- Banding:
A visible stair-stepping of shades in a gradient or blend, rather than a smooth transition from one color or tonal range to another.
- Barcode:
A series of varied length vertical bars used to determine zip code.
- Baseline:
In composition, the line on which the bottoms of letters rest, exclusive of descenders that fall below the baseline.
- Binder:
An adhesive component of paper designed to hold the paper together.
- Bind-in:
Includes any insert that is bound into a publication.
- Binding Ear:
A narrow (usually 3" to 4") extension of a saddle stitch insert necessary for the actual stitching process. It allows the insert to straddle the gathering mechanism for stitching.
- Binding Lap:
An extension (usually 1/4" to 1/2") on a 4-page saddle stitched insert that allows it to be mechanically opened during binding. There are two kinds of laps, see high folio lap and low folio lap.
- Binding Stub:
Portion of an insert card (usually 1/4" or 1/2") that fastens into a perfect bound publication. It is the distance from the spine to a vertical perforation on the bind-in.
- Bit:
Abbreviation for binary digit. The smallest unit of information in a binary system, a bit is the fundamental unit of information used in computers. A bit element is a “1” signaling On or a “0” signaling Off in a data string. Most computers work with 8-bit strings called bytes.
- Bitmap:
A computerized image made up of pixels. While satisfactory for pixel-based screen displays, bitmap images give a jagged appearance on paper or film if their resolution – pixels per inch (PPI) – is not high enough. Generally, digital photos or scans require a resolution of 300 PPI while line art requires 800 PPI for high quality reproduction on press.
- Black Generation:
Method in which the black channel is created when converting from RGB to CMYK (also referred to as color separations) or from CMYK to CMYK (re-separating a color image that had already been converted into CMYK). Depending upon which method was employed, the black channel will either contain a light, medium or heavy amount of black used to make up the total amount of tonal values in the image.
- Black Plate Change:
Changes made to the black plate only (usually codes and text) and thus do not affect the printed document’s color appearance.
- Blanket:
A fabric-reinforced sheet of rubber used on offset presses to transfer the impression from the plate onto the paper.
- Bleed:
Printed colors that run to the edge of a the paper. To accommodate the bleed, the printer must make the bleed image area larger than the final trim size. The page is trimmed through the bleed area.
- Blind Folio:
Page numbers not printed on the page.
- Blow-In:
Any loose insert that is not physically bound into a publication.
- Brightness:
Also called value, one of the three attributes of color (the other two are hue and saturation). Brightness describes differences in the amount of light reflected from or transmitted through an image regardless of its hue and saturation. This can be a confusing word to use in directing color correction edits as it is used to indicate both the addition and subtraction of color. Correctly used, it refers to the amount of light that is apparent in an area. In terms of paper, brightness is the light reflectance or brilliance of the paper at a specific wavelength, often perceived as whiteness. Generally, the higher the brightness rating, the better quality the paper.
- BRM (Business Reply Mail):
Postage paid reply cards.
- Byte:
There are 8 bits in one byte; often referred to as the number of bits used to represent a character.