Glossary of Terms
Artifact: A visible defect in a scanned image, usually caused by hardware or software limitations. Also a defect in image caused by repeated encoding/compressing of JPEG images.
Back flap: The back part of a dust jacket that folds inward and contains copy continued from the front flap and/or a photo and biography of the author.
Banding: An undesirable graphic effect in which a gradation contains visible stepping of shades.
Bar code: A series of vertical lines that identify the book, the book's publisher, and the book's price. The bar code used especially for books is called a Bookland EAN.
Binding: The fastening of assembled sheets or signatures along one edge of a publication. The binding process also includes folding, gathering, trimming, stitching, gluing, and/or casing.
Bitmap (BMP): A format for saving b/w images not recommended for use in manuscripts to be submitted to this site.
Bleed: The portion of an image that extends beyond the post-trim area of a page.
Bleed allowance: The amount in which a bleed must extend beyond a document's trim in order to allow for variations in cutting and folding.
Calibrate: To adjust an input device such as a scanner or an output device such as a monitor, image setter, or printing press to more accurately reproduce color.
Case: The covers of a hard-bound, or case-bound, book.
CMYK: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black. The colors of the subtractive color system, also known as process colors.
Crop mark: A set of horizontal and vertical lines which indicate where a photograph, illustration, or page should be eliminated or trimmed.
DPI: Dots Per Inch. A measure of an output device's resolution, such as a monitor or laser printer.
Download: The process referring to receiving electronic data (files).
Drop cap: A large initial capital letter that "drops" below the first baseline on the first paragraph in a chapter.
Drop shadow: A graphic effect in which display type is repeated behind itself, creating a "shadow."
Dust cover: The outer paper wrap on a hardcover book. Also called a dust jacket.
EPS: Encapsulated PostScript. A document file format that contains PostScript information for high-resolution graphics.
Flap copy: The text that appears on the front or back flaps of a dust jacket.
Flat: An image that is lacking in contrast.
Flier: A one-page, unfolded printed promotional piece.
Flush: To align text or images along one edge of a page layout.
Format (noun): The size, style, number of pages, and other printing requirements of a piece to be printed.
Footer: An area in the bottom margin often containing the page number.
FTP: (File Transfer Protocol) - A dedicated file transfer system involving the use of client software and a host server to send/receive files.
Format (verb): To apply type specifications to text.
Fulfillment: The process of filling orders for a book or magazine through order taking, packing, shipping, and collecting payment.
GIF: (Graphics Interchange Format) - a lossless data compression 24-bit RGB bitmap image format. Suitable file type for images using 256 colors or less.
Gloss: A shiny coating applied to a printed piece.
Glossy: A photograph, image, or other printed material with a shiny surface, as opposed to matte, which is a dull surface.
Graphics: The art of manipulating images on computer.
Grayscale: The range of gray tones between black and white as displayed on a monitor or in an image.
Gutter: The inner margins of two facing pages in a publication.
Header margin: The top of a page above the headline or text, often containing book title and chapter titles on alternating pages.
High contrast: A photographic reproduction that contains higher density levels than usual.
Hue: The attribute of a color that distinguishes it from other colors.
ISBN: International Standard Book Number. A unique number provided by R.R. Bowker/Reed Reference Publishing and assigned by the publisher that identifies the binding, edition, and publisher of a book.
JPEG (JPG): A very common, high loss compression image file type that is typically very compact comparatively to other image file types.
Justification: Alignment of line ends so that the are straight along the margin. Left aligned, right aligned, or full justification (book justification).
Leaf: A sheet of paper in a book, comprising two pages.
List price: The suggested retail selling price of a book, as opposed to the net price or discount price, which is the price at which bookstores or distributors purchase the book from the publisher. Also called the cover price.
Lossless: A method of compression in which no data is discarded.
LPI: Lines Per Inch. The number of rows of halftone cells per inch, also referred to as screen frequency. The finer the frequency, the less noticeable the halftone dots.
Margin: The white space surrounding the image area of a page.
Offset Printing: The most common commercial printing technology in use today. Offset printing applies layers of ink on the page. For each layer, a reverse image of the page is placed on a roller in the printing press. Ink is applied to the non-image areas on the roller, so that as the roller presses against paper moving through the press, the proper image is left on the paper.
Open Source: A variety of copyright-free software, some of which is useful for book formatting and cover art, such as OpenOffice.
Page Count: Total number of pages in a book, counting both sides of each leaf (sheet).
Paper stock: The paper used for printing a particular piece.
PDF (Portable Document Format): An electronic document format developed by Adobe® that allows the distribution and viewing of digital files as originally designed and formatted by the author without the viewing computer having the same software application or fonts.
Perfect-bound: A method of binding in which signatures are folded and collated on top of one another and held together by adhesive.
Pixel: Picture element. The smallest unit of a bitmapped image as displayed on a computer monitor.
Pixilated: A displayed or printed image is said to be pixilated when the edges are jagged when they should be smooth. This happens when the image resolution (see DPI) is too low.
PNG: A lossless format for saving images.
POD (Print on demand): Printing, usually from a digital file to a digital printer, only when the object is needed and in the quantity required. Advantages: minimizes up front costs and waste; it's fast and easy to keep up to date; and it is ideal for variable data applications. Disadvantage: Higher unit costs.
Point: A typographic unit of measure. Traditionally, there are 72.27, 72.29, or 72.3 points to the inch, depending on whom you ask. For the purpose of designating type sizes, most modern publishing applications use 72 points to the inch.
PPI: Pages Per Inch. Used to measure the thickness of paper.
Resolution: Defines amount of detail and clarity in digital images and PDFs, Often measured in dots per inch. We recommend saving your images at 300 dpi.
RGB: Red, Green, Blue. The hues of the additive color system.
RIP: Device that translates page description commands from PostScript and other high-level languages into bitmapped information for an output device such as a digital printer or imagesetter. (Raster Image Processor)
Raster or Vector: To increase the odds of your print looking exactly as it does on screen, you can change the amount of raster (as opposed to vector) in your Design software when exporting to PDF. Note: this will increase the filesize. The reason is that when there are vector elements in the PDF, they must be rasterized before print - thus the term RIP.
Saddle-stitched: A form of binding that uses staple-shaped wires through the gutter fold; also called saddle-wired.
Scaling: The process of determining the amount an image should be reduced or enlarged to fit a specified area.
Spiral-bound: A method of binding in which the book is held together with spiral wires inserted through holes punched along the inner margins of the pages.
Stock: The type of paper or other material that will be used for printing.
Template: A preformatted document that is protected from overwriting and can be used repeatedly to create new documents.
TIFF: Tagged Image File Format. A standard graphic format for the storage of high-resolution (greater than 72 dpi) scanned images that can be imported into a page layout program.
Tint (noun): A solid color that has been screened back less than 100% to create a lighter shade of that particular color.
Tint (verb): To screen a solid color back by less than 100% to make it lighter.
Toner: Imaging material used in laser printers, copiers, and other electrophotographic devices.
Trim size: The size of a page after it has been trimmed.
Upload: A process referring to sending electronic data (files) from one computer to another.
Back flap: The back part of a dust jacket that folds inward and contains copy continued from the front flap and/or a photo and biography of the author.
Banding: An undesirable graphic effect in which a gradation contains visible stepping of shades.
Bar code: A series of vertical lines that identify the book, the book's publisher, and the book's price. The bar code used especially for books is called a Bookland EAN.
Binding: The fastening of assembled sheets or signatures along one edge of a publication. The binding process also includes folding, gathering, trimming, stitching, gluing, and/or casing.
Bitmap (BMP): A format for saving b/w images not recommended for use in manuscripts to be submitted to this site.
Bleed: The portion of an image that extends beyond the post-trim area of a page.
Bleed allowance: The amount in which a bleed must extend beyond a document's trim in order to allow for variations in cutting and folding.
Calibrate: To adjust an input device such as a scanner or an output device such as a monitor, image setter, or printing press to more accurately reproduce color.
Case: The covers of a hard-bound, or case-bound, book.
CMYK: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black. The colors of the subtractive color system, also known as process colors.
Crop mark: A set of horizontal and vertical lines which indicate where a photograph, illustration, or page should be eliminated or trimmed.
DPI: Dots Per Inch. A measure of an output device's resolution, such as a monitor or laser printer.
Download: The process referring to receiving electronic data (files).
Drop cap: A large initial capital letter that "drops" below the first baseline on the first paragraph in a chapter.
Drop shadow: A graphic effect in which display type is repeated behind itself, creating a "shadow."
Dust cover: The outer paper wrap on a hardcover book. Also called a dust jacket.
EPS: Encapsulated PostScript. A document file format that contains PostScript information for high-resolution graphics.
Flap copy: The text that appears on the front or back flaps of a dust jacket.
Flat: An image that is lacking in contrast.
Flier: A one-page, unfolded printed promotional piece.
Flush: To align text or images along one edge of a page layout.
Format (noun): The size, style, number of pages, and other printing requirements of a piece to be printed.
Footer: An area in the bottom margin often containing the page number.
FTP: (File Transfer Protocol) - A dedicated file transfer system involving the use of client software and a host server to send/receive files.
Format (verb): To apply type specifications to text.
Fulfillment: The process of filling orders for a book or magazine through order taking, packing, shipping, and collecting payment.
GIF: (Graphics Interchange Format) - a lossless data compression 24-bit RGB bitmap image format. Suitable file type for images using 256 colors or less.
Gloss: A shiny coating applied to a printed piece.
Glossy: A photograph, image, or other printed material with a shiny surface, as opposed to matte, which is a dull surface.
Graphics: The art of manipulating images on computer.
Grayscale: The range of gray tones between black and white as displayed on a monitor or in an image.
Gutter: The inner margins of two facing pages in a publication.
Header margin: The top of a page above the headline or text, often containing book title and chapter titles on alternating pages.
High contrast: A photographic reproduction that contains higher density levels than usual.
Hue: The attribute of a color that distinguishes it from other colors.
ISBN: International Standard Book Number. A unique number provided by R.R. Bowker/Reed Reference Publishing and assigned by the publisher that identifies the binding, edition, and publisher of a book.
JPEG (JPG): A very common, high loss compression image file type that is typically very compact comparatively to other image file types.
Justification: Alignment of line ends so that the are straight along the margin. Left aligned, right aligned, or full justification (book justification).
Leaf: A sheet of paper in a book, comprising two pages.
List price: The suggested retail selling price of a book, as opposed to the net price or discount price, which is the price at which bookstores or distributors purchase the book from the publisher. Also called the cover price.
Lossless: A method of compression in which no data is discarded.
LPI: Lines Per Inch. The number of rows of halftone cells per inch, also referred to as screen frequency. The finer the frequency, the less noticeable the halftone dots.
Margin: The white space surrounding the image area of a page.
Offset Printing: The most common commercial printing technology in use today. Offset printing applies layers of ink on the page. For each layer, a reverse image of the page is placed on a roller in the printing press. Ink is applied to the non-image areas on the roller, so that as the roller presses against paper moving through the press, the proper image is left on the paper.
Open Source: A variety of copyright-free software, some of which is useful for book formatting and cover art, such as OpenOffice.
Page Count: Total number of pages in a book, counting both sides of each leaf (sheet).
Paper stock: The paper used for printing a particular piece.
PDF (Portable Document Format): An electronic document format developed by Adobe® that allows the distribution and viewing of digital files as originally designed and formatted by the author without the viewing computer having the same software application or fonts.
Perfect-bound: A method of binding in which signatures are folded and collated on top of one another and held together by adhesive.
Pixel: Picture element. The smallest unit of a bitmapped image as displayed on a computer monitor.
Pixilated: A displayed or printed image is said to be pixilated when the edges are jagged when they should be smooth. This happens when the image resolution (see DPI) is too low.
PNG: A lossless format for saving images.
POD (Print on demand): Printing, usually from a digital file to a digital printer, only when the object is needed and in the quantity required. Advantages: minimizes up front costs and waste; it's fast and easy to keep up to date; and it is ideal for variable data applications. Disadvantage: Higher unit costs.
Point: A typographic unit of measure. Traditionally, there are 72.27, 72.29, or 72.3 points to the inch, depending on whom you ask. For the purpose of designating type sizes, most modern publishing applications use 72 points to the inch.
PPI: Pages Per Inch. Used to measure the thickness of paper.
Resolution: Defines amount of detail and clarity in digital images and PDFs, Often measured in dots per inch. We recommend saving your images at 300 dpi.
RGB: Red, Green, Blue. The hues of the additive color system.
RIP: Device that translates page description commands from PostScript and other high-level languages into bitmapped information for an output device such as a digital printer or imagesetter. (Raster Image Processor)
Raster or Vector: To increase the odds of your print looking exactly as it does on screen, you can change the amount of raster (as opposed to vector) in your Design software when exporting to PDF. Note: this will increase the filesize. The reason is that when there are vector elements in the PDF, they must be rasterized before print - thus the term RIP.
Saddle-stitched: A form of binding that uses staple-shaped wires through the gutter fold; also called saddle-wired.
Scaling: The process of determining the amount an image should be reduced or enlarged to fit a specified area.
Spiral-bound: A method of binding in which the book is held together with spiral wires inserted through holes punched along the inner margins of the pages.
Stock: The type of paper or other material that will be used for printing.
Template: A preformatted document that is protected from overwriting and can be used repeatedly to create new documents.
TIFF: Tagged Image File Format. A standard graphic format for the storage of high-resolution (greater than 72 dpi) scanned images that can be imported into a page layout program.
Tint (noun): A solid color that has been screened back less than 100% to create a lighter shade of that particular color.
Tint (verb): To screen a solid color back by less than 100% to make it lighter.
Toner: Imaging material used in laser printers, copiers, and other electrophotographic devices.
Trim size: The size of a page after it has been trimmed.
Upload: A process referring to sending electronic data (files) from one computer to another.