Machine Coated:

Paper that has a single or double-sided coat applied by a paper machine.

Machine Glazed (MG):

Paper holding a high-gloss finish only on one side.

Magenta:

One of the process ink colors for printing. Pure magenta is the “greenless” color; it absorbs all wavelengths of green from light and reflects all red and blue wavelengths.

Magnetic Inks:

A combination of ferric and ferrous oxide in a finely ground state that can be magnetized.

Maleic:

A synthetic hard resin.

Makeready:

The process of setting up and adjusting a printing press for a particular ink, paper and set of printing conditions prior to a press run. Also, the paper used during these adjustments.

Making Order:

Order for paper that a mill makes to the customer's specifications, as compared to a mill order or stock order.

Male Die:

Die that applies pressure during embossing or debossing. Also called force card.

Mandrel:

Cylinder that is not permanently mounted on a shaft and can be removed.

Manipulation:

Adjustments to doctor blade required to get optimum results.

Margin:

Imprinted space around the edge of the printed material.

Mark-Up:

Instructions written usually on a "dummy."

Mar Resistance:

Ability to retain a satisfactory surface appearance when subjected to rubbing, scuffing, scratching, etc.

Mask:

In offset printing, an opaque material that protects certain areas of a printing plate during camera exposure.

Mass Tone:

The reflected color of ink in bulk. Opaque inks print nearly the bulk color. Transparent inks are much darker in bulk than the printing color.

Matchprint™:

Trade name for 3M integral color proof. A form of a four-color-process proofing system.

Matte:

The least reflective coating finish for gravure coated publication papers. More glossy sheets are, successively, dull and glossy.

Masstone:

The reflected color of bulk ink.

Maximum Angle of Wipe:

Flattest wipe obtainable.

Mealiness:

See also - Snowflaking, specifically middle tones.

Mechanical:

Camera-ready assembly of type, graphic and other copy complete with instructions to the printer. A hard mechanical consists of paper and/or acetate, is made using paste-up techniques, and may also be called an artboard, board or paste-up. A soft mechanical, also called an electronic mechanical, exists as a file of type and other images assembled using a computer.

Mechanical Bind:

To bind using a comb, coil, ring binder, post or any other technique not requiring gluing, sewing or stitching.

Mechanical Board:

Mounted, camera-ready artwork used in traditional (non-digital) prepress.

Metallic Inks:

Metallic powders, such as gold, copper and aluminum, in a varnish base, give a metallic appearance to these inks. Coated papers with good holdout give the best results. For absorbent papers, a base ink of similar color (but non-metallic) may be printed first, allowed to dry and then overprinted with metallic inks.

Metamerism:

A condition when colors match under one light source, but do not match under another light source.

Mezzotint:

(1.) An early copper plate engraving method that created the impression of tonal variation through patterns of dots cut with tools. Used only in fine art engraving. (2.) Any of a variety of special effect screens used to convert line art into fine patterns without the use of halftone dots.

Micrometer:

Instrument used to measure the thickness of paper.

Microthrowing Power:

The ability of a plating solution or a specified set of plating conditions to deposit metal in pores or scratches.

Midtone:

Tonal value of dot, located approximately halfway between the highlight value and the shadow value, generally described as 50%.

Mil 1/1000 Inch:

The thickness of plastic films as printing substrates are Mileage: The surface area covered by a given quantity of ink or coating material.

Mileage:

The surface area covered by a given quantity of ink or coating material.

Minimum Angle of Wipe:

Sharpest (steepest) wipe obtainable.

Misting:

A mist or fog of tiny ink droplets thrown off the press by the rollers. Also known as Flying or Spitting.

Mock Up:

A reproduction of the original printed matter and possibly containing instructions or direction.

Modifier:

A material added to the basic ink formulation to improve the behavior of the ink on the press, or to improve the characteristics of the ink film. Often used interchangeably with additive.

Moiré:

An undesirable checkerboard or plaid pattern in a printed image that appears when two or more halftones are overlapped at incongruous angles. See also - Rosette Pattern.

Moisture Wrinkle or Welt:

A paper defect consisting of wrinkles running in the web direction, caused by dry paper acquiring moisture in storage.

Monitor Calibration:

The process of correcting the color rendition settings of a monitor to match selected colors of printed output.

Monitor RGB:

Same as RGB; monitor RGB refers specifically to the color space that can be achieved by a particular monitor using combinations of red, green, and blue light.

Monochrome:

A single color as in a monochromatic display monitor.

Mordant:

A substance that, when applied to fiber in conjunction with a dye, causes increased dye fixation.

Motor-Generator (MG) Set:

A machine that consists of one or more motors mechanically coupled to one or more generators. In plating, a machine in which the generator delivers DC current of appropriate amperage and voltage.

Mottle:

An uneven appearance in solids manifested by small dark and light areas.

Mull:

A specific type of glue used for books binding and personal pads needing strength.

Multichannel Image:

Any image that has more than one channel.

Multicolor Printing:

Printing in more than one ink color (but not four-color process). Also called polychrome printing.

Munsell Color System:

The color identification of a specimen by its Munsell hue, value and chroma as visually estimated by comparison with the Munsell Book of Color.

M Weight:

Weight of 1,000 sheets of paper in any specific size.

A - B - C - D - E - F - G - H - I - J - K - L

M - N - O - P - Q - R - S - T - U - V - W - X Y Z

Nanometer:

One billionth of a meter. A unit employed to measure the wavelength of light, i.e., the distance between similar phases of a wave of energy.

Negative:

In photography, a sheet of film that has a reversed image of the original, so that the dark areas appear light and vice versa. In lithography; a film containing type or halftones, in which the values are reversed, whites are black and blacks are clear films.

Nested:

Signatures assembled inside one another in the proper sequence for binding, as compared to gathered. Also called inset.

Neutral Gray:

Refers to any level of gray ranging from white to black with no apparent color cast or hue.

Neutral Sodium Sulfite Process:

A chemical pulping method adaptable to many tree species and operable with minimal environmental problems.

Newsprint:

Paper used in printing newspapers. Considered low quality and "a short life use."

Newton Rings:

In reproduction from either photography or lithography, an objectionable series or irregularly colored circles caused by the prismatic action of interfacing different smooth surfaces together, such as in contact frames or transparencies on a scanner drum.

Nip:

Line of contact between two rolls.

Nipping:

In the book binding process, a stage where air is expelled from i's contents at the sewing stage.

Nodule:

A rounded projection formed on a cathode during plating.

Noise:

Unwanted electronic or optical signals that cause interference in the reproduction of data or an image.

Non-Drying Oils:

Oils that do not form dry surface films when exposed to the atmosphere.

Nonflammable:

Incapable of supporting combustion.

Nonheatset Web:

Web press without a drying oven, thus not able to print on coated paper. Also called cold-set web and open web.

Nonimpact Printing:

Printing using lasers, ions, ink jets or heat to transfer images to paper.

Non-Scratch:

A descriptive term applied to inks that have high abrasion and mar-resistance when dry.

Number Up:

Quantity of images placed on a single flat (i.e. - 24 postcards can be imaged on a single 26 x 40 flat. - 24 up).

A - B - C - D - E - F - G - H - I - J - K - L

M - N - O - P - Q - R - S - T - U - V - W - X Y Z

Object-Oriented:

A type of drawing that defines an image mathematically rather than as pixels as a bitmap.

Observer:

The human viewer who receives a stimulus and experiences a sensation from it. In vision, the stimulus is a visual one and the sensation is an appearance.

Off Balance Weight:

Weight added to the doctor blade by its mechanism.

Offset Core:

A core in a substrate roll that protrudes from the roll.

Offset:

SEE Piling and Set‑Off.

Offset Printing:

Printing technique that transfers ink from a plate to a blanket to paper instead of directly from plate to paper.

Offsetting:

An unpleasant happening when the images of freshly printed sheets transfer images to each other.

Ohm:

A standard unit of electrical resistance.

Ohm's Law:

The current (I) in an electric circuit is directly proportional to the electromotive force (E) in the circuit. E=RI, where R is resistance. Although Ohm's Law does not apply to all circuits, it does apply to the metallic and electrolytic conductors in plating units.

Off Balance Weight:

Weight added to the doctor blade by its mechanism.

Offset Core:

A core in a substrate roll that protrudes from the roll.

Offset Paper:

General description of any paper primarily suited for offset printing. Can be coated or uncoated. Characterized by strength, lack of curl and freedom from foreign surface material. Finish can be vellum or smooth.

Offset Printing:

(Also called "Offset Lithography") Currently the most common commercial printing method, in which ink is offset from the printing plate to a rubber roller, then applied to paper. Offers high degree of precision, clarity, and quality. Uses screens of 133 lines or more.

Offsetting:

The transferring or smearing of ink from freshly printed matter to another surface with which the un-dried print comes in contact; particularly from the face of one sheet onto the back of another sheet on top of it in the delivery pile or rewind roll. See also - Piling and Set-off.

Opacity:

Ability to block the transmission of light, either in a substrate or ink or coating.

Opaque:

(1) Not transparent. (2) To cover flaws in negative with tape or opaquing paint. Also called block out and spot.

Opaque Ink:

An ink that does not allow the light to pass though it and has good hiding power. It does not permit the paper or previous printing to show though.

Open Prepress Interface:

Hardware and software that link desktop publishing systems with color electronic prepress systems.

Orange Peel:

(1.) A variety of mottle. (2.) A finish resembling the dimpled appearance of an orange peel.

Organic Dye:

A general classification of pigments that are carbon-based as opposed to metallic pigments.

Organic Pigments:

A general classification of pigments that are carbon-based, as opposed to metallic pigments.

Organosol:

A suspension of particles in an organic solvent, usually made with vinyl resins, solvents and plasticizers.

Orientation:

The relative direction of a display or printed page, either horizontal (called "landscape" orientation) or vertical (called "portrait" orientation).

Oscillation:

Side-to-side motion of the doctor blade mechanism over the cylinder.

Outer Form:

Form (side of a press sheet) containing images for the first and last pages of the folded signature (its outside pages) as compared to inner form.

Outline Halftone:

Removing the background of a picture or silhouetting an image in a picture.

Outline Mask:

An electronic filtering function that can trace an area or object in an image and extract it. A silhouetting function used in page makeup is also referred to as an outline mask.

Output:

Information that has been manipulated by the central processing unit (CPU) of the computer, and displayed either on the video monitor or rendered on paper or film as hard copy, or saved on disk in a digital format.

Output Device:

Any device by which a computer transforms its information to the "outside world." In general, you can think of an output device as a machine that translates machine-readable data into human-readable information. Examples: printers, microform devices, video screens.

Output Resolution:

Stated in lines per inch or lines per millimeter, output resolution reflects the number of pixels per unit size the plotter can put onto the film.

Overall Organic HAP Control Efficiency:

The total efficiency of a control system, determined either by: (1) The product of the capture efficiency and the control device efficiency or (2) A liquid-liquid material balance.

Overprinting (Double Printing):

Printing one ink layer over an area that has already been printed. Often used in color printing to enhance a particular color or contrast and distinguish a particular color from other similar colors. It is used when the normal process color system is unable to discern close-color differences, but is required by the customer.

Overrun or Overs:

Copies printed in excess of the specified quantity. (Printing trade terms allow for + - 10 % to represent a completed order.)