Brand name for a well-known system of creating colours for printing, using CMYK.

See Also 4/1 (4 over 1) CMYK PMS

Paper weight is decided by the amount of pulp in each sheet of paper (and therefore how thick the paper is). Higher weights equate to thicker paper. The normal paper weights are 80#, 100# and 120#. Additional terms are also in use, "text stock" (for thi

See Also text stock cover stock

Stands for Portable Document Format, which is in basic terms an electronic copy of a printed document.

Abbreviation of 'perforation'.

A method of binding that uses hot glue to adhere the content pages to the spine of a soft cover item. Commonly seen on soft back books.

A class of mail consisting of magazines, newspapers or other publications that are issued throughout the year at regular, specified intervals.

A document printed from a laser printer, where each page has some form of personalisation, making each one unique.

Web programming languages, part of the public domain

Pantone Matching System. The printing system for reproduction of exact colours.

See Also Pantone

This describes envelopes which open along the short edge, (they are not suitable for machine enclosing).

A unit of measure used in typefaces, equal to approximately 1/72" (0.0138")

A clear polythene self-seal envelope. See also carrier sheet.

See Also carrier sheet

An automated method for polythene enveloping using flat sheet wrap. The finish usually has a tramline overlap. See also carrier sheet.

See Also carrier sheet

This is an abbreviation of Post Office Protocol. A server will store incoming e-mail for the user, until they read or download it

Developed by Adobe, this programming language was created to organise the location of text and graphics on a Web page.

Abbreviation of 'Postage Paid Impression'.

A Royal Mail postage discount scheme for periodicals.

Can also be referred to as a press run, this refers to the number of pieces to be printed in one printing session. The main expenditure is involved in setting up the print plates. Once this has been carried out the price per piece may be more economical

Creating this plate (made up of a surface carrying the image to be printed) involves most of the cost of print runs, which is why it always saves you money per piece to go with a higher quantity (see 'print run'). Always allow for overs as ultimately the

See Also print run overs

Defines a line of print where the space occupied by a character is proportional to the width of that character, as opposed to fixed spacing where every character occupies the same space regardless of its actual width.

See Also fixed spacing

These are characteristics, habits, attitudes, lifestyle behaviour patterns that can help you identify your audience, or eliminate the characteristics of those who aren't.

The process of eliminating old, duplicate and unrequired data.

An accreditation from the British Accreditation Bureau in conjunction with Royal Mail.

A type of fold where a document is folded in half, and then in half again, parallel to the first fold. Also known as a double parallel fold.

typesetting style where the line endings on the right hand side of the page are uneven. The left side of the page is usually justified

See Also justified

Abbreviation of Relational Database Management System, a very popular form of database using tables for storing data, which uses SQL.

See Also SQL

Envelopes are produced from reels of paper with this high speed manufacturing technique.

Used in colour printing to describe positioning of two or more colours in alignment with each other to produce a final image. This is very important in the printing process when more than one ink is involved, since with a full colour printout, there are

See Also CMYK

Describes the number of dots per inch (dpi) in a computer generated document. The higher the resolution, the greater the detail.

See Also DPI

White type appearing on a black or coloured background, either as a solid or a tint

A key formula used with many consumer databases. It lets direct marketers know the recency and frequency of purchasing, and the amount of money spent by the people in their RTS address.

A type of fold where a mailpiece gets folded in half one way and then in another direction (a 17" x 11" piece will have a finished size of 81/2" x 5

Abbreviation of Raster Image Processor, a computer used to creat an electronic bitmap for actual output. This may be built into an imagesetter.

A type of fold where one side of a piece gets folded inwards and then folded inward again, as though you are rolling the piece of paper.