A quick explanation of commonly used phrases and print terminology.
DPI or dots per square inch, typically the ideal resolution for a photograph about to be printed.
CMYK or cyan, magenta, yellow and black which are the 4 process colours used when printing full colour images, although an image might appear to have a multitude of colours generally they are made up from the 4 colours named above.
EPS or encapsulated postscript logos should be supplied in this format for the best printing results.
RGB or red, green, blue which is a PC format and not suitable for litho printing. RGB would need to be converted to CMYK.
PDF or portable document format had now become the recognised way of sending items to be printed, images need to be high resolution and fonts embedded for best results, most clients can read PDF through Adobe Acrobat.
GSM or grammes per square metre is the weight of paper or board, typically most company letterheads are printed on 100gsm as standard with the occasional 120gsm. Photocopy paper is generally 80gsm. As a further guide business cards should be printed on at least 300gsm, our stock boards for cards are 335gsm or 400gsm.
Crease or creasing is at the finishing process and is essential when an item of paper or board goes over 170gsm, it helps to eliminate the spine cracking or splitting particularly if colour falls over the spine.
