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Aliasing  

Aliasing is a "staircase" or jagged effect that occurs when display resolution is too coarse to minimize the broken appearance of certain electronic design elements. Aliasing is more visually pronounced in diagonal lines, curves, and circles. To avoid aliasing, you should save your files with "Anti-Alias" to keep the text smooth when printed.

Anti-Aliasing  

In computer graphics, anti-aliasing or oversampling is a software technique for addressing aliasing issue. Anti-aliasing reduces the prominence of jaggies by surrounding the stairsteps with intermediate shades of gray (for gray-scaling devise) or color (for color devices). Please note that although anti-aliasing may reduce the jagged appearance of the lines, it also may make the lines appear fuzzier.

Artwork  

Artwork is all original copy, including type, photos and illustrations, intended for printing.

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Bitmap  

Bitmap is a computer file in which each pixel contains one bit of image information.

Bitmap Images  

Bitmap images, technically called raster images, use a grid of colors known as pixels to represent images. Each pixel is assigned a specific location and color value.

Bleed  

A bleed is when an image extends beyond the trim edge of the printed sheet. It is important to include bleeds in your artwork files if you want the image to extend to the edge of the paper for your final printed piece. We encourage you to create a design with a full-bleed - i.e., extend the image off all four sides of your design - to ensure the best quality for your printed piece.

Border  

Border refers to the area between the edge of the image and the edge of the paper.

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Camera-Ready  

Camera-ready is a layout created by a designer that is created and submitted as 100% Rich Black on white paper. It usually contains text and logos in finished form.

CD-ROM  

CD-ROM is short for Compact Disc Read Only Memory. It is a format for recording, storing and retrieving digital information such as graphics.

Color Balance  

Color balance is the process of maintaining the proper ratio of cyan, magenta, and yellow ink to produce a picture with the desired color and without an unwanted color cast or color bias.

Color Calibration  

Color calibration is a means or method of setting a computer monitor, scanner, or color printer to a standard set of color values so as to ensure that all colors remain consistent throughout each step of the imaging process.

Comp  

Comp or mockup is a piece that is handmade by a graphic artist to show others how the finished printed piece will look. It generally will be folded and bound the exact way the final piece will be done in production.

Continuous Tones  

Continuous tones represent an illustrative image that is not composed of halftone printing dots. In essence, this is a bitmapped image that has an unlimited range of colors and shades of gray.

Contrast  

Contrast is the degree of tones in an image ranging from highlight (light tones) to shadow (dark tones).

Copy  

Copy refers to the words that are used along with images to create a design that conveys a message.

Crop  

Crop or cropping refers to the process of positioning an image to ensure that unwanted portions of the image are removed during the printing process. Cropping is also a way to properly proportion your final artwork before approving your print job.

Crop Marks  

Crop marks are small symbols placed in the margin outside of the image area that indicate to XcelPrinting the area to be printed and/or trimmed from the image.

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Encapsulated Postscript File (.EPS)  

Encapsulated postscript file or .EPS for short is an Adobe Systems-developed file format. It is a device-independent PostScript representation of a graphic or other object. It stores files as vectors and includes a low-resolution bitmap representation for quick on-screen viewing.

EPS  

EPS is abbreviation for encapsulated postscript file.

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File Extensions  

File extensions are three-digit designations at end of a file name that indicate what format the file has been saved in. Common artwork file formats include: .eps, .jpeg, .pdf, .ps, .psd, .tiff. Common mail list file formats include: .csv, .txt, .xls.

File Format  

File format, which is unique for different file types, specifies how information is organized. Common artwork file formats include: .eps, .jpeg, .pdf, .psd, .tiff.

File Transfer Protocol (FTP)  

File transfer protocol or FTP for short is a method used for logging into remote computer networks, browsing and searching directories, and downloading or uploading files without data loss. FTP is one of the methods used by XcelPrinting to upload artwork and mail list files via the Internet.

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Graphic Arts  

Graphic arts is the crafts, industries and professions related to designing and printing on paper and other substrates.

Graphic Design  

Graphic design is an arrangement of type and visual elements along with specifications for paper, ink colors and printing processes that, when combined, convey a visual message.

Grayscale  

Grayscale is a strip of 256 gray values ranging from white to black.

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Halftone  

Halftone is an image composed of tiny dots whose variations in size create the illusion of variations in tone. In the past, a halftone screen was used to convert a continuous tone image into a halftone; today, such screening is done electronically.

Headline  

Headline is a sentence or a phrase created to communicate the key message to someone receiving a postcard, brochure, or other direct marketing piece.

High Res  

High res is short for high resolution.

High Resolution  

High resolution or high res for short refers to images that have resolution of 300 dots per inch (dpi) to 2,500 dpi.

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Image  

An Image is a computerized representation of a picture or graphic.

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Joint Photographic Experts Group (.JPEG)  

Joint photographic experts group or .JPEG or .JPG for short is a file format used for color images. This format retains a high degree of color while requiring less storage space than needed for other file formats. Uncompressed JPEG files can be used for high quality printing.

JPEG  

JPEG is abbreviation for joint photographic experts group.

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Keyline  

Keyline is an outline or set on artwork showing the size and position of an illustration or halftone.

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Line Art  

Line art is artwork consisting of solid blacks and whites with no shades of gray.

Low Res  

Low res is short for low resolution, which is sometimes used in context of an image or artwork submitted by a client. Low resolution images are usually anywhere from 72 to 250 dots per inch (dpi). XcelPrinting recommends fixing low resolution images or artwork to ensure high level of printing quality.

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Mockup  

Mockup or comp is a piece that is handmade by a graphic artist to show others how the finished printed piece will look. It generally will be folded and bound the exact way the final piece will be done in production.

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Oversampling  

In computer graphics, oversampling or anti-alisasing is a software technique for addressing alisasing issue. Anti-aliasing reduces the prominence of jaggies by surrounding the stairsteps with intermediate shades of gray (for gray-scaling devise) or color (for color devices). Please note that although anti-aliasing may reduce the jagged appearance of the lines, it also may make the lines appear fuzzier.

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PDF  

PDF is abbreviation for portable document format.

Pixel  

Pixel is short for picture element. Pixel is the smallest unit (point) of an image displayed on a computer screen. The quality of an image, usually expressed as "image resolution", depends on the number of pixels per inch that make up the image.

Pixels Per Inch (PPI)  

Pixels per inch or PPI for short is a measurement of how many pixels can fit into one inch. The higher the number of pixels, the sharper the image will be.

PhotoShop Document (.PSD)  

PhotoShop document or .PSD for short is a file format for documents created and saved in Adobe Photoshop as layered images, which makes editing different parts of an image at a later date far easier. It is the only file format supporting all available image modes (Bitmap, Grayscale, Duotone, Indexed Color, RGB, CMYK, Lab, and Multichannel), guides, alpha channels, spot channels, and layers.

Portable Document Format (.PDF)  

Portable document format or .PDF for short is a universal file format developed by Adobe Systems to preserve all fonts, formatting, graphics, and colors of any source document. PDF allows any file to be read by the Acrobat reader regardless of the hardware or software platform on which the file was created.

Positive  

Positive refers to the image created when film has been exposed. The image contains dark and light values as well as color.

PostScript (.PS)  

PostScript or .PS for short is a software language for printing that describes fonts, images and graphics as mathematical expressions that do not require fonts or other dependent files.

PPI  

PPI is abbreviation for Pixels Per Inch.

Primary Colors  

Primary colors are the colorants of a system used to reproduce the colors for the entire reproduction. Cyan, magenta, and yellow are subtractive primary colors while red, green, and blue are additive primary colors. The substractive colors along with black are used in four color printing process used by XcelPrinting.

Process Color  

Process color is using cyan, magenta, yellow, and black in various combinations to create all other colors.

Proof  

Proof, also known as hardcopy proof, is a close representation of the final printed piece provided by XcelPrinting. A proof is provided to predict results on press and record how the final printed piece will appear in terms of color, layout and accuracy. Production does not begin printing the final piece until the proof has been approved by the client.

PS  

PS is abbreviation for PostScript.

PSD  

PSD is abbreviation for PhotoShop.

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Raster Images  

Raster Images, commonly referred to as bitmap images, are digital images stored as arrays of pixels for display and modification. The graphic's resolution is limited by the capabilities of the display device. Adobe Photoshop is a popular image editor that rasterizes images that it opens.

Resolution  

Resolution is the number of pixels displayed per unit of length in an image, usually measured in pixels per inch (ppi) or dots per inch (dpi). Computer monitors are normally 72 to 96 dpi while most printed pieces are 300 dpi or more.

RGB  

RGB refers to the additive primary colors - red, green and blue - that are used in computer monitors to create all colors. RGB is similar to CMYK used in process printing in that all colors are created by various combinations of a few base colors. However, the colors seen on an RGB screen will only accurately represent the colors printed in CMYK when calibrated computer systems and translators are used.

Rich Black  

Rich black is made by mixing other colors of ink with black ink to produce a much darker, deeper black on press than can be achieved by using black ink alone. To create rich black on pieces printed by XcelPrinting, your CMYK calibration values must be 50% Cyan, 40% Magenta, 40% Yellow, and 100% Black.

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Tagged Image File Format (.TIFF)  

Tagged image file format or .TIFF for short is one of the most widely supported file formats for storing images on a computer. TIFF can handle up to 24 bits of photographic image, but TIFF is an older format that requires more storage space than needed for files in .JPEG or .PSD formats.

TIFF  

TIFF is abbreviation for tagged image file format.

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Vector Images  

Vector images are created using mathematical statements that define geometric shapes. You can move, resize, and change the color of vector graphics without losing any image quality. Unlike bitmaps, vector graphics are not dependent on resolution. You can scale a vector graphic to any size and it won't lose detail or clarity.

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