BHP Printing Blog

Printing and other important terminology

Bleed: When an image extends off the edge of the printed piece.
Border: The area between the image and the edge of the printed piece.  Also known as margin.
 
CMYK: (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black) the standard color model used in the printing process. It is often called four color process
 
Crop: To trim or remove unwanted portions from the image in order to make it the proper proportion to the Postcard.
 
Direct-to-Plate: This is a process where no film is used. A job will go direct to plate and then print eliminating an extra step, producing better quality.
 
High-Res: The resolution (Res) of an image indicates the number of dots per inch (dpi). High resolution is usually anywhere from 300 dpi to 2,500dpi.
 
JPEG: (Joint Photographic Experts Group) A file format used for color images. It retains a higher degree of color and files are smaller. Unfortunately, the more you compress a JPEG file the more detail and color is lost.
 
Pixel: (Picture Element) An image displayed on a computer is made up of lots of dots called pixels. The number of pixels displayed is referred to as the image's resolution.
 
PostScript: Is a language for printing, meaning it treats fonts, images and graphics as geometrical objects and stores it into one document.
 
Vector Images: Object-oriented graphics of defined curves and line segments; these are resolution independent and can be stretched or resized. (Example: An Illustrator EPS is a Vector Image).