The Wells & Drew Printing Dictionary – W
W
W&B:
- abbreviation for Work and Back, a printing method in which the front and back of pages are assembled on two different plates. The printing is done by turning the page over after the first side is printed and using the same gripper and side guides. This technique is also called sheetwise.
- W&T:
- abbreviation for Work and Turn, a printing method in which both sides of a sheet can be printed using a single plate. The paper is turned over after the first side is printed, using the same edge of the first printing as the gripper edge for the second printing. Different side guides are used for each pass.
- walk-off:
- a term given to the occurrence of plate deterioration of the image area during the printing process; usually occurs on long runs.
- WAN:
- abbreviation for Wide Area Network
- wander:
- translation of the axis during rotation.
- washup:
- the procedure of cleaning a particular ink from all of the printing elements (rollers, plate, ink fountain etc.) of a press.
- watermark:
- a design impressed or embedded in paper during the manufacturing process.
- web:
- a roll of paper stock used in web or rotary printing.
- web break:
- a tear in a web roll during the printing process.
- web growth:
- the deformation of the paper printed on a web press.The physical deformation occurs as the paper absorbs ink and water and is accelerated with pressure and tension. Factors contributing to web growth include: the type of press, press configuration, paper stock, humidity, ink coverage and the conditions of the blankets. Web width changes also happen with wide web flexo and gravure. With flexo and gravure presses that have interunit hot air dryers, the web width will shrink as it goes through the press because of the moisture loss of the paper due to the hot air drying. Web growth in the web width direction was called fan out. Fan out rollers or spiral taped rollers help minimize this problem. Some web presses used a Fife system or series of “S” rollers to minimize the problem.
- web offset:
- a printing lithographic process that prints on paper from a continuous roll and delivers onto another roll or as folded signatures.
- web press:
- a printing press that prints on rolls of paper. This type of press is typically used to print newspapers, magazines, large catalogues or other jobs where the number of impressions exceeds 25,000 copies. Because Web presses “pull” a continuous piece of paper through the press, lighter weight papers can be used. Many Web presses have the ability to do folding for complicated direct mailers and brochures.
- web tension:
- the term given to the tension or pull exerted by the web press on the web roll.
- web to print:
- a system or process that allows customers to order and possibly create & edit a printed publication using an internet connection. Web-to-print or online print order procurement are used for a wide variety of applications, including business cards, stationery, posters and photo books. The technology is also known as Web2Print or remote publishing.
- wedding paper:
- a soft paper that is thick and holds up well under embossing.
- weight:
- the comparative amount of blackness of a type style. Typefaces of different weights have names such as light, semi, bold or ultra bold.
- wet printing:
- printing one process color over the other while still wet.
- wet trapping:
- the ability of an ink film to accept subsequent ink films.
- WF:
- abbreviation for Wrong Font – used to indicate on a proof where a character is in the wrong typeface.
- white balance:
- the balancing of colors to create a pure white while scanning or retouching an image
- white light:
- illumination, such as sunlight, composed of all the colors of light in the spectrum. The visible spectrum components can be seen in a rainbow or in sunlight shining through a prism.
- white space or whitespace:
- in layout, white space is the blank area between characters or graphic regions.
- widow:
- the last line of a paragraph that appears at the top of a page all by itself. In Dutch this is called a ‘hoerenjong’ (a son of a whore).
- wind-up:
- torsional effect of torque driving a lead screw further than the output signal.
- window:
- a clear, usually rectangular or square, open panel in litho negative for stripping halftone negatives into position with tape.
– A part of the computer screen that is used to show a message or picture. Windows can be opened and closed, resized and reorganized. - WINS:
- abbreviation for Windows Internet Naming Service
- wipe on plate:
- a plate on which is wiped a light sensitive coating by a coating device; usually the first step in this type of platemaking.
- wire:
- the wire mesh used at the wet end of the paper making process. The wire determines the textures of the paper.
- wire side:
- the under side of the paper that rests on the wire as it is carried along during manufacture. Opposed to the top, felt side.
- wire stitching:
- to fasten together sheets, signatures, or sections with wire staples.
- WMF:
- abbreviation for Windows Metafile Format: the native file format for images on the Windows platform.
- wobble:
- tilt of the axis during rotation.
- woodfree paper:
- paper made from chemical pulp only.
- word processing:
- computer programs that capture keystrokes for retrieval and editing data or text.
- word wrap:
- the ability of a word processing program to automatically end a line and wrap the next words to the following line.
- work-and-back:
- see Sheetwise
- work-and-flop:
- see Work-and-tumble
- work-and-tumble:
- a layout in which both sides of a sheet can be printed using a single plate. The paper is flopped after the first side is printed so that the trailing edge of the first printing becomes the gripper edge for the second printing. The same side guide is used for both passes.
- work-and-turn:
- a layout in which both sides of a sheet can be printed using a single plate. The paper is turned over after the first side is printed, using the same edge of the first printing as the gripper edge for the second printing. Different side guides are used for each pass.
- workflow:
- in prepress, a workflow refers to the software that is used to handle all of the processes that are needed to make digital files ready for printing.
- WORM:
- abbreviation for Write Once, Read Many. A WORM optical disc can only be imaged once and the data cannot be erase. There is no limit to the number of times the data can be read.
- wove:
- a smooth paper made on finely textured wire that gives the paper a gentle patterned finish.
- WPD:
- abbreviation for Windows Printer Description: Microsoft’s version of the standard PostScript Printer Drive (PPD).
- Wratten gelatin filter:
- a thin colored plastic that is optically pure and is used to separate colors in photographic systems. The Wratten filter number specifies the filter color.
- wrinkles:
- the unevenly dried surface of printed inks.
- writing paper:
- another name for bond paper.
- wrong font:
- proofreader’s mark indicate type is of a wrong face or a wrong font.
- wrong-reading:
- a mirror image (lateral reversal) of a right-reading image. Films are made wrong-reading on the emulsion side (right reading on the base side) for offset platemaking.
- WSH:
- abbreviation for Windows Scripting Host