Terminology

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The words for print and finishing

Lesson 5 of 11 in Terminology.

Spot Colors versus Process Colors · JOMC Communication Design
Lesson

Print vocabulary is where designers most often reveal that they have never stood next to a press, and printers are generally patient about it. Learning twenty words changes the relationship, because it lets you ask for things by name.

foilmetal, flatembossup, no inkdebossdownspot UVgloss on mattthree of these change the surface, one adds a materialeach one is a separate pass, and a separate cost
Foil, emboss, deboss and spot varnish shown as cross sections of one sheet.
An ink drawing of a designer and a printer inspecting a sheet at a large press, next to a bench of embossed, debossed, gloss-varnished and foiled cards and a stack of papers of varying thickness.
A designer stands at a printing press with the printer, beside a bench of finished samples: raised and pressed-in cards, a glossy patch, foil and papers of different weights.
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  1. Question 1, locked

    Why does a run of a hundred cost so much more per unit than a run of a hundred thousand?

    • Short runs go to digital presses, and digital ink costs more per sheet
    • Make-ready, the setup before the run, costs the same at either quantity
    • Plates wear out faster on short runs and have to be remade
    • Paper bought in small quantities carries a surcharge that dominates the quote
  2. Question 2, locked

    Which of these words means this? “A premixed ink, printed on its own plate.”

    • Sample
    • Quantitative
    • Spot colour
    • Qualitative
  3. Question 3, locked

    Which of these words means this? “Raised off the surface, or pressed into it.”

    • Branding
    • Brand
    • Emboss and deboss
    • Identity

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