Useful definitions and explanations of company and industry terms
Aqueous Coating (AQ): It is used to protect and enhance the printed piece. Aqueous coating is available with 100lb gloss paper.
Backing: Locking-Pin & Magnet
Our Traditional Locking-Pin Buttons are printed at near photo quality and have a durable metal locking-pin backer.
Our Magnet Buttons are printed at near photo quality and have a magnetic backer.
Barcode: A series of vertical bars and spaces that represent any numerical series, most often a correct ZIP Code for the delivery address on a mailpiece. The barcode facilitates automated processing by barcode readers and scanners. A barcode also can be used to convey information for Delivery Confirmation and Signature Confirmation services. Barcodes that may be used for postal processing are POSTNET and UCC/EAN Code 128.
Bindery: The finishing department, which performs operations on the printed product after it has been printed. The bindery operations are as follows: Folding, Binding, Stitching, Scoring, Perforation, Die Cutting and more.
Binding: Different methods used to secure loose pages in a book is called binding. Saddle stitch is an example of binding.
Bleed: Bleed must extend past the cut-line and will be trimmed from the product during the final cutting phase. When the image is required to extend all the way to the edge, bleed is needed to preserve the finished look and the quality of the final product.
Please keep all text at least 0.125" inside the cut-line.
- The bleed for Standard Products is 0.125".
- The bleed for Booklets and Presentation Folders is 0.25".
We recommend using our templates at all times.
Booklets: Booklets range from 8 to 52 pages printed on durable 100lb Book stock and are assembled in-house.
Borders: An outline around graphics, text or edge of a sheet.
Brightness: Refers to the percent of light reflected back from a sheet of paper as measured by a light meter reading. Contrast is reduced and highlights are not as strong when paper with a lower brightness is used for a printed piece. Here at Minuteman Press, Cincinnati, Ohio, depending on paper brand the papers have different brightness grades, for example Tango has 91 brightness, Balboa ha 90 brightness.
Bulk Mail: Standard Mail or Third Class Mail.
Bumper Stickers: Perfect for outdoor use, our Bumper Stickers are printed on 4-mil premium white flexible vinyl film and coated with acrylic adhesive that's laminated to a 90# layflat liner. The film is designed to accept a variety of solvent based and curable inks. The liner offers excellent product layflat, adhering easily to most bumpers and enabling them to withstand a variety of environmental conditions. So go ahead and hit the streets with your brand, full speed ahead!
C1S paper: Paper coated one side. Not to be confused with UV and aqueous coatings or laminates, the terms C1S and C2S refer to paper coated at the manufacturing stage, prior to printing. Coated paper has a smoother printing surface and lower ink absorption than uncoated paper. C1S is available for catalog covers and for our packaging products.
C2S paper: Paper coated on two sides. Not to be confused with UV and aqueous coatings or laminates, the terms C1S and C2S refer to paper coated at the manufacturing stage, prior to printing. Coated paper has a smoother printing surface and lower ink absorption than uncoated paper.
Cardstock: Also called cover stock. Mostly heavyweight papers are called cardstock. The thickness of card stock is indicated with point sizes such as 14pt, 16pt. Some people will also refer to 100lb gloss cover as a cardstock.
Carrier Route: The address to which a carrier delivers mail. In common usage, carrier route includes city routes, rural routes, highway contact routes, post office box sections, and general delivery units.
CMYK: The primary colors used in 4-color printing. CMYK are used to reproduce full color on the printed sheet. CMYK also called PROCESS COLOR
C: Cyan (Blue)
M: Magenta (Red)
Y: Yellow
K: Key (Black)
Coating: The mixture of clay materials that are applied to paper to improve the smoothness of the paper's surface and improve ink holdout during the printing process. Examples are Aqueous coating (AQ) and UV coating. UV coating adds a gloss finish to the product and also improves the vibrancy of the printed colors. Spot-UV can be applied to selected portions of the piece, while keeping the rest a matte finish.
Coding Accuracy Support System (CASS): A service offered to mailers, service bureaus, and software vendors that improves the accuracy of matching to delivery point codes, ZIP+4 codes, 5-digit Zip Codes, and carrier route codes on mail piece. CASS provides a common platform to measure the quality of address matching software and to diagnose and correct software problems.
Collecting: Prepress Department that imposes multiple jobs of the same type in a press layout, called a batch. Collecting is responsible for creating schedules that meet production deadlines and satisfy job turnarounds.
Collect on Delivery (COD): A service for mailers who need to mail an article for which they have not received payment. The amount due the sender is collected from the addressee and the USPS returns the amount due to the sender.
Color Types
4:4 (4 over 4) - 2 sided full color on front and on back
4:1 (4 over 1) - 2 sided full color on front, black on back
4:0 (4 over 0) - 1 sided full color on front
5:0 (5 over 0) - 1 sided full color on front
5:1 (5 over 1) - 2 sided full color on front, black on back
4:5 (4 over 5) - 2 sided full color on front and full color on back
5:4 (5 over 4) - 2 sided full color on front and full color on back
5:5 (5 over 5) - 2 sided full color on front and on back
Color Proof / Epson Proof / Match Print: An image, created by using color inks. Showing what the final printed product will look like. Color proofs within Minuteman Press are called Epson proofs tand are a 80%-85% match with the final product.
Consecutive Numbering: Numbering a form, or a series of printed material where the number changes sequentially from one to another. Example, if the first one has number 201, the second will get 202, the third would be 203 and so on.
Crop Marks (Guide Marks): Lines printed in the margin of sheet that indicates to the cutter and bindery where the finished product should be trimmed. They are also used to show what part of a photo should be used and what part should be cropped off.
Die Cutting: A specific shape like circle, star, etc (any designs that cannot be done by a straight cut) which is cut by a metal blade. Door hangers are a popular product which requires die cutting. We can accommodate shape sizes 13" x 10" and smaller, larger sizes must be sent out to other binderies.
