A water-based lacquer applied as a coating for protection and appearance.

Abbreviation for cyan, magenta, yellow and black—the four colors used in most color commercial printing. When printed using transparent inks, the three subtractive primaries—cyan, magenta and yellow—act as individual filters to transmit and absorb light reflected from the surface of the paper to create the colors seen by the eye. Intermediate colors—colors other than the subtractive primaries—are formed by laying one film of ink over another. Black is added to enhance the depth and extend the tonal range of all hues.

Printing one or more layer of ink and then letting it dry before printing additional inks or varnishes on the same area.

A color that tends to change or fade under different lighting, in the presence of heat or other changes in the environment, or over time—an unstable color.

An ink-related printing problem caused by excess ink on the paper, which glues the sheets together. The excessive ink coverage is typically the result of setoff or slow drying ink, due to poorly adjusted press settings.

Spots, blotches or different colors or shades that appear in the solid portions of a printed image. Mottling is typically caused by the uneven absorption of ink, the use of the wrong ink for a particular substrate, or incorrect press adjustments.

A dry substance, usually pulverized, that becomes a paint, ink or dye when suspended in a liquid vehicle.

An ink-related printing problem that results when the coating of the paper is partially removed as it passed through the press and then sticks to the printing blanket and plates. Piling produces blotchy images that are outlined by non-printed lines. It is usually the result of faulty ink or an excessively soft coating on the paper.

Abbreviation for red, green and blue—the three additive primaries, used to create colors on computers screens, televisions and other light-emitting electronic devices. By mixing any two of the primaries—in overlapping colored beams of light projected on a video screen, for example—the intermediate colors are reproduced. White is formed by combining all three additive primaries, while black is their total absence.

An ink-related printing problem in which dry ink can easily be rubbed off the surface of the printed sheet. Rub is typically caused by inadequate bonding between the ink and paper on which it is printed It is sometimes possible to salvage a project that suffers from rub by overprinting with a varnish.

The transfer of ink from the printed side of one sheet to the reverse side of the next sheet. Setoff is usually caused by the application of too much ink of the failure of the ink to quickly set on the stock.

Smudging or smearing on the printed surface, cased by the failure of the ink to dry within the specified time. Possible causes include not enough drier in the ink, overly acidic stock, or excess humidity in the stock or the pressroom.

A family of printing techniques in which continuous tone-like images are reproduced using micro dots of all the same size, with variable spacing between the dots (first-order stochastic printing) or variably-sized dots and variable spacing between the dots (second-order stochastic printing). Identified by a number of trade names, including Staccato®, Diamond™ and others. Also see FM printing

A type of commercial printing in which heat-sensitive powders are spread on wet ink and then melted to create type, color or images that are raised above the surface of the substrate. Thermography is often used in business cards and stationery, because it creates a look that is similar to engraving at a lower cost. However, the process typically cannot match the fine lines or crisp edges produced by engraving dies.

The dry or liquid inks used in digital printing systems, which range from desktop copiers to large digital presses. Toners are applied differently than conventional inks and behave differently, too. With their large pigment particles, dry toner-based systems typically cannot print at the high resolutions available with the best offset printing. Liquid toners behave more like conventional inks than dry toners, but often take more time to dry and harden.

Also known as bump plates or kiss plates, touchplates apply an additional screened color to an image or a portion of an image, to increase, or bump up, color saturation and contrast or reproduce a color that is hard to capture using only conventional process inks. Touchplates are often used for images with vibrant reds or blues, such as a child’s red wagon or a deep blue sky, or in images with a wide range of hues that may lie outside the range, or gamut, of CMYK colors.

Liquid lacquer applied as a coating for protection and appearance.

A liquid such as oil or water in which pigment is mixed before being applied to a surface.

Volatile organic compounds are emitted as gases from certain solids or liquids and include a variety of chemicals, some of which may have short- and long-term adverse health effects and are a precursor to ground-level ozone formation.

Volatile organic compounds are emitted as gases from certain solids or liquids and include a variety of chemicals, some of which may have short- and long-term adverse health effects and are a precursor to ground-level ozone formation.