Glossary
The words of a print quote, and what they change for a book.
A
B
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Back cover
The back face of the cover.
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Bible paper
A very thin, light paper, generally between 30 and 50 gsm, yet opaque and strong, made with no mechanical pulp.
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Binding and finishing
All the operations that, after printing, give the book its final form: folding the sheets into sections, gathering them, sewing or gluing, putting on the cover, trimming.
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Bleed
The part of an image or solid colour that extends beyond the trimmed size and is cut away.
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Bulk
A paper’s thickness set against its weight: its thickness in microns divided by its weight in gsm, expressed in cm³/g.
C
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Casing-in
The operation that joins the book block, already sewn or glued, to the hardback case made separately: the block is fixed into its case by the endpapers pasted to the boards.
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CMYK printing
Printing colour by overlaying four inks: cyan, magenta, yellow and black.
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Coated paper
Paper with a thin mineral coating that seals its surface, so the ink sits on top instead of soaking in: sharp dots, dense colour.
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Colophon
The statement, at the end of the book or on the back of the title page, that names the printer and the place and date of printing, often with a print number.
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Contract proof
A colour proof printed on a calibrated proofer to the printer’s profile, showing the colours the press will achieve.
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Cover
The outside of a book, which protects the text block: two panels joined by the spine.
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Cream paper
A slightly tinted paper, cream or ivory rather than bright white.
D
E
F
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Flaps
Extensions of a cover or a jacket folded inwards at the front and back.
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Flatplan
A plan of every page of a book as a row of thumbnails: what goes on each page, where the images fall, where chapters start.
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Foil blocking
A metallic film (gold, silver, copper or a colour) transferred onto paper or cloth by a heated die under pressure.
H
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Hardback
A rigid cover: boards wrapped in printed paper or cloth, turned in at the edges and joined at the spine.
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Headband
A small roll of fabric glued at the head and tail of a hardback’s spine, between the text block and the case.
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High-bulk paper
An uncoated paper with an open, airy fibre that is thick for its weight and slightly rough to the touch, often in ivory or cream.
I
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ICC profile
The file that describes how a printing process renders colour on a given kind of paper.
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Imprim’Vert
A French label awarded to printing works that commit to environmental management: proper disposal of hazardous waste, secure storage of chemicals, phasing out toxic products, monitoring energy use.
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ISBN
The thirteen-digit number that identifies one edition of a book, issued to the publisher by the national ISBN agency.
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ISSN
The eight-digit number that identifies a serial publication: journal, newsletter, yearbook, numbered series.
L
O
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Offset paper
An uncoated paper, smooth and bright, of ordinary density: thinner for its weight than a high-bulk stock, more absorbent than a coated one.
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Offset printing
The process in which the inked image on a metal plate is transferred to a rubber-covered cylinder, the blanket, and from the blanket onto the paper.
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Overprint
The setting that prints one colour on top of another instead of knocking it out of the colour beneath.
P
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Paper weight
The weight of a paper per square metre, given in gsm (g/m²).
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Paperback
A book with a flexible card cover, attached to the text block by glue or sewing.
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Perfect binding
A binding in which the gathered pages are milled at the spine and glued into a wraparound cover, giving a square, flat spine.
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Print embellishment
The finishes added to printing to give a cover relief, shine or texture: foil blocking, embossing, spot UV, soft-touch lamination, die-cutting.
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Print run
All the copies of a book printed at one time, from the same setting.
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Printer’s proof
The proof the publisher signs to release a job to press.
R
S
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Section
A sheet printed on both sides and then folded, forming a group of pages: it is the unit a book is made of.
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Sewn binding
A binding in which the folded sections are sewn together with thread before being glued into the cover.
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Single-sided board
A board coated on one side only, the front, which takes the cover printing.
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Spot UV
A varnish applied to part of a cover only (a title, an image) to make it shine or stand out against the rest.
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Swiss binding
A binding in which the cover, often rigid, is glued only to the back of the last leaf: the spine stays bare, its sewn sections on show, and the book opens flat.
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