Within the printing industry, there are various technical terms that may sound like gibberish if you have little experience with printing books, catalogues, boxes or packaging. Below, we briefly explain what these terms mean.
We are still working hard on this list. Warning: it may end up being quite long…
Delivery specifications – Files must meet certain quality requirements to ensure that your book, packaging or box looks perfect!
Bleed – Bleed – An extra margin around the document, so that when the covers and book blocks are cut, no white edges appear where they should not. This means that you allow the image to extend slightly beyond the cut line. We use a margin of 3 mm for this. This 3 mm must be present around all pages in your print file.
Print files – Documents (preferably certified PDF) containing the digital version of your book. These files are necessary to ensure that your book will look exactly the way you want it to. Find out here what you need to take into account and, above all, why these points are so important for a printer.
FSC logo – indicates that the material used to make the product comes from responsibly managed forests. To this end, every company that has contributed to the production of the product using wood from an FSC forest must be certified. Read more about the use of the FSC logo for your book.
FSC Paper – FSC paper has the FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) quality mark. This is an international quality mark for wood (products), which also includes paper. This organisation is committed to the preservation of responsible forest management. New Energy Printing uses FSC paper as standard.
Foil stamping – If you want to make your print stand out even more, you can choose to print a layer of foil on top. Foil allows you to accentuate certain words or images, making them extra visible. This can be done in different colours. Read more about the possibilities of foil stamping.
Recycled paper – reusing paper has enormous benefits for the environment. After all, fewer trees need to be cut down and fewer chemicals and water are used during the production process. In the past, recycled paper was ofte n greyish and dirty. The production process has improved enormously, so in terms of quality and whiteness, the difference with “new” paper is not noticeable.
Headband – A small piece of fabric at the top and bottom, on the back of the book block/interior. A neat finish to the binding of your book, giving it a more luxurious look.
Line thickness – If you use lines in the layout, it is important that they are at least 0.25 mm thick. If they are thinner than that, they may disappear during printing, and we don’t want that to happen.
Overprint – This is a setting that can cause colours to appear differently. In InDesign, you can enable “Overprint Preview” under “View”. If you see the colours change, overprint is enabled. Read our delivery specifications to find out how to disable this setting.
PMS Colors – This is a color coding system. PMS colors are standardised colours, which means that a particular color is the same everywhere in the world. View the tips about PMS colors.
Embossing – A difference in height in your cover. We use a stamp to press down on a specific surface, creating a relief that we call embossing. Read more about embossing.
Endpapers – In hardcover books, endpapers are used to attach the interior to the cover. These are 4 pages at the beginning and 4 pages at the end of a book. Available in white or coloured paper, or you can have them printed at an additional cost.
Softcover – A softcover book (also known as a paperback) has a flexible cover that is typically made from 240 gsm single-sided coated sulphate cardboard with laminate.
UV Spot – A high-gloss layer that can be applied to parts of the cover, for example to certain texts or parts of photos. UV spot is only clearly visible in combination with matt laminate.
