What is CMYK? CMYK is an acronym for four color process printing that uses the three subtractive colors, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and a fourth color, black. Process color inks are based on non-ultraviolet, offset inks.

What is Line Screen? Line Screen, or screen ruling, is the number of lines of dot cells or dots per linear inch in a halftone screen. The lower the line screen number, the larger and more widely spaced are the dots which produce the tone value. Higher quality paper allows you to use higher line screen rulings. Higher screen rulings contain more image information and produce finer detail. With other factors remaining the same, higher screen rulings result in higher total dot gain.

Whabt about using EPS files when beginning to design? When possible, convert type to a graphic in EPS files. Common problems for prepress service providers are font substitution. Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) is the easiest way to share documents online. PDF files preserve the visual integrity of documents, regardless of their origin.

What is PDF? As a document transport format, PDF files have some endearing qualities. A PDF file is self-contained. It contains all the elements that go into a document, including fonts, texts, images, line art, and color information.
PDF files are viewable. Adobe Systems distributes a free viewer for PDF files that allows them to be viewed on-screen on Windows, Macintosh, and Unix platforms. PDF files are viewable within Internet browsers with the Acrobat Reader plug-in.
PDF files are independent of the printing device. The PDF files make no reference to features of the device on which it will be printed. These features are specified when you print the PDF file, using the standard print drivers
PDF Files are compact. They are almost always much smaller than PostScript files. With binary encoding and built-in compression, PDF files tend to be one-half to one-tenth the size of the PostScript equivalent. In most cases, the PDF files are significantly smaller than the original native document file along with necessary fonts, images, and graphics. This is a modern, mature, file format.

What is Varnish? Varnish can be thought of as a unique class of inks with special protective and reflective properties. Varnish can be clear or tinted. It can have a glossy, dull, or satin finish. On press, varnish behaves much like ordinary ink.
Varnish can be purely functional. Applied over ink and paper, it provides a protective surface that helps prevent scratching and scuffing-enabling printed pieces to keep their fresh-off-the-press look longer. Dull varnish, which protects without the slickness associated with gloss, can be used on glossy stock to reduce glare-and improve readability.
Employed independently or together, gloss and dull varnishes can also enhance design. Applied overall, they can make a sheet sparkle-or give it a smoother, more satin like finish. Used to highlight key areas, “ spot” varnishes can add crispiness and brilliance to color, drama and dimension to photography, and punctuation and clarity to diagrams and charts.
Used as a halftone instead of printed as a flat or solid coating, varnish can work to subtly reinforce the dimension of an image without calling attention to itself. Conversely, varnish can be an eye-catching presence, enriching the printed page with unexpected pattern and texture. When tinted, varnish may even be substituted for ink.
As a separate element in design, varnish creates dimension that simply cannot be achieved any other way

What is Quality Control? We have implemented quality-control procedures at every level of our organization. These include adoption of industry standards for color matching and proofing, controlled working environments for preparation of film and plates and air-conditioned production facilities. Quality control begins the moment your job enters our facility. It is immediately checked to determine that the specifications are correct and that all elements (mechanicals, layouts, fonts, linked files, transparencies, etc.) are present.
Your job is inspected on press for color fidelity and consistency of reproduction. Sheets are pulled at random and inspected. These sheets are placed in the permanent record of the job and saved.
During finishing we check again for the quality of printing and bindery work. Before a job leaves our facilities a production manager inspects it as it is boxed, to assure that packing meets your requirements. Our philosophy is that quality is the responsibility of every member of the company.

What does direct to plate mean? ‘Direct to plate’ means that we can make press plates directly from computer files, without the need for film separations and stripping, and without sacrifice quality. This saves both time and money, and eliminates the possibility of occasional errors during stripping.

Why should I buy from Quorum? At Quorum Printing we take pride in our work, our staff consists of dedicated professionals who are focused on providing efficient, quality service. This fast, friendly service keeps our customers coming back year after year for all their printing needs. From design and preparation to printing and packaging. The staff here at Quorum implements a quality control program that is second to none in the printing industry. Every member of our team is trained in the latest technology available to make sure that we that we stay a step ahead of the competition.

GLOSSARY

Aqueous Coating A water-based alternative to varnish for protecting and enhancing print. May be applied in-line (on press) as a gloss, satin, or dull coating. Fast-drying, durable, and non-yellowing.

Blanket The rubber-coated pad covering the interediate cylinder of a lithographic press. An inked, reversed image is transferred-or -offset-from this blanket cylinder, resulting in a right-reading impression on the press sheet

Blueprint (proof) A one color photographic proof for checking design elemets and page position. Ensures correct folding, trimming and other bindery operations. Commonly called bluelines, or simply blues.

Brightness/Shade A descriptive characteristic of color, brightness also refers to the amount of light reflected from the srface of paper (or ink). A measure of a color's value, shade also describes the process of darkening a color by adding black or a complementary color.

Bump Color Also known as touch plate. Adds a special color, or accents a color within a specific imag area, for reaching optimal color match. Commonly used to achieve bright reds.

CMYK/Process Color Acronym for the four-color process model for printing via four separate plates. The process-color method allows wide-spectrum reproduction by mixing ink cmbinations of the three subtractive primaries-cyan, magenta and yellow-plus black for increased tone control. Overprinting these transparent inks creates the optical illusion of full color.

Color Bars Patches of solid, patterned, and tinted inks on the all edges of press sheets. These quality control devices permit the measurement of variables such as color balance and registration, trapping, print density, dot gain, and slur.

Color Separation Process of dividing colors ofa continuous-tone color original by making separate digital files and/or screened film intermediates for each color-cyan, magenta, yellow and black. The original image is reproduced by using separate printing plates for each color which contain proportioal amounts of cyan, magenta, yellow and black of the original.

Contrast The differences in tonal gradation between an image's highlight ad shadow areas-the greater the range, the higher the contrast.

Cylinder Part of a system of large rollers on an offset lithography press. The plate cylinder transfers and image onto the blanket cylinder, which is then offset onto a press sheet passing btween the blanket and impression cylinders.

Densitometer A photoelectronic device for measuring the reflection densities of print (or the transmission densities of film).

Dot Gain Halftone dot growth causing darkened tones and colors, as well as reducedshadow contrast. Mechanical dot gain- the amount of ink absorbed into the body of a sheet - is affected by film, plate, and press processes. As well as by paper and ink selection.

Duotone The technique of reproducing a black and white photograph as a tonally enhanced, two-color halftone.

Felt & Wire By contacting the paper machine's felt blnket rather than the wire during papermaking, a sheet's top. Or felt side. Results in a smoother printing surface than its opposing wire side.

Folio Page numbers in publishing-evens on the left, odds on the right.

Four-Color Process Printing Process of reproducing a full-color image by overprinting screened separations for each of the three process colors (cyan, magenta, yellow) and black using processng color inks.

Gray Balance The halftone dot values ofcyan, magenta, and yellow required to produce a neutral gray. Used as a quality control measure for achieving proper color balance.

Gripper Edge The leading edge of a sheet, held by metal gripper "fingers" during offset printing. The gripper margin allows the sheet to pass though the press without affecting the image area.

Halftone Image Ink-printable image produced using a contact screen, or a digital scanner, to convert a continuous-tone image into a fixed-grid pattern of different-sized dots which creates the illusion of tones.

Hickeys Print defects caused by foreign matter on the blanket or plate. Often appear in areas of solid ink coverage as dark specs surrounded by light rings of non-printed stock.

Imposition Page arrangement into signature layouts, as defined by factors such as number of pages, press size, sheet size, and bindery considerations. Ensures correct sequential assembly when printed and bound.

Makeready Procedures required to prepare a pres for printing. Includes all adjustments necessary to produce a satisfactory press sheet for the customer-from mounting and packing plates to ink control and image register.

Match Color In printing, the duplication of a specified color by using either mltiple process colors or special flat colors. Match colors may be defined by supplied samples or by numbers from color matching systems.

Moire Unacceptable visual patterns within halftones and screen tints caused by misaligned screens or imprecise regiser. Also caused by optical pattern conflicts between halftone screens and prescreened pieces.

Mottle The result of uneven in absorption on poorly formed paper surfaces, this spotty variation in color or gloss appears most often in large solid or tint areas.

Off-line Production operations conducted out-of-process rather than in-line (on-press), such as die-cutting or the application of special coating via dedicated equipment.

Offsetting A print quality problem where wet ink from a freshly printed sheetis transferred to the sheet above or below it in the delivery pile.
Also called offset, or setoff.

Opacity A paper's translucency, or the degree to which it minimizes print show-through from the opposite side. Also describes the degree to which an ink cvers a substrate (or other inks.)

Paper Grain The alignment of fibers along the direction of flow in papermaking. In grain-long paper, fibers run parallel to the sheet's length, while grain-short follows the width. Generally, registration is easier tocontrol, folds are cleaner, and binding stronger when running with the grain.

Pass The passage of a press sheet through all printing units.

Register/Register Marks Precision print alignment relative to the edge of the sheet, and to corresponding graphicelements (including separations). Small cross-air targets on mechanicals and film help to ensure accurate register on flats, plates, and press sheets.

Scuffing Undesirable print abrasions caused by surface wear or rough handling. Particularly problematc in packaging, scuffing may me minimized with scuff-proof inks, varnishes, and other coatings.

Sheetfed A press accommodating individual sheets rather than the paper rolls required of higher-volume web presses. Sheetfed presses facilitate makeready an minimize paper spoilage, and the feeder mechanism accepts a wider range of paper stock

Sheetwise An imposition method utilizing different plates for each side of the press sheet. The sheet is turned over for printing the back side on a second pass, witout changing the gripper edge.

Signature A folded sheet of paper-printed on both sides-for use in a publication. Signatures are produced in four-page increments, up to 64 pages. In common practice, the term also refers to any press sheet to be folded ad bound.

Varnish A clear-coat liquid sealer that overprints ink and paper to protect against scratches and scuffing, increase longevity, and enhance image appearance and impact. Can be gloss or dull.

Wash Up The process of cleaning ink and dampening soutions from press components (such as plates, rollers, and fountains), for changing colors or preparing for a new print job.

Work-and -tumble A press imposition using the same plate for printing both sides of a press sheet, where the sheet is tumbled endto-end for second-pass printing on the back. Because the gripper edge is changed and press adjustments made, this method is rarely used when precise register is critical.

Work-and-turn An imposition method utilizing the same plate for printing both side of a press sheet, where the back-up, or second side, is printed by turning the sheet over-from left to right. This method provides better register than work-and-tumble by maintaining the same gripper edge.