Common Printing Term Definitions

What is 4/K and 4/4?

• The “4” refers to the four colors of CMYK process printing: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and blacK.
• The “K” stands for blacK ink, which can be used to print both black and white “line art” or grayscale art.
• “4/K” means that one side of the paper is printed CMYK (full color), and the other side is printed with blacK ink only (grayscale).
• “4/4” means that both sides of the paper is printed CMYK (full color).

What is on-disc printing?

The CD surface is printed with Pantone Spot colors using a silk screen process.

What is a White Flood?

A white flood can help keep your colors true. Printing directly on the surface of the cd means the color lays over silver which can affect it’s final outcome.

What is a Safety Margin?

Keep important design elements a minimum of 1/8″ away from crop marks and fold lines, this ensures that during the cutting/folding process if there is any shift in registration your design will not be cut off.

What is Bleed?

Your image should extend an 1/8″ beyond the crop line. The extra 1/8″ that will be trimmed away is known as the “bleed.”

Bleeds are required. If you create an image that is exactly the same size as the finished piece, and the press sheet shifts 1/64″ while being cut, one side of the image will have 1/64″ cut away, and the other side will have a white “flashline,” 1/64″ wide. By creating a bleed area that is intended to be cut away and discarded, you can avoid flashlines.

Posted in: General