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Common Terms - S
Saddle Stitch A book binding process where pages are stapled together through the spine of the book. Traditionally performed on V shaped saddle. Many magazines are saddle stitched or stapled.
Sans Serif A type face that has no tails or curled points (serifs) at the ends.
Scaling Images Here is one of my favorite ways to scale a photo or graphic for the printer, it is a simple formula that is pretty much foolproof. Using a pica ruler, points, or even inches if you wish but in decimals points only.
SIZE TO ________ Divided by: SIZE FROM __________ percent key = ________ (answer)Here is an example: scaling TO 4.5 inches divided FROM 9 inches, percent = 50 percent.
Scoring pressing a channel into a sheet of paper to allow it to fold more easily. Scoring and pressing the paper fibers together creates an embossed channel that does two things: acts as a guide for easier folding, and creates a hinge that keeps the fiber stretch short. The score should run parallel to the paper grain; the thicker the paper, the wider the score should be. Paper should be folded with the scored side on the outside, making two short stretches rather than one long one. The outcome is a straight, durable fold that doesn't crack or break. see also finishing, folding, grain.
Screen the lined glass, now called contact film, through which images are photographed to create halftones. Shooting through the mesh of a screen breaks an image into tiny dots. The closer the lines of the screen, the smaller the dots and the more dots per inch; the farther apart the lines of the screen, the bigger the dots and the fewer the dots per inch. The higher the dots per inch, the smaller the dots are, therefore creating a finer, crisper image. The coarseness or fineness of the screen is measured in the number of horizontal and vertical lines per inch. The less a paper absorbs and spreads ink, the finer the screen that can be used. Newspapers use coarse screens with 55 to 85 lines per inch. Most trade publications use 85 to 110 lines. With traditional printing, a coated paper can hold the small dots from a 200-line screen. With waterless printing, the paper can hold the dots from an even finer screen, 400 lines and greater. Though this approaches the quality of continuous tone, it is hard for the eye to discern the differences in resolution above 200 lines per inch. see also absorbency, continuous tone, dot gain, dpi, stochastic.
Screen Printing a printing process also called silk screening, where ink is transferred through a porous screen, such as nylon, onto the surface to be decorated. An emulsion or stencil is used to block out the negative, or non-printing areas of the screen. A squeegee forces ink through the open areas of the screen and onto the paper, plastic, cardboard, wood, fabric, glass, or other material. see also printing process, stencil.
Script A type face that mimics the appearance of hand written text.
Scrolls long sheets of papyrus, parchment, or paper rolled for storage. see also papyrus, parchment.
Self Cover a booklet having a cover made of the same paper as the inside or text pages.
Semi-chemical Pulping using chemicals and mechanical grinding to separate the cellulose fibers of wood. Because this pulping process doesn't remove lignin, it isn't generally used for fine printing and writing papers. It's used instead for papers not requiring permanence. see also pulping wood, cellulose fibers, lignin.
Serif The curls and points that appear as outward lateral extensions of the bottoms and tops of letterforms on some type faces. Many designers consider serif type used for body text for easy readability. Times Roman is a well known serif typefont.
Service Bureau The facility that provides professional services to graphics and printing professionals especially related to computer output. (i.e. plate ready film, matchprints, colorkeys, etc...)
Shade the color depth and hue in comparison to papers that are the same color; also used to describe the color achieved by adding dye to pulp slurry. There is a wide shade variety in white papers, as well as in colored papers.
Sheet-fed Press a press that prints single sheets of paper, rather than a continuous roll or web of paper. A sheet-fed press prints more slowly than a web press, and is typically used for shorter runs. see also offset, web paper, web press.
Sheetwise see imposition.
Sheffield a test used to measure the smoothness of paper by measuring the rate of air flow over the surface of the sheet. The lower the number, the smoother the sheet. see also smooth finish, smoothness.
Show-through see opacity.
Signature the collated pages of one folded and trimmed form, making up one section of a bound book. see also binding, form, imposition, trimming.
Silk Screen see screen printing.
Sizing a Resin, such as rosin, added to pulp before it's formed into paper, or added to the surface of the paper after it's dry. Sizing acts as a glue to keep the fibers of the finished paper tight, since loose fibers on the surface of the paper can cause printing problems. Sizing also helps the finished paper repel water, which is an especially important property for stock that will be used for offset printing. see also bonding strength, ingredients of paper, resin, rosin.
Skid a platform built with a solid wood bottom, for holding stacks of paper not packed in cartons. Paper may be ordered in skids or cartons. When printers are printing a large job, they generally prefer skids to cartons.
Slurry a thin, watery mixture. The mixture of pulp and water that is poured on to the papermaking machine is often referred to as slurry. see also headbox, hydorpulper, papermaking, wet end.
Spot Color Single colors applied to printing when process color is not necessary (i.e. one, two and three color printing), or when process colors need to be augmented (i.e. a fluorescent pink headline or a metallic tint).
Spread 1) A design that encompasses two or more facing pages (i.e. the center spread in the morning newspaper)
Spread 2) Spreading the ink beyond the edge of an object so that there is no gap between it and the next colored object. "Choke and Spread" are common methods of trapping elements of a printing job.
Smooth Finish paper finished to a Shefield smoothness between 50 and 150. see also finish, Sheffield, smoothness.
Smoothness the surface property of paper that describes its degree of uniform evenness and flatness. When printing, the smoother the paper, the better the ink dot formation and the sharper the image. see also cast-coating, coated paper, Sheffield, smooth finish, super- calendar, uncoated paper.
Softwood Pulp pulp made from coniferous trees (evergreen tress with cones and needles, such as pine and fir trees). Paper is often made using a blend of pulps; softwood pulp has long fibers, giving paper strength; hardwood fibers are short, lending smoothness, bulk, and body. see also hardwood pulp, pulping wood.
Specifying Paper choosing the appropriate paper for a specific printing job, in order to meet its individual design, printing, handling, and economic requirements. Designers and printers are frequently assisted by a paper merchant or a paper mill consultant when choosing a paper. see also paper consultant.
Spot Color Single colors applied to printing when process color is not necessary (i.e. one, two and three color printing), or when process colors need to be augmented (i.e. a fluorescent pink headline or a metallic tint).
Spread 1) A design that encompasses two or more facing pages (i.e. the center spread in the morning newspaper).
Spread 2) Spreading the ink beyond the edge of an object so that there is no gap between it and the next colored object. "Choke and Spread" are common methods of trapping elements of a printing job.
Stencil a sheet of plastic, paper, or other material with letters or an image cut out of it. When placed on a surface and inked, it reproduces the cut-away images onto the material behind it. see also printing methods, screen printing.
Stochastic a relatively new method for creating halftones. Rather than producing the regularly space dots of lined screens, stochastic screening generates randomly placed dots. Because the generation of the dots is frequently modulated, the technique is also called FM screening. Registration on press is slightly more difficult than with lined screens, but the colors rests can be brilliant. see also continuous tone, dpi, halftone, registration, screen.
Stock Paper or other material that will be printed. To a paper mill, a "stock item" is a manufactured item that is inventoried, as opposed to a "manufacturing order," which is custom made. see also manufacturing order.
Style Sheet A method of designating the type faces to be used in a design. i.e. Headlines, captions and body text, this is listed on a "sheet", usually in a "floating pallet" on a program like Pagemaker.
Subtractive Colors the three primary process printing colors; magenta, cyan, and yellow, as opposed to the three additive primary colors of green, red, and blue. Color separations are created by shooting or scanning a color through filters of additive colors to generate halftones of subtractive colors. Subtracting the additive color of green from white light leaves magenta; subtracting red leaves cyan; and subtracting blue leaves yellow. The subtractive color halftones are then combined on a printing press to create full- color images. see also color separation, four-color process, halftone.
Supercalender Alternating steel and fiber-covered calendar rolls that increase a sheet's gloss and smoothness. The supercalender is a separate piece of equipment located close to the dry end of the paper machine. see also calendering, gloss, papermaking, smoothness.
Swatchbook a booklet containing paper samples and paper specifications for a line of paper. Champion produces individual swatchbooks for each of its fine printing papers.