Application program: Computer program used for a specific user-oriented task such as word processing, page layout (desktop publishing), or electronic illustrating.

Author alteration (AA): Change made by the author during the proofreading stage; charged to the author or the publisher.

Camera-ready copy (CRC): Black copy on white paper ready for printing.

Castoff: A calculation made to estimate the number of typeset pages that a given amount of manuscript will make, or the number of characters that will be typeset.

Cataloging in Publication (CIP): Data for a library catalog card, printed on the copyright page, obtained from the U.S. Library of Congress.

Check copy: (1) A folded and gathered, but unbound, copy of a book sent to you for approval before binding; (2) The gathered and trimmed copy, which is inspected and approved prior to any binding operations and which is used as a guide in the bindery for assembling the book in proper sequence, including inserts, furnished items, and so forth.

Color Separations: The conversion of a colored image into its component spectral colors: cyan, magenta, yellow, and black. One screened negative is produced for each color. Often referred to as CMYK.

Crop: To eliminate unnecessary portions of artwork so that it may fit correctly on a page.

Die cut: The use of sharp steel rules to cut special shapes.

Dots per inch (dpi): Refers to the resolution of a printed page or screened image.

Embossing: Raising an image above paper level, such as a foil or ink image on a cover.

Endsheets (Also referred to as endpapers or endleaves): Four pages, two each at the beginning and the end of a hardcover book; one side of each is adhered against the inside board to the case. Endsheet stock is heavier than text, commonly 80 lb. and may be white or colored stock, printed or unprinted.

F&G: Folded and gathered signatures.

Film lamination: Bonding plastic film by adhesives or heat and pressure to a sheet of paper to protect the paper and enhance its appearance. Available in gloss and matte finish.

Foil stamping: Pressing a design onto a book cover using metallic or pigment foil; applied with metal dies.

Folio: The page number.

Fonts: A complete set of characters of a given size and design.

Halftone: The reproduction of a continuous tone original, such as a photograph, in which detail and tone value are represented by a series of evenly spaced dots of varying size and shape.

High resolution: The reproduction of images with a great amount of detail or a high level of gray scaling, adding greater detail and sharpness to halftones.

Justify: To space a line out uniformly to the correct line length of the page.

Line illustration: A black and white drawing containing no gray or midtones to be used for reproduction.

LOC: Library of Congress. Most often used in conjunction with a number as in LOC number. This number is used by the library for cataloging purposes.

Low resolution graphics: The reproduction of images with a minimum amount of detail, resulting in a jagged-looking object when output.

Margins: The unprinted area between the text body and front, gutter, top, and bottom trim.

Moire: When a photograph has already been screened once (usually a picture that has been printed before) and is screened again, conflict between the previous screen and new one occur, causing an undesirable pattern.

Negative flats: A composite of negatives assembled on goldenrod paper ready for platemaking.

Offprints: Reprint of a published article or chapter made from the original type or plates but issued separately.

Page: One side of a sheet in a book, therefore, one sheet in a book is counted as two pages.

Pages per inch (PPI): A measure assigned to paper stock by the manufacturer to be used in calculating book bulk.

Pantone Matching System (PMS): A standardized ink color system widely used in the graphic arts industry, includes approximately 800 basic colors for both coated and uncoated paper. The color number and formula for each color is shown beneath the color swatch in the ink book.

Pica: A compositor’s unit of measure approximating one-sixth of an inch or 12 points.

Point: A compositor’s unit of measurement to designate size of type.

Running head: Lines of type that run at the top of the book page, usually the book title on the left-hand page and the chapter title on the right-hand page.

Shrink-wrap: A method of packaging in plastic film. The material to be wrapped is inserted into a folded roll of polyethylene film, which is heated and sealed around it. The package then passes through a heat tunnel in which film shrinks tightly around the package.

Signature: The name given to a printed sheet once it has been folded; often 32 pages.

Spine: The back of a bound book connecting the two covers; also called the backbone.

Tagged image file format (TIFF): A standard graphic image file format usually generated by scanners.

Trapping: In prepress, trapping refers to how much overprinting colors overlap to eliminate white lines between the colors when printing.

Trim size: The dimensions of a page, including the margins