Most Used Printing Technology Terms

• Printing is a reproduction process in which printing ink is applied to a printing substrate in order to   transmit information (images, graphics, text) in a   repeatable form using an image-carrying medium   (e.g., a printing plate).

• The image carrying medium is the storage element   (i.e.printing plate or bitmap for controlling ink jet nozzles) that contains all the information needed to apply the ink for the reproduction of images and/or text by printing.

• The printing plate or image carrier (master) is the tool (material) by which ink is transferred to the printing substrate or an intermediate carrier for the reproduction of text, graphics and/or images. One printing plate usually generates many prints.

• The print image is the information provided by the entirety of all the print image elements in all operational stages of an image to be produced by printing.

• The print image element is an area that transfers and/or receives ink (e.g., letter type face, line, screen dot or cells) in any operational stage of the presentation to be reproduced by printing.

• The ink is the colored substance that is applied to the printing substrate during printing.

• The printing substrate is the material receiving the print.

• The printing press is the equipment with which the printing process is performed.

• The printing process serves to disseminate/reproduce information that is transmitted and processed within this procedural framework.