Abrasion Resistance: The resistance to scratching of a surface of paper by other paper surfaces or other materials.

Absorbency: The ability of a material to take up moisture

AC: Author's Correction

Accordion Fold: A type of paper folding in which each fold runs in the opposite direction to the previous fold creating a pleated or accordion affect.

Acetate: A transparent or translucent plastic sheet material of a variety of colors, used as a basis for artwork and overlays.

Achromatic: The non-colors... black, white and gray.

Acid Resist: An acid-proof protective coating applied to metal plates prior to etching designs thereon. Bichromated solutions employed in photoengraving as sensitizers provide acid resist through the action of light on sensitized surface.

Acrylic: A water-soluble polymer used in paints to make them dry both tough and flexible.

Actinic Rays: Light exposure that affects chemical changes in paper.

Additive Colors: In photographic reproduction, the primary colors of red, green and blue which are mixed to form all other colors.

Aerate: This refers to a manual process whereby an air stream is blown onto paper sheets to create a riffling effect that separates the sheets as they are fed to the printing press.

Agate: A type size of 5 1/2 points. Reference, agate line.

Agate Line: In newspaper classifieds, a measurement denoting 1/4 inch depth by one column width. 14 agate lines = one column inch.

Air: Large white areas in a design layout.

Airbrush: A compressed air tool that dispenses a fine mist of paint or ink; used in illustration and photo retouching.

Albion Press: A hand operated printing press made of iron.

Album Paper: A wood pulp paper with an antique finish used for pages of photo albums.

Albumen Plate: A surface plate used in the lithography process; it has a photosensitive coating.

Albumin Paper: A coated paper used in photography; the coating is made of albumen (egg whites) and ammonium chloride.

Alignment: The condition of type and or art materials as they level up on a horizontal or vertical line.

Alkali Blue: Also called reflex blue. A pigment used in carbon black inks and varnishes to improve luster.

Alley: A term for a random, coincidental path or a row of white space within a segment of copy.

Alphabet Length: The measured length (in points) of the lowercase alphabet of a certain size and series of type.

Amberlith: Red-orange acetate used for masking mechanicals when photographing for plates. The amberlith area appears black to the camera, and prints clear on the resulting film.

American Paper Institute: An organization that correlates all paper related information.

Angle Bar: In "web-fed" printing (printing on rolls of paper as opposed to single sheets), an angle bar is a metal bar that is used to turn paper between two components of the press.

Aniline: Oil-based solvent (quick drying) used in the preparation process of dyes and inks.

Animal Sized: A technique of paper making which hardens the surface by passing the paper through a bath of animal glue or gelatin.

Anodized Plate: In lithography, a plate manufactured with a barrier of aluminum oxide, which prevents chemical reactions that break down the plate; it provides optimum press performance.

Antigua: An eleventh century Italian script typeface.

Antiquarian: A handmade paper (53 x 31 inches), largest known handmade paper.

Antique Finish: Paper with a rough, sized surface used for book and cover stock.

Antiskinning Agent: An antioxidant agent used to prevent inks from skinning over in the can.

Apron: The white area of text (or illustrations) at the margins which form a foldout.

Aqua Tint: A printing process that uses the recessed areas of the plate; ideal for graded and even tones.

Aquarelle: The hand application of color, through stencils onto a printed picture.

Aqueous Plate: Water soluble plate coatings, which are less toxic and less polluting.

Arc Light: A light source produced by the passing of electric current between two electrodes; used in the production of plates in photolithography.

Arms: Those elements of letters that branch out from the stem of a letter, such as: "K" and "Y".

Arrowhead: A symbol shaped like an arrowhead that is used in illustration to direct a leader line. Reference, leader line.

Art Paper: A paper evenly coated with a fine clay compound, which creates a hard smooth surface on one or both sides.

Art Work: Any materials or images that are prepared for graphic reproduction.

Art-Lined Envelope: An envelope that is lined with an extra fine paper; can be colored or patterned.

Artwork: All illustrated material, ornamentation, photos and charts etc., that is prepared for reproduction.

As To Press: In gravure printing, (recessed areas of plate hold ink), a term used for proofs showing the final position of color images.

ASA: A number set by the American Standards Assoc., which is placed on film stock to allow calculation of the length and "F" number of an exposure. Reference, "F" numbers.

Ascender: Any part of a lower case letter which rises above the main body of the letter such as in "d", "b" and "h".

Assembled negative: Film negatives consisting of line and halftone copy which are used to make plates for printing.

Assembled view: In illustration, a term used to describe a view of a drawing in its assembled or whole format.

Author's Alterations (AA's): Changes made after composition stage where customer is responsible for additional charges.

Autochrome paper: Coated papers that are regarded as exceptional for multi-colored printing jobs.

Autolithography: A printing method whereby the image is hand drawn or etched directly onto lithography plates or stones.

Autopositive: Any photo materials which provide positive images without a negative.

Azure: The light blue color used in the nomenclature of "laid" and "wove" papers.