Glossary of terms (printing CD & DVD)
Bleeds- CMYK
- Crop Marks
- DPI
- EPS
- Fifth Colour
- FTP Site
- JPEG
- PostScript
- Process Colours
- Proof
- Registration Marks
- RGB
- Spot Colours
- Templates
- TIFF
- Vector Art
Bleeds refers to areas that are printed over the dieline in Paper Parts (the cut edge). Background art should always extend over the planned cut "bleed over the edge" by 3mm because paper shifts just a little back and forth under the cutters. In many of our inserts we have already drawn this bleed in for you. Just drop your art in. (Note: Do not put a bleed on art directly printing to the face of the CD, DVD or cassette.)
This stands for colours "Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black" which are the four process inks. See "Process Colours"
Crop Marks and dielines are small tick marks (little lines) on the templates. They indicate how to cut or score a piece of paper, so keep them locked in place. Fold Marks are small dashed lines in templates (as opposed to solid lines aka crop marks). Dashed lines indicate how to fold a piece of paper, so keep them locked in place.
The dpi stands for "dots per inch". In some scanners and computer programs, you may be asked to set "pixels per inch" (ppi) instead of dpi. The measurements and meanings are virtually the same. Computers make art with little dots known as pixels. The dpi (ppi) is the way to set picture resolution. The more dots are put in an inch, the higher the picture resolution appears. For print purposes, make images at 300 dpi or higher. Your eye thinks a picture is very fine and detailed at 300 dpi and does not "need" more dots than that. (Web images are usually set at 72 to 100 dpi but this is not good printing resolution. You will see ragged or stair-stepped edges if printed.)
EPS stands for "Encapsulated Postscript" and in most pro art programs 'EPS' is a saving option, or at least an exporting option. Please see the definition for "Postscript". Please save or export line and vector art as EPS. People tend to forget to save their Illustrator files as EPS files thinking all Illustrator files are EPS by definition. In reality, you need to turn EPS "on" in the save menu before you link it to your main design and call it "print ready." Tip 1: EPS is the best way to save and link vector art like Illustrator and FreeHand art to the main page design. Tip 2: We can usually accept all sorts of files if you save them as EPS because we have EPS import filters. This may be the way for you to send art to us created by programs that we do not support without using an outside bureau.
This little phrase means that you have already filled the four drums of a printer with process colours, C, M, Y and K (CMYK) and are planning an additional, fifth spot colour, like a metallic ink (for paper parts only). The "fifth colour" is an expensive leap to a larger press with extra drums, so plan accordingly. In on-disc printing, the 'fifth colour' is quite often a 'white base'.
FTP stands for "File Transfer Protocol." ProCopy keeps an "FTP site" which means a "place" on the internet where clients can upload their "digital files" (artwork) to us. Call us for a password and instructions if you want to send art this way (file handling charges will apply). It is NOT recommended if you have dial-up internet. Most art is still sent by courier.
JPEG is a compression algorithm and a file saving option. However, the algorithm may lead to image data loss so we do not recommend you do this to your art. We recommend you use it only with a mega-image, when disk space is a severe issue.
This is the industry standard "language" (system) that tells a computer and a printing device how to print your art. ProCopy computers and printers are all PostScript-compatible. They work safely with "PS" and "EPS" art files. PS: Abbreviation for "PostScript." Sometimes used as a file ending.
With the exception of spot colours, traditional presses create all colour by processing colours or screening and layering four different inks on paper. The colour ink mixes are known as the "process mixes". Process colours are called CMYK colours, because the inks are "Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black." With these inks, you can achieve a full range of colours, tints and gradations in art and photos. Some computer programs give you many colour system choices or default to RGB and spot colours in your palette. Your artwork should be created in CMYK and not RGB. If RGB is later converted to CMYK it often generates visible errors. Please make sure all your colours are set as process mixes when you finish the job (unless you mean to pay for the "fifth colour" or for "spot colours").
Proofs may be film-based but are more likely digital. A Cromalin (in U.S. Match Print) is a four-colour-process, film-based proof - excellent for checking colour accuracy before printing. Fuji or Sherpa's are proofs in digital printing.
These are marks on the templates that look a little like bullet mark symbols (outside of the print area). Graphics equipment uses them to register and cut the paper during the print and assembly process. (They must appear and align on all printing plates.)
Stands for "Red Green Blue" and is a way that computer monitors render colours using light. Save colours as "CMYK" instead for printed pieces. You will not get the expected result in printing otherwise.
Spot colours are inks mixed according to formulas. The ink mix fills one print drum, for transfer to your DVD or CD, or paper (as opposed to "process" colour mixes). It is safe to say that when you are printing just one or two colours, print them as spot colours. Otherwise see "process colours." Please specify the colour by using Pantone® numbers. Please set up that ink in your computer file as a special "spot" colour. Otherwise, by default it may be set as a process mix, which would be a costly mistake. .
Templates are cutting and folding patterns for making package art in the correct dimensions. The edge or "die line" of a template is the cutting edge. Dotted lines in a template mean a fold. We have put crop marks and indications of how far art should "bleed" over the cutting edge into our basic templates. For paper and cardboard pieces, art must bleed by 3mm over each cutting edge. (Note: Do not put a bleed on art directly printing to the face of the CD or DVD.) If you are finishing the art for printing, the cut and fold lines need to be removed from inside the printed art areas. Just leave the lines embedded in the art, but make them invisible by making them "no width," or place them in a "template-only" layer. The stacking ring on the data side of a CD is a ring embossed near the centre, traditionally used to separate CDs in a stack. The art on the disc face can cover the ring area entirely (a "full flood"), or can be designed to show the ring. The pages will be cut using the "registration marks" and "crop marks" on the corners of the art.
TIFF stands for Tagged Image File Format and is bitmapped (pixellated) art, that is art made out of little dots of colours, such as scans of photographs and gradated backgrounds. This format is widely recognised and preferred in our industry when dealing with scans and gradations. We encourage your scans or gradations in this format. Some applications allow you to compress them with LZW (Lempel-Ziv-Welch) compression. We advise you not to compress because it downgrades the art.
Vector art is art calculated and drawn using vectors and curves in your computer and printer, instead of by bitmapping. Illustrator and FreeHand are popular vector art programs. Vector art is great for text since the lines stay crisp at any scale. There are no resolution problems with dots or pixels. Type and lines remain crisp not bitmapped. Vector programs are not recommended to finish large gradated areas because of banding issues (that is, visible colour breaks).