OBA
Optical brighteners are additives used by paper manufacturers to make a paper look whiter and brighter.
Lexicon
Offset
Offset printing is an indirect printing process.
Indirect means that the printing plate and the substrate do not come into direct contact with each other, but a medium in between is used as a transfer medium.
It is the most widespread printing process.
Online proof
An online proof (correct: contract proof) is an ISO 12647-7 certified test equipment for the graphics industry. It is called online because it is ordered “online”, i.e. via the Internet.
Opacity
The term opacity refers to the opacity or covering power of a colour. A colour with high opacity is opaque and allows little or no light to shine through. A colour with low opacity is transparent or translucent and allows some or all of the light to pass through. The opacity of a colour depends on factors such as the concentration of the pigment, the type of pigment, the layer thickness and the type of substrate on which the colour is applied. Pigments with higher opacity generally produce colours with …
opaque
A colour is described as opaque if it is non-transparent, i.e. light cannot shine through it and no objects or colours are visible behind it.
OPP
‘OPP’ stands for “Oriented Polypropylene”, a type of plastic film. OPP film is made from polypropylene and is characterised by its orientation. The orientation of the material is achieved by a special manufacturing process in which the film is stretched to improve its physical properties. OPP films are transparent, glossy and have a smooth surface. They offer high clarity, are tear-resistant, water-repellent and have a good barrier effect against moisture, oils and gases. These properties make OPP films versatile and they are used in various areas, especially in the packaging …
Pantone
Pantone is the creator of the Pantone Matching System and Pantone Plus Series, worldwide colour systems for spot colours that have widespread use in graphics and printing industry, but also in the field of plastics and textile. The “Pantone Matching System” has been renamed “Pantone Plus Series” in 2010.
Pantone Matching System
Pantone Matching System: The PANTONE Matching System, which has been tried and tested for many decades, was renamed ‘Pantone Plus Series’ in 2010.
PANTONE Plus Series
Pantone Matching System: The PANTONE Matching System, which has been tried and tested for many decades, was renamed the ‘Pantone Plus Series’ in 2010.
PDFX-ready
PDFX-ready is a Swiss initiative founded in 2005. The goal is to promote and facilitate the use of the PDF/X ISO Standards for the exchange of printing data.
percabsolute
The rendering intent ‘perceptual absolute’ is not known or established as an independent rendering intent in colour processing and colour management. The term refers to a combination of the rendering intents ‘perceptual’ and ‘absolute colourimetric’, meaning that the aim is to achieve a colour reproduction that is both visually appealing (perceptual) and precise and accurate (absolute colourimetric). With Fiery XF, for example, the rendering intent can be used to convert photographs that originate from a large source colour space such as AdobeRGB into a smaller target colour space.
perceptual
The ‘’perceptual‘’ rendering intent is used in colour management to achieve the most pleasant and visually appealing colour reproduction possible. This rendering intent is based on the human perception of colours and takes into account how we perceive and interpret colours. When using the ‘perceptual’ or ‘perceptive’ rendering intent, the colour values of the original are adjusted so that they appear natural to the human eye. The colours are converted in such a way that they have as similar a visual effect as possible in the target colour space as …
Photoshop Softproof
The Adobe Photoshop software offers a so-called ‘soft proof’ function with which, for example, an RGB file from a camera can be displayed in a CMYK colour space. This so-called soft proof in Adobe Photoshop has some advantages, but also serious disadvantages: Advantages of Photoshop Softproof: A colourful RGB file can be quickly and easily simulated in a usually smaller CMYK colour space For image retouching, for example, the colours that would lie outside the later CMYK colour space can be quickly displayed and visualised so that the retoucher knows …
Picture printing paper
Picture printing paper (or art paper) is a type of paper that is coated on both sides and is very common.
It is available in various grammages, either matt, semi-gloss or glossy coated, and is suitable for all printing processes.
PMS
Pantone Matching System: The proven PANTONE Matching System has been renamed 2010 in “Pantone Plus Series” and supplemented with 224 colors. In 2012, another 336 new colors were added. In 2014 Pantone Plus Series has again been supplemented by a further 84 new colors.
Currently, the Pantone Plus Series has 1755 colors, which are created from 18 Pantone Plus Series base colors.
Press proof
In contrast to a proof, a press proof is created using films or CTP printing plates on special press proof machines with the same colours and parameters as the subsequent production print. Press proofs are rarely used today for cost reasons.
Process colours
Process colours are the colours that are created in printing when several colours are printed on top of each other (usually using halftone screening).
In four-colour printing, this colour is composed of cyan, magenta, yellow and black. With these four colours a very large number of colours with different tonal values can be printed.
proof
To “proof” means to produce a proof or have a proof produced.
Proof
A proof (correct: contract proof) is an ISO-certified testing device for the graphic arts industry. A proof simulates the colourfulness of offset or gravure printing in a colour and legally binding manner within the narrow tolerances of ISO 12647-7.
Proof cheap
Proof cheap is a typical search term that people use in search engines to search for a cheap, colour and legally binding proof. But what makes a cheap proof? A proof becomes a proof that it is produced according to the specifications of the latest revision of the proofing standard ISO 12467-7 and that it is within the tolerances of this standard. The current revision is ISO 12647-7:2016, which has been tightened even further with this standard and has been supplemented by a certified edition of spot colours such as …