back up

en-verb

back up (third-person singular simple present backs up, present participle backing up, simple past and past participle backed up)

backs up (present singular third-person)
backing up (participle present)
backed up (participle past)
backed up (past)

(obsolete, printing) To run a printing press in reverse.


composition

en-noun

composition (countable and uncountable, plural compositions)

→ Korean: 컴포지션 (keompojisyeon)

/ˌkɒmpəˈzɪʃən/

From Middle English composicioun, borrowed from Old French composicion, from Latin compositiō, compositiōnem.

hyvitys

agreement to pay money in order to clear a liability or obligation


clicker

w:Webster's Dictionary#Webster's New International Dictionary 1909

(printing, obsolete) One who has charge of the work of a companionship.

(printing, historical) An employee who locks the type in the form to make it ready for printing.


shank

From Middle English schanke, from Old English sċanca (“leg”), from Proto-West Germanic *skankō, from Proto-Germanic *skankô (compare West Frisian skonk, Low German Schanke, German Schenkel (“shank, leg”), Danish skank, Norwegian skank, Swedish skänkel), from *skankaz (compare Old Norse skakkr (“wry, crooked”)), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)keng- (compare Middle Irish scingim (“I spring”), Ancient Greek σκάζω (skázō, “to limp”).

(printing, dated) The body of a type; between the shoulder and the foot.


squabble

en-verb

squabble (third-person singular simple present squabbles, present participle squabbling, simple past and past participle squabbled)

squabbles (present singular third-person)
squabbling (participle present)
squabbled (participle past)
squabbled (past)

1600s, probably of North Germanic origin and ultimately imitative.
Related to Swedish dialectal skvabbel (“a dispute, quarrel, gossip”), Norwegian dialectal skvabba (“to prattle”), German dialectal schwabbeln (“to babble, prattle”), Swedish dialectal skvappa (“to chide, scold”, literally “make a splash”).

onomatopoeic

imitative

to squabble type

(transitive, printing) To disarrange, so that the letters or lines stand awry and require readjustment.


meridian

The noun is derived from Late Middle English meridian, meridien (“midday, noon; position of the sun at noon; the south; longitude of a place; (astronomy) celestial meridian”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman meridien (“midday”), Middle French meridien (“midday; the south; terrestrial meridian; (astronomy) celestial meridian”) (modern French méridien), and Old French meridiane, meridiiene, and from their etymon Latin merīdiānum (“midday; position of the sun at noon; the south”), a noun use of the neuter form of merīdiānus (“relating to midday; southern”); see further at etymology 1.
Sense 1.1 (“celestial meridian”) is ultimately modelled after Latin merīdiāna līnea (“meridian line”). Sense 5.2 (“midday rest; siesta”) is modelled after Late Latin meridiana (“midday; midday rest”), probably short for Latin merīdiāna hōra (“midday time”).
The verb is derived from the noun.

nb...

meridene, meridiane, meridien, meridyan, meridyen, merydien, merydyen,

cog

(US, printing, dated) The size of type between double great primer and canon, standardized as 44-point.


signature

/ˈsɪɡnət͡ʃə(ɹ)/

/ˈsɪɡnɪt͡ʃə(ɹ)/

/ˈsɪɡnət͡ʃɚ/

/ˈsɪɡnɪt͡ʃɚ/

/ˈsɪɡnɪt͡ʃə(ɹ)/

Borrowed from Middle French signature, or from Medieval Latin signātūra, future active periphrastic of verb signāre (“to sign”) from signum (“sign”), + -tūra, feminine of -tūrus, future active periphrastic suffix. Displaced native Old English handseten (literally “hand setting”).

nc

(printing) A group of four (or a multiple of four) sheets printed such that, when folded, they become a section of a book.

сигнату́ра

printing: four or multiple of four pages folded to form a section of a book


stereotype

en-noun

stereotype (countable and uncountable, plural stereotypes)

Borrowed from French stéréotype, equivalent to stereo- + type. Printing sense is from 1817, the “conventional, formulaic, and oversimplified conception, opinion, or image” sense is recorded from 1922 in Walter Lippmann's book Public Opinion.

(printing) A metal printing plate cast from a matrix moulded from a raised printing surface.


stereotype

en-verb

stereotype (third-person singular simple present stereotypes, present participle stereotyping, simple past and past participle stereotyped)

stereotypes (present singular third-person)
stereotyping (participle present)
stereotyped (participle past)
stereotyped (past)

to stereotype the Bible

(transitive, printing) To prepare for printing in stereotype; to produce stereotype plates of.

(transitive, printing) To print from a stereotype.


monotone

en-adj

monotone (comparative more monotone, superlative most monotone)

more monotone (comparative)
most monotone (superlative)

From the post-Classical Latin monotonus (“unvarying in tone”) or its etymon the Ancient Greek μονότονος (monótonos, “steady”, “unwavering”); compare cognate adjectives, namely the French monotone, the German monoton, the Italian monotono, and the Spanish monótono, as well as the slightly earlier English noun monotony and adjective monotonical.


skip

en-verb

skip (third-person singular simple present skips, present participle skipping, simple past and past participle skipped)

skips (present singular third-person)
skipping (participle present)
skipped (participle past)
skipped (past)

From Middle English skippen, skyppen, of North Germanic origin, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *skupjaną, perhaps related to *skeubaną (“to drive, push”), iterative *skuppōną (“to push/move repeatedly, skip”), from Proto-Indo-European *skewbʰ- (“to push, throw, shake”).
Related to Icelandic skopa (“to take a run”), Old Swedish skuppa (“to skip”), modern dialectal Swedish skopa, skimpa (“to skip, leap”), and English shove. See also dialectal English skimp (“to mock”) (Etymology 1), considered by some to be related.

der

(printing) To have insufficient ink transfer.


gods

So called from the idea of gods (deities) reigning from on high.

(printing, historical) The quadrats used by printers in throwing on the imposing stone, similar to the movement in casting dice.


gutter

Sranan Tongo: gotro

From Middle English gutter, guttur, goter, from Anglo-Norman guttere, from Old French goutiere (French gouttière), ultimately from Latin gutta (“drop”).

(printing) One of a number of pieces of wood or metal, grooved in the centre, used to separate the pages of type in a form.


gallows

en-noun

gallows (plural gallows or (rare) gallowses)

gallows (plural)
gallowses (plural rare)

From Middle English galwes, galewes, plural of galwe, galowe, from Old English galga, gealga, from Proto-West Germanic *galgō, from Proto-Germanic *galgô, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰalgʰ-, *ǵʰalg- (“long switch, rod, shaft, pole, perch”). The plural construction probably refers to the vertical and horizontal beams.
Compare West Frisian galge, Dutch galg, German Galgen, Danish galge, Icelandic gálgi.
For the pronunciation /ˈɡæləs/, compare bellows, bodice.

(printing, obsolete) The rest for the tympan when raised.


distribute

en-verb

distribute (third-person singular simple present distributes, present participle distributing, simple past and past participle distributed)

distributes (present singular third-person)
distributing (participle present)
distributed (participle past)
distributed (past)
distribute (infinitive)

PIE word
 *tréyes
From Latin distributus, past participle of distribuere (“to divide, distribute”), from dis- (“apart”) + tribuere (“to give, impart”); see tribute.

(printing) To separate (type which has been used) and return it to the proper boxes in the cases.

(printing) To spread (ink) evenly, as upon a roller or a table.


octavo

From Latin octavo. Doublet of octave, oitava, and ochava.

(paper, printing) A sheet of paper 7 to 10 inches (= 17.78 to 25.4 cm) high and 4.5 to 6 inches (= 11.43 to 15.24 cm) wide, the size varying with the large original sheet used to create it. It is made by folding the original sheet three times to produce eight leaves.

He was also much of a politician; too much, perhaps, for his station. There fell lately into my hands, in London, a collection he had made of all the principal pamphlets, relating to public affairs, from 1641 to 1717; many of the volumes are wanting as appears by the numbering, but there still remain eight volumes in folio, and twenty-four in quarto and in octavo.

1909 [1793], Benjamin Franklin, edited by Charles W. Eliot, LL.D., The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin (The Harvard Classics; 1), U.S.A.: P. F. Collier & Son Corporation, published 1937, page 8:


quad

Shortened, via clipping or abbreviation, from various English terms. Ultimately related to Latin quattuor (“4”); compare quadri-, quadruple.
The typography senses are from the abbreviation quad. for obsolete quadrat; the keyboard command comes from the verb sense.

(typography, obsolete) Abbreviation of quadrat.

(printing slang) A joke used to fill long days of setting type.


out of sorts

en-adj

out of sorts (comparative more out of sorts, superlative most out of sorts)

more out of sorts (comparative)
most out of sorts (superlative)

Comes from printing terminology where "sort" means a metal type for printing a particular letter.

(printing, dated) With some letters or sorts of type deficient or exhausted in the case or font.


knock up

en-verb

knock up (third-person singular simple present knocks up, present participle knocking up, simple past and past participle knocked up)

knocks up (present singular third-person)
knocking up (participle present)
knocked up (participle past)
knocked up (past)

(obsolete, printing) To straighten up a stack of paper.


engraving

en-noun

engraving (countable and uncountable, plural engravings)

(printing) The art of producing an image from an engraved printing form, typically made of copper.


bump

en-verb

bump (third-person singular simple present bumps, present participle bumping, simple past and past participle bumped)

bumps (present singular third-person)
bumping (participle present)
bumped (participle past)
bumped (past)
Lighter (canonical)
1917-1919: An Historical Glossary” (canonical)
volume 47 (canonical)
number 1 (canonical)
page 24 (canonical)

From Early Modern English bump (“a shock, blow from a collision”), probably of North Germanic origin; compare Danish bump (“a thump”), Danish bumpe (“to thump”), Old Danish bumpe (“to strike with a clenched fist”), all probably of imitative origin.
Apparently related to Middle English bumben, bummen (“to make a hollow noise”), Dutch bommen (“to hum, buzz”), German Low German bumsen (“to bump, push”), German bummen (“to hum, buzz”), Icelandic bumba (“drum”). More at bum, bumble. Compare also bomb.

onom

imitative

cog

(printing, dated) To spread out material so as to fill any desired number of pages.


get in

en-verb

get in (third-person singular simple present gets in, present participle getting in, simple past got in, past participle (UK) got in or (US) gotten in)

gets in (present singular third-person)
getting in (participle present)
got in (past)
got in (UK participle past)
gotten in (US participle past)

(obsolete, printing, of a matter) To produce fewer copies than anticipated.


petit

From French petit (“brevier”) directly or via German Petit (“brevier”).

(printing, dated, French and German contexts) Synonym of brevier.


portrait

en-noun

portrait (countable and uncountable, plural portraits)

non-rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger

From Middle French portraict, pourtraict, nominal use of the past participle of portraire (“portray”), from Latin prōtrahō.

(computing, printing) A print orientation where the vertical sides are longer than the horizontal sides.

κατακόρυφος προσανατολισμός

εκτύπωσης-χαρτιού


slur

en-verb

slur (third-person singular simple present slurs, present participle slurring, simple past and past participle slurred)

slurs (present singular third-person)
slurring (participle present)
slurred (participle past)
slurred (past)

From Middle English sloor (“thin or fluid mud”). Cognate with Middle Low German sluren (“to trail in mud”). Also related to dialectal Norwegian sløra (“to be careless, to scamp, dawdle”), Danish sløre (“to wobble, be loose”) (especially for wheels); compare Old Norse slóðra (“to drag oneself along”).
* (an extremely offensive term): Influenced by various compounds of sense 1 such as racial slur, ethnic slur, etc.

cog

(printing, dated) To blur or double, as an impression from type; to mackle.

dissimuler

printing: to blur or double, as an impression from type; to mackle


bodkin

From Middle English boydekin (“dagger”), apparently from *boyde, *boide (of unknown [Celtic?] origin) + -kin. Cognate with Scots botkin, boitkin, boikin (“bodkin”).

(printing) A sharp tool, like an awl, formerly used for pressing down individual type characters (e.g. letters) from a column or page in making corrections.


lay down

en-verb

lay down (third-person singular simple present lays down, present participle laying down, simple past and past participle laid down)

lays down (present singular third-person)
laying down (participle present)
laid down (participle past)
laid down (past)

From Middle English leyen doun, leien doun (“to lay down”), equivalent to lay + down.

(obsolete, printing) To place a sheet in a printing press for printing.


set up

set up (third-person singular simple present sets up, present participle setting up, simple past and past participle set up)

sets up (present singular third-person)
setting up (participle present)
set up (participle past)
set up (past)

(obsolete, printing) Synonym of compose (To arrange (types) in a composing stick for printing; to typeset)


branch out

branch out (third-person singular simple present branches out, present participle branching out, simple past and past participle branched out)

branches out (present singular third-person)
branching out (participle present)
branched out (participle past)
branched out (past)

(obsolete, printing) To white out or expand the whitespace around the title or other words, lines, etc. in a document.


bearer

desc

→ Bengali: বেয়ারা (beẏara), বেহারা (behara) (borrowed from sense 4)

From Middle English berer, berere, from Old English berere (attested in Old English wæterberere (“waterbearer”)), equivalent to bear + -er.

(printing) A strip of reglet or other furniture to bear off the impression from a blank page.

(printing) A type or type-high piece of metal interspersed in blank parts to support the plate when it is shaved.


quoin

Next fit the quoins, using the “persuader” to squeeze in the pages, and tap up all around.

1898, John Southward, Modern Printing: A Handbook of the Principles and Practice of Typography and the Auxiliary Arts:

(printing, historical) A metal wedge which fits into the space between the type and the edge of a chase, and is tightened to fix the metal type in place.


slick

From Middle English slicke, slike, slyke, from Old English slīc (“sleek, smooth; crafty, cunning, slick”), from Proto-Germanic *slīkaz (“sleek, smooth”),
from Proto-Indo-European *sleyg-, *sleyǵ- (“to glide, smooth, spread”). Akin to Dutch sluik, dialectal Dutch sleek (“even, smooth”), Old Norse slíkr (“sleek, smooth”), Old English slician (“to make sleek, smooth, or glossy”).

cog

The project was delayed because the slick had not been delivered to the printer.

(printing) A camera-ready image to be used by a printer. The "slick" is photographed to produce a negative image which is then used to burn a positive offset plate or other printing device.


persuader

(printing, historical, colloquial) A tool used to pack the type into the form.


trim

en-noun

trim (countable and uncountable, plural trims)

From Middle English trimen, trymen, trümen, from Old English trymman (“to make firm; strengthen”), from Proto-West Germanic *trummjan, from Proto-Germanic *trumjaną (“to make fast; strengthen”), from Proto-Germanic *trumaz (“firm; strong; sound”).

varustelutaso

the manner in which something is equipped

(printing, binding, publishing) Any of the three cut edges of book pages, trimmed with a shear after binding.


D

en-noun

D (countable and uncountable, plural Ds)

(printing) Abbreviation of duodecimo, as adopted by the American Library Association.


Ionic

From Ancient Greek ἰωνικός (iōnikós, “related to Ionians”).

uder

(printing, dated) Of or relating to a kind of heavy-faced type.


K

Abbreviations.
# (stenoscript) Abbreviation of counter, prefix counter-, sequence contr.

ng

prefix <i class="Latn mention" lang="en">counter-</i>, sequence contr.


Latin

en-proper noun

Latin (countable and uncountable, plural Latins)

From Middle English Latin, Latyn, from Old English Lǣden, from Vulgar Latin *ladinum (“Latin”) and Old French latin (“Latin”); all from Latin Latinus (“belonging to Latium”). Later influenced in form by the Latin word. Compare Dutch Latijn (“Latin”), German Latein (“Latin”), Swedish Latin (“Latin”).

(printing) The nonsense placeholder text (often based on real Latin) used in greeking.


O

en-noun

O (countable and uncountable, plural Os)

American Library Association
w:American Library Association

(printing) American Library Association abbreviation of octavo, a book size (20-25 cm).


Roman

From Old French Romain, from Latin Rōmānus. In reference to the Byzantine Empire, via the Byzantine Greek endonym Ῥωμαῖος (Rhōmaîos). By surface analysis, Rome + -an. Doublet of Romano.

(printing, countable) A single letter or character in Roman type.


fondu

fondu (countable and uncountable, plural fondus)

Borrowed from French fondu (“melted”). Compare fondue.

(printing) The graded shift from one color into another.


CMYK

(computing, printing) Initialism of cyan, magenta, yellow, key: the colour model used in colour printing.


kicker

In a printing machine, the combination of a kicker mechanism for displacing a newspaper […]

1931, Official Gazette of the United States Patent Office, page 490:

(printing) A device that periodically displaces a newspaper from the print production line, to aid in gathering the newspapers into fixed-size bundles.


takeoff

takeoff (countable and uncountable, plural takeoffs)

(printing, UK, historical) The removal of sheets from the press.


webbing

webbing (countable and uncountable, plural webbings)

(printing) Tapes conducting webs of paper in a printing machine.


recto

verso

antonym(s) of “front side of a flat object”

reverso

antonym(s) of “right-hand page of a book”

Borrowed from Latin rēctō foliō (“on the right leaf, on the right page”), the ablative case of the Latin rēctus (“right”). Compare versus (“turned”).

The front side of a flat object which is to be examined visually, as for reading, such as a sheet, leaf, coin or medal.

(printing) The right-hand page of a book of a script which reads from left to right, usually having an odd page number.


verso

recto

antonym(s) of “back side of a flat object”

recto

antonym(s) of “left-hand page of a book”

From Latin in versō foliō (“on the turned leaf, on the turned page”), the ablative case of the Latin versus (“turned, changed”) from the perfect passive participle of vertō (“turn”). Compare rēctus (“right”).

der

The back side of a flat object which is to be examined visually, as for reading, such as a sheet, leaf, coin or medal;

(printing) The left-hand page of a book of a script which reads from left to right, usually having an even page number.

лява страница

на отворена книга


Norse

Partly from Dutch Noorsch (now Noors (“Norwegian”)), from noordsch (“northern; nordic”); and partly from Danish norsk (“Norwegian”). Both equivalent to north + -ish. Doublet of Norsk.

(US printing, rare, dated) A size of type between Saxon and excelsior, 2+¹⁄₂-point type.


planer

the compositor "planes down" the "forme," to make a the surface of the type stand flat and even, by blows of the mallet upon a piece of smooth wood laid upon the pages, called, from its use, "a planer;" and it is then ready for the pressman

1825, Thomas Curson Hansard, Typographia, an Historical Sketch of the Origin and Progress of the Art of Printing:

(archaic, printing) A wooden block used for forcing down the type in a form, and making the surface even.


run out

en-verb

run out (third-person singular simple present runs out, present participle running out, simple past ran out, past participle run out)

runs out (present singular third-person)
running out (participle present)
ran out (past)
run out (participle past)

(obsolete, printing) To fill a line with quadrats or full points.


headline

(printing, dated) The line at the top of a page containing the folio or number of the page.


bring up

bring up (third-person singular simple present brings up, present participle bringing up, simple past and past participle brought up)

brings up (present singular third-person)
bringing up (participle present)
brought up (participle past)
brought up (past)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-bring up.wav

From Middle English bring up, dissimilated from Middle English upbringen (“to bring up, raise”). Doublet of upbring.

der

(obsolete, printing) To level type or make it ready for printing by overlaying it.


drive out

en-verb

drive out (third-person singular simple present drives out, present participle driving out, simple past drove out, past participle driven out)

drives out (present singular third-person)
driving out (participle present)
drove out (past)
driven out (participle past)

(obsolete, printing, of type) To set closely; to take up less space because the typesetter uses type that is thinner than the copy or the typesetter whites out more or squeezes in more lines on each page.


forme

1978, David A. Bloestein, Introduction, John Marston, David A. Bloestein (editor), Parasitaster: Or, The Fawn, page 47,
Both these formes, with running titles intact, were retained to print sheet D of Q2.

1994, Jay L. Halio, Introduction, Jay L. Halio (editor), William Shakespeare, The First Quarto of King Lear, page 21,
Q2 was printed in twenty-two formes.

In casting off, the printing house would judge the length of a manuscript to determine both how many sheets would be needed, and what the divisions were between one forme and another. (A forme is one side of a sheet: four quarto pages or two folio pages.) Because formes do not have many consecutive pages, estimates would be further broken down by page. If a quarto forme includes a putative page one, for instance, that side of the sheet would also include pages four, five, and eight.

2011, Eugene Giddens, How to Read a Shakespearean Play Text, page 41:

(printing) Alternative form of form (“type etc. secured in a chase”)


copyedit

copyedit (third-person singular simple present copyedits, present participle copyediting, simple past and past participle copyedited)

copyedits (present singular third-person)
copyediting (participle present)
copyedited (participle past)
copyedited (past)

Memoirs of a Bastard Angel contains so many amazing howlers that it seems barely to have been copyedited or proofread.

1990 April 28, Duncan Mitchell, “A Dazzling Parade Of Celebrity Names”, in Gay Community News, page 11:

(transitive, printing) To correct the spelling, grammar, formatting, etc. of printed material and prepare it for typesetting, printing, or online publishing.


folio

From Middle English folio (“leaf of a book”), borrowed from Medieval Latin foliō, Late Latin foliō, Latin foliō, the ablative singular form of Late Latin folium (“leaf or sheet of paper”), Latin folium (“leaf of a plant”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₃- (“bloom, flower”). Doublet of foil and folium, and distantly related to phyllo and phyllon.
Senses 1, 2, 3.1, 5, and 6 relating to a leaf or page are derived from Medieval Latin foliō in references; sense 5 (“page in an account book”) may be derived from Italian foglio (“rectangular sheet of paper”), from Latin folium. Senses 3.2 and 3.3 relating to a paper size are from Italian in foglio or its etymon Latin in foliō.

der

Folio.—The running number of the pages of a work. When there is no running title, the folio is placed in the centre of the head-line; when there is a running title, at the outside corner—the even folio on the left, the odd on the right. The preface, contents, index, and all introductory matter, usually have separate folios inserted in Roman lower-case numerals.

[1871, “Folio”, in J[ohn] Luther Ringwalt, editor, American Encyclopædia of Printing, Philadelphia, Pa.: Menamin & Ringwalt, 517 Minor Street; J. B. Lippincott & Co., 715 Market Street, →OCLC, page 172:

verso left-hand page of a book usually identified with even folio numbers. […] recto right-hand page of a book usually identified with odd folio numbers.

2006, Andrew Haslam, “Creating a Book”, in Book Design (Portfolio), London: Laurence King Publishing, →ISBN, page 21:

A page number. The even folios are on the left-hand pages and the odd folios on the right-hand pages.

This pocket copying-machine, by which letters and writings of all sizes, even folio, may be very quickly copied, consists of a press four inches long, with a small cylinder, which contains pens and ink: the whole apparatus may be conveniently carried in the pocket, and the price is very moderate.

1821 April 1, “Useful Arts”, in The New Monthly Magazine and Literary Journal, volume III, London: Henry Colburn and Co. Conduit-Street, Hanover-Square, →OCLC, page 180:

(by extension, printing)
A sheet of paper folded in half.

A rare copy of Shakespeare’s First Folio.

A treatiſe in Folio, intitled, The Magazen of Honour, or a Treatiſe concerninge the Nobillitie of England accordinge to the Lawes of England, with their Priviledges in Parliament, & in what caſes noe priviledge, together with the Etymologie, definition & antiquitie of 3 ſortes of Barons.

1759, Humfrey Wanley, David Casley, William Hocker, Charles Morton, compilers, A Catalogue of the Harleian Collection of Manuscripts, Purchased by Authority of Parliament, for the Use of the Publick; and Preserved in the British Museum. Published by Order of the Trustees, volume II, London: Printed by Dryden Leach, and sold by L. Davis and C. Reymers, opposite Grays-Inn, Holborn, →OCLC, serial number 5876:

Another, with the bump of order unnaturally developed, had his folios and quartos all reduced, in binding, to one size, so that they might look even on his bookshelves.

1902, William Blades, The Enemies of Books, 2nd edition, page 102:

He [collector Anthony Morris Storer] bequeathed part of his collection to […] Eton College, including the First Folio [of William Shakespeare], a fine copy of the Second Folio, a poor copy of the Third Folio, and the collection of Quartos.

2003, Anthony James West, The Shakespeare First Folio: The History of the Book. Volume II: A New Worldwide Census of First Folios, volume II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 87:

A book made of sheets of paper each folded in half (two leaves or four pages to the sheet); hence, a book of the largest kind, exceeding 30 centimetres in height.


bang out

en-verb

bang out (third-person singular simple present bangs out, present participle banging out, simple past and past participle banged out)

bangs out (present singular third-person)
banging out (participle present)
banged out (participle past)
banged out (past)

As Hill left, his colleagues on the foreign desk started to bang him out – the traditional printers' farewell that involves thumping the desk as loudly as possible. According to reports the whole of the Telegraph's vast multimedia newsroom, said to be the largest in Europe, was shaking as staff banged out yet another colleague.

2008 June 26, “Hill and Dryden off with a bang”, in The Guardian:

(transitive, British, printing) To celebrate (a fellow printing or newspaper industry worker) to mark their completion of an apprenticeship or their retirement by (formerly) hitting metal furniture in the printing room or (more recently) hitting one's desk in the newsroom.


colophon

Borrowed from Late Latin colophōn, from Ancient Greek κολοφών (kolophṓn, “peak or finishing touch”).

der

(printing, publishing) In manuscripts (typically before the invention of printing), the note, usually at the end, left by the scribe who copied it, giving information on their exemplar, where and when the copy was made, and sometimes, their own name.

(printing) A printer's or publisher's identifying inscription or logo appearing at the front or end of a book, or the same appearing on the spine or dust jacket.


selvage

en-noun

selvage (countable and uncountable, plural selvages)

From early modern Dutch selfegghe (Modern Dutch zelfkant (“selvage”)), equivalent to self + edge.

(printing) The excess area of any printed or perforated sheet, such as the border on a sheet of postage stamps or the wide margins of an engraving.

reunus

excess area of printed or perforated sheet


doublet

From Middle English doublet, a borrowing from Old French doublet, from double, duble, doble + -et.

zeke

(historical in English) a man’s waistcoat

(printing, US) A word or phrase set a second time by mistake.


macule

en-verb

macule (third-person singular simple present macules, present participle maculing, simple past and past participle maculed)

macules (present singular third-person)
maculing (participle present)
maculed (participle past)
maculed (past)

From Middle French macule, from Latin macula. Doublet of macchia, macula and, with a suffix, maquis.

(printing) To blur or be blurred; especially to blur or double an impression from type.


en-noun

12mo (usually uncountable, plural 12mos)

(printing) A book size using duodecimo-sized pages.


4to (countable and uncountable, plural 4tos)

From Latin quārtō, ablative case singular of quārtus (“fourth”).

(printing) Abbreviation of quarto, a corresponding book size.


(printing) A book size, corresponding to the page size.


incunabulum

From Latin incūnābulum (“cradle, origin”).

Sebastian, a profound student of such lore, had long believed that the book was a mere medieval legend; and he had been startled as well as gratified when he found this copy on the shelves of a dealer in old manuscripts and incunabula.

August 1935, Clark Ashton Smith, “The Treader of the Dust”, in Weird Tales:

Something about him reminded me of one of those figures from old-fashioned playing cards or the sort used by fortune-tellers, a print straight from the pages of an incunabulum: his presence was both funereal and incandescent, like a curse dressed in its Sunday best.

2004, Luisa Graves, The Shadow of the Wind, translation of original by Carlos Ruiz Zafón:

(printing) A book, single sheet, or image that was printed before the year 1501 in Europe.


fall out

en-verb

fall out (third-person singular simple present falls out, present participle falling out, simple past fell out, past participle fallen out)

falls out (present singular third-person)
falling out (participle present)
fell out (past)
fallen out (participle past)

(intransitive, obsolete, printing, of type) To fall off due to the quoins holding it in place having become wet and therefore loose.


intaglio

en-noun

intaglio (countable and uncountable, plural intagli or intaglios or intaglioes or intaglii)

intagli (plural)
intaglios (plural)
intaglioes (plural)
intaglii (plural)

Borrowed from Italian intaglio, from intagliare (“to engrave”).

(printing) Any printing method in which the ink is laid upon the sunken parts of the printing form.


scumming

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-scumming.wav

(printing) The accumulation of sticky ink on a plate.


manchette

(printing) A vertical heading within a newspaper article.


tympan

As the pressman returns the inkballs to the inkstone, the journeyman closes the frisket and tympan.

2000, Richard L. Saunders, Printing in Deseret:

(printing) A piece of cloth padding placed under the platen of a letterpress to distribute the pressure on the sheet being printed.


typecast

en-verb

typecast (third-person singular simple present typecasts, present participle typecasting, simple past and past participle typecast or typecasted)

typecasts (present singular third-person)
typecasting (participle present)
typecast (participle past)
typecast (past)
typecasted (participle past)
typecasted (past)

Duensing has elected to resuscitate and typecast faces that in the main might be termed scholarly in nature […]

1967, “Inland Printer, American Lithographer”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), volume 159, part 2, page 116:

(printing, historical) To found type in a mold.


lead out

lead out (third-person singular simple present leads out, present participle leading out, simple past and past participle leaded out)

leads out (present singular third-person)
leading out (participle present)
leaded out (participle past)
leaded out (past)

(printing, historical, transitive) To pad out (text) by inserting lead slugs between words.


excelsior

From Latin excelsior, comparative of excelsus (“high”). The name of the stuffing material was originally a trademark.

(US printing, dated) The size of type between Norse and brilliant, standardized as 3-point.


frisket

And while the Tympan is coming, he slips his Left Hand Fingers from under the Frisket to the hither outer corner of it, as well to keep the Sheet close to the Tympan in its position, as to avoid the jobbing of the lower side of the Frisket against the small square shoulder

1677–1683, Joseph Moxon, “(please specify the page)”, in Mechanick Exercises, or The Doctrine of Handy-Works, […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: […] Joseph Moxon, published 1678–1683, →OCLC:

(printing) A thin frame in a printing press that holds the sheet of paper in position and acts as a mask.


lithographic

(printing) Related to the method of lithography.


imprimatur

en-noun

imprimatur (plural imprimaturs or imprimantur)

imprimaturs (plural)
imprimantur (plural)

/ˌɪm.pɹɪˈmɑː.tə/

/ˌɪm.pɹɪˈmɑː.tʊə/

/ɪmˈpɹɪmətə/

/ɪmpɹɪˈmɑtʊɹ/

/ɪmˈpɹɪmətɚ/

/ɪmˈpɹɪmətʊɹ/

From Latin imprimātur (“let it be printed”), third person singular present subjunctive passive form of imprimere (“to imprint”).

The Cheats · A Comedy · Written in the Year, M.DC.LXII. Imprimatur, Roger L'estrange. Nov. 5. 1663. By John Wilson

1664, John Wilson, The Cheats, publication info page

Sometimes 5 Imprimaturs are ſeen together dialogue-wiſe in the Piatza of one Title page, complementing and ducking each other with their ſhav'n reverences, whether the Author, who ſtands by in perplexity at the foot of his Epiſtle, ſhall to the Preſſe or to the ſpunge.

1644, John Milton, Areopagitica; a Speech of Mr. John Milton for the Liberty of Unlicenc’d Printing, to the Parlament of England, London: [s.n.], →OCLC, page 8:

(printing) An official license to publish or print something, especially when censorship applies.


minum

(printing, obsolete) A small kind of printing type; minion.


catchword

(printing, historical) A word under the right-hand side of the last line on a book page that repeats the first word on the following page.

siirtymäsana

word that repeats the first word on the following page


lockup

(printing, historical) A device for locking type into position for printing.


go to bed

en-verb

go to bed (third-person singular simple present goes to bed, present participle going to bed, simple past went to bed, past participle gone to bed)

goes to bed (present singular third-person)
going to bed (participle present)
went to bed (past)
gone to bed (participle past)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-go to bed.wav

Already attested in Old English as tō bedde gān.

Coordinate term: put to bed

The army newspaper "went to bed" several hours before the civilian one, […]

1949, Max Eisen, How to Increase Daily Newspaper Circulation, page 43:

So gone are the days when a Vanguard reporter who had gone to cover an assignment in Victoria Island may not get to his office at Kirikiri before the newspaper went to bed because the reporter was held back by the usual Lagos traffic jam.

2007, Ikechukwu Enoch Nwosu, E. O. Soola, Communication in Global, ICTs and Ecosystem Perspectives, page 238:

(printing) Of a newspaper: to finish being prepared for printing.


dele

dele (third-person singular simple present deles, present participle deleing, simple past and past participle deled)

deles (present singular third-person)
deleing (participle present)
deled (participle past)
deled (past)

From Latin dēlē, second person singular imperative of dēleo (“delete”). Alternatively, a clipping of deleatur.

(printing, usually imperative) To delete.


set out

set out (third-person singular simple present sets out, present participle setting out, simple past and past participle set out)

sets out (present singular third-person)
setting out (participle present)
set out (participle past)
set out (past)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-set out.wav

(transitive, obsolete, printing) To arrange the necessary type into a printing press in preparation to run it.


set off

set off (third-person singular simple present sets off, present participle setting off, simple past and past participle set off)

sets off (present singular third-person)
setting off (participle present)
set off (participle past)
set off (past)

(printing, historical) To deface or soil the next sheet; said of the ink on a freshly printed sheet, when another sheet comes in contact with it before it has had time to dry.


lock up

lock up (third-person singular simple present locks up, present participle locking up, simple past and past participle locked up)

locks up (present singular third-person)
locking up (participle present)
locked up (participle past)
locked up (past)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-lock up.wav

(obsolete, printing) To fasten quoins securely with a mallet and a shooting-stick.


overprint

overprint (third-person singular simple present overprints, present participle overprinting, simple past and past participle overprinted)

overprints (present singular third-person)
overprinting (participle present)
overprinted (participle past)
overprinted (past)

/ˈəʊvə(ɹ)ˌpɹɪnt/

/ˌəʊvə(ɹ)ˈpɹɪnt/

(printing) To overlap different colours to avoid gaps.


keep down

keep down (third-person singular simple present keeps down, present participle keeping down, simple past and past participle kept down)

keeps down (present singular third-person)
keeping down (participle present)
kept down (participle past)
kept down (past)

(obsolete, printing) To refrain from using capital letters more than absolutely necessary.


oddment

(printing) A part of a book that is not a portion of the text, such as the title, index, etc. (usually plural).


imposition

en-noun

imposition (countable and uncountable, plural impositions)

From Middle English imposicioun, from Old French imposicion, from Latin impositio.

(printing) Arrangement of a printed product’s pages on the printer's sheet so as to have the pages in proper order in the final product.


duodecimo

Latin ablative of duodecimus (“twelfth”) (from duodecim 'twelve', from duo 'two' + decem 'ten')

(paper, printing) A size of paper, so called because it is originally made by folding and cutting a single sheet from a printing press into 12 leaves; (5 by 7¾ inches): 6.5 to 7.5 inches high, approximately 4.5 inches wide.

In recent years, I have taken to reading while walking. I believe the Romantics were guilty of such behavior; a duodecimo was small enough to fit into a jacket pocket.

2015, William Logan, “A Critics Notebook”, in Guilty Knowledge, Guilty Pleasure, page 304:

(printing) A book having pages of that size.


headband

From Middle English *hedband, from Old English hēafodbænd, hēafodbend (“headband”), equivalent to head + band. Cognate with Old High German houbitbant (“headband”), Dutch hoofdband (“headband”).

(printing) A thin slip of iron on the tympan of a printing-press.


hot metal

A Fleet Street veteran of the hot-metal days, he had moved to the Mediterranean and spotted an anglophone niche among the marinas and yacht brokers.

2000, JG Ballard, Super-Cannes, Fourth Estate, published 2011, page 127:

In the mid-80s, most British newspapers were still produced using hot metal, despite the widespread use elsewhere of modern offset litho technology.

2011 July 27, Jon Henley, “Rupert Murdoch and the battle of Wapping: 25 years on”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

hot metal typesetting
hot metal typesetting

(printing) Printing type cast from molten metal; hot metal typesetting.


distributor

(printing, historical) A machine for distributing type.

(printing, historical) An appliance, such as a roller, in a printing press, for distributing ink.


underprint

en-adj

underprint (comparative more underprint, superlative most underprint)

more underprint (comparative)
most underprint (superlative)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-underprint.wav

(printing) The addition of colour under black areas to produce a deeper black and prevent oversaturation of the paper.


Augustin

From French Saint-Augustin (“14-point type”).

(printing, French contexts, dated) Synonym of English.


plucking

en-noun

plucking (countable and uncountable, plural pluckings)

Letterpress and offset gloss varnishes normally have viscosities varying from 50 to 250 poises; they must stain the paper as little as possible, have insufficient tack to cause plucking, […]

1959, E. A. Apps, Printing Ink Technology, page 415:

(printing) The undesirable situation in which printed ink becomes detached from the paper.


strikeover

(printing) Strikeover or strikeout text, i.e., fonts where each letter appears to be "crossed out".


colour bar

(printing) A pattern of varying tonal density that enables visual and numeric comparisons to be made across multiple printed sheets or pages.


cast off

en-verb

cast off (third-person singular simple present casts off, present participle casting off, simple past cast off or casted off, past participle cast off)

casts off (present singular third-person)
casting off (participle present)
cast off (past)
casted off (past)
cast off (participle past)

To conserve type, copy was "cast off"; that is, type needed for the initial pages was estimated so that the pages need not be composed in the same sequence as the copy.

2012, Christa Jansohn, Problems of Editing, page 102:

(printing, historical) To estimate the amount of space required by the type used for the given copy.


photo-offset

en-noun

photo-offset (countable and uncountable, plural photo-offsets)

(printing) A method of offset printing that uses photolithographic plates.


photo-offset

en-verb

photo-offset (third-person singular simple present photo-offsets, present participle photo-offsetting, simple past and past participle photo-offset)

photo-offsets (present singular third-person)
photo-offsetting (participle present)
photo-offset (participle past)
photo-offset (past)

(transitive, intransitive, printing) To print by this method.


photolithography

From photo- (“light, photography”) + lithography.

prefix

(printing) A lithographic procedure in which printing plates are made using a photographic process.


shooting stick

(printing, historical) A printer's tool to be struck with a mallet for driving quoins.


space out

en-verb

space out (third-person singular simple present spaces out, present participle spacing out, simple past and past participle spaced out)

spaces out (present singular third-person)
spacing out (participle present)
spaced out (participle past)
spaced out (past)

(transitive, dated, typing, printing) To increase the white space between letters, words or lines.


space suppression

(computing, printing) The suppression of the normal advancement of paper in a printer after printing a line of text.


white out

white out (third-person singular simple present whites out, present participle whiting out, simple past and past participle whited out)

whites out (present singular third-person)
whiting out (participle present)
whited out (participle past)
whited out (past)

(obsolete, printing) To space out a composition for printing.


make-ready

(printing) A sheet of paper on which overlays are pasted for printing.

(printing) The process of preparing such sheets


electrotype

(printing) a plate, made by electroplating a mold, such as used in letterpress printing


woodblock

(printing) A wooden block used as a printing form.


stereotypy

en-noun

stereotypy (countable and uncountable, plural stereotypies)

(uncountable, printing) The process of making stereotype plates and printing from them.


halftone

(printing) A picture made by using the process of half-toning.


perfecting

perfecting (usually uncountable, plural perfectings)

(printing) The process of printing on both sides of the printed-on material during its single pass through the printing press.


headpiece

Coordinate term: frontispiece

A view of a Wenford train headed by this locomotive forms the headpiece to the present article.

1940 December, Charles E. Lee, “The Wenford Mineral Line”, in Railway Magazine, page 643:

(publishing, printing) A decorative page heading used at the start of volumes or chapters.


runaround

(printing) A section of type that is narrower than that of the column it is part of; typically next to an illustration.


princeps

Borrowed from Latin prī̆nceps (“first, foremost”). Doublet of prince and principe.

bor+

(printing) The editio princeps, or first edition of a book.


run in

en-verb

run in (third-person singular simple present runs in, present participle running in, simple past ran in, past participle run in)

runs in (present singular third-person)
running in (participle present)
ran in (past)
run in (participle past)

Coordinate term: run down

With these subsections, it is better to run their headings in.

(typography, printing) To insert (a word, etc.) without making a line break or new paragraph (so that it is not free-hanging).

(printing) To alter the position of matter to fill vacant space.


monotype

en-noun

monotype (countable and uncountable, plural monotypes)

From mono- + type or mono- + -type. The printing technique is so called because it allows only one impression to be taken.

(art, printing) A print made by creating the design using oil paint or printer's ink on metal or glass, then transferring the image directly to paper.

monotype

a print of some design created on metal or glass

(art, printing, uncountable) The technique of making such prints.


reiteration

reiteration (countable and uncountable, plural reiterations)

From reiterate + -ion, equivalent to re- + iteration.

(printing, historical, countable) The form that backs or perfects paper already printed on one side.


dust jacket

(printing, publishing) The detachable paper cover of a book; used to protect the binding, and to provide blurb.


process color

Coordinate term: spot color

(printing) A printing process which uses four specific colored inks: cyan, magenta, yellow and black (CMYK), and halftone printing plates, to reproduce a range of colors.


run on

en-verb

run on (third-person singular simple present runs on, present participle running on, simple past ran on, past participle run on)

runs on (present singular third-person)
running on (participle present)
ran on (past)
run on (participle past)

(printing, historical) To carry on or continue (e.g. the type for a new sentence) without making a break or commencing a new paragraph.


minikin

en-noun

minikin (countable and uncountable, plural minikins)

From Middle Dutch minnekijn (“darling, beloved”), from minne (“love”) (cf. minnesinger) and the diminutive suffix -kijn.

der

(uncountable, UK printing, dated) The size of type smaller than brilliant, standardized as 3-point.


foxing

en-noun

foxing (countable and uncountable, plural foxings)

(printing) The discoloration of printed material with brown marks.


counterpunch

(printing, historical) A punch used in the cutting of other punches, often used to create the negative space in or around a glyph.


mealiness

mealiness (usually uncountable, plural mealinesses)

(printing) Synonym of foxing: blemishes in a print or printed work.


twelvemo

(printing) a page, book etc. of that size


reverso

(printing) Any of the left-hand pages of a book.


flyboy

(printing, historical, slang) A man employed to clear the printed copies from the printing press.


rathole

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-rathole.wav


come off

en-verb

come off (third-person singular simple present comes off, present participle coming off, simple past came off, past participle come off)

comes off (present singular third-person)
coming off (participle present)
came off (past)
come off (participle past)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-come off.wav

This one came off easily.

(obsolete, printing, of a printed sheet) To finish being printed.


come in

come in (third-person singular simple present comes in, present participle coming in, simple past came in, past participle come in)

comes in (present singular third-person)
coming in (participle present)
came in (past)
come in (participle past)

From Middle English com in, imperative form of Middle English incomen (“to come in; enter”), from Old English incuman (“to come in; enter”), from Proto-Germanic *inkwemaną (“to come in; enter”), equivalent to come + in. Compare Dutch kom in (“come in”), singular imperative form of inkomen (“to come in; enter”), German einkommen (“to come in; enter”). See also income, incoming.

inh

(obsolete, printing, of a copy) To be correctly placed in preparation for printing.


en-noun

32mo (usually uncountable, plural 32mos)

(printing) A book with leaves of such size, about the size of a contemporary trade paperback.


trigesimo-secundo

From Latin ablatives of trīgēsimus (“thirtieth”) and secundus (“second”).

(printing) A book size, (3.75"-5" x 2.5"-3.125"), corresponding to the paper size.


thirty-twomo

(printing) A paper size, (3.75"-5" x 2.5"-3.125"), one thirty-second of an uncut free sheet.

(printing) A book size, corresponding to the paper size.


sextodecimo

From Latin ablative of sextusdecimus (“sixteenth”).

(paper, printing) A size of a sheet of paper resulting from folding and cutting a sheet of paper into sixteenths (3.25"-5" x 5"-6.25").

(printing) A book consisting of pages of that size.


-mo

From Latin ending and apparent suffix of cardinal numbers.

(paper, printing) Used to form page and book sizes.


octodecimo

From Latin ablative of octusdecimus (“eighteenth”).

(paper, printing) A size of a sheet of paper resulting from folding and cutting a sheet of paper into eighteenths (3.5"-4.5" x 4.9"-5.9").


fat

en-adj

fat (comparative fatter, superlative fattest)

fatter (comparative)
fattest (superlative)

Of sense: lean

carrying a larger than normal amount of fat; antonym(s) of

Sranan Tongo: fatu

From Middle English fat, from Old English fǣtt (“fatted, fat”), from Proto-West Germanic *faitid (“fatted”), originally the past participle of the verb *faitijan (“to make fat”), from *fait (“fat”).

chubby

a fat take; a fat page

(dated, printing) Of a character which enables the compositor to make large wages; said of matter containing blank, cuts, or many leads, etc.


fat

Sranan Tongo: fatu

From Middle English fat, fatt, fatte, from the adjective above, and possibly from Old English fǣt (“fat”, recorded once), from Proto-West Germanic *fait, from Proto-Germanic *faitą, *faitaz (“fat”).

lard

in animals; derogatory slang when used of human fat

(dated, printing) Work containing much blank, or its equivalent, and therefore profitable to the compositor.


vicesimo-quarto

From Latin ablatives of vīcēsimus (“twentieth”) and quartus (“fourth”).

(printing) A book size, (2.5"-3.3" x 5"-6.25"), corresponding to the paper size.


quadragesimo-octavo

From Latin ablatives of quadrāgēsimus (“fortieth”) and octāvus (“eighth”).

(printing) A book size, (2.5"-3.1" x 2.5"-3.3"), corresponding to the paper size.


sexagesimo-quarto

From Latin ablatives of sexāgēsimus (“sixtieth”) and quartus (“fourth”).

(printing) A book size, (1.87"-2.5" x 2.5"-3.125"), corresponding to the paper size.


paper jam

(printing) A malfunction in a computer's printer or a photocopier or similar device occurring when sheets of paper become jammed inside.


gravure

en-noun

gravure (countable and uncountable, plural gravures)

for too long have the walls of our houses been adorned with examples of effete Old World portrait gravure.

1916 March 25, Irvin S. Cobb, “"Unaccustomed as I am—"”, in Saturday Evening Post:

THE POCKET ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF BRITISH STEAM LOCOMOTIVES. By O. S. Nock. Blandford Press. 18s.
Mr. Nock, he remarks in his preface, was "incredulous" when the idea of this book of 192 colour gravure illustrations of a representative collection of British steam locomotives from Locomotion to BR's Evening Star was broached to him.

1964 December, “New Books”, in Modern Railways, page 429:

(art, printing) A type of intaglio printing process, in which an image is engraved onto a rotating copper cylinder.


line art

(printing, graphic design) Artwork to be reproduced with one solid colour, contrasted with artwork having tone or shading (halftones), or full colour (colour separations).


multigraph

(historical, printing) A combined rotary typesetting and printing machine for office use. The type is transferred semi-automatically by means of keys from a type-supply drum to a printing drum. The printing may be done by means of an inked ribbon to print "typewritten" letters, or directly from inked type or a stereotype plate, as in a printing press.


monoline

With the straight matter being set on the linotype or monoline, the hand compositor was left with what he claimed was the most 'skilled' part of his old work.

1993, Rae Frances, The Politics of Work: Gender and Labour in Victoria 1880-1939, →ISBN, page 126:

(printing, dated) A type of composing machine in which each line of type is cast as a single slug.


union bug

Printed matter circulated by the (US) Democratic Party inevitably displays a union bug.

(printing) A maker’s mark imprinted on a work to show that it is sanctioned by members of a trade union. It is often a tiny elongated rhomboid containing and surrounded by, in minuscule typeface, identifying names and the union’s local chapter number.


bookjacket

Under certain circumstances and because of the method of application, lamination of all but the flaps of a bookjacket can prove more costly...

1965, The Bookseller: The Organ of the Book Trade:

(printing, publishing) The jacket of a book.


galley proof

Coordinate term: page proof

(printing) A trial page or proof of continuous text that has not been divided into pages.


page proof

Coordinate term: galley proof

(printing) A trial page or proof that has been made up into pages.


digital press

(printing) A high-speed industrial digital printer.


metal master

(printing) A metal sheet used in offset printing for carrying ink onto the rubber printing form.


black-letter

a black-letter manuscript or book

In the summer of 1877, a gentleman with whom I was well acquainted, took lodgings in Preston-street, Brighton. The morning after his arrival, he found in the W.C. some leaves of an old black-letter book.

1880, William Blades, The Enemies of Books, page 54:

(printing) Written or printed in black letter.


hair stroke

(printing) A fine line drawn out at the top or bottom of a letter.


anilox

(printing) A method used to provide a measured amount of ink to a flexo printing plate, involving a hard cylinder whose surface is covered in tiny cells that capture the ink.


whiskering

(printing) A defect of gravure printing characterized by printed areas possessing hairlike tendrils of ink sticking out into non-image areas.


screenless

(printing) That does not involve a screen; see screen printing.


reverse intaglio

reverse intaglio (plural reverse intaglios)

(art, printing) A design impressed into the back of transparent or translucent items.


reglet

The footsticks may be a trifle shorter than the width of two pages and the gutter; for as there should always be a line of quadrats, or a reglet cut to measure, at the foot of each page, the footstick may be a pica shorter without danger, on this account, of any thing falling out, when the form is lifted and it thus prevents the side and foot sticks from binding when locked up.

1841, William Savage, A Dictionary of the Art of Printing, page 330:

(printing) A strip of wood or metal of the height of a quadrat, used for regulating the space between pages in a chase, and also for spacing out title pages and other open matter.


slip sheet

(printing) A sheet inserted between freshly printed pages to prevent them from sticking together.


doctor blade

(printing) A metal blade used in printing for scraping off excess ink or toner from the printing roll.


jeff

en-verb

jeff (third-person singular simple present jeffs, present participle jeffing, simple past and past participle jeffed)

jeffs (present singular third-person)
jeffing (participle present)
jeffed (participle past)
jeffed (past)

(printing slang, intransitive) To play or gamble with em quads, throwing them as dice.


jeffing

(printing slang) A dice game played with em quads.


flong

A few sheets of paper are soaked in water and then pasted together to form a flong. This flong is beaten into a page of type and dried, thus forming a matrix to receive the molten metal, which, when cooled, becomes an exact duplicate of the type page.

1892, Charles Sumner Partridge, Stereotyping, the Papier Mache Process:

(printing) A mould, especially one made from papier-mâché, used to create a stereotype.


contone

(printing) Having a continuous range of tones from white to black, rather than an approximation such as stippling.


contone

(printing) An image having a continuous range of tones from white to black, rather than an approximation such as stippling.


ductor

From Latin ductor, agent noun of duco (“to lead”).

1883, Andrew Overend, "Inking apparatus for printing-machines", US patent US363760, filed 9 November 1883, issued 24 May 1887.
The combination, with a fountain-roller and an ink-cylinder, of a ductor movable between said roller and cylinder for delivering ink from one to the other...

Ink is transferred to the ink distribution rollers by a ductor roller.

2004, Daniel Gamota, Printed Organic and Molecular Electronics, Springer, published 2004, →ISBN:

(printing) A device, usually in the form of an oscillating roller, for transferring ink from a source to the ink train rollers in a controlled manner.


coronis

From the Latin corōnis, from the Ancient Greek κορωνίς (korōnís, “crasis coronis”, “editorial coronis”); cognate with the French coronis.

uder

(printing, publishing) A device, curved stroke, or flourish formed with a pen, coming at the end of a book or chapter; a colophon. For example: ⸎, ۞.


editioning

(printing, art) The process of making a small number of prints available, in order to make the print more lucrative.


anastatic

en-adj

anastatic (comparative more anastatic, superlative most anastatic)

more anastatic (comparative)
most anastatic (superlative)

(printing, historical) Of or relating to a printing process in which copies of drawings are printed from facsimiles produced in relief on zinc plates.


sheetfed

(printing, of a press) Into which individual sheets of paper or paperboard are loaded.


linocut

/ˈlʌɪnəʊkʌt/

Still, this book's offbeat settings and strong, simple illustrations, in acrylic paint with pencil and rough-hewn linocut outlines, should help preschoolers — and parents — realize that when you bring some creativity to pet ownership, even a fish can be fun.

2009 June 14, Ann Hodgman, “A kid’s best friends: goldfish”, in The New York Times:

(art, printing) A type of woodcut in which a block of linoleum is used for the relief surface; the design cut into the block.


repro

en-noun

repro (countable and uncountable, plural repros)

This reproduction proof, commonly called the repro, is sent to the designer for pasting on to the mechanical.

1982, David Gates, Graphic Design Studio Procedures, page 124:

This will be a complete image of the advertisement, with all the elements correctly positioned and every word of copy printed and pasted down; such printed type (called 'repro') is obtained from a blockmaking and typesetting house by the typographer in exactly the same way that he will obtain the proof of a letterpress advertisement.

2013, W. A. Evans, Advertising Today and Tomorrow:

(printing) The proof prepared in offset printing, with all elements positioned on the page.


patch up

en-verb

patch up (third-person singular simple present patches up, present participle patching up, simple past and past participle patched up)

patches up (present singular third-person)
patching up (participle present)
patched up (participle past)
patched up (past)


overset

overset (third-person singular simple present oversets, present participle oversetting, simple past and past participle overset)

oversets (present singular third-person)
oversetting (participle present)
overset (participle past)
overset (past)

From Middle English oversetten (“to set over, upset”), from Old English ofersettan (“to set over, install, conquer, overcome”), from Proto-West Germanic *ubarsattjan (“to set or place over, install, establish”), equivalent to over- + set. Compare Saterland Frisian uursätte (“to cross over, translate”), West Frisian oersette (“to translate”), Dutch overzetten (“to ferry, transport, translate”), German übersetzen (“to cross over, translate”), Swedish översätta (“to translate”).

cog

(printing) to set (type or copy) in excess of what is needed; to set too much type for a given space.


column inch

... advertisements, $40 per column inch per year.

1877, Pettengill's newspaper directory and advertisers' hand-book for 1877, page 87:

One mass-circulation Sunday newspaper recently devoted several column inches to an unnecessary weekend working from Stratford to the Essex coast to provide empty stock for an up service that had ceased its high summer running the previous Saturday.

1959 November, “Talking of Trains: The anti-railway prejudice”, in Trains Illustrated, page 517:

Train operating companies get plenty of column inches in the tabloids, usually for negative reasons. Happily, Southeastern is worthy of praise for having made The Sun for something positive.

2024 February 21, Nick Brodrick, “Inclusion and development for all”, in RAIL, number 1003, page 62:

(printing) One inch of a printed column; a measure of space allocated.


FFF

fused filament fabrication
w:fused filament fabrication

(printing) Initialism of fused filament fabrication.


spanish

en-verb

spanish (third-person singular simple present spanishes, present participle spanishing, simple past and past participle spanished)

spanishes (present singular third-person)
spanishing (participle present)
spanished (participle past)
spanished (past)

Such papers have been print-embossed or spanished to obtain special effects.

1969, Robert H. Mosher, Dale Stroble Davis, Industrial and Specialty Papers: Applications, page 180:

(printing) To subject to spanishing, a printing process in which an ink is deposited on the bottoms and sides of depressions formed in a plastic material


spanishing

(printing, manufacturing) A printing process in which an ink is deposited on the bottoms and sides of depressions formed in a material, usually plastic


tailpiece

Coordinate term: headpiece

(printing) An ornamental design at the end of a chapter or page.

кінці́вка

(printing) ornamental design at the end of a chapter or page


catchline

(printing) A temporary note at the top of a page or galley proof to identify it.


deleatur

Borrowed from Latin deleatur (“it is deleted; it is destroyed”).

bor

[…] having been ironically reprimanded for inventing ingenuous errors, [he] will have to allow the errors of others to pass, when what he is tempted to do, and rightly so, is to fill the margins of the page with a flurry of indignant deleaturs […]

2011, José Saramago, History of the Siege Of Lisbon, page 32:

(printing) dele (“mark signifying deletion”)


brevier

Probably from Old French or Anglo-Norman *brevier, from Latin breviārium (“breviary”), presumably from its use in printing them. Most breviaries were not, however, printed with such small type, leading some to conjecture that it instead derived from cognates of brief and has a meaning similar to French petit and German Petit.

(typography, printing, dated) The size of type between minion and bourgeois, standardized as 8-point.


counterproof

(printing) The inverted image of an original proof.


put to bed

en-verb

put to bed (third-person singular simple present puts to bed, present participle putting to bed, simple past and past participle put to bed)

puts to bed (present singular third-person)
putting to bed (participle present)
put to bed (participle past)
put to bed (past)

Coordinate term: go to bed

(transitive, idiomatic, printing) To prepare (a newspaper) for printing.


scrape up

scrape up (third-person singular simple present scrapes up, present participle scraping up, simple past and past participle scraped up)

scrapes up (present singular third-person)
scraping up (participle present)
scraped up (participle past)
scraped up (past)

(transitive, printing, obsolete) To clean a roller and slab by removing ink.


pompet

(historical, printing) A ball used for inking the type.


mittel

(printing, German contexts, dated) Synonym of English.


CMY

(printing) Initialism of cyan, magenta, yellow.


spirit duplicator

en-noun

spirit duplicator (plural spirit duplicators)

The advantage of using old-fashioned spirit duplicators and mimeograph machines is in the cost per page, which is typically less than a penny, as against 2 or 3 cents per copy from a laser printer.

1992 August 2, Peter H. Lewis, “Low-Tech Renewal”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(historical, printing) An early document copier using alcohol-based solvents.


incut

incut notes

(printing) Inserted in a reserved space of the text instead of in the main margin.


incut

(printing) A note inserted in a reserved space of the text instead of in the main margin.


Columbian

Columbian (countable and uncountable, plural Columbians)

(uncountable, US printing, dated) A size of type between English and great primer, standardized as 16-point.


runover

(printing) A line of text that overruns the available space.


keyplate

(printing) The plate that prints the detail in an image.


lay on

en-verb

lay on (third-person singular simple present lays on, present participle laying on, simple past and past participle laid on)

lays on (present singular third-person)
laying on (participle present)
laid on (participle past)
laid on (past)

(obsolete, printing) To feed sheets in for printing one by one.


perfecting press

en-noun

perfecting press (plural perfecting presses)

(printing) A press in which the printing on both sides of the paper is completed in one passage through the machine.


Long Primer

Initially from primer (“prayer book”) from its use in those volumes in Protestant England. The qualifier was subsequently added to distinguish it from great primer and may derive from early editions published on long duodecimo paper.

(printing, dated) The size of type between bourgeois and small pica, standardized as 10-point.


scaleboard

During the time it is working down , the head and winter will require an additional scaleboard now and then , which will be ascertained by observing whether the pull produces an adequate impression

1808, Caleb Stower, The Compositor's and Pressman's Guide to the Art of Printing:

(obsolete, printing) A thin slip of wood used to justify a page.


rounce

Compare French ronce (“bramble, brier, thorn”), ranche (“a round, step, rack”), or English round.

(printing) The handle by which the bed of a hand press, holding the form of type, etc., is run in under the platen and out again.

(printing) The whole apparatus by which the form is moved under the platen.


stickful

stickful (plural stickfuls or sticksful)

That first morning it took me half an hour to set my first stickful, a dozen lines.

1970, Hal Borland, Country editor's boy, page 55:

Stickful after stickful is placed on this galley, until it also is full.

1980, John Southward, Practical Printing: A Handbook to the Art of Typography, page 82:

Football stories may be divided into three general classes: the brief summary story of a stickful or a trifle more; the usual football story of a half column or less; and the long story that may be run through a column or more, depending upon the importance of the game.

2009, Phillip J. Morledge, Getting the Scoop:

(printing, dated) As much type as fills a composing stick.


minionette

From minion + -ette (“forming diminutives”).

(uncountable, US printing, typography, dated) A size of type between nonpareil and minion, standardized as 6½-point.


letterboard

(printing, historical) A board on which matter in type is placed for storage or manipulation.


counterprove

en-verb

counterprove (third-person singular simple present counterproves, present participle counterproving, simple past and past participle counterproved)

counterproves (present singular third-person)
counterproving (participle present)
counterproved (participle past)
counterproved (past)

(printing, transitive) To take a counterproof of.


dossil

From Middle English, from Old French dosil (“spigot”), from Late Latin ducīculus, diminutive from Latin dux (“guide”). See duct, duke.

(printing) A roll of cloth for wiping off the face of a copperplate, leaving the ink in the engraved lines.


Caxton

(printing) A kind of printing-type in imitation of William Caxton's.


en-noun

64mo (usually uncountable, plural 64mos)

39. Reed, C. A., H. F. Harvey, & R. I. Brasher. WESTERN BIRD GUIDE: Birds of the Rockies & West to the Pacific. 286 pgs with index. Color prints throughout. Red fabricoid, with chipped cardboard slipcase. Oblong 64mo. NY: Doubleday, Doran, 1937. Very good condition, with fair case. $21.50 [115273]

2000 April 29, Acorn Books, “FS: 2nd Miscellany of 25 NEW ARRIVALS, Sat., April 29, 2000.”, in rec.arts.books.marketplace (Usenet):

(paper, printing) A size of paper or book: 1.87"-2.5" x 2.5"-3.125".


neverfade

2 beautiful doubleweight gloss enlargements. 8 guaranteed neverfade prints each roll 25c.

1940 November, Popular Mechanics, volume 74, number 5, page 626:

(photography, printing, dated) Never fading; permanent.


doubleweight

To reproduce right-of-way, speed-restriction, yard-limit, and other signs, photograph the original signs, and make prints, scale size, on doubleweight paper.

1958 December, Boys' Life, volume 48, number 12, page 8:

(photography, printing) Being or relating to a paper of twice the ordinary weight.


3D printer

→ Japanese: 3Dプリンター (surīdī purintā)

→ Korean: 3D 프린터 (sseuridi peurinteo)

/ˈθɹiː ˈdiː ˈpɹɪntə(ɹ)/

/ˈθɹi ˈdi ˈpɹɪntɚ/

[ˈθɹi ˈdi ˈpɹɪɾ̃ɚ]

(printing) A device for making three-dimensional solid objects from a digital model.


type face

(typography, printing) Alternative form of typeface


parathesis

parathesis (countable and uncountable, plural paratheses)

From Ancient Greek παράθεσις (paráthesis, “putting beside”).

uder

(printing) The matter contained within brackets.


en-noun

16mo (usually uncountable, plural 16mos)


24mo (usually uncountable, plural 24mos)


planography

(printing) A form of printing from a flat surface, as opposed to a raised or incised one.


18mo (usually uncountable, plural 18mos)

(printing) A book size octodecimo-sized pages.


ballstock

(printing, historical) The handle of a printer's ball.


typecutter

(printing, historical) A person who cuts the die used in traditional printing.


imposing stone

[The printer] gathers the letters marked as corrections in the margin, together with a quantity of spaces of all sizes, and returns to the forms, which in the meanwhile one of them has laid up on the imposing-stones and unlocked.

1841, Thomas Curson Hansard, Treatise on Printing and Type-founding:

Imposition is the process of arranging type forms in the desired position for printing so that they may be locked-up om readiness for the press. It is commonly known as stone-work to the practical printer, because the forms are placed and handled on an imposing stone, and the workmen are known as Impositors.

1922, Clifford Wilson Hague, Textbook of Printing Occupations, page 137:

After the type form has been proofed, corrected, and tied up again, it is ready for printing and must be locked up. This is done on the imposing stone (called a stone because of the flat marble or sandstone on top of the imposing table.

1971, Technical Manual: TM 8-290: Craft Techniques in Occupational Therapy, United States Department of the Army, page 12-25:

(printing, historical) The stone on which the pages or columns of type are imposed or made into forms.


throwout

throwout (countable and uncountable, plural throwouts)

From throw out, in the sense of having been thrown out of society.

(printing) A folded sheet that opens out to one side; half a gatefold.


run upon sorts

en-verb

run upon sorts (third-person singular simple present runs upon sorts, present participle running upon sorts, simple past ran upon sorts, past participle run upon sorts)

runs upon sorts (present singular third-person)
running upon sorts (participle present)
ran upon sorts (past)
run upon sorts (participle past)

The writer remembers once printing a large index of map titles, which ran upon sorts so peculiarly that a two hundred-pound font of body letter had to be provided with two hundred pounds of sorts before the job was completed.

American Printer and Lithographer (volume 25, page 327)

(printing, dated) To use or require a greater number of some particular letters or symbols than the regular proportion, as, for example, when making an index.


galley slice

(printing, obsolete) A sliding false bottom to a large galley.


printer's ream

(UK, printing, dated) Twenty-one and a half quires of paper.


small pica

(printing, dated) The size of type between long primer and pica, standardized as 11 point.


composing frame

en-noun

composing frame (plural composing frames)

(printing, dated) A stand for holding cases of type when in use.


composing rule

(printing, historical) A thin slip of brass or steel, against which the type is arranged in a composing stick, or by the aid of which stickfuls or handfuls or type are lifted.


double letter

(printing) Two letters on one shank; a ligature.


bastard type

(printing, historical) Type having the face of a larger or smaller size than the body.


space rule

(printing, historical) A fine, thin, short metal rule of the same height as the type, used in printing short lines in tabular matter.


space line

(printing, historical) A thin piece of metal used to open the lines of type to a regular distance from each other, and for other purposes; a lead.


foot stick

(printing, historical) A bevelled piece of furniture placed against the foot of the page, to hold the type in place.


proof sheet

Across his face were the proof-sheets of his first, small, delicate-looking volume…A small page, the type black and still odorous!

1924, Ford Madox Ford, Some Do Not… (Parade's End), Penguin, published 2012, page 12:

(printing) A page of proofed text; a sheet used to make corrections, emendations etc. before being printed for use.


48mo (usually uncountable, plural 48mos)


unlead

en-verb

unlead (third-person singular simple present unleads, present participle unleading, simple past and past participle unleaded)

unleads (present singular third-person)
unleading (participle present)
unleaded (participle past)
unleaded (past)

(transitive, printing, historical) To take out the leads from (printed matter that has been set up).


typecase

(printing, historical) A case containing the printer's type characters.


AIP

(printing technology) acoustic inkjet printing


IJP

(printing technology) Initialism of inkjet printing.


great primer

From primer (“prayer book”), with the qualifier distinguishing it from primer or long primer, a smaller size.

(printing, historical) The size of type between English and paragon, standardized as 18-point, used in the printing of large-format English bibles.


sidestick

The sidesticks should be of the full length of the page, and abut against the headsticks on the outside of the form .

1841, William Savage, A Dictionary of the Art of Printing, page 330:

Neither the sidestick nor the footstick should project beyond the other, as it will prevent the quoins from passing, and in unlocking will give a great deal of trouble.

1863, H. Morgan, A Dictionary of Terms Used in Printing, page 53:

In using common footsticks and sidesticks, however, the broad part of the sidestick would be at the top left-hand corner of the left side section of the forme, and the broad part of the footstick at the lower right-hand corner.

1884, John Southward, Practical Printing: A Handbook of the Art of Typography, page 138:

(printing, historical) A sloped or beveled piece of wood or metal placed against the side of a page that is being typeset, and locked in place by quoins.


tablework

(printing, historical) Typesetting of tabular matter.


press proof

(printing, historical) The last proof for correction before sending to press.

(printing, historical) A proof taken on a press, especially to show impression, margins, colour, etc.


roll-to-roll processing
roll-to-roll processing#English

(printing) Abbreviation of roll-to-roll processing.

reel-to-reel processing
reel-to-reel processing#English

(printing) Abbreviation of reel-to-reel processing.


press revise

(printing, historical) A proof for final revision.


typograph

(printing, historical) A machine for setting type or for casting lines of type and setting them.


Garamond

Claude Garamont
Garamond
Garamond (typography)

From Garamondus, the Latin form of the name of Claude Garamont.

(German printing, dated) Synonym of Long Primer.


small text

(printing, dated) A small size of type, in French and Italian printing, usually conflated with brevier but technically treated as 7½ Didot points.


double bourgeois

(uncommon, printing, dated) Synonym of great primer.


two-line brevier

(printing, UK, dated) A size of type between English and great primer, standardized as 16-point.


nonpareille

(printing): From French nonpareille and German Nonpareille (“6-point type”).

(printing, French and German contexts, dated) Synonym of nonpareil


double pica

(printing, dated) A large size of type, standardized as (UK) 22- or (US) 24-point.


double small pica

(printing, dated) A large size of type, standardized as (UK) 21- or (US) 22-point.


two-line pica

(printing, UK, historical) A large size of type, standardized as 24-point.


double English

(printing, US, dated) The size of type between double pica and double great primer, standardized as 28-point.


two-line English

two-line great primer
two-line great primer

(printing, UK, dated) The size of type between two-line pica and two-line great primer, standardized as 28-point.


double great primer

(printing, US, dated) The size of type between double English and meridian, standardized as 36-point.


two-line great primer

two-line double pica
two-line double pica

(printing, UK, dated) The size of type between two-line English and two-line double pica, standardized as 36-point.


two-line double pica

(printing, UK, dated) The size of type between two-line great primer and canon, standardized as 44-point.


CIJ

continuous inkjet
continuous inkjet#English

(printing) Initialism of continuous inkjet.


TIJ

(printing) Initialism of thermal inkjet.


hellbox

(printing, historical) A receptacle where cast metal sorts were thrown after printing.


bokashi

(printing) A technique in Japanese woodblock printing that achieves a variation in lightness and darkness of a single colour by means of ink applied by hand in gradations, rather than uniformly.


upmaking

en-noun

upmaking (usually uncountable, plural upmakings)

(printing, historical) The arrangement of lines into columns or pages.


varitype

From a former trade name, VariTyper, presumably from variable and typer.

(printing, historical) A kind of advanced typewriter that could use various different typefaces.


varitype

en-verb

varitype (third-person singular simple present varitypes, present participle varityping, simple past and past participle varityped)

varitypes (present singular third-person)
varityping (participle present)
varityped (participle past)
varityped (past)

(printing, historical) To prepare printed material using a machine of this kind.


typeholder

(printing, historical) A container for type.


editio princeps

en-noun

editio princeps (plural editiones principes)

From New Latin ēditiō prīnceps (“first edition”), 1800s.

bor

A caller interrupted me yesterday, a most persistent fellow and a dangerous one to the purse of the tyro collector of Americana, though not to me. He was a man of some pretence to classic education, and superficially versed in lore of title, date, and editio princeps.

1903, Mabel Osgood Wright, People of the Whirlpool:

The extract from the Missal of Constance, which was printed before the editio princeps […] does not contain the formulae for Advent, Sundays after Epiphany, Lent and the Sundays after Easter and Pentecost; […]

2004, Thomas Fisch, editor, Primary Readings on the Eucharist, Liturgical Press, →ISBN, footnote, page 34:

If the editio princeps was an attempt to create an authoritative version of the pontifical, such was not yet attainable.

2007, Terence Bailey, Alma Colk Santosuosso, editors, Music in Medieval Europe […] , Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., →ISBN, page 199:

(humanities, printing) The first printed edition of a work previously only published in manuscript form.

eerste druk

first printed edition of a work previously only published as manuscript


homeset

This carries b'ack face eight point heads in caps and lower case: since most papers today use this same style head for homeset short stories, the match is perfect.

1919, New York State College of Agriculture, The Service Sheet - Volumes 1-8, page 11:

If you use much plate matter, make your choice of homeset heads to match those on the plate matter.

1920, Cornell Extension Bulletin - Issues 41-70, page 29:

In the local newspaper office, the printer sprinkled the sheets with water to moisten them for the new impressions and with homeset type printed the rest of the paper.

2002, Charles Johanningsmeier, Fiction and the American Literary Marketplace, →ISBN, page 42:

(printing) The type used as a standard by a specific publisher.


upmaker

(printing) A person employed to make up galley proofs in page mode.


3D print

en-verb

3D print (third-person singular simple present 3D prints, present participle 3D printing, simple past and past participle 3D printed)

3D prints (present singular third-person)
3D printing (participle present)
3D printed (participle past)
3D printed (past)

(printing, transitive) To use a 3D printer to make (a three-dimensional solid object) from a digital model.


headstick

(printing, historical) A straight piece of furniture placed at the head of a form, between the chase and the type.


setting rule

(printing, historical) Synonym of composing rule


vigesimo-quarto

(printing) Formed of sheets folded so as to make twenty-four leaves.


stigmatypy

(printing, historical) A technique of printing with points, consisting of their arrangement in pictures.


cropmark

The new paths are automatically selected; if you want to remove the guides, press Delete. Set Cropmarks adds standard cropmarks to your artwork.

1992, David A. Holzgang, The Adobe illustrator 3.2: designer's guide, Sybex Incorporated:

(printing) Any of the marks placed at the corners of a form to indicate where the page is to be trimmed.


handman

From hand + man, modelled after handmaiden, etc. For the printing sense, see by hand.

The handman reads copy and assembles type by hand, including straight composition, tables and display.

1918, The Industrial Education Survey of the City of New York, page 44:

(printing) One who assembles printing type by hand.


typometer

(typography, printing) A ruler traditionally used in the graphic arts to inspect the measures of typographic materials.


height to paper

en-noun

height to paper (plural heights to paper)

(printing) In typefounding, the length of a type from its face to its foot.


church text

(printing, historical) A tall, thin form of black-letter print.


letterfounder

(printing, historical) One who founds or casts letters or types.


sheepsfoot

(printing, historical) A printer's tool with a claw at one end for prizing up forms.


brachy

Mostly clippings of various scientific terms prefixed with brachy- (short), from the Ancient Greek βραχύ (brakhú).

(orthography, printing) A breve, as applied to Ancient Greek <˘>.


type-high

a type-high woodcut

(printing) Of the standard height of a line of type.


typometry

(printing, historical) Printing maps or drawings with moveable type.


ennage

On the Linofilm the 'ennage' per hour falls sharply with the number of grid changes, particularly if you are setting mathematics. Will the same thing apply on the Linotron?

1965, Institute of Printing, Report of Proceedings, page 230:

(printing) The number of ens involved in a typesetting job.


linecasting

(printing) The use of a linecaster to cast entire lines of type in metal slugs.


Ben Day

Named after illustrator and printer Benjamin Henry Day Jr.

the Ben Day process; Ben Day dots

(printing, attributive) A printing and photoengraving technique dating from the late 19th century, involving coloured dots or some other simple repeating pattern, spaced or overlapping, to produce more complex mixed colours.


two-line

two-line nonpareil or pica

(printing) Having a depth of body equal to double that of the size specified.


benday

en-verb

benday (third-person singular simple present bendays, present participle bendaying, simple past and past participle bendayed)

bendays (present singular third-person)
bendaying (participle present)
bendayed (participle past)
bendayed (past)

The artist then proceeds to work on the dyed print, performing any ruling, bendaying, lettering or whatever art work is necessary.

1937, Joseph Stephen Mertle, Harry Keusch, Photolithography & Offset Printing: A Reference Manual of Modern Procedure, page 184:

(printing, archaic) To use the Ben Day printing and photoengraving technique.


insetter

(printing) A device for inserting pre-printed color segments into a monochrome publication.


tint block

(printing, historical) A surface prepared for printing a background.


twenty-fours

(printing) A form of composed type or plates containing 24 leaves or 48 pages, properly arranged for printing and folding.

(printing) A book made up of sections of 24 pages.


short pull

(printing, obsolete) A light impression on a hand-press.


type bar

(printing, historical) A line of type cast in one piece, as in a linotype or typograph.


typescale

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-typescale.wav

(printing, historical) A measuring-rod for type.


handpress

(printing, historical) An early printing press operated by means of a handle that applied pressure on the form.


grass hand

Some strong criticism was expressed at the present practice of taking on grass hands, and the inconvenience and unpleasantness resulting from it in various foundries.

1921, British and Colonial Printer and Stationer: And Newspaper Press:

A dispute has arisen on the "Referee" owing to some men holding full frames working as grass hands on Saturday afternoons.

(printing, archaic) An additional worker taken on at busy times.


short cross

(printing, historical) The short crossbar of a printer's chase.


leporello

en-noun

leporello (countable and uncountable, plural leporellos)

Don Giovanni
Leporello
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Named after Leporello, the servant of the eponymous character in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's opera Don Giovanni, who unfolds a long list of Don Giovanni's love conquests.

Because of the accordion fold and leporello binding the book can be stretched out to its full length, showing a rich color field in transition.

2011, J. Susan Isaacs, “Artist Biographies and Works in Exhibition”, in J. Susan Isaacs, editor, The Book: A Contemporary View, Wilmington, DE: Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts, →ISBN, page 18:

(uncountable, printing) A style of parallel folding with the folds alternating between front and back; concertina fold.

These charming leporellos are once more available from Australian lBBY. The first batch sold out very quickly. ¶ The leporellos, consisting of ten frames each, with each frame having been designed by some of the world's most famous children's illustrators, may be used as […]

Paper artworks belong in an analagous category, not unrelated to the works of book art. Designer Michael Marschall presents colorfully printed, folded and punched cards and leporellos – prototypes from the field of graphic design.

Mostly these—anonymously manufactured—portfolios were conceived as leporellos with a panoramic view of 360° in twelve images on the front and twelve singular images showing individual edifices on the back. Today, these leporellos often mark the earliest records of the existence of these cities.

2013, Rolf Sachsse, “Architecture”, in John Hannavy, editor, Encyclopedia of Nineteenth-Century Photography, volumes 1: A–I, Routledge, →ISBN, page 62:

(countable, printing) Any printed material (book, leaflet etc.) having such folds; a concertina.


reverse out

en-verb

reverse out (third-person singular simple present reverses out, present participle reversing out, simple past and past participle reversed out)

reverses out (present singular third-person)
reversing out (participle present)
reversed out (participle past)
reversed out (past)

(printing, transitive) To print with reversed colours, i.e. black for white and vice versa.


astonisher

1874, The American Observer, New Series, Volume 1, “Rejoinder,” p. 525,
“ […] Nothing whatever” ! (the italics are “S. S. C.’s,” the “astonisher” is mine.)

1947, Stewart Holbrook, The Story of American Railroads, American Legacy Press, 1981, Chapter 39, p. 443,
More often than not these prophets […] belong to the oh-the-wonder-of-it-all school, who point to the sky as the new and sole artery of travel and transportation and marvel, in complete awe—which they indicate by running over with astonishers!—at the thought of monstrous planes hauling the freight and passengers of the nation, even of the world.

1984, Richard Hauer Costa, “The Grisly Graphics of Malcolm Lowry” in Gordon Bowker and Paul Tiessen (eds.), Proceedings of the London Conference on Malcolm Lowry, Goldsmith’s College, University of London and The Malcolm Lowry Review, Wilfrid Laurier University, p. 100,
An ad for a boxing match can symbolize the uncommunicable, with its curious shape-of-the-type configurations—¡BOX!, with the ‘astonisher’ written upside down before the word and right side up after.

(typography, printing, computing, chiefly US) An exclamation mark, the punctuation mark “!”.


overmatter

Casting off is estimating the number of words in a manuscript. Copy fitting is assessing how much space text will take up in a printed document. Both are important in ensuring that you do not end up with pages of overmatter.

2005, Alan Pipe, Production for Graphic Designers, page 48:

(printing) Typeset material that proves to be surplus to requirements.


master copy

(publishing, printing) The copy that serves as the controlling (master) version among a set of copies (as, for example, the master proof to which edits from the authors' proofs are transferred, or an analogous master manuscript with transferred edits).


mastercopy

mastercopy (third-person singular simple present mastercopies, present participle mastercopying, simple past and past participle mastercopied)

mastercopies (present singular third-person)
mastercopying (participle present)
mastercopied (participle past)
mastercopied (past)

(transitive, intransitive, publishing, printing) To transfer edits to a master copy from various stakeholders' copies (as for example with multiple authors and editors).


Intertype

(printing, historical) A typecasting machine closely resembling the linotype, and using the same matrices.


typeform

Once these important ingredients were ready, ink was spread over the raised letters of the typeform. The flat surface, called a platen, was then slowly lowered, pressing well-moistened paper against the relief surface.

1987, Robert Woods, Printing and Production for Promotional Materials, page 36:

(printing, historical) The part of a printing press which holds the type, and against which the platen is pressed.


multinegative

(photography, printing) An array of several negatives to be printed together by photolithography


multipositive

(photography, printing) An array of several positive images to be printed together by photolithography


type area

(printing) The useful area of a page of printed material without the margins.

版面

the useful area of a page of printed material without the margins


ditto machine

From the name of the manufacturer, Ditto Corporation.

As Mr. Friedlander conceived it, Reason was neither strictly right-wing libertarian nor strictly left — in modern parlance, neither red nor blue but a purple amalgam of the two. It was genuinely purple at first, as it was run off on a ditto machine.

2011 May 7, Margalit Fox, “Lanny Friedlander, Founder of Reason Magazine, Dies at 63”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

spirit duplicator
spirit duplicator#English

(US, historical, printing) Synonym of spirit duplicator


fudge box

(journalism, printing, historical) A mechanical contrivance into which linotype slugs containing late-breaking news are clamped.


imposing table

(printing, historical) A work table, topped by an imposing stone, used by impositors in type-setting.


makeup editor

The Chief called the makeup editor to the stone, pointed to the story which had caught his eye, and suggested a fairly simple remake.

1965, George Murray, The Madhouse on Madison Street, page 38:

(printing, historical) Synonym of stone editor


stone editor

(printing, historical) An editor who works with the compositor at the imposing stone to determine how material will be laid out on the page.


stone subeditor

en-noun

stone subeditor (plural stone subeditors)

(printing, historical) A subeditor having a similar role to that of the stone editor.


footstick

The footsticks may be a trifle shorter than the width of two pages and the gutter; for as there should always be a line of quadrats, or a reglet cut to measure, at the foot of each page, the footstick may be a pica shorter without danger, on this account, of any thing falling out, when the form is lifted and it thus prevents the side and foot sticks from binding when locked up.

1841, William Savage, A Dictionary of the Art of Printing, page 330:

Neither the sidestick nor the footstick should project beyond the other, as it will prevent the quoins from passing, and in unlocking will give a great deal of trouble.

1863, H. Morgan, A Dictionary of Terms Used in Printing, page 53:

In using common footsticks and sidesticks, however, the broad part of the sidestick would be at the top left-hand corner of the left side section of the forme, and the broad part of the footstick at the lower right-hand corner.

1884, John Southward, Practical Printing: A Handbook of the Art of Typography, page 138:

(printing, historical) A sloped or beveled piece of wood or metal placed against the foot of a page that is being typeset, and locked in place by quoins.


back gray

(US, printing, textiles, historical) A piece of dark, heavy cotton cloth that is run under another piece of cloth to be printed, serving to take up the color on the roller outside the width of the print cloth.


pica stick

(printing, drafting) A type of ruler used to measure by hand the spacing in prints, designs, mock-ups, and proofs.


clickership

(printing, obsolete) An association or companionship of printers.


with privilege

Calque of Latin cum privilegio (“with legal permission, with legal authority”).

der

(printing) used to indicate a book has been legally published or is entitled to special privileges, e.g., due to a royal monopoly

cum privilegio

colophon announcement of a book's legal permission or monopoly


dyeline

(printing) A system of printing using diazo dyes.


sheetwise

(printing, historical) Printed one side of a sheet at a time, with the form replaced on the press between sides.


photoblocker

(biochemistry, lithography) A substance that stops light.


blind folio

(printing) A page number that is counted but not printed on the page.


tympaning

(printing) The material used for tympans, or padding under the platen of a letterpress.


linoblock

(printing, often attributive) A linoleum block used in block printing.


show-through

en-noun

show-through (countable and uncountable, plural show-throughs)

(printing) The undesirable situation where matter printed on one side of a sheet is visible from the other side.

läpinäkyminen

situation where print is visible from the other side


spot color

Coordinate term: process color

(printing) In offset printing, any color generated by an ink, pure or mixed, that is printed using a single run.


pressfeeder

(printing) A person employed to feed material into a printing press.


trypograph

From Ancient Greek τρῦπα (trûpa, “hole”), compare Ancient Greek τρυπάω (trupáō, “bore”), + -graph.

(printing, historical, rare) An early machine for printing by the use of paper stencils.


ink up

en-verb

ink up (third-person singular simple present inks up, present participle inking up, simple past and past participle inked up)

inks up (present singular third-person)
inking up (participle present)
inked up (participle past)
inked up (past)

(transitive, obsolete, printing) To apply ink to a roller in preparation for printing or to coat a roller with a preservative when not in use.


set up to oneself

set up to oneself (third-person singular simple present sets up to oneself, present participle setting up to oneself, simple past and past participle set up to oneself)

sets up to oneself (present singular third-person)
setting up to oneself (participle present)
set up to oneself (participle past)
set up to oneself (past)

(printing, reflexive, obsolete, intransitive) To set up (compose, typeset) one portion of text that precedes another portion set up by the same typesetter.


quad out

quad out (third-person singular simple present quads out, present participle quadding out, simple past and past participle quadded out)

quads out (present singular third-person)
quadding out (participle present)
quadded out (participle past)
quadded out (past)

(printing, obsolete) To space out a work using quads.