prepress
Before the plates
Prepress refers to the processes that prepare a document for printing—everything that happens after design but before ink hits paper.
This includes typesetting, color separation, proofing, and creating printing plates.
The term emerged with commercial printing and persists in publishing: The prepress department caught the color mismatch before we went to press.
Flat eating dishes
- impositionUnfair demand on someone
- trappingCatching with concealed devices
- bleedLose vital fluid
- crop marksPrinting alignment indicators
color separation · halftone · screening · registration · preflight · moiré · overprint · RIP
Preset pattern for reproduction
- gridFramework of intersecting lines
- gutterEdge channel for runoff
- marginEdge of a page
- alignmentCorrect relative positioning
spacing · folio · pagination · orientation · aspect ratio · spread · facing pages · pasteboard
Visual creative production
- compositionArranged elements forming whole
- typographyArranging letters for display
- illustrationPicture explaining something
- brandingCreating distinctive identity
color theory · vector · imagery · Photoshop · InDesign · mockup · visual hierarchy · style guide
Character style set
- kerningLetter-pair spacing adjustment
- leadingGuiding or pacing type
- glyphVisual form of character
- typefaceLettering style design
serif · sans-serif · tracking · point size · baseline · ascender · descender · x-height
Adjusting display accuracy
- preflight checkSafety verification before takeoff
- markupAdded percentage for profit
- galleyOnboard food preparation area
- revisionAltering to improve
Changing a document's format
- image resolutionPixel count determining clarity
- downsamplingLowering sampling rate
- packagingProtective product enclosure
- collectingGathering items over time
plates
Flat eating dishes
- impositionUnfair demand on someone
- trappingCatching with concealed devices
- bleedLose vital fluid
crop marks · color separation · halftone · screening · registration · preflight · moiré · overprint · RIP · stripping
template
Preset pattern for reproduction
alignment · spacing · folio · pagination · orientation · aspect ratio · spread · facing pages · pasteboard · slug
artwork
Visual creative production
- compositionArranged elements forming whole
- typographyArranging letters for display
- illustrationPicture explaining something
branding · color theory · vector · imagery · Photoshop · InDesign · mockup · visual hierarchy · style guide · image editing
font
Character style set
typeface · serif · sans-serif · tracking · point size · baseline · ascender · descender · x-height · ligature
color calibration
Adjusting display accuracy
- preflight checkSafety verification before takeoff
- markupAdded percentage for profit
- galleyOnboard food preparation area
revision · color accuracy · blueline · approval · annotation
file conversion
Changing a document's format
- image resolutionPixel count determining clarity
- downsamplingLowering sampling rate
- packagingProtective product enclosure
- publishingpublishers, editors, editor, publishing house, books
- desktop publishinglayout, typography, typesetting, font, fonts
- printing termsinkjet, print, laser printing, toner, ink
- Print Layoutpage layout, print layout, print design, layouts, typography
- print propertiessharpness, clarity, resolution, color accuracy, saturation
- printingletterpress, printing, lithographers, offset printing, typographers
prepresspress
Apply force downward
printing · press run · finishing · bindery · post-production
prepressprinting
Reproducing text mechanically
impression · press run · production · output · execution
press, express, pressure, pressing, expression, impress, depressed, impressive, impression