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Commercial Printing Terms

Actual weight
The true weight of any volume of paper. The actual weight of paper is used to determine both purchase price and shipping costs.

Bleed
An image or solid color that runs off the trimmed edge of a page. See How do I Create a Bleed? in our [ FAQ section ].

CMYK
Abbreviation for the four process color inks: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black.

DPI
Stands for dot per inch. The number of dots that fit horizontally and vertically into a one inch measure. Generally, the more dots per inch, the more detail is captured, and the sharper the resulting image.  We require all images to be 200 dpi.

EPS
(EPSF) Encapsulated Postscript File. A vector based, computer graphics file format developed by Adobe Systems. EPS is the preferred format for many computer illustrations, because of its efficient use of memory and fine color control. The artwork description is "plotted" by the computer. Example: point "A" has a line that goes to point "B" then continues to point "C", and is filled with a color. (bitmapped artwork attributes a color for every pixel on the computer screen and is not postscript)

GIF
An eight bit (256 colors or shades of gray) or less computer file format by CompuServe. Commonly used to post photographic images to computer bulletin boards and the Internet, GIF files are almost never used for professional printing.

Graphic Design
A way of communication with visual elements and information to present an idea or concept.

JPEG
Joint Photographic Electronic Group. A common standard for compressing image data. This type of image is not recommened and may not print on our press.  This type of image can be converted to an EPS and then used.

LPI
Stands for lines per inch.  The number of lines in an inch, as found on the screens that create imgages.  The more lines per inch, the more detailed the printed image will be.  We print 100 LPI.

Paper Stock
We offer 30 pound, 38 pound and 50 pound paper.  30# is regular newsprint, 38# is a little heavier and whiter, and 50# is the whitest and heaviest stock we carry. We do not print on glossy paper.

PDF
Portable Document file. A proprietary format developed by Adobe Systems for the transfer of designs across multiple computer platforms.  We accept files both in this format and as an EPS.  Note that once a file has been saved in either format it can no longer be edited.  You also need Adobe Acrobat to create PDF files.

Quarterfold
Folding a tabloid in half as it comes of the press.

RGB
Red Green Blue, the colors used by a computer monitor to create color images on the screen. When all three colors are combined over each other the color of light is white. We cannot print RGB images so it is very important to convert all RGB text and images to CMYK.

Saddle Stitch
A book binding process where pages are stapled together through the spine of the book. We use this method to bind our publications.

Spot Color
Single colors applied to printing created by using a CMYK mix.

TIFF
Tagged Image File Format, a bitmapped file format used for the reproduction of digitally scanned images such as photographs, illustrations & logos.  It is best not to save text as a TIFF image.

Trim Size
The final size of a printed piece once it's been cut to specification.

Trimming
Cutting paper after printing to make all sheets the same or a specified size.

Web Format
Our standard tabloid finished size is 10.75” wide by 12.5” high with an image area of 10” by 11.5”.  Our standard broadsheet finsihed size is 12.5” wide by 21.5” high with an image area of 11.5” by 20.75”. 

Web Press
A high speed printing press that prints on both sides of a continuous roll of paper. Web presses are used for high volume printing such as newspapers and magazines.

Weight
The tonnage or poundage of a quantity of paper. The weight of paper may be expressed as basis weight, ream weight, M weight, or grammage. Basis weight is the weight in pounds of 500 sheets of paper cut to a given standard size (called basic size), such as 25"x38", depending on the grade of paper. Ream weight is the actual weight in pounds of 500 sheets of paper, regardless of basic size of grade. M weight is the actual weight of 1,000 sheets of paper. Because this is twice the quantity of a ream of paper, it is also twice the ream weight. Grammage is a metric measure similar to the basis weight of paper. Unlike basis weight, which uses different basic sizes for different grades of paper, grammage always uses the same sheet size one square meter regardless of the paper grade.

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For more information contact:

   Jim Rickman - 406.465.3236

   jrickman@dailychronicle.com

   OR

   Jenny Schwartz - 406.534.9692

   printing@dailychronicle.com