Ad Definition:
the information entered for one particular ad. This information includes publication
and issue details, ad dimensions, bleed and color options, etc.
Ad Specifications:
"ad specs", the details provided about the advertisement in the ad definition. Publishers may have predefined specifications about the ads, such as size, preferred file type, etc.
Bitmap:
the electronic representation of a page, indicating the position of every possible spot. Do not use generically to refer to any graphic.
CMYK:
(Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black) the subtractive process colors used in color printing. Black (K) is added to enhance color and contrast.
Color Calibration:
the process of determining and adjusting the properties of a display device, or colors in an image, to ensure that the rendered image is accurate to some standard; in magazine publishing in the U.S., SWOP is the standard.
Digital Color Proofs:
a color proof produced from digital data without the need for separation films.
DPI (Dots Per Inch):
the measurement of screen and printer resolution that is expressed as the number of dots per inch that a device can print or display.
Felt Side:
the smoother side of the paper for printing. The top side of a sheet in paper manufacturing.
Four-Color Process:
the technique used to print full-color images, such as color photographs using four inks- three primary colors plus black. It is a process that begins with full finished color artwork and separates this artwork into the CMYK format. The separate films are created and printed with special process inks and the print looks like the original artwork.
Grayscale:
the spectrum, or range, of shades of gray ranging from white to black; usually has an 8-bit representation of a black and white image.
Halftone:
a method of reproducing a photograph or illustration, by representing various colors as a series of dots.
Hard Proof:
an early, full-color print of a finished advertisement, used to evaluate the ad’s final appearance. The hard proofs available through magSend include color ink-jet, color laser, Iris print, and Kodak Approval.
Hi-Res (high-resolution):
See resolution.
Ink-Jet Printing:
a plateless printing system that produces images directly on paper from digital data using streams of very fine drops of dye which are controlled by digital signals to produce images on paper.
Laser (Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation):
the laser is an intense light beam with a very narrow bandwidth used in digital-imaging devices to produce images by electronic impulses from computers or facsimile transmission.
Live Area:
the area within the trim size of a page which should contain the type and graphic elements, unless they are to bleed off the page.
Lo-Res (low-resolution):
See resolution.
PDF (Portable Document Format):
a cross-platform, standard data format used to describe documents; a format to exchange data between applications. Documents in this format can be viewed on any computer regardless of the fonts and images or the program in which the original file was created.
PDF/X-1:
a well-defined subset of PDF approved as an American national standard in 1999; color data, high-resolution data, and fonts are all embedded in the file, as well as all component files and resources, but music, movies, and non-printable materials are ignored.
Pixel:
short for "picture element". A pixel is the smallest resolvable point of a raster image. It is the basic unit of digital imaging.
Process Color:
in color printing, using the subtractive colors (cyan, magenta, yellow, and black) in combination to produce the appearance of “full color” reproduction.
PostScript:
a page-description language from Adobe Systems that offers flexible font capability and high-quality graphics. The most well-known page-description language, PostScript uses English-like commands to control the page layout and to load and scale outline fonts.
Preflight:
in digital pre-press, the evaluation of every component needed to produce a printing job. In magSend, over 200 quality checks are performed to make certain that all files meet the publisher’s preflight production requirements.
Raster Images:
a data structure representing a generally rectangular grid of pixels, or points of color, viewable via a monitor, paper, or other display medium.
Resolution:
the number of dots per inch that make up an image; the greater the number of dots per inch, the higher the resolution.
RGB (Red Green Blue):
the additive colors that may be produced by emitting light, as on a computer monitor, rather than by absorbing it, as with ink on paper. This color model is used for graphics that will primarily be displayed on a computer monitor on TV. Scanners and digital cameras capture color data in RGB format, necessitating the conversion of CMYK (process colors) for print production.
Soft Proof:
in magSend, a PDF copy of the 150 dpi ad file used to check color breaks and content position.
SWOP (Specifications for Web Offset Publications):
an association whose primary focus is the specification of those parameters necessary to ensure the consistent quality of advertising in publications; when these specifications are followed, all input received by the printer can be reproduced as intended and desired by the advertiser/publisher with minimal difficulty.
IFF/IT (Tagged Image File Format/Image Technology):
a file format that contains only bitmap data; no font or vector information is retained using this format. TIFF/IT is a very stable format for image transfer.
TIFF/IT (Tagged Image File Format/Image Technology):
a file format that contains only bitmap data; no font or vector information is retained using this format. TIFF/IT is a very stable format for image transfer.
TIFF/IT-P1 (Tagged Image File Format/Image Technology-Profile
1):
subset of TIFF/IT that limits that format to CMYK (four-color process) and does not support spot color; normally consists of three files: CT, LW, and FP.
- CT: (Continuous Tone picture data) contains all photographic imagery; can be any resolution, but is usually 300 dpi and contains CMYK colors in 8-bit (maximum of 256 shades of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black); does not allow for data compression.
- LW: (Line Work file) contains high-resolution data like line art images, text, or lines from drawings; contains a maximum of 256 colors, is usually 2400 dpi (should be an exact multiple of the CT file); can be compressed
- FP: (Final Page) a reference file that points to the corresponding CT and LW file and contains sets that describe where the CT and LW should be placed on the image.
Trapping:
overlaying two inks of different colors with allowance for mis-registration, the ability of a printed ink film to accept ink from the press.
Trim Area:
the size of the ad space purchased, at which the ad file is trimmed to in the publication; usually corresponds to the physical size of the publication for full page ads.
