Here are some of the more commonly used terms that apply to our industry. A better knowledge of these terms and processes will help you to understand your requirements and order more effectively.

Bitmap files: images are exactly what their name says they are: a collection of bits that form an image. The image consists of a matrix of individual dots (or pixels).

Bleeds: printers cannot print right to the edge of a paper sheet. To create that effect, the printer must use a sheet, which is larger than the document size. Then the printer prints beyond the edge of the document size (usually a few mm), then cuts the paper down to the document size.

Camera-ready: artwork that is black and white and has very clean, crisp lines that make it easy to scan and suitable for photographic reproduction.

EPS (encapsulated postscript) file: an alternative picture file format that allows PostScript data to be stored and edited and is easy to transfer between Macintosh, MSDOS and other systems.

4-color process: a system where a colour image is separated into 4 different colour values by the use of filters and screens (usually done digitally). The result is a colour separation of 4 images, that when transferred to printing plates and printed on a printing press with the coloured inks, {CYMK - Cyan (blue), Yellow, Magenta (red) and K (black)}, reproduces the original colour image. These four colours can be combined to create thousands of colours.

Less than Minimum: the fee charged by a supplier for ordering fewer items than the quantity they are prepared to sell as a base quantity.

Overprint Area: the area on a product, with specific dimensions, in which the imprint is placed.  Your advertising space on our calendars.

Overruns/Underruns: the number of pieces that were printed, in excess of the quantity specified for the production run, or fewer pieces than the amount specified. The industry standard on most products is +/- 5%. Suppliers invoice on the actual quantity produced. Freeman Productions, however, always supplies and invoices you for exactly what you order.

PMS (Pantone Matching System) Colours: a book of standardized colours is used to identify, match and communicate colours in order to produce accurate colour matches in printing. Each colour has a coded number indicating instructions for mixing inks to achieve that colour. This system is predominately used for printing on paper but the colours are used as a guide for most printing jobs. Please see our PMS Chart – Colour Guide found under Useful Advice in this website.

PDF (Portable Document Format) files: preserve the visually rich content of original files, and are easier to read and transfer across the email systems. Adobe PDF files print cleanly and quickly, and anyone can share Adobe PDF files, regardless of their platform or software application. PDFs are most commonly used to generate proofs for approval.

Pre-production Proof: an actual physical sample of the product itself produced and sent for approval before an order goes into production.

Production Time: the amount of time needed to produce and ship an order, once an order has been received and approved. See our Terms and Conditions for our receipt and ship dates.

Proof: Impression of the artwork so the correctness of the image to be printed can be checked. This image can be faxed, emailed or presented on paper.

TIFF (Tagged Image File Format) file: a file format for exchanging bitmapped images (usually scans) between applications.

Vector Files: sometimes called a geometric file, most images created with graphics programs such as Adobe Illustrator and CorelDraw are in the form of vector image files. These files are often referred to as original artwork and are required for most printing jobs.