Glossary

The designs use traditional printing terms and descriptions that you may be unfamiliar with so we have put together a glossary of terms used to describe the items in this collection to help you understand the designs better and how they are produced. Of course, with this style of stationery comes better than actually feeling the quality of card and print so we recommend you request a samples from the Letterpress collection.

A size
This is the metric measurement for paper: A4 is 210mm x 297mm, A5 is half that and A6 is half again. In preference to A5 The Letter Press offers Albert Quarto (8"x 6").

Blind Embossed
An impression stamped forcefully onto card creating a relief effect. No ink is used in this process.

Copy
A publishing and printers' term referring to the actual wording to be printed.

Deckle edge
A decorative edge given to paper or card that may be either torn or die-cut.

Double-sided
Printing on both sides of a piece of paper or card, therefore requiring two plates and two runs through the press.

Fabriano Medioevalis
An Italian brand of high quality mould-made paper and board which has a distinctive hand-torn edge.

Film
Positive or negative film used to create the printing plates. Once the film has been made any changes to the copy will require the production of a new film.

Finish
Once a job has been printed it needs to be made ready for despatch. Any dirty or misprinted items are removed and the paper or card is cut, folded, and ribboned according to requirements. Envelopes of the correct size and colour are selected and the job is packed and addressed ready for shipping.

Fly
A card with a single fold is known as a fly card.

Gatefold
Two creases in a sheet of card that when folded brings the two outer sides together resembling double opening gates.

Gilt-edge
Silver or gold foil can be applied to the edge of card to make it more attractive. The thicker the card the better the effect, bevelling (see above) also improves the result.

GSM
A unit of measurement used by the paper industry. It stands for grams per square metre, Cotswold paper is 100gsm, Mayfair 120gsm, invitations are printed on stock from between 250-400gsm, 600gsm is a particularly heavy board suitable for ultra smart invitations.

Landscape
This refers to the orientation of a rectangular image. Landscape means the image sits on its long edge, portrait means it sits on its short edge.

Letterpress
A traditional way of printing, where a plate with the image standing proud of the surface is inked and then impressed onto the paper.
Traditionally it was not correct to indent the paper but it has now become fashionable to do so and can be requested if preferred.

Lined envelope
Envelopes can be lined in paper to improve opacity and make the envelope more attractive.

Overprinted
Refers to printing onto material that has either been previously printed or would not normally be printed. Envelopes, for instance are usually supplied blank but may either have the address of the sender printed on the flap , or, to go with reply cards, printed with the RSVP address on the front. Christmas cards can be overprinted inside with the customer's name and address.

Plate
The printing plate carries the image to be printed and transfers it through the printing process onto the paper. Plates come in many formats depending on the type of printing machine and its size.

Plate-sunk
An area, usually square or rectangular that is embossed into the card. The thicker the card the better the effect.

Portrait
See landscape.

pp
An abbreviation for "pages": a page is one side of a sheet of paper or card. If folded the sheet becomes a booklet with 4 pages, a paper insert stapled into this booklet increases this to 8pp and another insert would give you a total of 12pp. This term is often used on Orders of Service.

Proof
Before going to print a customer will often want to see what their job will look like; a proof allows them do this. We send proofs in PDF format to show the exact layout and type of the finished job.

Run-on
The run-on is the extra quantity or set printed after the initial print-run. The run-on set is cheaper as all the start-up costs have been covered by the first set.

Set-off
Ink smudging that can happen to a recently printed job if the ink is too wet or the card is handled too soon after printing.

Thermography
Also known as Thermo or raised print. Powder is sprinkled onto the still wet ink which after heating fuse to create the relief effect. This is standard on most of the Letterpress wedding stationery ranges or as an optional extra. It gives a luxurious finish to the card.