Print has its own vocabulary. Here are the terms you’ll run into when planning a project, in plain English — with links to the tools and services behind them.
Aqueous coating — A fast-drying, water-based coating that adds a subtle gloss or matte finish and protects against fingerprints and scuffs.
Bleed — Artwork extended past the trim line (usually 1/8″) so color reaches the edge after cutting. See the bleed & safe-area calculator.
Bond paper — A lightweight, durable uncoated stock used for letterhead and everyday printing.
Caliper — The thickness of a sheet, measured in thousandths of an inch (points). 14 pt is a typical business-card thickness.
CMYK — The four process inks — cyan, magenta, yellow, black — presses use for full color. Print files should be CMYK. Try the RGB→CMYK converter.
Coated stock — Paper with a gloss, satin, or matte surface coating that keeps colors and photos sharp and vivid.
Cover stock — Heavier, rigid paper used for business cards, postcards, and booklet covers.
Crop marks — Thin corner lines that show where a piece will be trimmed.
Die cut — A custom shape cut into or out of a piece using a steel die; the cut outline is called a dieline.
DPI / PPI — Dots (or pixels) per inch — a measure of image resolution. Aim for 300 at final size for close-up print. Use the resolution checker.
Duplex — Printed on both sides; also a thick sheet made by gluing two stocks together.
EDDM — Every Door Direct Mail, a USPS program that delivers a mailer to every address on chosen routes with no mailing list. See the EDDM cost calculator.
Embossing / debossing — Pressing a raised (emboss) or recessed (deboss) image into the paper for a tactile effect.
EPS — A vector file format for logos and line art that scales without quality loss. See file formats.
Finish — The surface texture or coating of a paper — gloss, matte, satin, soft-touch, linen, and so on.
Foil stamping — Applying metallic or colored foil with heat and pressure for a shiny accent.
Four-color process — Full-color printing built from CMYK inks; contrast with spot color.
Grain — The direction paper fibers align; folding with the grain gives a cleaner fold.
GSM — Grams per square meter, the metric measure of paper weight — the same across stock types, unlike US “lb.” See the paper weight converter.
Gutter — The inner margin where pages meet at the binding.
Halftone — Simulating shades of a color with a pattern of various-sized dots.
Kiss cut — Cutting through a sticker’s face but not its backing, so it peels off easily.
Kraft paper — A natural brown, uncoated stock with a rustic, recycled look.
Laminate — A thin plastic film bonded to a printed piece for durability and a gloss or matte finish.
Lossy / lossless — Lossy formats (JPG) discard data to shrink file size and can show artifacts; lossless formats (TIFF, PNG) keep all detail. See file formats.
Matte — A non-glossy, low-glare finish.
Pantone (PMS) — A standardized spot-color system for matching exact colors, especially brand colors, across runs.
PDF / PDF X — The standard print handoff format; PDF/X variants embed fonts, color, and bleed for reliable printing. See file formats.
Perfect binding — A binding method with a glued, square spine, used for thicker books. See the booklet & spine calculator.
Proof — A digital or printed preview of a job, approved before the full run.
Raster — Pixel-based art (photos) that is resolution-dependent; contrast with vector. See file formats.
Registration — The precise alignment of each ink color; poor registration shows as fuzzy edges.
Resolution — The amount of detail in an image, in PPI at final size. Use the resolution checker.
RGB — The red-green-blue color model screens use; convert to CMYK for print. Try the color converter.
Rich black — A deeper black mixed from several inks (e.g. C60 M40 Y40 K100) for large solid areas; small text uses 100% K.
Saddle stitch — Binding with staples through the fold; page counts come in multiples of four. See the booklet calculator.
Safe area — The margin inside the trim where text and logos stay so they are not cut. See the bleed calculator.
Score — A crease pressed into heavy stock so it folds cleanly without cracking.
Spot color — A pre-mixed ink (often Pantone) printed as its own color rather than built from CMYK.
Spot UV — A glossy UV coating applied to select areas for contrast against a matte background.
Stock / substrate — The material you print on — paper, vinyl, board, and the like.
Trim — The final cut size of a printed piece.
UV coating — A high-gloss (or matte) coating cured with ultraviolet light for a hard, protective finish.
Vector — Math-based art (logos, type) that scales to any size with crisp edges. See file formats.
Put these terms to work: the print file setup guide covers bleed, resolution, and color; the file formats guide explains what to send; and standard print sizes and the paper & stock guide help you spec a piece. Browse every calculator and resource too. When you’re ready, we handle Print & Stationery for businesses across Buffalo and the West Metro.
Tell us what you’re planning and we’ll handle the design and printing — free quote, no commitment.