Industry Terms

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Damask Paper Paper with a finish that resembles linen.
Damp Streaks Errors in the paper making process due to uneven drying.
Dampener Rollers that distribute the fountain solution to the offset plate.
Dampening Solution A solution for wetting the lithographic press plate.
Dampening System The unit on a press that applies dampening solution to the plate.
Dancer Roll A roll used on a web press to control tension.
Dandy Roll Used to improve grades of business and book papers, it makes a woven effect on the texture.
Dash In typography it is a mark used as an indicator of a pause between thoughts. The dash is comprised of the following varieties: two hyphens, the em dash, and the two en dashes. The vertical position, weight, and width will vary in different typestyles.
Data A computer term designating information for processing.
Data Compression The translation of a computer file into a format that uses less disk space. Compressed files must be decompressed to be used.
Database Publishing The creation of marketing materials that may be personalized or customized through the use of a repository of information, or a database, that has been created to provide information on a variety of aspects of an audience.
DCS (Desktop Color Separation) A data file standard defined to aid in making color separations in digital prepress with desktop publishing systems. Using DCS five files are created - four color files (containing the cyan, magenta, yellow and black data) and a composite color view file of the color image.
Debarking The process of removing bark from logs prior to pulping.
Debossing The process in which the image is recessed into the paper.
Decalcomania Paper A type of transfer paper that allows the transfer a printed image to another object such as glass. Also called a decal.
Deckle An irregular edge on paper purposely produced for artistic effect.
Deckle Edge The untrimmed soft edges of paper formed where the pulp runs against the deckle.
Deckle Stain A coloring or tint along the deckle edge.
Decollate The act of separating the pages or parts of a printed document. In multipart forms, it is the separation of parts and removal of carbon paper.
Decorative Papers Any range of quality papers used for special brochures, announcements, etc.
Decurler A device on a web press or sheeter used to remove paper curl.
De-Inked Paper Stock Recycled paper. It is made up of fibers from repulped waste paper that has had the ink removed by mechanical and chemical processes.
De-inking The process used to extract ink from papers to be recycled.
Delamination The separating of splitting of joined layers of laminated product or sheet stock as they come apart.
Delete An editors instruction to do away with parts of copy, letters, etc.
Demand Publishing The production of documents at the time they are needed. Only the amount needed at that time are produced. The documents are prepared, stored and distributed all in digital form.
Densitometer An instrument used for calculating density. It is used by printers to determine if film has been properly exposed and processed and also to verify proper ink coverage on the press. Reflection densitometers calculate the reflect light from a surface and transmission densitometers calculate the amount of light that is transmitted through film and other materials.
Density 1. The degree of lightness or darkness of a color or the level at which it can block out and absorb light. 2. The paper's weight in comparison to its bulk. A paper weighing more but that is thinner than another paper is more dense. The level of compaction of the fibers in paper affect its density.
Density Range The measure of tonal values derived by calculating the difference in density from the shadow tones to the highlight tones of an image, film negative or film positive.
Depth On continuous forms, it is the dimension from one cross perf to the next that divides the individual forms. On unit sets, it is the dimension parallel to the stub as it is cut off at the collator. Allowable depth sizes of a continuous and the cut off sizes of a unit set are determined by the circumference of the plate cylinders.
Depth of Field The entire focused area within a digital camera's photo range, both near and far. A large depth of field will mean there is reasonably sharp focus for the subject matter close to the camera and the background behind the subject.
Descender On lower case letters, it is the lower part that extends below the baseline, such as on the letters g, j, p, and y in comparison to the letters a, c, e, m, and n.
Descreening A feature used in scanning software that is supposed to blur or merge dot patterns into a solid set of pixels. Descreening softens and distorts the artwork, avoiding moiré patterns.
Desensitizer A method of making certain areas on a metal plate non-receptive to ink.
Desktop Publishing The use of personal computers, or workstations, to design and produce digital documents that are output to paper, film or plates. Can be used to design products of any type.
Desktop Publishing Stripping Assembling all elements electronically in final impostion to output directly to negative or plate.
Despenser A device used to manually or automatically dispense pressure sensitive labels. It presents the label to be applied to a label. Application can be preformed by hand or mechanically.
Destination Bulk Mail Center Rate (DBMC) A discounted postal rate that is obtained when the mailing is properly prepared and delivered by the mailer to the BMC (Bulk Mail Center) or other designated postal facility that is to service the delivery address (ZIP Code range) on the mail.
Destructible Label Destructible labels are impossible to remove and replace in one piece. Attempts to remove result in the label flaking off in pieces. Tampering is easily detected.
Detail Paper Thin, semitranslucent paper.
Developer The chemical that is used to bring out the image in the photographic process after the material was exposed to light.
Developing Ink An ink that is used on some surface plates to make the image ink-receptive.
Device Independent The characteristic of a computer software program or system that allows various output devices to image the same file.
Diaphragm The light regulator on a camera that controls the amount of light going through the lens.
Diazo A chemical which is sensitive to ultraviolet light. It is used to coat paper or film for making prints.
Die A metal device for cutting, scoring, stamping, embossing or debossing. Most dies have a male and female part. The male creates the image and the female provides the reinforcement of the image.
Die Cut Label A pressure sensitive label that has the facestock die cut in a specific shape. The die cut is accomplished by using a die which is basically made up of cutting blades that are formed into the desired shape. The die will cut through the facestock only and not through the liner. Once the label is die cut the matrix is removed, leaving only the label on the liner.
Die Cutting The main method or standard means of die cutting involves the use of metal dies to give paper or substrate products specific shapes or designs that cannot be accomplished by a straight cut on a web press or a guillotine cutter.
Die Stamping Producing an image by stamping the printing material with a die.
Dielectric Paper Paper made without metallic elements that might conduct electricity.
Die-stamping A process of printing from a unit that was engraved.
Diffusion Dithering A method of dithering that randomly distributes pixels instead of using a set pattern.
Diffusion Transfer A system consisting of a photographic emulsion on which a negative is created, and a receiver sheet on which a positive of the image is transferred during the photography and platemaking process.
Digester A part of papermaking whereby wood is cooked with chemicals to make pulp.
Digital Camera A camera that directly produces a digital image without using film or a scanner in the process.
Digital Color Proof A color proof produced from a digital file; therefore eliminating the need for separation films.
Digital Front End The digital devices used to drive the data being sent to the output devices.
Digital Job Ticket A vehicle that contains the specifications of a print job. The specifications include the print buyers description of the job and all tasks relating to prepress and printing processes.
Digital Papers Papers that have been manufactured to meet the requirements for printing on digital equipment. They have a surface suitable to accept the inks and toners of the digital printers. They must also be of low moisture content to prevent the paper from curling when exposed to the high heat of some of the digital equipment.
Digital Photography Producing an image within a camera without using film or a scanner in the process.
Digital Press A printing press that receives its image directly from a computer file. The traditional method of using film and conventional plates is eliminated.
Digital Printing Any type of print reproduction method that utilizes electronic files to produce a printed piece from dots of ink, toner, or dye. The printed piece is created directly from a computer file without the need for film or conventional printing plates.
Digital Proof A proof that has been created by the use of digital files rather than from film.
Digitize Conversion of a graphic into data that can be used by a computer.
Dimensional Stability Papers ability to maintain its form and not stretch and shrink as a result of environmental changes, such as temperature and humidity.
Direct Digital Color Proof (DDCP) A color proof made directly from a digital file without having to produce film. The digital data goes directly to the device producing the proof, such as a ink jet printer, laser printer or photographic exposure.
Direct Image Master A duplicating master.
Direct Mail Used to advertise a product or service offered by a company. The objective is to make an offer to the recipient and encourage a response to the offer. The mail package contains components such as response cards, envelopes, letters, brochures, coupons etc., generally mailed to a specific target audience.
Direct Process Paper Paper that has a light sensitive coating applied. Used to make prints.
Direct Screen When the dots are added to the color separations at the same time that the transparency is being photographically separated.
Direct Screen Halftone (direct halftone) A halftone produced by contact through a screen.
Direct Thermal A printing method that does not require a ribbon to create an image. The thermal material is heat sensitive. The print head is heated as in thermal transfer and when it comes in contact with the special direct thermal stock, it causes a chemical reaction which creates the image.
Direct Thermal Labels Pressure sensitive labels that use the direct thermal printing process for imaging. The facestock for these labels must be special direct thermal stock.
Direct-to-Plate Digitally sending files to an imagesetter to produce printing plates instead of film.
Direct-to-Press Digitally sending files directly to a printing press, eliminating the step of producing negatives and plates.
Dirty Proof A proof that has un-corrected mistakes.
Discretionary Hyphen A hyphen that is manually inserted where a word is to be broken and is displayed only if the word needs to be broken at the end of a line. A discretionary hyphen usually takes precedence over any other type.
Display Board Thick board paper used to hold advertising displays.
Display Type Larger type, such as titles and headings, that stands out from other text.
Distortion When an object is forced out of its original shape.
Distributor A company that purchases a product directly from the mill or manufacturer and then resells it to the end user. Also referred to as a merchant.
Dithering Since computer monitors and different operating systems may have different color palettes, an image originating on one system may not look the same when viewed on another system. The computer handles this problem with dithering, which creates additional colors and shades by interspersing pixels of different colors to simulate the original colors. Dithering can be used to create patterns, backgrounds, fills, and shading, as well as, for creating halftones for printing. "Anti-aliasing" techniques use dithering to make jagged lines appear smoother on a screen. It is also used when creating blends to eliminated banding.
Doctor Blade A knife-edged blade pressed against the engraved printing cylinder which wipes away the leftover ink from the non-printing areas in the gravure printing process.
Doctor Roll The fountain roll on a flexographic press.
Dog-ears A bent corner of a page or series of pages in a book.
Dope Material used in various compounds for printing.
Dot A single point or smallest part of an image that is identifiable. Also referred to as a pixel, spot or pel.
Dot Etching Color correction of an image resulting from the alteration of the halftone dot size.
Dot Gain When halftone dots print larger on the press than what they originally were on the plate or film, resulting in a loss of detail and lower contrast in the image. Dot gain occurs on every job to some degree. It is predictable to a point and can be compensated for when film and plates are produced Dot gain often occurs in long press runs, due to plates and/or pressure settings wearing or changing through out the run.
Dot Matrix Printer An impact printer that forms characters and graphics by printing a series of dots.
Dot Pitch The diagonal measurement between phosphor dots on a display screen, measured in millimeters. The smaller the measurement, the better the image will be.
Dot Slurring Smearing of halftone dots.
Dot Spread Also known as Dot Gain - The enlargement of halftone dots on the press which results in a loss of detail and makes the image darker. Dot gain occurs most often in long press runs, when plates and/or pressure settings can wear or change.
Dots Per Inch (DPI) A measure of resolution usually applied to scanners and output devices.
Double Black Printing Printing the same image in the same color twice to increase the density of that color. Done with black to get it dense enough.
Double Burning The process of using two or more negatives to burn one complete image onto a plate or print.
Double Coated Coating a paper twice on one side. Should not be confused with coating on both sides.
Double Column Two columns of type on a page.
Double Deckle Paper that has is deckled on two parallel edges.
Double Loop Wire Binding Binding that consists of a series of double wire loops from a continuous pre-formed wire which are inserted into pages that have been punched with square or round holes.
Double Parallel Fold A type of fold where the piece is folded in half and then folded in half again. The folds are parallel to each other. Also known as a quarter fold.
Double Stub A unit set having two perforated and glued stubs. Generally used to create two sets once the initial use and separation of the form is completed.
Double Varnish A double coat of varnish, generally used on covers.
Double-Black Halftone Printing Double printing of the same information to increase density of the final product.
Double-Coated Stock Paper that is coated two times on the same side.
Double-Dot Halftone Two halftone negatives combined into one printing plate, having greater tonal range than a conventional halftone. One negative reproduces highlight and shadows, the other middle tones. This is not to be confused with duotoneor double-black printing.
Doubletone Ink An ink used to give the effect of two colors with a single impression.
Doubling When sheets of paper come in contact with the blanket twice.
Doughnut Hickey A discrepancy in printing where a printed area is surrounded by an unprinted area.
Download Trasferring information to another computer or to an output device.
Downloadable Font A printer font stored on disk that can be loaded into the printer's memory, in comparison to a font within a cartridge that must be plugged into the printer.
Downtime The period of time when a production unit, such as a press, is unable to function.
Drag and Drop Clicking on an item or section and moving it to another location in that same file or to another file.
Drawdown A smear of ink produced on the paper to be used in order to approve the colors before printing.
Drawing Paper Dull finished paper that is of good quality and stable enough to withstand erasing.
Drier A substance which is added to ink to hasten the drying time.
Drilling Using rotating paper drill to create holes in a stack of paper.
Drop Cap A large initial letter at the start of the paragraph that drops into the line or lines of text below.
Drop Folio A page number located at the bottom of the page.
Drop Out 1. A printed halftone that does not have screen dots in the background or highlight areas due to overexposure during the camera work. 2. Colors that cannot be detected by optical reading devices.
Drop Shadow A rule or screen tint that falls behind an illustration, box or type. It is offset from the item and used to give a three-dimensional shadow effect.
Drop-Head A secondary headline beneath a primary headline.
Drop-Out A spot on magnetic disk or tape from which data has disappeared.
Dropout Halftone A halftone consisting of black and white only, all grays are dropped out of the negative. A dropout halftone is created by shooting the photograph as line art.
Drum Scanner A piece of equipment on which the original transparency is wrapped around a plastic cylinder, used in the making of color separations.
Drums Metal inking rollers that aid in ink distribution.
Dry Back The color change which occurs when ink dries.
Dry Finish A paper stock with a rough unglazed finish produced by calendaring it through a waterless process.
Dry Indicator Size Test A method of testing the water resistance of paper.
Dry Offset Same as letterset printing.
Dry Transfer Characters, ornaments, etc. that can be transferred to the artwork by rubbing them off the back of the transfer sheet. The most popular is Letraset.
Dryer A heat tunnel on a web press in which the final printed product passes through. The heat tunnel dries the ink. Web presses with the heat tunnel are called heat-set webs.
Dry-Gum Label Stock Stock coated with a remoistenable adhesive, which must have moisture applied to activate the adhesive. Dry-gum label stock does not require a liner over the adhesive.
Drying Time The amount of time that it takes for the ink on paper to become stable and not smear.
DTP Acronym for desktop publishing.
Dual Roll Stand A double roll stand for feeding two webs of paper at the same time.
Ductor Roller The distribution roller for ink or fountain solution.
Dull Finish A flat finish that has been supercalendered when manufactured. It is slightly smoother that a matte finish.
Dummy A mock layout created to simulate the final product. The complexity of the dummy can range from a simple mockup showing size and with a hand drawn sketch of the layout to one showing all the details exactly as the finished product will appear.
Dummy Folios Temporary folios that are used strictly for keeping track of copy. Not used in the completed mechanical.
Duotone A halftone image created by overprinted two different halftone screens of the same image with different colors and tonal ranges. Duotones are commonly printed using black ink and colored ink.
Duplex Coating When both sides of the paper are coated at the same time.
Duplex Paper A paper made by pasting two different thinner sheets together, resulting in paper with a different color or finish on both sides.
Duplexing The ability to print both sides of a sheet without having to turn the sheet over.
Duplicating Film A film used for making duplicates of color transparencies.
Duplicator 1. An offset press used for low volume quick printing. Not recommended for close register or high quality printing due to the lack of devices necessary to achieve this type of printing. 2. An office machine that will print copies, such as a high speed copier, photocopier or mimeograph.
Duplicator Paper Smooth paper used for spirit duplicators.
Dust Cover The paper cover that is used on the outside of a hardcover book.
Dusting Small particle buildup from the paper.
DVD (Digital Video Disk) A CD-ROM disk that can store audio, video, and electronic computer data at four more gigabytes per disk.
Dycril Plate A photosensitive plate used in printing.
Dye A photosensitive plate used in printing.
Dye Sublimation A color printing technology in which solid dye pigments are heated, changing them directly into a gas. When the dye, in the form of a gas, makes contact with a specially coated paper, it changes back into a solid. The individual spots of dye created with the thermal dye sublimation process blend together to make an almost continuous tone image similar to an actual photograph.
Dylux A proofing paper that is sensitive on both sides.
Dylux Proof A special type of photosensitive paper, developed by DuPont, which is sensitized on two sides and used to make blueline proofs of press negatives.
Dynamic Focus A feature that allows for the selection of focus positions that are not necessarily centered but may be to the right or left of the center of the viewfinder in a digital camera.
Dynamic Range Density distinction between highlights and shadows of scanned files. The range of tones from lightest to darkest a scanner can recognize.