Basecoat - term used to denote a color applied and cured
on a CD before the other colors are applied. Most of the time, basecoats
are white. The purpose of the basecoat is more or less the same
as in any painting scenario. The basecoat allows consistent color,
brightness, and serves as a background to graphics.
Bitmap/Raster images - paint and image-editing software,
such as Adobe Photoshop, generate bitmap images, also called raster
images. The images use a grid (also known as a bitmap or raster)
of small squares, known as pixels, to represent graphics. Each pixel
in a bitmap image has a specific location and color value assigned
to it. For example, a bicycle tire in a bitmap image is made up
of a collection of pixels in that location, with each pixel part
of a mosaic that gives the appearance of a tire. When working with
bitmap images, you edit pixels rather than objects or shapes. Bitmap
images are the most common electronic medium for continuous-tone
images, such as photographs or images created in painting programs,
because they can represent subtle gradations of shades and color.
Bitmap images are resolution dependent--that is, they represent
a fixed number of pixels. As a result, they can appear jagged and
lose detail if they are scaled on-screen or if they are printed
at a higher resolution than they were created for. Bitmap images
are good for reproducing subtle gradations of color, as in photographs.
They can have jagged edges when printed at too large a size or displayed
at too high a magnification.
Bleed - the term used to describe extending beyond the border
of the artwork. For most presswork, it allows a margin of error
without a reduction in the quality or appearance of the end result.
Generally, a bleed of several mm or 1/4 inch is appropriate.
Color separation - The act of decomposing a color graphic
or photo into single-color layers. For example, to print full-color
photos with an offset printing press, one must first separate the
photo into the four basic ink colors: cyan, magenta, yellow, and
black (CMYK). Each single-color layer is then printed separately,
one on top of the other, to give the impression of infinite colors.
Compact Disc - an optical storage device capable of holding
up to 650 MB.
CDR - is short for "CD-Recordable". Recordable CDs are WORM
(Write Once, Read Multiple) media that work just like standard CDs.
The advantage of CD-R over other types of optical media is that
you can use the discs with a standard CD player. The disadvantage
is that you can't reuse a disc.
Create Outlines/Convert to Curves - lets you turn type into
a set of compound paths that you can edit and manipulate as you
would any other graphic object. These commands get font outline
information from the actual font files installed on your system.
When you create outlines from type, characters are converted in
their current positions; they retain all graphics formatting such
as their stroke and fill.
Digital printing - the term used to describe any printing
technique which does not involve the generation of film to print
(as in offset printing). Generally, digital printing uses high end
inkjet, laser and other printing presses.
Digital proof - the term describing a more efficient mechanism
for reviewing final artwork before proceeding to press. Digital
proofs are appropriate for all printing and silkscreening except
where accurate color reproduction is an important goal. In these
cases, other proofing mechanisms may be required.
Duplication - the term referring to reproducing an image
on recordable CDs.
DVD-R- stands for "Digital Versatile
Disc Recordable". Like regular audio/music CDs, a DVD looks
similar. A single layer DVD stores up to 2 hours of very good quality
DVD-Video, including several audio tracks in formats like stereo,
Dolby Digital or DTS and also advanced menu systems, subtitles and
still pictures that can be played by standalone DVD Players and
computer DVD-ROMs. It is also possible to have up to 4.37GB on a
DVD.
Encapsulated PostScript (EPS) format - The EPS file format
is used to transfer PostScript language artwork between applications
and is supported by most illustration and page-layout programs.
Typically, EPS files represent single illustrations or tables that
are placed onto a host page, but an EPS file can also represent
a complete page. Because EPS files are based on the PostScript language,
they can contain both vector and bitmap graphics. In addition to
the PostScript language representation of the graphics to be placed,
many EPS files contain a bitmap preview of the graphic that the
application can display. EPS files intended to be used by Macintosh
applications, for example, can contain PICT or TIFF images for screen
preview; those intended for use by Windows applications contain
either TIFF or Windows Metafile bitmap images.
Film - a process specific photograph of the client artwork
used to produce screens or plates.
Glass Master - Metal plate used in injection moulding process
of cd manufacturing to imprint grooves corresponding to your master
CDR's stored information.
Gradient - a transition between one color and another, or
one shade of a color and another, or one density of a color and
another.
Inner hub - the area from the inner hole on a CD to the
area where the mirror band begins. The inner hub's main purpose
is for easy handling by machines and people.
Manufacturing - for CDs, it is the manufacturing of the
CD based on the supplied master CD from the client. There is no
recordable layer in manufactured CDs as in recordable CDs.
Master - the media containing the original data/audio image
which is used to reproduce subsequent copies.
Mirror band - A slightly lighter area of a CD in which information
is not stored but reflective material extends. It is located between
the inner hub and the main information area on the CD.
Offset printing - a printing technique which is more efficient
at higher volumes, it involves the use of film and plates to print
on the target surface.
PMS/Pantone (Pantone Matching System) - Used for printing
spot colors. Each PANTONE color has a specified CMYK equivalent.
To select a PANTONE color, first determine the ink color you want,
using either the PANTONE Color Formula Guide or an ink chart. PANTONE
books are available from PANTONE's
Web site.
Panel - 1 side of one page of a printed item. A good everyday
example is a 3 x 5 photograph which has two panels, one with the
photograph and the other side which is blank.
Process color/printing - A process color is printed using
a combination of four standard process inks: cyan, magenta, yellow,
and black (CMYK). We use process colors when the job requires so
many colors that using individual spot inks would be expensive or
impractical, such as when printing color photographs. Keep the following
guidelines in mind when specifying a process color:
- For best results in a printed document, specify process colors
using CMYK values printed in process-color reference charts.
- The final color values of a process color are its values in
CMYK.
- Don't specify a process color based on how it looks on your
monitor unless you have set up a color management system properly
and you understand its limitations for previewing color.
Registration - The ability to place the target image in
a precise location on the target surface. A tight registration is
important so that no spacing appears between two adjacent colors
on the CD or other printed material.
Registration mark - guidelines that should appear in artwork
and film to guide the press operator on setting up overlapping or
adjacent colors.
Replication - the common term for CD manufacturing.
Silkscreening - in layman's terms, painting the CD with
a graphic image using film to generate screens in which the paint
is pressed through.
Spot color -A spot color is a special premixed ink that
is used instead of, or (less commonly) in addition to, CMYK process
inks, and that requires its own printing plate on a printing press.
Use spot color when few colors are specified and color accuracy
is critical. Spot color inks can accurately reproduce colors that
are outside the gamut of process colors. However, the exact appearance
of the printed spot color is determined by combination of the ink
medium it's printed on, so it isn't affected by color values you
specify or by color management. Minimize the number of spot colors
you use. Each spot color you create will generate an additional
spot color printing plate for a printing press, increasing your
printing costs. If you think you might require more than four colors,
consider printing your document using process colors.
Stacking ring - a raised ring on recordable CDs which allows
spacing between two CDRs when stacked on top of each other. The
stacking ring presents limitations during the silkscreening process.
Template - a blank artwork design to be used as a container
and guide when preparing your artwork.
Tagged-Image File Format (TIFF) - TIFF is used to exchange
files between applications and computer platforms. TIFF is a flexible
bitmap image format that is supported by virtually all paint, image-editing,
and page-layout applications. Also, virtually all desktop scanners
can produce TIFF images. TIFF supports RGB, CMYK, and grayscale
color models.
When you export/save artwork in TIFF, choose CMYK, or grayscale
color model and define the image resolution. Do not use the the
LZW Compression option.
Vector Graphic - Drawing programs such as Adobe Illustrator
and Macromedia Freehand create vector graphics, made of lines and
curves defined by mathematical objects called vectors. Vectors describe
graphics according to their geometric characteristics. For example,
a bicycle tire in a vector graphic is made up of a mathematical
definition of a circle drawn with a certain radius, set at a specific
location, and filled with a specific color. You can move, resize,
or change the color of the tire without losing the quality of the
graphic. A vector graphic is resolution-independent--that is, it
can be scaled to any size and printed on any output device at any
resolution without losing its detail or clarity. As a result, vector
graphics are the best choice for type (especially small type) and
bold graphics that must retain crisp lines when scaled to various
sizes--for example, logos. Because computer monitors represent images
by displaying them on a grid, both vector and bitmap images are
displayed as pixels on-screen.
Vector graphics are good for reproducing crisp outlines, as in
logos or illustrations. They can be printed or displayed at any
resolution without losing detail.
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