Glossary of Printing & Technical Terms

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

L

Lamination:

The process of applying a thin film coating after printing which is applied to the paper or board to give a more glossy or matt appearance.

Lay:

Where the print is located on a sheet of paper.

Leading:

Space between lines of text.

Letterpress printing:

Printing method using protruded surfaces which is in contact with the ink and paper.

Linen finish:

A finish impressed on paper to make the surface resemble linen, usually produced by passing the web between engraved cylinders. Other patterns can be given to paper.

Lithographic printing:

A printing process based on the principle of the natural aversion of water to grease. The areas to be printed receive and transfer ink to the paper, the non-printing areas are treated with water to repel the ink.

Loose leaf:

A method of binding which allows the insertion and removal of pages for continuous updating.

Lossy:

When a file compression system reduces a file to the extent it is not able to restore it to what is was previously (loses data).

Lpi:

Lines per inch - refers to the quality of a halftone screen. It is important to distinguish it from dpi which refers to the resolution of a device or image. Commonly lpi is used at exactly half of the dpi of the device or image, i.e. 300dpi would equal 150lpi.

Line art:

Copy which can be reproduced without using halftones, usually a solid.