San Diego Printing FAQs & Glossary

FAQs

Q. When is commercial (4-color, CMYK) printing appropriate?

A. Unlike inkjet printers or color photocopiers, 4-color printing provides accurate, detailed, brilliant reproduction of your originals at a low cost-per-sheet. Look at any popular magazine cover (from National Geographic to People Magazine) and you’ll see an example of 4-color process printing. This is the kind of printing found at commercial printers and not at your local quick-print shop. Anytime you wish to produce something on high quality paper stock...and/or have the need to produce high quantities...or desire custom inks or finishing, look no further than ONE STOP MEDIA SHOP.


Q. How do I get a quote for my print project?

A. Start the ONE STOP MEDIA SHOP Interactive Print Project Wizard. Completing the wizard is fast and easy. We will guide you through the process of defining your duplication or replication project and then provide you with all of your pricing options. If your project needs immediate attention OR if you need special assistance in defining your project, please call a helpful customer service representative at
888-591-7886.


Q. What is ONE STOP MEDIA SHOP’s customer satisfaction guarantee?

A. We want you to be delighted with our printing! We will complete your project in accordance with industry-wide trade standards for color and registration. If you find an error introduced by us, or any other manufacturing defect, simply contact us for return instructions. We will reprint it at no cost to you, from your original file. This guarantee does not cover customer errors like incorrect copy or poor photography, so be sure to check your proof carefully. You can be assured that we want your job to look its very best!


Q. What is meant by "four over four" (or 4/4)?

A. Well, "four over four" means four colors (CMYK) on BOTH sides of a printed piece. "Four over one" means 4 colors on one side and 1 color on the other side. There is a lot of standard print industry terminology that can seem confusing even to the somewhat initiated. For that reason, the glossary below is provided.


GLOSSARY

Acrobat - A program developed by Adobe Systems, Inc. for creating, editing, distributing, and viewing Portable Document Format files, also known as PDF files.

Bitmap Image - A type of image file format that uses a grid of pixels to create shapes. Bitmap images, sometimes called raster images, consist of a fixed number of individually editable pixels. Photographs and screen captures are usually bitmap images. Popular bitmap file formats include GIF, JPEG, and TIFF.

Clipping Path - In computer graphics and imaging, a curve or polygon that defines the boundary of an image. Only the portion of the image that is enclosed within the clipping path will be visible when the item is printed or displayed. Clipping paths can be created in a program such as Photoshop; the Pen tool is used to draw the path around the object in questions, and the image must then be saved out as an EPS file.

Compression (scheme) - an algorithm that significantly reduces file sizes by removing redundant data. Common compression schemes include JPEG, LZW, and RLE.

CMYK - The four colors from which all possible colors derive. Literally Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, blacK.

Digital Asset Management (DAM) - a term to describe the disparate means of organizing and storing all the various elements (text, images, video, audio, etc.) one needs for a project.

Digital Proof - Refers to proofs made directly from digital data. NOT analog film.

DPI - an abbreviation for dots per inch. Refers to the resolution at which a device, such as a monitor or printer, can display text and graphics.

Electronic Publication - a document that is distributed by computer rather than on paper. Electronic publications can usually be printed as well, but they are primarily intended to be read on-screen, searched, and saved for future access.

Font - One style, weight, and width of a typeface. An example is Times Roman Bold Extended. Times is a typeface family; Roman is a style; Bold is a weight; Extended is a width. The terms font and typeface are to be used interchangeably.

FTP Site (File Transfer Protocol) - FTP is a communications protocol that lets people and companies make files available for transfer from their computer to your computer.

Imposition - The arrangement of pages for printing on a large sheet in such a way that they appear in order when the sheet is folded.

JDF - Job Definition Format. An open, multi-vendor solution created by Adobe, AGFA, HEIDELBERG, and MAN Roland that gives us the ability to bridge the communication gap between production and management information systems. Destined to become the industry standard.

Pantone - Pantone, Inc. is the world-renowned authority on color and provider of color systems and leading technology for the selection and accurate communication of color. The PANTONE Name is known worldwide as the standard language for color communication.

PDF (Portable Document Format) - A file format designed for cross-platform document creation and distribution. An electronic snapshot of a document, which may be printed or displayed on-screen, saved in a compressed PostScript format. PDF files can simply mimic print documents or provide interactivity through links and dynamic media.

PJTF - Portable Job Ticket Format. A format created by Adobe that allows you to attach a digital job ticket with your files, giving specifications about the job.

PostScript - A page description language invented by Adobe Systems, Inc., that consists of software commands which, when translated through the raster image processor (RIP) forms the desired image on an output device, such as a laser printer or image setter.

Preflight - A check to a digital file before output that involves ensuring that images and other color usage are in the correct color space for the target output device, that all images are at a suitable resolution and image size, that all fonts are present and accounted for and any other problems that may prevent consistent or quality output are identified.

Remote proofing - A situation where a digital proffer with acceptable quality is maintained at the client's site. Images and pages are sent through some network transmission from the printer and then imaged at the client's site.

Resolution - The number of pixels per inch in an image. The more pixels, the finer the image and the more realistic it appears. When an image is scanned, a certain number of pixels per inch are captured. From this original capture, the image may be displayed at different resolutions according to how many pixels the monitor can display. When an image is printed, the resolution is controlled by how many dots per inch the printer is capable of printing.

Soft Proof (monitor proof) - The ability to generate a file from the customer's ripped page that is viewable on a monitor. This allows operators to check the file against supplier laser proofs for content, type flow and correct trapping. It can also be a PDF file, generated from the ripped file and sent to the customer to view at their site before any materials are used.


Definitions obtained from The GATF Encyclopedia of Graphic Communications Yearbook, the Adobe Print Publishing Guide and The Adobe Electronic Publishing Guide.