4-color Process - Technique of printing that uses the four process colors of ink to simulate color photographs or illustrations - yellow, magenta, cyan and black.

Fake Duotone - Halftone in one ink color printed over screen tint of a second ink color. Also called dummy duotone, dougraph, duplex halftone, false duotone, flat tint halftone and halftone with screen.

Fast Color Inks - Inks with colors that retain their density and resist fading as the product is used and washed.

Fast Film - Film that requires relatively little light to record an image.

Feathering - The tendency of liquid ink to spread along the paper fibers so that the image produced does not have sharp, clean edges.

Feeder - Component of a printing press that separates the sheets and feeds them in position for printing.

Felt Finish - Soft woven pattern in text paper.

Felt Side - The top side of the sheet of the paper that was not in contact with the Fourdrinier wire during papermaking, as compared to wire side.

Fifth Color - Ink color used in addition to the four needed by four-color process.

Filler - Minerals, such as clay and other white pigments added to the pulp furnish in the beater to increase opacity and smoothness of the paper, improve ink receptivity and enhance sheet formation. However, too much filler can decrease the strength of paper and result in dusting.

Film Coat - Paper with a very thin coating.

Film Gauge - Thickness of film. The most common gauge for graphic arts film is 0.004 inch (0.1 mm).

Film Laminate - Thin sheet of plastic bonded to printed paper for protection or increased gloss.

Filter - Colored glass or gelatin used to reduce or eliminate specific colors from light before it strikes film or paper.

Final count - Number of printed pieces delivered and charged for.

Fine Papers - Papers made specifically for writing or commercial printing, as compared to coarse papers and industrial papers. Also called cultural papers and graphic papers.

Fine Screen - Screen with ruling of 150 lines per inch or more.

Finish - (1) Surface characteristics of a sheet of paper.  It describes surface contour and characteristics measurable by smoothness, gloss, absorbency and print quality.(2) General term for trimming, folding, binding and all other post press operations.

Finished Size - Size of printed product after production is completed, as compared to flat size. Also called trimmed size.

Finishing - Inclusive term sometimes used for all bindery operations.

Fit - Refers to ability of film to be registered during stripping and assembly. Good fit means that all images register to other film for the same job.

Fixed Costs - Costs that remain the same regardless of how many pieces are printed. Copyrighting, photography and design are fixed costs.

Fixer - Chemical that prevents deterioration of images on photosensitive paper.

Flat Color - (1) Any color created by printing only one ink, as compared to a color created by printing four-color process. Also called block color and spot color. (2) color that seems weak or lifeless.

Flat Plan (Flats) - Diagram of the flats for a publication showing imposition and indicating colors.

Flat Size - Size of product after printing and trimming, but before folding, as compared to finished size.

Flexography - Method of printing on a web press using rubber or flexible plates and using fast drying inks. Mainly used for packaging.

Flood - To print a sheet completely with an ink or varnish. flooding with ink is also called painting the sheet.

Flop - To reproduce a photograph or illustration so that its image faces opposite from the original.

Fluorescent Paper - Paper that has been manufactured with the addition of fluorescent dyes, which give the brilliance that appears brighter when viewed in natural daylight. Brightness measuring numbers are in the mid-90’s.

Flush Cover - Cover trimmed to the same size as inside pages, as with paperback books.

Flush Right - Copy aligned along the right margin.

Flute - Paper pleat between the walls in corrugated cardboard.

Flyleaf - Leaf, at the front and back of a casebound book that is the one side of the end paper not glued to the case.

Fogging Back - Used in making type more legible by lowering density of an image, while allowing the image to show through.

Foil Emboss - To foil stamp and emboss an image. Also called heat stamp.

Foil Stamping - Method of printing on a letterpress that releases foil from its backing when stamped with the heated die.

Fold Endurance - This test measures the number of times a strip of paper can be bent, creased and folded before rupture. Folding strength is important in many printing applications such as books, maps, pamphlets and manuals.

Folder - A bindery machine dedicated to folding printed materials.

Fold Marks - With printed matter, markings indicating where a fold is to occur, usually located at the top edges.

Foldout - Gatefold sheet bound into a publication, often used for a map or chart. Also called gatefold and pullout.

Folio (page number) - The actual page number in a publication.

Font (or fount) - A complete set of characters in a typeface.

For Position Only - Refers to inexpensive copies of photos or art used on mechanical to indicate placement and scaling, but not intended for reproduction. Abbreviated FPO.

Form - One side of a signature. Also spelled forme.

Form Bond - Lightweight bond, easy to perforate, made for business forms. Also called register bond.

Form Roller(s) - Roller(s) that come in contact with the printing plate, bringing it ink or water.

Format - Size, style, shape, overall layout or printed piece.

Formation - This property describes the degree of uniformity of the fiber distribution in a sheet of paper. Levelness and smoothness are dependent upon the paper’s uniform formation. Paper that is poorly formed will affect caliper, opacity and strength properties.

Formula Pricing - Printing prices based on standard papers, formats, ink colors, and quantities.

Forwarding - In the case book arena, the binding process which involves folding, rounding, backing, headbanding and reinforcing.

Fountain - Container for ink or water on a printing press.

Fountain Solution - Mixture of water and chemicals that dampens a printing plate to prevent ink from adhering to the non-image area. Also called dampening solution.

Fourdrinier - Forming section of the paper machine, where a pulp slurry is formed into a mat of paper. This section contains the head box where the slurry is forced out onto a moving plastic wire through which water drains. The wire is supported by rolls and flat foil boxes, which aid in de-watering the slurry into a fiber mat.

Free Sheet - Paper made from cooked wood fibers mixed with chemicals and washed free of impurities, as compared to groundwood paper. Also called woodfree paper.

Full point - A full stop.

Full-range Halftone - Halftone ranging from 0 percent coverage in its highlights to 100 percent coverage in its shadows.

Full-scale Black - Black separation made to have dots throughout the entire tonal range of the image, as compared to half-scale black and skeleton black. Also called full-range black.

Fully Saturated - Photographer term for rich color.

Furnish - The combination of materials and chemicals that go into making the pulp stock mixture such as pulps, dyes, additives and other chemicals. The mixture is fed into the paper machine at the wet end of the machine. Also referred to as Stock Furnish.

Fuzz - Loose fibers or lint on the surface of uncoated papers.

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