Safety Fold - Super-sturdy envelope usually for transporting cash-has extra strength at bottom, and glue is applied to large areas for extra security and strength.

Satin Finish - Alternate term for dull finish on coated paper.

Scale - To identify the percent by which photographs or art should be enlarged or reduced to achieve, the correct size for printing.

Scoring - Creasing by mechanical means to facilitate folding while guarding against cracking of paper and board. Scoring is essential when heavyweight papers are to be folded across the grain.

Screen Angles - Angles at which screens intersect with the horizontal line of the press sheet. The common screen angles for separations are black 45 degree, magenta 75 degree, yellow 90 degree and cyan 105 degree.

Screen Density - Refers to the percentage of ink coverage that a screen tint allows to print. Also called screen percentage.

Screen Printing - Method of printing by using a squeegee to force ink through an assembly of mesh fabric and a stencil.

Screen Ruling - Number of rows or lines of dots per inch or centimeter in a screen for making a screen tint or halftone. Also called line count, ruling, screen frequency, screen size and screen value.

Secondary Fiber - A term used for wastepaper, also referred to as paper stock.

Security Paper - Paper incorporating special features (dyes, watermarks etc) for use on cheques.

Selective Binding - Placing signatures or inserts in magazines or catalogs according to demographic or geographic guidelines.

Self Trim - An order that trims the machine by itself.

Separated Art - Art with elements that print in the base color on one surface and elements that print in other colors on other surfaces. Also called preseparated art.

Separations - Usually in the four-color process arena, separate film holding qimages of one specific color per piece of film. Black, Cyan, Magenta and Yellow. Can also separate specific PMS colors through film.

Serigraphic Printing - Printing method whose image carriers are woven fabric, plastic or metal that allow ink to pass through some portions and block ink from passing through other portions. Serigraphic printing includes screen and mimeograph.

Service Bureau - Business using imagesetters to make high resolution printouts of files prepared on microcomputers. Also called output house and prep service.

Set Log - A number of rolls cut simultaneously from the same reel.

Set Solid - Type set without leading (line spacing) between the lines. Type is often set with extra space; eg 9 point set on 10 point.

Set Off - Undesirable transfer of wet ink from the top of one sheet to the underside of another as they lie in the delivery stack of a press. Also called offset.

Shade - Hue made darker by the addition of black, as compared to tint.

Shadows - Darkest areas of a photograph or illustration, as compared to midtones and high-lights.

Sheetfed Press - Press that prints sheets of paper, as compared to a web press.

Sheets - A term which may be applied to a single sheet, a grade of paper or description of the paper. Example: coated, offset, etc.

Sheetwise - Technique of printing one side of a sheet with one set of plates, then the other side of the sheet with a set of different plates. Also called work and back.

Shingling - Allowance, made during paste-up or stripping, to compensate for creep. Creep is the problem; shingling is the solution. Also called stair stepping and progressive margins.

Shives - Undercooked, thus incompletely saturated, wood particles that are removed from the pulp prior to the manufacture of paper. Sometimes shives will appear in finished paper.

Side Roll - The same as a butt roll except this is a salable size and usually cut with a specific outlet in mind.

Side Stitch - To bind by stapling through sheets along, one edge, as compared to saddle stitch. Also called cleat stitch and side wire.

Sidebar - A vertical bar positioned usually on the right hand side of the screen.

Signature - Printed sheet folded at least once, possibly many times, to become part of a book, magazine or other publication.

Sixteen Sheet - A poster size measuring 120in x 80in (3050mm x 2030mm).

Size - Compound mixed with paper or fabric to make it stiffer and less able to absorb moisture.

Sizing - Part of the papermaking process where materials (starch, wax, rosin, glue, etc.) are added to the stock furnish before it is put on the paper machine, or to the surface of the paper while on the paper machine to enhance certain characteristics. Sizing can improve paper's resistance to liquids and enhance its finish smoothness and surface characteristics.

Skid - A platform upon which a pile of cut paper sheets is stored and/or shipped.

Slime Spots - Imperfections in the paper surface caused by growth of micro-organisms in the water at the wet end of the paper machine. Occasionally they make their way to the wire or paper. Although they are sterilized during the drying process, they may leave undesirable spots in the paper.

Slitting - Cutting printed sheets or webs into smaller sheets or webs.

Slurry - A water suspension of fibers. Also, the suspension of pigment and adhesive used to coat papers.

Smoothness - Measured property of paper that describes or rates the flatness and evenness of a sheet's surface.

Soda Pulp - Pulp made by cooking wood chips with caustic soda. It is short-fibered and used in printing and litho papers principally as a filler to give smoothness, bulk, opacity and uniform formation.

Soft Dots - Halftones dots with halos.

Soft Wood - Wood from trees having long fibers. Softwood fibers are used in papermaking to impart strength to a sheet of paper and are also noted for their exceptional absorbency.

Solid Bleached Sulfate (SBS) - Paperboard comprised of fully bleached virgin kraft pulp (sulfate process) fiber. Bleached refers to the fact that it is bleached to an appealing high brightness. Sulfate refers to the chemical process used in preparing the pulp.

Soy-based Inks - Inks using vegetable oils instead of petroleum products as pigment vehicles, thus are easier on the environment.

Spacer Strips - Strips of lumber inserted under rolls loaded on end to facilitate their removal with fork trucks.

Specifications - Complete and precise written description of features of a printing job such as type size and leading, paper grade and quantity, printing or binding method. Abbreviated specs.

Spectrophotometer - Instrument used to measure the index of refraction of color.

Specular Highlight - Highlight area with no printable dots, thus no detail, as compared to a diffuse highlight. Also called catchlight and dropout highlight.

Splice - (butted joint) - Formed by trimming the ends of two webs of paper, placing them end-to-end and pasting a strip over and under to make a continuous web without overlapping. Used for heavier weight papers and board.

Splice - (overlapping) - Formed by overlapping webs and joining with a strip of double-faced adhesive tape. Used for lighter-weight grades of paper.

Split Fountain - Technique of putting ink colors next to each other in the same ink fountain and printing them off the same plate. Split fountains keep edges of colors distinct, as compared to rainbow fountains that blend edges.

Split Run - (1) Different images, such as advertisements, printed in different editions of a publication. (2) Printing of a book that has some copies bound one way and other copies bound another way.

Spot Varnish - Varnish applied to portions of a sheet, as compared to flood sheet.

Spread - (1) Two pages that face each other and are designed as one visual or production unit. (2) Technique of slightly enlarging the size of an image to accomplish a hairline trap with another image. Also called fatty.

Standard Viewing Conditions - Background of 60 percent neutral gray and light that measures 5000 degrees Kelvin the color of daylight on a bright day. Also called lighting standards.

Stat - Short for photostat, a general term for an inexpensive photographic print of line copy or halftone.

Statistical Process Control - Method used by printers to ensure quality and delivery times specified by customers. Abbreviated SPC.

Step and Repeat - Prepress technique of exposing an image in a precise, multiple pattern to create a flat or plate. Images are said to be stepped across the film or plate.

Stiffness - The ability of paper or paperboard to resist an applied bending force and to support its own weight while being handled. A sheet that is too limp can cause feeding and transport problems in copiers and printers. An adequate degree of stiffness is important to avoid distortion of the paper due to the pull of ink during offset printing. Stiffness is critical to many converting operations for forms and envelope grades.

Stock - (1) Paper to be printed or converted. (2) A product not made to order and stored in a warehouse or distribution center.

Stock Order - Order for paper that a mill or merchant sends to a printer from inventory at a warehouse, as compared to a mill order.

Stocking Paper - Popular sizes, weights and colors of papers available for prompt delivery from a merchant's warehouse.

Strawboard - A thicker board made from straw pulp, used in bookwork and in the making of envelopes and cartons. Not suitable for printing.

String Score - Score created by pressing a string against paper, as compared to scoring using a metal edge.

Strike-through - The effect of ink soaking through the printed sheet.

Stripping - To assemble images on film for platemaking. Stripping involves correcting flaws in film, assembling pieces of film into flats and ensuring that film and flats register correctly. Also called film assembly and image assembly.

Stub Roll - Usually refers to a small-diameter roll or a roll with only a small amount of paper remaining on the roll.

Stumping (Blocking) - In the book arena, hot die, foil or other means in creating an image on a case bound book.

Substance Weight - Basis weight, but mainly used with bond and business papers. Substance weight is often expressed as "sub."

Subtractive Color - Color produced by light reflected from a surface, as compared to additive color. Subtractive color includes hues in color photos and colors created by inks on paper.

Subtractive Primary Color - Yellow, magenta and cyan. In the graphic arts, these are known as process colors because, along with black, they are the inks colors used in color-process printing.

Supercalender - Alternating rolls of highly polished steel and compressed cotton in a stack. During the process the paper is subjected to the heated steel rolls and “ironed” by the compressed cotton rolls. It imparts a high gloss finish to the paper. Supercalender stacks are not an inherent part of the paper machine, whereas the calender rolls are.

SWOP - Abbreviation for specifications for web offset publications, specifications recommended for web printing of publications.

Copyright 2008 Unicorn Graphics. All Rights Reserved