Glossary of Printing Terms
If you’re tired of technical mumbo-jumbo when shopping for a new printer or replacement cartridges, our comprehensive glossary of printing terms will give you the confidence to make an informed decision on the product that’s right for you.
Click on any of the letters below to jump to the corresponding glossary terms:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O R S T W
A
‘A’ Sized Paper – Paper sizes based on dimension – from A8 (smallest) to A0 (largest)
Absorption – Refers to the absorption rate of a sheet of paper or card.
Acetate – A thin sheet of transparent plastic, commonly used for overlaying.
Acid-Free Paper – A specially developed, acid-free paper renowned for its longevity.
Art Paper – High-quality, wood-free papers with a smooth, filled surface.
Auto Duplex – A function in a printer that allows it to automatically print on both sides of the paper without manually feeding it through.
B
Blue Angel – A German certification, granted to environmentally-friendly products.
Bond – Business-grade paper, with a brilliant white finish and smooth surface texture.
Bleed – When the printed image extends beyond the edge of a sheet of paper.
Blend – The transition between two colours; also known as a graduated tint.
C
CMYK – Refers to the primary printing colours – Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Key (Black).
Compatible – A cartridge produced by a third-party – not the same brand as your printer.
Copier Paper – A type of standard quality paper used in everyday printing
Continuous Stationery – A continuous reel of paper that can be folded or perforated.
D
Density – Refers to the opacity of a sheet of paper.
Digital Printing – Printing directly from a digital file without the use of plates or film.
Dot Gain – A printing fault in which individual dots print larger, causing tone and colour defects.
DPI – Dots Per Inch. Remember: the higher the DPI, the better quality the image.
Drum Unit – Essentialy a seive that carries the toner from the toner cartridge in a laser printer to the paper in the correct pattern of the print out.
Duplex function – If a printer has a ‘duplex function’, this means that it is capabable of printing on both sides of the paper. Often denoted as a ‘D’ in printer model numbers.
E
Embossed Paper – Paper with a depressed or raised design, applied through pressure during the print process.
Energy Star – The international standard for energy efficient products.
F
Franking – Markings or “franks” applied to an envelope that allow it to be posted.
Full-colour Process – Refers to full colour printing using the CYMK printing spectrum.
Fuser Unit – The spare part of a laser printer that ‘fuses’ or melts the toner to the paper to prevent smudging.
G
g/m2 – Grams per square metre; used to measure the weight of paper.
Greyscale – Refers to printing using the black cartridge only.
GSM – An acronym for grams per square metre.
H
Halftone – The result of dot gain, when a page contains varying tones created by different sized dots.
Hue – The facet of a colour that makes it unique.
I
Image Area – Refers to the portion of the page covered in ink or toner.
IPM – The measurement of print speed, as calculated by the ISO test document.
ISO – The International Organisation for Standardization.
Inkjet – A prominent printer type, which uses jet nozzles to spray ink on to the page.
J
JPEG – A compression method, commonly used for digital images.
Justified – The alignment of word document, so that the text is flush with each margin.
K
Kraft Paper – Tough, durable paper commonly used as parcel wrapping.
L
Lamination – A thin, plastic coating used to preserve and protect paper documents.
Landscape – The orientation of a page, whereby the shorter side is vertical.
Laser Printing – When a laser is used to plot images and text on a drum.
Listing Paper – A type of continuous stationary, used predominately with Dot Matrix printers.
LPI – Lines per inch.
M
Maintenance cartridge – A replaceable part of a printer that collects waste material during the printer cleaning process.
Maintenance Kit – A replacement kit for worn parts that contain paper pickup and feed rollers needed to transfer the paper through a laser printer.
Matt – Refers to a paper’s dull, non-glossy page finish.
Multifunction – A printer with all-in-one functionality, including print, scan and copy.
Micrometre – A device used to measure paper thickness.
Micron – As above – an alternate device used to measure paper thickness.
N
NCR – No carbon required.
Networked – A printer function that allows it to be connected to multiple computers on a ‘Network’. Often denoted as a ‘N’ on printer model numbers.
O
OEM – Original Equipment Manufacturer.
Offset Printing – When an image or text is transferred from a roller or plate, on to the page.
P
Pantone Colours – Premixed colours based on the Pantone Scale, often developed using the CMYK scale.
Photoconductor unit – An essential part of a laser printer that collects and statically delivers toner to the page. Also known as a drum cartridge, PC unit, or image drum.
PMS – Pantone Mixing System.
Portrait – The orientation of a page, whereby the longest edge is vertical.
PPI – Pixels per inch.
PPM – Pages per minute, as calculated by the ISO’s test document.
Printhead – A part of an inkjet printer that delivers ink from the cartridge to the paper. Often built into an inkjet cartridge
R
Ream – 500 sheets of paper.
Resolution – The quality of an image based on the DPI (Dots per Inch).
RGB – Refers to Red, Green and Blue – the three colours associated with digital technology.
S
Satin Finish – A smooth, high sheen page finish.
Solid Ink – Solid sticks of ink that are melted during the print process. Predominantly used with Xerox Solid Ink Printers.
T
Thermal Ribbon – Often used in fax machines, a thermal ribbon material is melted by the printer and applied to the paper. The ribbon is often on a roll.
Tint – A patch of tone created by a specific pattern of dots, which can lighten the colour of the ink.
Toner – A black or coloured powder used in xerographic printing. Toner is used exclusively in laser printers.
Transfer Belt – Also known as a ‘Transfer Unit’, Belt Unit, or ‘Belt Roller’, the transfer belt is an internal part of a laser printer that is statically charged and attracts the toner to a film. As a belt rotates the toner is transfered onto the paper.
W
Waste Toner Cartridge – The waste toner bottle or cartridge is a replacement part for a laser printer that collects and waste material left during the printing process.
Wax Sticks – Wax sticks are a replacement consumable for Xerox Solid Ink Printers, equivalent to ink or toner.
Wide Format – Wide format is a form of printing in which the wide format printers use a large roll of paper or material to produce artwork or large banners often used in advertising.
WIFI – If a printer is Wireless or has WIFI, it can connect to a computer or devices such as mobile phones without the need for wires. Often denoted as a ‘W’ in printer model numbers.
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