3DAP is an Australia contract proofing standard
primarily for Prepress facilities and advertising
agencies to enable an individually verified and
certified proof that conforms to the 3DAP standards.
Originally this proof was conformed to the older
Chromalin proofing standards, although the variance
in this process was not ideal. The newer v2 standard
conforms to averaged press standards that are far
more universal. Each proof is read in with a
spectrophotometer to measure accuracy, if ok, then a
certificate (small sticker printed an a label
printer) is attached to the proof for reference and
verification.
Delta E is the total color difference between a
trial sample and a selected standard measurement.
This value is calculated using the difference
between the standard measurement’s L a b values and
the L a b values of the trial sample. The human eye
can perceive a delta E of approximately one and a
half or greater, but this is not absolute and will
change from sample to sample.
In inkjet printing this refers to the appearance
of lines in the direction the print head travels.
Usually a sign of poorly calibrated printer, clogged
or misaligned print head nozzles.
Occurs on media when too much ink is applied and
what should appear as sharp lines feathers out.
Occurs on inkjet media when light that is
reflected back from a dark or black area of the
print takes on a bronzed appearance. This is caused
by the gloss enhancers that are a part of the inkjet
inks being unevenly distributed across the media
(print will have dark and light areas and will be
viewed with a difference gloss appearance across the
printed sheet. Some new printers (e.g. HP's new
Designjet Z series) add a clear "Gloss Enhancer" ink
to compensate for this affect leaving a more
desirable print.
Standardizes a device. Different devices such as
monitors or printers will read or reproduce colors
differently, through the calibration process the
settings are adjusted so that different devices will
reproduce the same colors. In the case of a printer
calibration involves print head alignment,
linearization and profiling.
A contract proof that was processed directly from
the film prior to the production of plates for an
offset press. Not as common since digital proofing
became popular.
A scientific 3D XYZ space that describes how the
average human eye sees color. Used as a conversion
table in color management. More advanced description
here
Color Matching System.
Stands for: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black (black
is abbreviated to K so as to not be confused with
Blue). They are subtractive colors that are usually
used in printing.
This has different meanings in different markets.
In digital printing, this refers to a receptive
coating designed to handle the type of ink being
used to image the paper. This can be any finish
(gloss or matt etc). However in the offset industry,
coated paper refers to the finish of the stock
(often glossy as an example). In dye sublimation the
coating is designed to hold the dyes close to the
surface to facilitate the release of the dyes during
the transfer process.
When too much ink is applied to some media, the
paper can sometimes deform into ridges and valleys
as the paper stretches from being wet.
Used primarily for monitor calibration. Not as
capable as a Spectrophotometer.
Describes the amount of colors that can be
produced by a digital output device. In printing,
the media and ink combination will also change the
color gamut available.
the process of splitting a full color artwork
into it's individual C, M, Y & K components. This
must be done for offset and screen printing to
produce plates or film for each color. These
separations also have a halftone screen pattern
(visible in offset or screen prints under
magnification as a rosette of each color)
A measurement of light color degrees in Kelvin.
The higher the value the closer it is to white,
daylight ranges between 5500°K to 6500°K
A digital representation of another printing
process used by a print buyer to approve or reject
the result prior to the actual print run. It's a
contract proof because the customer is usually asked
to sign the proof on approval creating an agreement
between them and the print supplier of expected
results. If the customer is unhappy with the final
printed result, the contract proof can be reviewed,
if the print matches the proof then the printer has
accurately produced the job, but alternatively if
the proof does not match then the customer has the
right to request a reprint or discount on the job by
negotiation. It's for this reason Pre-Press
facilities are so careful with color.
Not really used anymore, but was a proofing
process than took the final film before making
plates to go onto a press, and producing a proof
directly from this film. Was very accurate although
was labor intensive and expensive. Most people sent
these to be scrapped years ago.
A-C
D-F
G-I
J-L
M-O
P-R
S-V
W-Z
US Sublimation glossary of
printing terms
D through F
