Glossary

Bleeds:

Bleeds refers to areas that are printed over the dieline (the cut edge). Background art should always extend over the planned cut "bleed over the edge" by 1/8" because paper shifts just a little back and forth under the cutters. In many of our inserts we have already drawn this bleed in for you. Just drop your art in. (Note: Do not put a bleed on art directly printing to the face of the CD or cassette.)
 

CMYK:

This stands for colors "Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black" which are the four process inks. See "Process Colors"
 

Crop Marks:

These are small tick marks (little lines) on the templates. They indicate how to cut a piece of paper, so keep them locked in place.
 

DPI:

The dpi stands for "dots per inch" in some scanners and computer programs. You may be asked to set "pixels per inch" (ppi) instead of dpi. The measurements and meanings are virtually the same. Computers make art with little dots known as pixels. The dpi (ppi) is the way to set picture resolution. The more dots are put in an inch, the higher the picture resolution appears. For print purposes, make images at 300 dpi or higher. Your eye thinks a picture is very fine and detailed at 300 dpi and does not "need" more dots than that. (Web images are usually set at 75 to 100 dpi but this is not good printing resolution.You will see ragged or stair-stepped edges if printed. Your eye sometimes will accept a 200 dpi image, but those can appear grainy or blurred.)
 

EPS:

EPS stands for "Encapsulated Postscript" and in most art programs EPS is a saving option, or at least an exporting option. Please see the definition for "Postscript". Please save or export line and vector art as EPS. People tend to forget to save their Illustrator files as EPS files thinking all Illustrator files are EPS by definition. In reality, you need to turn EPS "on" in the save menu before you link it to your main design and call it "print ready."

Tip 1: EPS is the best way to save and link vector art like Illustrator and FreeHand art to the main page design.

Tip 2: We can usually accept all sorts of files if you save them as EPS because we have EPS import filters. This may be the way for you to send art to us created by programs that we do not support.
 

Fifth Color:

This little phrase means that you have already filled the four drums of a printer with process colors, C, M, Y and K (CMYK) and are planning an additional, fifth spot color, like a metallic ink. The "fifth color" is an expensive leap to a larger press with extra drums, so plan accordingly.
 

Fold Marks:

These are small dashed lines in templates (as opposed to solid lines, which are called crop marks). Dashed lines indicate us how to fold a piece of paper, so keep them locked in place.
 

FTP Site:

FTP stands for "File Transfer Protocol." KABA keeps an "FTP site" which means a "place" on the internet where clients can upload their "digital files" (artwork) to us. Call us for a password and instructions if you want to send art this way. This is not the only way to send art. You can always send it by courier.
 

JPEG:

JPEG is a compression algorithm and a file saving option. However, the algorithm may lead to image data loss so we do not recommend you do this to your art. We recommend you use it only with a mega-image, when disk space is a severe issue.

Match Print:

A four-color-process, film-based proof, excellent for checking color accuracy before printing.

PostScript:

This is the industry standard "language" (system) that tells a computer and a printing device how to print your art. KABA computers and printers are all PostScript-compatible. They work safely with "PS" and "EPS" art files.
 

PS:

Abbreviation for "PostScript." Sometimes used as a file ending.
 

Process Colors:

With the exception of spot colors, traditional presses create all color by processing colors or screening and layering four different inks on paper. The color ink mixes are known as the "process mixes". In North America, the process colors are called CMYK colors, because the inks are "Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black." With these inks, you can achieve a full range of colors, tints and gradations in art and photos. Some computer programs give you many color system choices or default to RGB and spot colors in your palette. Please make sure all your colors are set as process mixes when you finish the job (unless you mean to pay for the "fifth color" or for "spot colors").
 

Registration Marks:

These are marks on the templates that look a little like bullet mark symbols (outside of the print area). Graphics equipment uses them to register and cut the paper during the print and assembly process. (They must appear and align on all printing plates.)
 

RGB:

Stands for "Red Green Blue" and is a way that computer monitors render colors using light. Save colors as "CMYK" instead for printed pieces.
 

Spot Colors:

Spot colors are inks mixed according to formulas. The ink mix fills one print drum, for transfer to your cassette, CD, or paper (as opposed to "process" color mixes). It is safe to say that when you are printing just one or two colors, print them as spot colors. Otherwise see "process colors." Please specify the color by using Pantone® numbers. Please set up that ink in your computer file as a special "spot" color. Otherwise, by default it may be set as a process mix, which would be a costly mistake.
 

Stacking Rings:

The stacking ring on the data side of a CD is a ring embossed near the center, traditionally used to separate CDs in a stack. The art on the label face can cover the ring area entirely (a "full flood"), or can be designed to show the ring.
 

Templates:

Templates are cutting and folding patterns for making package art in the correct dimensions. The edge or "die line" of a template is the cutting edge. Dotted lines in a template mean a fold. We have put crop marks and indications of how far art should "bleed" over the cutting edge into our basic templates. For paper and cardboard pieces, art must bleed by 1/8" over each cutting edge. (Note: Do not put a bleed on art directly printing to the face of the CD or cassette.)
If you are finishing the art for printing, the cut and fold lines need to be removed from inside the printed art areas. Just leave the lines embedded in the art, but make them invisible by making them "no width," or place them in a "template-only" layer. Our cutters will cut using the "registration marks" and "crop marks" on the corners of the art.
 

TIFF:

TIFF stands for Tagged Image File Format and is bitmapped (pixellated) art, that is art made out of little dots of colors, such as scans of photographs and gradated backgrounds. This format is widely recognized and preferred in our industry when dealing with scans and gradations. We encourage your scans or gradations in this format. Some applications allow you to compress them with LZW (Lempel-Ziv-Welch) compression. We advise you not to compress because it downgrades the art.
 

Vector Art:

Vector art is art calculated and drawn using vectors and curves in your computer and printer, instead of by bitmapping. Illustrator and FreeHand are popular vector art programs. Vector art is great for type since the lines stay crisp at any scale. There are no resolution problems with dots or pixels. Type and lines remain crisp not bitmapped. Vector programs are not recommended to finish large gradated areas because of banding issues (that is, visible color breaks).

Tip: To avoid banding, start a gradation in a vector art program but then import the gradation into PhotoShop and hit the "add noise" button.