| Melbourne Museum of Printing | Our Glossary of Printing and Typography |
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| SUGGESTION: HOW TO EXPLORE THIS GLOSSARY | ||||||||||
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IF YOU KNOW THE NAME OF A TERM, GO TO THE ALPHABETIC PAGE eg to find PICA choose the Alphabetic Page N-Q. You will find several meanings of this word, and that it is mostly used in TYPE MEASUREMENTS. | ||||||||||
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IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO EXPLORE OTHER TERMS ABOUT TYPE MEASUREMENTS look in the Thematic Glossary about Typecasting and Type Measurements | ||||||||||
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| ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THESE DEFINITIONS INCLUDE: | |||
| usu = usually | cf = compare with | eg = for example | typic = typically |
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | negative | IMAGES, HALFTONES |
| colour film or print with reversed colour renditions, eg blues appear as yellow | ||
| NOUN, UNCOUNTABLE | negative leading | COLD TYPE COMPOSITION |
| where instead of adding space between lines, interline spacing is reduced | ||
| NOUN, UNCOUNTABLE | newsprint | PAPER SPECIFICATIONS |
| lower quality, absorbent paper, from mechanical pulp | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | nick | TYPE CASTING |
| groove in one (usu front) surface of type body: some founders made multiple nicks | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | nick purpose | TYPE CASTING |
| the nick and wire stop newly-cast sort lifting in mould when matrix is lifted off | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | nick tongue | TYPE CASTING |
| in later moulds a rectangular tongue replaces wire making square nick | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | nick wire | TYPE CASTING |
| in some type moulds the nick is formed by a wire inset into the mould halves | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | nick, partial | TYPE CASTING |
| the nick may not go across the whole body width, esp larger sizes | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | nick, tooled | TYPE CASTING |
| some typefaces had one or more of their multiple nicks added after casting | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | nicks, multiple | TYPE CASTING |
| many typefounders provided nick patterns to help comp identify similar faces | ||
| VERB | nip | FINISHING & BOOKBINDING |
| squeeze newly bound book to ensure flatness: nipping press | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | nipping press | FINISHING & BOOKBINDING |
| bookbinder's screw press to hold book(s) flat | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | nonbreaking space | CHARACTERS |
| space character which is treated as letter for word-break purposes | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | nonpareil [nomprul] | LETTERPRESS COMPOSING |
| strip of 6pt lead or reglet: drop some nonpareils between those lines | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | normal wedge | MONOTYPE COMPOSITION CASTER |
| steel wedge giving mould blade the correct opening for a particular set-size and pattern of units | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | normal wedge number | MONOTYPE COMPOSITION CASTER |
| includes the stopbar code required by the Unit Arrangement, plus the set-size, eg s554-13pt | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | numberer (hand) | NUMBERING MACHINES & ATTACHMTS |
| hand-held numbering machine with inbuilt inking device, usu adjustable for repeat numbering | ||
| EQUIVALENT TERM | numbering box | NUMBERING MACHINES & ATTACHMTS |
| colloquial term for numbering machine | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | numbering machine | NUMBERING MACHINES & ATTACHMTS |
| set of numbered wheels, type-high: change automatically after each impression | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | nut | LETTERPRESS COMPOSING |
| guard word for 'en', to distinguish from 'em'. | ||
| ADJECTIVE | oblique . . . . . 1 | TYPE FACE DESIGNS |
| slanted version of face, like italic but without changes from the roman | ||
| VERB | oblique . . . . . 2 | TYPE FACE DESIGNS |
| modify a face by slanting it. Obliqued faces may be generated on the fly | ||
| ABBREVIATION | OCR | TYPE FACE DESIGNS |
| optical character recognition | ||
| EQUIVALENT TERM | offset | PRINTING, ANY PROCESS |
| common term for offset photolithography, today's common printing process - see LITHO theme page | ||
| NOUN, UNCOUNTABLE | offset letterpress | PRINTING, ANY PROCESS |
| also called letterset - printing from a right-reading relief plate (or unusually, type) to blanket | ||
| NOUN, UNCOUNTABLE | offset lithography | LITHOGRAPHY INCL OFFSET |
| offset printing from a lithographic stone or plate - the plate prints first onto the blanket | ||
| NOUN, UNCOUNTABLE | offset printing | PRINTING, ANY PROCESS |
| process where the image moves from type or plate to paper via an intermediate surface (blanket) | ||
| NOUN, UNCOUNTABLE | old style | TYPE FACE DESIGNS |
| faces having angled stress and tapered serifs | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | old style figures | CHARACTERS |
| figures varying in height: 1,2,0 are x-height; 6,8 ascend; 3,4,5, 7,9 descend | ||
| NOUN, UNCOUNTABLE | onion skin | PAPER SPECIFICATIONS |
| very lightweight translucent paper, traditionally for airmail documents | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | open quote mark | CHARACTERS |
| (in English) the turned comma, like a small figure 6 | ||
| NOUN, UNCOUNTABLE | optical char. recog | TYPE FACE DESIGNS |
| faces designed in the 1960's for computerised reading with simple scan software | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | orphan | LAYOUT AND DESIGN |
| a solitary first line of para at the bottom of a column or page, with rest of para carried over | ||
| ADJECTIVE | outline | TYPE FACE DESIGNS |
| face that is largely 'hollow': just the outline of each character | ||
| VERB | overprint | PRINTING, ANY PROCESS |
| add new image (usu text) to already printed item: may be variable information or correction | ||
| VERB | overstrike | CHARACTERS |
| produce non-standard character or effect by printing a character over another | ||
| BRAND NAME | Ozalid | PRE PRESS, COMPUTER LAYOUT |
| brand of diazo process often used for making proofs of line art and text | ||
| NOUN, UNCOUNTABLE | pagination | LAYOUT AND DESIGN |
| putting of matter into pages: placing of numbers on pages | ||
| BRAND NAME | Pantone | COLOUR WORK, PRINTING INKS |
| a widely used colour matching system | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | paper plate | LITHOGRAPHY INCL OFFSET |
| offset printing plate made from paper: see: Silvermaster, OE-1, direct image | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | paragraph symbol | CHARACTERS |
| reference mark, a stylised, reversed P; also used as proofreader's mark | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | parallel fold | FINISHING & BOOKBINDING |
| where a sheet is folded with two or more folds in the same direction | ||
| VERB | paste up . . . . . 1 | PRE PRESS, COMPUTER LAYOUT |
| adhere to a layout or mounting board by paste, glue or usu adhesive wax | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | paste up . . . . . 2 | PRE PRESS, COMPUTER LAYOUT |
| artwork prepared from type, illustrations, etc, pasted/adhered to layout sheet | ||
| EQUIVALENT TERM | paste up . . . . . 3 | PRE PRESS, COMPUTER LAYOUT |
| in some colonies called a mechanical: includes overlays where needed | ||
| VERB | perfect bind | FINISHING & BOOKBINDING |
| trim/grind off spine-edge and glue the pages into their cover | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | perfector | PRINTING, ANY PROCESS |
| two-unit press which prints both sides of the sheet | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | perforating rule | CUTTING & CREASING |
| rule with sharp top segmented to perforate board or paper: usu in Cutting Forme | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | photoengraving | IMAGES, HALFTONES |
| engraving made by etching into metal where light exposure has not hardened plate | ||
| NOUN, UNCOUNTABLE | photogravure | PRINTING, ANY PROCESS |
| where the gravure image is etched to cylinder photographically | ||
| NOUN, UNCOUNTABLE | phototypesetting | COLD TYPE COMPOSITION |
| image of characters formed on sensitive film or paper by light beams | ||
| EQUIVALENT TERM | pi | LETTERPRESS COMPOSING |
| cute term, using the Greek letter pi to represent the word pie - see Printer's Pie | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | pi character . . . 1 | CHARACTERS |
| character not included in a fount: it must be accessed by special means | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | pi character . . . 2 | COLD TYPE COMPOSITION |
| character not on the normal keyboard: accessible by codes or alt layouts | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | pi matrix | LINOTYPE/INTERTYPE LINECASTER |
| matrix that runs in the pi channel: does not run in a magazine channel | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | pica . . . . . . . 1 | TYPE MEASUREMENTS |
| traditional typesize name, later taken as the standard 12 point measure | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | pica . . . . . . . 2 | TYPE MEASUREMENTS |
| defined (around 1890?) as 0.1660 inch: 6 picas = 0.996 inch | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | pica . . . . . . . 3 | COLD TYPE COMPOSITION |
| in some computers (1980's), pica became 1/6 inch thus 0.4 % more than historic | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | pica . . . . . . . 4 | TYPE MEASUREMENTS |
| European equivalent of pica is the Cicero (about 7% larger) | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | pica . . . . . . . 5 | LETTERPRESS COMPOSING |
| strip of 12pt lead or reglet: grab a few picas | ||
| VERB | picking | PRINTING, ANY PROCESS |
| ink too tacky, lifting fibres or coating from paper: fibres become hickeys | ||
| EQUIVALENT TERM | pie | LETTERPRESS COMPOSING |
| see printer's pie, pi | ||
| VERB | pied | LETTERPRESS COMPOSING |
| if you pie a job, the type is spilt or disarranged | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | pigment | COLOUR WORK, PRINTING INKS |
| finely ground solid material: gives colour and opacity to ink | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | pin perforator | CUTTING & CREASING |
| forces a row of pins through a few sheets at a time. Usu treadle operated. | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | planer | LETTERPRESS COMPOSING |
| flat wooden block: placed on type during lockup and tapped with mallet | ||
| NOUN, UNCOUNTABLE | planographic printng | PRINTING, ANY PROCESS |
| producing image from a flat surface, where image area is chemically different. Usu lithographic. | ||
| NOUN, UNCOUNTABLE | plaster matrix | STEREOTYPING, RUBBER STAMPS |
| the plaster-cast matrix process places no pressure on the type and produces a grainless stereo | ||
| ABBREVIATION | PMS (colour numbers) | COLOUR WORK, PRINTING INKS |
| Pantone Matching System: now named Pantone Colors | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | point . . . . . . 1 | TYPE MEASUREMENTS |
| fundamental unit for type body sizes: the point is defined as 1/12 pica | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | point . . . . . . 2 | TYPE MEASUREMENTS |
| Anglo-American point is 0.013833 inch (1/12 of 0.1660) or 0.351 mm | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | point . . . . . . 3 | TYPE MEASUREMENTS |
| some computers use pica = 1/6 inch: their point has become 0.013889 inch | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | point . . . . . . 4 | TYPE MEASUREMENTS |
| points are also used for spacing and rules: 3pt leads; 1pt rule face on 2pt body | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | point . . . . . . 5 | TYPE MEASUREMENTS |
| European point (or Didot) is 1/12 of a Cicero (about 0.0148 inch) | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | point . . . . . . 6 | TYPE MEASUREMENTS |
| in practical terms, 36pt is half an inch, and so on: no easy conversion to metric | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | point size | TYPE MEASUREMENTS |
| size of type body: typeface designed for that body size | ||
| ADVERB | pointwise | TYPE MEASUREMENTS |
| in the vertical axis of a piece of type: the bowl measures 3.6 pts, pointwise | ||
| ADJECTIVE | portrait | LAYOUT AND DESIGN |
| type block or image having height greater than width | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | positive . . . . . 1 | PRE PRESS, COMPUTER LAYOUT |
| film or print with image-bearing area in black, non-image white or clear | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | positive . . . . . 2 | IMAGES, HALFTONES |
| colour film or print with correct (non reversed) colour renditions | ||
| BRAND NAME | PostScript | PRE PRESS, COMPUTER LAYOUT |
| Adobe Systems' widely accepted system for defining and outputting text and images | ||
| NOUN, UNCOUNTABLE | prepress | PRE PRESS, COMPUTER LAYOUT |
| converting ideas and images into negatives and plates for printing | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | press check | WORKFLOW |
| final check when job is already on the press: examining first printed sheets | ||
| NOUN, UNCOUNTABLE | preview mode | COLD TYPE COMPOSITION |
| for non-WYSIWYG typesetters, a way of seeing page as it will print | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | printer spread | LAYOUT AND DESIGN |
| pages laid out in the way they will appear on the printing plate - cf reader spread | ||
| NOUN, UNCOUNTABLE | printer's pie | LETTERPRESS COMPOSING |
| the mess of types formed when quantity of type is spilt or dropped: a pied job | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | printmaking | PRINTMAKING (FINE ART) |
| use of elementary forms of printing (etching, litho, letterpress, woodcuts) for artist-made prints | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | process camera | PRE PRESS, COMPUTER LAYOUT |
| large camera to make full-size negative from artwork:may enlarge or reduce | ||
| EQUIVALENT TERM | process engraving | IMAGES, HALFTONES |
| same as photoengraving | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | progressive proofs | COLOUR WORK, PRINTING INKS |
| series of proofs showing each colour printed over previous colours and singly | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | proof | WORKFLOW |
| a copy of a work in progress, usually for checking and correcting | ||
| ABBREVIATION | proofer | PRINTING, ANY PROCESS |
| proofing press | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | proofing press | PRINTING, ANY PROCESS |
| a press designed for proofing: usu simplified, perhaps hand inked or hand fed | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | proofreader | PROOF READING & CORRECTING |
| once called corrector of the press and a greatly prized skill, now devalued but still important | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | proofreaders' marks | PROOF READING & CORRECTING |
| standardised set of marks used on proof sheet to indicate corrections needed | ||
| VERB | proofreading | PROOF READING & CORRECTING |
| reading a proof copy beside the original copy to detect errors in content or style | ||
| NOUN, UNCOUNTABLE | proportional spacing | TYPE FACE DESIGNS |
| set-sizes (body widths) varying to suit characters: most printing types conform to this | ||
| NOUN, UNCOUNTABLE | pulp | PAPER MAKING |
| raw material for paper making: mainly fibres from wood, paper and rags | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | pump stop | LINOTYPE/INTERTYPE LINECASTER |
| stop-block under pump lever which moves away to allow casting only when vyce jaws detect full line | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | punch | MATRICES FOR TYPECASTING |
| an original character carved into tip of steel rod and hardened | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | punch bar | MONOTYPE COMPOSITION CASTER |
| 33 cross bars actuated by keybar pips: each bar operates one ribbon punch | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | punch proof | MATRICES FOR TYPECASTING |
| as each punch progressed, the letter-cutter would proof it to ensure its fidelity to design | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | quad . . . . . . . 1 | LETTERPRESS COMPOSING |
| spacing material within the line but wider than word spaces: em quad, 3-em quad | ||
| VERB | quad . . . . . . . 2 | LETTERPRESS COMPOSING |
| use quads to quickly fill out blank portion of a line: quad the line [out] | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | quad caps case | LETTERPRESS COMPOSING |
| upper case with four sets of divisions. One use is for founts withfour face sizes eg Mono Spartan | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | quadder | LINOTYPE/INTERTYPE LINECASTER |
| attachment which can set mats to left right or centre without use of quad mats | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | quadding stick | LUDLOW TYPOGRAPH SYSTEM |
| stick with slide to quickly infill space at RH end of line | ||
| EQUIVALENT TERM | quadrat | LETTERPRESS COMPOSING |
| the original term for quad before the abbreviation became the normal term | ||
| VERB | quarter bind | FINISHING & BOOKBINDING |
| staple front and back covers onto book and cover spine with wide adhesive cloth | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | quire | PAPER SPECIFICATIONS |
| quantity of paper: 1/20 of a ream so normally 25 sheets | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | quoin | LETTERPRESS COMPOSING |
| wedge or wedging device for locking type, spacing, etc into chase for printing | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | quoin, mechanical | LETTERPRESS COMPOSING |
| expanding device of metal with wedges, cams, screws, etc | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | quoins, pair of | LETTERPRESS COMPOSING |
| pair of wooden wedges or cast iron wedges, tightened by knocking together with a shooting stick | ||
Persons wishing to use these are asked to contact the author at Melbourne Museum of Printing.
Comments and suggestions about terms and definitions will be very welcome.
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