Backbone - The back-edge of a bound book connecting the two covers; also called spine.

Backing Up - (1) To print on the second side of a sheet already printed on one side. (2) To adjust an image on one side of a sheet so that it aligns back-to-back with an image on the other side.

Backslant - Letters that slant the opposite way from italic characters.

Balloon - A circle or bubble enclosing copy in an illustration. Used in cartoons.

Banding (strapping) - Steel, plastic, fiber or other bands used to secure or protect rolls, sheets, loads, etc.

Bang Tail: Usually a Business Return Envelope with an extra flap. User tears off flap-fills in information and inserts it into envelope. Remaining long flap completely covers back of envelope so additional information may be filled in under the flap and on the envelope's back.

Bank - A lightweight writing paper.

Banner - A large headline or title extending across the full page width.

Baronial: Nearly square. Has pointy flap. Good for greeting cards and invitations. Not generally machine insertable.

Base Artwork - Artwork requiring additional components such as halftones or line drawings to be added before the reproduction stage.

Base Negative - Negative made from copy pasted to mounting board, not overlays.

Base Stock - Paper that will be further processed, such as coating or laminating.

Baseline - The line on which the bases of capital letters sit.

Basic Size - A standard sheet size used to determine the weight of 500 sheets of paper (one ream). Basic sheet size for bond and ledger is 17" x 22"; offset is 25" x 38"; cover is 20" x 26"; index is 25.5" x 30.5"; and tag is 24" x 36".

Basis Weight - A fixed weight per 500 sheets of paper (one ream) of different paper grades weighed by their designated basic sheet size. Basic sheet size for bond and ledger is 17" x 22"; offset is 25" x 38"; cover is 20" x 26"; index is 25.5" x 30.5"; and tag is 24" x 36".

Beater Colored - A method of dyeing paper stock by adding coloring to the pulp in the beater.

Beater Sized - The process of adding a size to the furnish before the paper is formed.

Bed - The base on which the Forme is held when printing by Letterpress.

Bind - Usually in the book arena, but not exclusively, the joining of leafs or signatures together with either wire, glue or other means.

Binders - Materials that cause fibers to bond.

Bindery - Usually a department within a printing company responsible for binding, collating, folding and trimming, and other various finishing tasks.

Binding - The various methods used to secure loose leaves or sections in a book; eg saddle-stitch, perfect bound.

Black Liquor - The residual lignin-containing chemical in the digester after the wood chip has been pulped.

Black Patch - Material used to mask the window area on a negative image of the artwork prior to 'stripping in' a halftone.

Black Printer - The plate during the prepress printing process that is used with the cyan, magenta and yellow printers to enhance the contrast and to emphasize the neutral tones and detail in the final reproduction shadow areas.

Blanket - In offset-lithography, a rubber- or polymer-surfaced pad mounted around the cylinder of the press to receive the inked image from the plate and transfers it to the surface to be printed.

Blanket Cylinder - Cylinder of a press on which the blanket is mounted.

Blanks - Heavyweight paperboard stocks that range from 15 points to 48 points in thickness. They can be coated or uncoated, and in colors.

Bleaching - Pulp fibers are generally bleached to produce white fibers for papermaking. Other reasons are: to increase the chemical stability and permanence of wood fibers by chemical purification; and to obtain clean, sanitary fibers as required for food packaging papers.

Bleed - Refers to the printed image extending beyond the trim edge of the sheet. The excess is trimmed off by the printer.

Bleed-through - When printing on one side of a sheet of paper shows through to the other side.

Blind Image - Image debossed, embossed or stamped, but not printed with ink or foil.

Blind Folio - A page number not printed on the page. (In the book arena, a blank page traditionally does not print a page number.)

Blistering - Separation of the paper’s coating from the body stock, which appears in the form of eruptions. Caused when paper in process of manufacturing is dried too quickly.

Block In - To sketch in the main areas of an image prior to the design.

Blocking - Sticking together of printed sheets causing damage when the surfaces are separated.

Blow Up - An enlargement, most frequently of a graphic image or photograph.

Blueline - Photographic proof made from stripped negatives where all colors show as blue images on white paper. Also be called a blackprint, blue, blueprint, brownline, brownprint, diazo, dyeline, ozalid, position proof, silverprint, Dylux and VanDyke. The blueprint paper is used to check the position of all the image elements.

Blurb - A short description or commentary of a book or author on a book jacket.

Board - Alternate term for Mechanical.

Board Paper - Paper over 110# index, 80# cover or 200 gsm that is commonly used for file folders, displays and post cards. Also called paperboard.

Bond Paper - Grade of paper commonly used for writing, printing, and photocopying. Also called business paper, communication paper, correspondence paper and writing paper.

Bonding Strength - Cohesiveness of fibers within paper. Paper with good bonding strength will not pick during the printing process.

Bookbinder - Alternate term for Trade bindery

Book Block - Folded signatures gathered, sewn and trimmed, but not yet covered.

Book Paper - Category of paper suitable for books, magazines, catalogs, advertising and general printing needs. Book paper is divided into uncoated paper (also called offset paper), coated paper (also called art paper, enamel paper, gloss paper and slick paper) with a basic size of 25 x 38.

Booklet (Open Side): Primarily used for booklets, reports, and files. The flap is on the long side to facilitate ease of stuffing by hand or by machine. Sizes are described using envelope's dimensions. E.g., 9" x 12" or 6" x 9".

Border - A continuous decorative design or rule surrounding the matter on the page.

Bounce - (1) a repeating registration problem in the printing stage of production. (2) Customer unhappy with the results of a printing project and refuses to accept the project.

Box - A section of text marked off by rules or white space and presented separately from the main text and illustrations. Longer boxed sections in magazines are sometimes referred to as sidebars.

Break - Total rupture of a web of paper during the manufacturing or printing process, resulting in a tear from edge to edge. Breaks in mill rolls are spliced together and marked with flags to call the attention of press operators to potential difficulties.

Brightness - Characteristic of paper referring to how much light it reflects. Paper brightness affects the legibility and contrast of printing.

Bristols - Better-than-average quality heavy-grade papers. They were originally made from rags in Bristol, England.

Bristol Board - General term referring to paper 6 points or thicker with basis weight between 90# and 200# (200-500 gsm). Used for products such as index cards, tags, file folders and displays.

Brittleness - Property of paper causing it to break while bending.

Broadside - The term for work printed on one side of a large sheet of paper.

Bronzing - Printing with a sizing ink, then applying bronze powder onto the wet ink to produce a metallic luster.

Broken Carton - Less than one full carton of paper.

Broker - Agent who supplies printing from many printing companies.

Bromide - A photographic print made on bromide paper.

Bronzing - An effect produced by dusting wet ink after printing with a metallic powder.

Bulk - Thickness of paper, expressed in thousandths of an inch or pages per inch (ppi). Higher the number, compacter the paper gets .

Bursting Strength - A measurement of the strength of paper to withhold pressure.

Butt Register - Register where ink colors meet precisely without overlapping or allowing space between, as compared to lap register. Also called butt fit and kiss register..

Buy Out - To subcontract for a service that is closely related to the business of the organization. Also called outwork or out of house.

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