an image by using an open area in the midst of an ink area.

Reverse Angle Doctor Blade
Similar to doctor blade in gravure except used with much lighter pressure and a reverse angle on the anilox roll.

RGB
The three additive primaries: red, green and blue.

Rich Black
Black produced by overprint of cyan, magenta and yellow. Also called “composite black”.

Right-Angle Fold
A term used for two or more folds that are 90 angles to each other.

RIP
Raster image processor. Computer program that inputs high-level page descriptions and outputs low-level data streams that can be fed directly to a digital print engine to be rendered, or to a video board to be displayed.

Roller Stripping
A term denoting that the ink does not adhere to the metal ink rollers on a press.

Rub-Proof
An ink that has reached maximum dryness and does not mar with normal abrasion.

Run-Around
The term describing type set to fit around a picture or other element of the design.

Runnability
Paper properties that affect the ability of the paper to run on the press.

Running Head
A headline or title repreated at the top of each page.