Terminology
The Lingo
What is Bleed?
- Bleed is that part of the design / text that extends beyond the trim-line of the page. Since the bleed area will be trimmed off during the cutting process, it is important that there is no text or other important information in this area. If your design must bleed off the page (i.e. extend beyond conventional cut lines) it must extend to a minimum of 3mm beyond the final fold / cut size.
What is the difference between Portrait and Landscape?
- Portrait – When an image is in portrait orientation, the height thereof is greater than the width.
- Landscape – When an image is in landscape orientation, the width thereof is greater than the height.
What is Grammage?
- Grammage refers to the method of indicating the weight of paper, i.e. gsm or grams per square meter.
What is the difference between Coated and Uncoated Paper?
- Coated Paper or board is covered with a matt or gloss coating by the manufacturer. Uncoated Paper has not been treated, like the coated. This is typically found to be your ordinary 80gsm Bond – used on most photocopiers.
CMYK – What does this mean?
- Process Colours use a combination of four ink colours (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black) to create thousands of colours. Process colours are used for printing that contains full-colour photographs or when more than a few specified ink colours are used in a design.
Spot Colour – What is this?
- Spot colour inks are premixed to ensure an exact match of a colour and should be used when colour accuracy is critical (e.g. in corporate logos), or when large solid areas are required. Pantone is the dominant spot-colours printing system in South Africa.
Paper sizes