Whether you are new to printing or a pro, you may still wonder what certain terms mean and which choices to make. Today, we will take a look at the most common printing terms and titles.
✨Kiss Cut – a process where a blade cuts only through the top layer of material, leaving the paper backing intact.
✨Die Cut – a process where stickers are cut through the vinyl and paper backing to fit the shape of your design.
✨CMYK – colour space used by printers to print on paper, and any other photo paper material. Stands for and uses Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and (Key) Black.
✨RGB – colour space used by monitors. Stands for and uses Red, Green, and Blue.
✨Pantone – premixed colours for maximum colour accuracy, used by roller printers.
✨Inkjets – ink-based printers, usually used at home.
✨Pigment Printers – more industrially geared printers that can also be purchased for home use.
✨Cut Lines – vector lines that delineate the edges of an object or shape, often used to indicate where a piece will be cut.
✨Bleeds – a safe area on the design to take into account the possible cutting error.
✨UV Printing – a durable printing technology used to print on any surface, which uses UV light to harden the ink.
✨Sublimation – a printing technique that uses heat to bind the dye to the fabric, usually used for clothes.
✨Screen Printing – a printing technique where a mesh is used to transfer ink or dye onto the desired object.
✨Offset Printing – CMYK printing technique that uses roller machines and plates.
✨PNG – raster image file type used for web viewing, which supports transparency.
✨JPG – image file type used for photos, which compresses digital images.
✨PDF – portable document file, best used for printing, as it saves the colour profile data.
✨WebP – a modern image file format, which offers superior compression compared to traditional formats.
✨Colour Profile – a specific instruction for the printer about the colours and ink embedded in the picture.
Hopefully, after reading this post, you have got a clearer understanding of different printing terms or even learnt something new!
Cover: @creseas_yes_thk
Edit: @splash_high_dope