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Common Terms - P
Pallet a platform with a slatted bottom, used to hold and ship cartons of paper stacked on top of each other.
PANTONE MATCHING SYSTEM the most widely used system for specifying and blending match colors. The PANTONE MATCHING SYSTEM identifies more than 700 colors. It provides designers with swatches for specific colors, and gives printers the recipes for making those colors. PANTONE MATCHING SYSTEM was developed by neither a commercial printer nor an ink manufacture, leaving the choice of ink brand up to the printer. see also Colorcurve, match color, Toyo.
Paper a complex matted web of cellulose fibers.
Paper Consultant a representative from a paper mill or merchant who has the expertise to help designers and printers choose just the right paper for a specific job. see also manufacturing order, merchant, specifying paper.
Paper Cut the excruciating, often unforeseeable, and usually invisible-to- the-naked-eye cut received when skin slides along the edge of a piece of paper at just the wrong angle.
Paperboard paper with a caliper greater than .012 inches, or 12 points. Paperboard is used primarily for packaging and construction materials. Paperboard doesn't need to have the same whiteness and brightness as premium printing and writing papers, and because the process of de-inking is less important in its manufacture, it is a perfect product for using recovered fiber. see also caliper, de-inking.
Paper-ink Affinity the tendency for paper and ink to attract and stay attracted to each other. This keeps the ink on the paper and off the reader's hands or the next sheet. An incompatibility between ink and paper can cause printing problems. see also dry trap, tack, wet trap.
Papermaking creating a web of fiber from plant cellulose (or, less commonly, from synthetic fibers). Papermakers today follow the same steps that its inventor, Ts'ai Lun, followed almost two thousand years ago: pulping vegetable matter and leaving the cellulose fibers behind; mixing the pulp with lots of water; draining it; forming paper on a sieve-like mold; pressing the paper to remove some of the water; and drying it to remove the rest of the water. Technology has sped up the process and helped to improve the smoothness, brightness, and printability of the paper, but it hasn't changed the essence of papermaking. papermaking process see also additives, alkaline papermaking, calendering, chemical pulping, de-inking, dry end, drying, felt finish, felt side, Fourdrinier, grain, ingredients of paper, lignin, pulping wood, semi-chemical pulping, supercalender, wet end, wire side.
Papyrus an aquatic plant found in northern Africa. Although papyrus is considered to be the first paper, it's not, in the strict definition of the word, paper (which is a matter web of individual fibers). Rather, early papyrus "paper" was made by peeling the plant, which is constructed like an onion, and placing one layer on top of another. The natural juices acted like glue, bonding the layers and leaving the cellular structure of the plant layers intact. see also scrolls.
Parchment a writing substance made from the skin of animals. Today, parchment-like paper, or vegetable parchment, is made by dip- ping paper quickly into sulfuric acid, then quickly washing it and neutralizing the acid. This melts the fibers on the outside, which in turn coats the other fibers and fills the void between them. The result is a grease resistant sheet that is difficult to recycle.
PDF Portable Document file. A proprietary format developed by Adobe Systems for the transfer of designs across multiple computer platforms.
Perfect Binding A book binding process where pages are glued together and directly to the cover of the book. The appearance is of a flat spine on the end of the book such as a paperback book.
Perfecting Press a printing press that simultaneously prints both sides of a sheet of paper as it passes through the press. On other presses, printing both sides means running the street through the press to print one side, allowing the ink to dry, turning the paper over, and then running the sheet through the press again to print the other side. see also imposition, printing methods.
Permanence a paper's ability to resist tears, fading, and general aging over time. The national standard for permanence requires a pH of 7.5-8.5; at least 2% calcium carbonate; and no ground wood or unbleached fiber. The standard also has specific fold endurance and tear resistance requirements. Paper meeting the standard for permanence can be expected to last more than 100 years. Paper with a pH level of 5.5 or higher can be expected to last up to 50 years. see also alkaline papermaking, archival paper, pH.
Petroleum-based Ink an ink using petroleum as the vehicle for carrying the pigment. Ink manufacturers are seeking new vehicles to reduce the need for petroleum-based solvents, which may be toxic at high levels. see also ink, vegetable-based ink.
pH the measure of the acidity or alkalinity of a material. Paper with a pH below 7.0 is considered acidic; paper with a pH above 7.0 is considered acid-free, or alkaline. see also acid-free paper, alkaline papermaking, archival paper.
Photo CD A proprietary format developed by Eastman Kodak for storing photographic images on a compact disc. Usually 35mm format. Images can be easily accessed for use in professional printing.
PhotoCopy A mechanical printing process that uses a light sensitive printing element, magnetic toner and a heating element to fuse the toner to the paper.
Photo Illustration An image, primarily consisting of a photograph or composite image containing a photograph.
Photo Plate A light sensitive printing plate. The plate is developed like film, then used on a printing press.
Photograph An image or picture made by exposing light sensitive film with a camera.
Pica A unit of measurement equal to twelve (12) points or one sixth (1/6) of an inch. Used by designers and other graphics professional for its precision.
Pick Out a problem on press caused by unevenly sealed paper, or paper with low bonding strength. The ink "picks" off weak areas of the paper, lifting coating from a coated stock, or lifting fibers from an uncoated stock, and transferring them to the printing blanket. These fibers will eventually be transferred back onto the sheets being printed, causing inking and surface inconsistencies. see also bonding strength, hickey, picking, sizing.
Pick Resistance the ability of paper fibers to hold together during the printing process. see also bonding strength, pick out sizing.
Picking a problem generally resulting from using an ink that's too tacky for the paper it's printed on. The ink actually pulls tiny pieces of the paper off the surface of the sheet. Two types of picking are fiber bundles and coating picking. Fiber bundles are caused by weak fiber bond, and coating picking occurs when the adhesive properties of coating binder aren't strong enough to hold up the high tack of the offset printing process. see also bonding strength, pick out, sizing.
Pigment a material, such as titanium dioxide, added to pulp before it is formed into paper. White pigments boost brightness and opacity; colored pigments and dyes control the shade or change the color see also fluorescent dye, ingredients of paper, opacity, titanium dioxide.
Pixel Depth The amount of data used to describe each colored dot on the computer screen. i.e. Monochrome is 1 bit deep. Grayscale is 8 bits deep. RGB is 24 bits deep. Images to be printed as CMYK separation should be 32 bits deep.
Planographic a method for printing ink onto paper, where the image sits on the same surface as the printing plate. The image area is greased to attract ink, while the rest of the plate attracts water and repels ink. As the paper is pressed onto the flat surface of the plate, it picks up ink from the greasy image areas and a small bit of water from blank areas. This is the printing process used in lithography and offset lithography. see also lithography, offset, plate, printing methods.
Plate brief for printing plate, generally a thin sheet of metal that carries the printing image. The plate surface is treated or configured so that only the printing image is ink receptive. see also electronic printing, intaglio, letterpress, lithography, offset, planographic, printing methods, relief.
Plate Ready Film Final photographic film used to "burn" printing plates.
PMS color (Pantone Matching System) A proprietary color system for choosing and matching specific spot colors. Almost all printers worldwide use this system for color matching.
Point in measurements of the thickness of paper, one point is 1/1000 or .001 inches; measurements of the size of type, one point is 1/72 inch. see also caliper, thickness.
Porosity refers to the openness or compactness of the fibers in a paper, is measured by the ability of air to pass through the sheet. The more open a paper is, the greater its porosity.
Pre-consumer Recovered Paper paper recovered after the papermaking process, but before use by a consumer. see also recovered paper, recycled content paper, recycled paper.
Post-consumer Recovered Paper paper material recovered after being used by a consumer. see also recovered paper, recycled content paper, recycled paper.
PPI paper per inch, or the number of sheets in a one-inch stack of paper; used to describe the bulk of a paper. see also bulk, caliper, thickness.
Precision Sheeting converting rolls of paper into finished sheet sizes in a single operation.
PrePress The various printing related services, performed before ink is actually put on the printing press. (i.e. stripping, scanning, color separating, etc. . .)
Press Proof a test printing of a subject prior to the final production run. Press proofs are generally printed on the paper stock that will be used for the finished project. A few sheets are run as a final check before printing the entire job.
Printability how well a paper performs with ink on press. Absorbency, smoothness, ink holdout, and opacity all affect printability. see also absorbency, dimensional stability, ink holdout, opacity, relative humidity.
Printing The process of applying images to a variety of surfaces. Some printing processes include: offset lithography, thermography, la gravuer, letterpress, silkscreen, digital, laser, dye sub, photographic.
Print Quality the overall excellence of a printed piece. Paper, ink, press, and the skill of the press operators all affect print quality. see also printability.
Printing Methods a means or tool for placing ink on paper. Most printing is done with a plate. The four main types of printing methods are relief, where words or images are raised above the surface of the plate; intaglio, where they are etched through the surface; planographic, on the same plane as the surface; and stencil, or screen printing, cut below the plate surface. Words and images may also be "printed" electronically, using photocopiers and inkjet printers. see also electronic printing, intaglio, letterpress, lithography, offset, planographic, plate, relief, screen printing, stencil, waterless printing, web press.
Process Colors the four process colors: magenta (process red), cyan (process blue), yellow, and black used to print four-color images. see also color separating, four-color process, subtractive colors.
Process Color The mechanical process of reproducing a full color image with the three primary subtractive color inks (CMYK/ Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black) and black. When viewed under a loupe, the individual color halftone dots can be seen in a process color image.
Production Artist (Paste-up Artist) A skilled laborer who produces finished camera ready or plate ready artwork from the visual elements and instructions provided by the designer or client.
Pt. abbreviation for "point." see also point.
Pulp a wet slurry of fibers and water that is the basic ingredient of paper. see also cellulose fiber, pulping wood, slurry, wet end.
Pulping Wood transforming wood, the raw material of most paper, into pulp. Pulping breaks wood apart, separating the rows of cellulose fibers that are stuck together with lignin. These separated fibers will later create the matted web of fibers we know as paper. Paper may be made with pulp from just one of the following processes, or by mixing mechanical and chemical pulps. types of pulping techniques see also cellulose fiber, freesheet, groundwood paper, lignin, papermaking q.html .