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Glossary of Printing and Graphic Arts Terms - Section A
A4 Paper ISO paper size 210 x 297mm used for Letterhead.
Acetate
A transparent sheet placed over originals or artwork, allowing the designer to write instructions and/or indicate a second color for placement.
Acid Resist
An acid-proof protective coating applied to metal plates prior to etching.
Accordion Fold
Two or more parallel folds which opens like an accordion.
Additive Color Color produced by light falling onto a surface, as compared to subtractive color. The additive primary colors are red, green and blue.
Against the Grain At right angles to the grain direction of the paper being used, as compared to with the grain. It's also called across the grain or cross grain. See also Grain Direction.
Airbrush Pen-shaped tool that sprays a fine mist of ink or paint to retouch photos and create continuous-tone illustrations.
Alteration Changes made by the customer after copy or artwork has been given to the service bureau, separator or printer. The changes could be in copy, specifications or both. Also called AA, author alteration and customer alteration.
Anodized Plate An offset printing plate having a treated surface in order to reduce wear for extended use.
Anti-offset Powder Fine powder lightly sprayed over the printed surface of coated paper as sheets leave a press. It's also called dust, offset powder, powder and spray powder.
Antique Paper Roughest finish offered on offset paper.
Aqueous Coating Coating in a water base and applied like ink by a printing press to protect and enhance the printing underneath.
Artboard
Alternate term for mechanical art.
Artwork All original copy, including type, photos and illustrations, intended for printing. Also called art.
Author's Alterations (AA's) At the proofing stage, changes that the client requests to be made concerning original art provided. AA's are considered an additional cost to the client usually.
Auto-trap A software program that automatically applies trapping to film which is output by imagesetters. Trapping is the precise relationship between two ink colors when they butt together on a printed sheet. If no trap is added, a white gap may appear between colors. If too much trap is added, a dark line will appear where the colors overlap.
