A transparent sheet placed over originals or artwork, allowing the designer to write instructions and\or indicate a second color for placement.

Paper made from pulp containing little or no acid so it resists deterioration from age. Also called alkaline paper, archival paper, neutral pH paper, permanent paper and thesis paper.

American Bankers Association. MICR specifications and standards originated under ABA auspices.

In forms layout, preprinted mark on a form used to assist the user in positioning the form so that entries are accurately positioned.

Non-profit clearinghouse and coordinating body for voluntary standards activity in the United States, a federation of trade associations, technical societies, professional groups, governmental agencies and consumer organizations founded in 1918 as American Standards Association (ASA).

In forms layout, technique for conserving space by rotating column headings about 45 degrees.

Leader sheet attached by the user to the beginning of a continuous form, usually to enable the first consecutively numbered form to be printed.

Material prepared from copy and/or a layout sheet which is ready to be photographed as camera-ready.

The relationship between the width (horizontal) and height (vertical) of a document. Aspect ratio is often defined and specified for documents for OCR, MICR or other document handling systems.

With rotary production equipment, normally refers to the unwind section from which the roll feeds.

Cross perforations in a continuous form which define the end of one form and the beginning of the next.

Weight in pounds of a ream of paper (500 sheets) cut to the basic size for its grade.

Print shop department or separate business that does trimming, folding, binding and other finishing tasks.

Punching done as a separate operation after printing, through the entire set; may refer to collator punching or or drilling as a separate bindery operation.

Stock form, often bound into a book, all or a portion of which is image-free to permit later crash imprinting.

Printing that extends off the edge of a sheet or page after trimming.

In forms layout, main portion of the printed form as opposed to the heading, marginal words, etc.

Grade of paper commonly used for writing, printing, and copying.

Group of forms, single or in sets, bound at one margin in some manner.

In form layout, a design printed along the outer edges of a form, usually as a protective measure. Intricate borders on checks and stock certificates reduce the chance of illegal or unauthorized reproduction.

Unit set construction in which the stub is at the foot of the form.

Manufacturers identification mark printed on the form, usually in some inconspicuous area such as the stub or margin.

To expose a blueline proof or printing plate.

Forms handling device fo detaching continuous forms at cross perforation, usually using two pressure rollers rotating at different speeds.

Any material which has been printed or otherwise especially prepared for the primary purpose of facilitating the entry of variable written information by hand or machine according to some pre-determined format.

To join without overlapping or space between.

Ink colors Overlapped by a hairline so they appear perfectly butted.

In production, roll which has a large percentage expended, often considered too small for further jobs; use of butt rolls is an important factor in waste reduction.

Thickness of paper expressed in thousandths of an inch.

Mechanicals, photographs, and art fully prepared to be photographed for platemaking according to the technical requirements of commercial printing.

Carbon paper is any interleave with pigmented coating used only for the purpose of image transfer (write-through) under impact or pressure.

Any stock, coated or manufactured or treated to provide manifolding capability without the use of carbon interleaves or carbon type coating.

Abbreviation for Coated Back, referring to a carbonless sheet of the two-coat transfer type.

Abbreviation for Coated Front, referring to a carbonless sheet of the two-coat transfer type.

Abbreviation for Coated Front and Back, referring to a carbonless sheet of the two-coat transfer type.

In production, to assemble the various parts of a set, unit or continuous.

In production, machine for assembling the parts of a printing job, either as sheets or from rolls. Often other operations such as fastening, punching, perforating, and folding can also be performed by a collator.

To retouch or enhance color separation negatives.

Color papers and inks most commonly used in forms for color coding; Color sequence is the order in which they are usually collated in a formset. Standard color sequence for stock unit sets is white, canary, pink, goldenrod, green and buff; additional parts may be blue, salmon, or white.

Set of four halftone negatives for making plates.

In production, two or more jobs that can be handled together in the plant to effect the cost savings passed on to the buyer in a "combined order".

In order placement, two or more forms with enough similarities to warrant a lower price by being manufactured as one form with changes.

Stub which holds together the sub-sets of a double-stub set, usually the leading or top stub.

Graphics arts negative made by combining two or more images.

Assembly of type, hot or cold, manually or by machine, performed by a compositor.

Numbers imprinted in series upon forms for the form user's control purposes, normally by a numbering machine or machines mounted on the press or collator.

In production, spoilage which can occur in various materials, especially through thier interaction, such as inks, fountain solutions, photo supplies, etc.

Form manufactured from a continuous web which is not cut into units prior to execution.

Unit sets pasted onto a continuous carrier sheet which is in effect the final ply.

Any furnished material to be used in the production of printing.

Image that continues from one page of a publication across the gutter to the opposite page.

Paper coated on one side.

Paper coated on two sides.

Paper with a coating of clay that improves ink holdout.

Grade of paper made for covers and postcards.

Consecutive numbering normally preformed on the collator, using carbon or carbonless materials to carry the numbers through the set.

Perforation cut through all plies of the collated set, normally performed on the collator.

Impressing an image through relief pressure; the image on parts of the set other than the original is carried by carbon or carbonless materials.

Temporary form fastening consisting of fingers of paper cut through the plies being fastened.

In continuous forms, perforations cut at right angles to the web direction, normally those defining the individual form. In unit sets, perforation cut parallel to the stub.

Application of adhesive in a line at right angles to the stub or web direction; generally used to form a pocket or envelope for continuous mailers.

Form manufactured to customer order in all respects.

In production, circumference of a rotary press or collator. In offset, refers more specifically to blanket cylinder circumference; same as press size. Length of the form when finally cut from the web after assembly.

Device on a press or collator which cuts unit forms from the continuous web.

Press speed in terms of number offorms of a given length per hour.

Abbreviation for 100 pounds of paper; hundredweight.

In production, the space between the ends of a plate wrapped around the press cylinder.

Firm or individual engaged in the distribution of business forms either as a sole source of revenue, or as a supplement to other products or services.

Forms handling device for separating the plies of a continuous form into singles; normally carbon interleaves, if present, will be removed at the same time.

Generally refers to the blackness or darkness of a typed, printed or carbon image.

Sharp metal rule used for die cutting or block of metal used for embossing or foil stamping.

Cutting irregular shapes in paper using metal rules mounted on a letter press.

Single, cut form, or individual, torn out part of a set.

Set containing two stubs, usually for the purpose of creating two subsets after the first separation.

In production, punching through an entire lift of forms as a final bindery operation.

Stub tearline perforation on given parts of a set which is lower than the normal stub width, so that a portion of the form is removed with the stub; usually for withholding information.

Photograph reproduced from two halftone negatives and usually printed in two ink colors.

Any form which travels outside the originating organization, such as an invoice.

The "front" side of a form, normally that contains printing or the most important information.

Flat pack, zigzag folded forms

Device or technique for holding the elements of a set together; the term is normally restricted to continuous forms.

Size of printed product after production is complete.

Charge which remains constant regardless of the quantity ordered. A one-time charge, consisting of preparatory, plate makeready, and other costs.

Cut (non-continuous) forms which are not carbon interleaved, delivered to the customer as either single sheets or in pads.

Freight On Board, referring to a price that does not include shipping charges.

In the graphic arts, a complete assortment of type of one size and face.

Writing and printing grade of paper engineered to provide the strength and manifolding required by business forms; also called register bond.

Part of business management relating to analysis, standardization, and regulation of forms design and use; may include forms purchasing and inventorying as a centralized plant function.

The art or science of devising a form to efficiently fill a given function or systems need; includes selection of materials, construction and layout.

Technique of printing that uses the four process colors of (yellow, cyan, magenta, black) to simulate color photographs or illustrations.

Method of lowering production cost by grouping two or more related jobs which can be printed using the same paper stock, inks, etc. Plates (copy) may be changed, but little additional makeready is performed.

One of the seven major categories of paper: bond, coated book, uncoated book, text, cover, board and speciality.

Printing process which employs a depressed or recessed ink-holding image which comes directly into contact with the material printed.

Forms handling device for cutting written continuous forms by a reciprocating shear blade.

A very thin rule on a form.

A reproduction of continuous tone artwork, such as a photograph, with the image formed by dots of various sizes.

Top edge or section of a form or printed piece, held as it is normally read or used; normal stub location for a unit set.

In forms layout, identifying information printed at or near the top of a form, normally the name of the firm using the form and/or the name of the form itself.

In forms layout, any area of the form which cannot be printed, especially that required by production equipment.

In the graphic arts, laying out pages in a press form so they will be in the correct order after the printed sheet is folded.

In production, one revolution of a printing unit in a rotary press, or the printing of one sheet; number of impressions is not necessarily the number of copies produced (Run length).

Secondary printing over a limited area, whether perfomed by a small "imprinter" unit after form execution, or by a press prior to delivery to the customer.

Accessory sheet between the leaves or parts of a formset, normally carbon, to effect write-through.

In production, a type of collator, especially one that does not include a folder, taking flat pack forms and inserting processed carbon to make an interleaved set.

In forms layout, the order in which the entries on the form are written; sequence should correspond with the actual sequence of printed entries on the form, and the sequence the data appears on source documents used in executing the form.

Often used to describe collators and related manufacturing equipment which can handle larger than standard rolls.

In composition, to space out lines uniformly to the correct length.

Arrangement of elements of a form, especially the printing thereon.

Stub which enters the form writing device first, normally a top stub.

Individual sets which make up a formset, with or without interleaves.

In production, stack of trimmed sheets belonging to the same job.

Series of holes running parallel with the edge of a web or continuous form used to drive and control the paper in either some manufacturing machine (press or collator) or forms wriring machine, bursters or other end-user equipment.

The number of lines or rows of dots there are per inch in a screen and therefore in a screen tint, halftone, or separation.

Printing process using a flat-surfaced plate. If there is an intermediate surface (blanket) between the plate and the material printed the process is offset lithography

Image-free areas across a continuous form at intervals determined by press cylinder circumfrence, or running the length of a unit form.

Cut forms in single sheets, not bound or padded.

Abbreviation for a quantity of 1000.

All activities required to set up a press before production begins.

Adjective which in general usage denotes "many parts".

Generally, bound set of forms intended for manual writing with hand-inserted re-usable carbon.

Any multi-part form.

Printing out or writing several copies simultaneously by use of a form set.

Area along any edge of a sheet, sometimes that which must be kept free of printing, due to production considerations.

Information printed on the top or bottom margin of the form, usually changing from part to part, which describes the use or routing of tha part.

Rough, non-glossy surface, applied mostly to paper or photographic paper.

Magnetic Ink Character Recognition, an automatic data entry system making use of stylized characters which are imprinted on checks and other documents according to strict specifications and are read by a device which responds to the metallic content of the ink.

In rotary production, paper as it comes from the paper mill, not converted in any way. Also, any roll as on the back end of a web press.

Press capable of printing two or more more webs in the same pass, normally collating in the same operation.

Trademark of NCR Corporation for a chemical, transfer-type carbonless paper; also considered to stand for No Carbon Required.

Film containing an image in which the values of the original are reversed so that the dark areas appear light and vice versa.

In production, a device mounted on the numbering shaft of a rotary press or collator to perform consecutive number imprinting.

Ink transfer, intentional or unintentional.

In Paper, the property which minimizes the "show-through" of printing from the back side or the next sheet.

The quantity produced over the specified order given by the customer and which normally must be paid for by the customer; trade customs allow for a for a plus or minus 10% factor (in normal production quantities) to be delivered to allow for production variables.

Sets or cut forms joined by coating one edge of the stacked forms with a flexible, penetrating glue.

Some of the main parameters associated with paper quality are freedom from blemishes and distortion, and - most important from the standpoint of the forms converter - uniformity in a given given grade and weight from roll to roll.

One leaf or copy within a unit set or continuous formset.

Series of cuts or holes entered into a form to weaken it for tearing. Described by how they are made, the cutting device used, by how they run on the finished form, and by thier function.

Per thousand, a common pricing unit for forms, based on running costs (as opposed to flat charges).

The ink holding surface surface from which printing is performed in a press or duplicator; a plate is a single piece (as opposed to a type form containing locked up pieces of type, etc.).

Location within a formset, which may specify any of three dimensions; a point on the surface of a part, or the sequence of a part within a set.

Abbreviation for Pantone Matching System, a check standard for color reproduction.

Camera work, stripping, platemaking and other activities by a printer before press work begins.

Any device used to perform printing. The type of press is not necessarily determined by the printing process employed.

In production, an even division of the circumfrence of a press printing cylinder; determines form lengths possible for a given press (e.g., a 22'' cylinder has 11'', 7 1/3'', 5 1/2'', 3 2/3'' ticket depths).

Proof copy taken from the actual production run on the press.

To transfer automatically and at relatively high speed an image of graphic arts quality from a plate or type form using liquid ink.

Test sheet made to reveal errors, flaws, predict results, and record how a printing job is intended to appear.

Any hole, or series of holes entered into a form for any purpose, in a manner which normally causes pieces of paper to be actually cut out of the form.

A specified area of paper, generally 500 sheets of defined size.

Highly engineered, lightweight forms paper specifically designed to meet the demands of modern, high speed print-out equipment.

In production, mark placed on a form to assist in the proper positioning of some production operation such as punching, perforating, or folding.

Paper or carbon as used by webfed forms manufacturing equipment, as opposed to sheet.

Press in which the plate is wrapped around, or in the form of a cylinder so that both the material being printed and the plate move in a continuous direction at a constant speed;

Any line on a form, the term preferred over "line".

Form production charge directly related to the variable costs of production, such as length of the press run and other machine operations, usually on a per M basis.

To fasten a booklet by stapling it through the middle fold of the sheets.

To impress or indent a mark in the paper to make folding easier.

Piece of film with dots of uniform density, used to make plates that will print screen tints.

Any form which consists of more than one part, or sheet, which is used or considered as a unit.

A one-time production charge which does not change according to the length of the run.

In production, a knife, ususally rotary, at the delivery end of a press or collator that cuts off web press lengths into individual sheets, usually followed by a stacking or piling device.

Complete and precise descriptions of paper, ink, binding, quantity and other features of a printing job.

Strong grade of board usually manilla (natural colored).

Bottom, or secondary stub of a double stub set.

Line defined by perforations where the form is to be torn during or after use.

Point (or distance to the point) where register forms are separated after writing.

Method of defining perforations, in terms of the uncut area.

To remove the margin of a continuous form by a mechanized cutting device.

In production, marks placed on copy for photo-offset to indicate the edge of the final form.

Paper that is not clay coated.

Quantity produced and delivered under the order quantity, for which the customer is not charged; trade customs allow for underruns or overruns up to 10% in normal production quantities.

A normally non-continuous set which is carbon interleaved, with glued stub construction and carbon length designed fo rapid carbon removal and form separation in one operation.

Charge over and above the base charge, such as that incurred for special fastenings, mill roll changes, etc.

Perforation which runs parallel to the length of a form (normally at right angles to the stub in unit sets; at right angles to the cross perforations in continuous forms.).

In production, the operation required between ink color changes, including cleaning the inking system and plate.

A roll of paper used in web or rotary printing.

A high-speed press which prints from continuous rolls of paper.