Print Glossary
A–Z of printing terms
Terms A–Z
Artboard — the defined working area in design software. Set it to your product's final size.
Bleed — artwork extending 3mm beyond the trim line, ensuring clean edges after cutting. See our full guide.
CMYK — Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Key (Black). The four-color process used in printing.
Crop marks — small lines at the corners of your artwork showing where the sheet will be trimmed.
Debossing — pressing a design into paper to create a sunken impression.
Die-cut — cutting paper into a custom shape using a metal die (blade template).
DPI — Dots Per Inch. Measures print resolution. Standard is 300 DPI.
Embossing — raising a design out of the paper surface for a tactile 3D effect.
Finishing — post-print processes: lamination, foiling, embossing, folding, binding.
Foil stamping — applying metallic foil to paper using heat and pressure.
FOGRA39 — an ISO color profile standard for coated paper printing in CMYK.
GSM — Grams per Square Metre. Measures paper weight/thickness.
Gutter — the inside margin where two pages meet in a bound document.
Halftone — a pattern of tiny dots used to simulate continuous tones in print.
Kiss cut — cutting through the sticker material but not the backing paper.
Lamination — bonding a thin plastic film to printed paper for protection and feel.
Offset printing — traditional high-volume printing using metal plates and rollers.
Outlined text — text converted to vector shapes, eliminating font dependency.
Overprint — printing one ink layer on top of another rather than knocking out.
PPI — Pixels Per Inch. Measures digital image resolution (often used interchangeably with DPI).
PDF/X — ISO standard for print-ready PDF files. PDF/X-1a is the most compatible.
Rich black — black made from all four CMYK inks (e.g. C60 M40 Y40 K100) for a deeper, warmer black.
RGB — Red, Green, Blue. The color model used by screens. Must be converted to CMYK for print.
Saddle stitch — binding a booklet by stapling through the spine fold.
Safe zone — the area 5mm inside the trim line where important content should stay.
Spot UV — a glossy varnish applied to specific areas, usually over matte lamination.
Substrate — the material being printed on (paper, vinyl, fabric, etc.).
Trim line — the line where the printed sheet is cut to final size.
Vector — graphics defined by mathematical paths, not pixels. Infinitely scalable.