The vocabulary a working print shop uses every day.

A Print MIS — Print Management Information System — is the central software a print shop uses to estimate jobs, schedule production, track work-in-progress, manage inventory, and invoice customers. Modern Print MIS platforms also connect to presses, finishing equipment, and customer storefronts so a single order moves end-to-end without rekeying.

Also called: print management software · print shop ERP · print shop software · print quoting software · MIS for printers · printing management system · print estimating software · PrintVis alternative · Tharstern alternative · PrintSmith Vision alternative · Optimus MIS alternative · Ordant alternative · shopVOX alternative · printIQ alternative · DocketManager alternative · HiFlow alternative · DynamicsPrint alternative · print shop management software · screen print shop management software · sign shop management software

JDF — Job Definition Format — is an open XML standard for passing job parameters between prepress, presses, and finishing equipment. A JDF file describes the paper, ink, plates, run length, finishing operations, and delivery for a single print job in a structured form that machines on the shop floor can read directly.

Also called: Job Definition Format · CIP4 JDF · print job ticket · JDF workflow · JMF

Imposition is the arrangement of multiple pages on a single press sheet so they fold into the correct order and orientation after printing and cutting. Good imposition minimises paper waste, respects the press's gripper edge, and accounts for creep on thicker booklets.

Also called: print imposition · page layout for press · press sheet layout · n-up imposition · imposition software

Makeready is the setup work before a press run — washing units, hanging plates, registering colours, ramping ink, and pulling test sheets until the job runs to specification. Makeready is non-billable time on the press, so reducing it per job is a direct margin lever.

Also called: press setup · make-ready · press makeready · job setup waste · makeready time

Gang-running is printing multiple jobs on the same press sheet to share makeready and material cost across them. It is common for postcards, business cards, and short-run litho work, and is one of the highest-leverage margin moves a Print MIS can automate.

Also called: gang printing · gang-run printing · ganged jobs · shared sheet printing · gang run printing explained

GSM — grams per square metre — is the standard weight measure for paper and board. 80gsm is office copy paper; 130gsm is light flyer stock; 250–350gsm is card and cover stock. GSM is independent of sheet size, so it travels with the substrate spec across regions.

Also called: grammage · paper weight · g/m² · paper GSM chart · paper weight conversion

CMYK — Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Key (black) — is the four-colour subtractive process used for full-colour printing. Files supplied as RGB (the additive model used by screens and cameras) are converted to CMYK at prepress, with a colour profile that matches the press, ink, and substrate.

Also called: four-color process · 4-color process · process colour printing · CMYK printing · RGB vs CMYK

Bleed is the extra image area extending beyond the trim edge of a print job — typically 3mm in Europe and 0.125 inch in the US — so background colour reaches the cut line after trimming. Without bleed, small misalignments at the cutter produce thin white slivers along the edge of the finished piece.

Also called: print bleed · bleed area · 3mm bleed · full bleed · bleed setting Photoshop · bleed in printing

Preflight is the automated check on a customer-supplied print file before it is committed to plate or press. Preflight tools verify resolution, fonts, colour space, bleed, ink coverage, and other production-critical attributes — flagging files that would cause problems on the press.

Also called: preflight check · PDF preflight · print file check · print-ready check · PitStop preflight

Saddle stitching is a booklet binding method where folded sheets are nested into a single signature and stapled through the spine. It is the standard binding for booklets up to roughly 64 pages and is the most cost-effective binding for short and medium print runs.

Also called: saddle stitching · stapled binding · booklet binding · saddle-stitched book · saddle stitch vs perfect bind

Wide format covers print processes for large output — banners, posters, vehicle wraps, signage, exhibition graphics — typically on roll-fed inkjet machines and measured in square metres. Wide-format jobs are quoted on linear metre or square metre rather than per-sheet.

Also called: large format printing · wide-format printing · large format inkjet · sign and display printing · banner printing · wide format quoting software

Prepress is everything between a customer's finished file and a plate or press-ready PDF: preflight, colour management, imposition, proofing, and platemaking. In a digital workflow the plate step is replaced by RIPping to the press; the rest of prepress is unchanged.

Also called: pre-press · prepress workflow · print prepress · platemaking · prepress software

RIP software — Raster Image Processor — converts a press-ready PDF into the dot-pattern, ink-channel, and motion instructions that drive a digital printer, large-format inkjet, or platesetter. Common RIPs include Onyx, Caldera, PrintFactory, Flexi, and the vendor-bundled RIPs from Heidelberg Prinect, EFI Fiery, and HP SmartStream.

Also called: Raster Image Processor · print RIP · wide format RIP · DTF RIP software · large format RIP · Onyx alternative · Caldera alternative · PrintFactory alternative · Flexi RIP · RIP vs Print MIS · best RIP software