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Printer Terminology

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A

• A4
  The international standard paper size, (210 x 297 mm paper size, [8.3 x 11.7 inches])
• Accessory
  An optional item purchased in addition to the peripheral to enhance or add features. Accessories usually carry their own warranty and are not consumable. For more specific information on the warranty period, consult the user's manual for that accessory. (Example: paper trays, duplexers, etc.)
• Actual Size
  The size of the original page when it was scanned (not enlarged using zoom or reduced using zoom out).
• Adjustable Tray
  A paper tray that is able to adapt to more than one size of media. All trays used in the printers are adjustable.
• Adapter Card
  An auxiliary device, such as an HP Jetdirect or PostScript® card, that is added to the printer. This card gives alternative options to the printer.
• Additive Color Process
  A system where the primary lights of red, green, and blue combine to produce white light. Computer monitors are based on an additive color model.
• All-in-One
  A designation given to printers that can perform several functions, such as printing, faxing, copying, and scanning.
• Alphanumeric
  A character set containing letters, digits, and punctuation marks.
• Analog
  Electrical information contained in continuously variable physical quantities. AC voltage producing a sine wave is analog.
• Annotation
  A word, note, mark or highlighting added to a item.
• ANSI
  Acronym for: American National Standards Organization.
• Anti-Aliasing
  A process where the brightness levels of adjacent pixels are averaged to eliminate jagged edges from curves and diagonal lines.
• Application Program
  General term for software that performs specific tasks such as accounting or word processing.
• ASCII
  Acronym for: American Standard Code For Information Interchange. An 8-bit code that uses seven-bits to represent character information such as letters, punctuation, symbols, and control characters. The eighth bit can be used for parity. Allows computers to exchange data and information.
• Assembly Drum
  An Assembly Drum is the device in a laser printer that carries the static charge and holds the electrostatic image. This device is also used to deliver the charged toner to the paper prior to the application of heat to melt the toner into plastic ink.
• Attribute
  The attribute of a color is one of the many ways of describing the color, in this case by their hue, saturation and brightness.
• AutoFont Support
  Hewlett-Packard's standard for supplying font width information (metrics) for both scalable typefaces and bitmap fonts used by HP LaserJet series printers.
• Automatic Document Feeder (ADF)
  The ADF is used to automatically feed originals into the device for copying, scanning, or faxing.
• Automatic Sheet Feeder (ASF)
  Describes the different ways printers feed paper. Dot matrix printers usually run on a continuous Web of paper while laser printers are generally single-sheet (also referred to as page printers).

B

• Banding
  Visible steps between shades in a gradient.  Banding is also the result of substandard printing that affects the graduation of colors, resulting in distinct bands of colors on the page. This is usually caused by improper alignment, or clogged nozzles in the print head.

• Background
  Paper looks gray or appears dirty because small toner particles are transferred to non-printed areas (white space). A symptom of a print quality problem.

• Background Printing
  Background printing is one example of a background process where the printing takes place while the computer is processing other tasks.

• Baud Rate
  The data transfer rate between the computer and the printer. Baud rate applies to serial interfaces.

• Best Quality
  Prints documents using the highest resolution available on the printer. Changing resolution may change the formatting of text documents.

• Bidirectional
  The ability to communicate both from the PC to the peripheral and from the peripheral to the PC. In the case of the HP LaserJet printers, bidirectional and Bitronics mean the same thing.

• Bidirectional Cable
  A bidirectional cable is a fully pinned out, 36 pin, Centronics type cable.

• Bidirectional Printing
  Bidirectional printing is a technique whereby ink is applied to the printing surface as the print head is moving in both directions, thus speeding the printing process.

• Binary
  A number system consisting of only two digits (base 2).

• Bit Depth
  Amount of information required for each pixel in a raster image. Black and white images require only one bit per pixel. Photographic quality color images can require 24 or 32 bits per pixel.

• Bitmap
  A representation of a character or a graphic image in which each printed dot is stored as a digital bit. Looking at a character printed by an HP printer, it is a mosaic made up of hundreds of closely fitted dots. These dots are arranged in neat rows and columns packed 300 dots to the inch. The technical term for that mosaic is Bitmap. Bitmapped (or raster) graphics are images, rather than characters. They are composed of bits "0's" and "1's", very similar to Bitmapped fonts. Virtually anything can be printed as described in this manner; a logo, a picture, or text. Each dot on the page has a one-to-one correspondence, or mapping, to a digital bit stored in computer memory. Since digital bits are either 0's or 1's, the correspondence is very simple: for each "1" stored in the computer, the printer will print a dot; for each "0" stored in the computer, the printer will leave a white space.

• Bitmapped Font
  In the terminology used for computer printing, a bitmapped font is a complete set of characters that have similar characteristics such as: typeface, spacing, point size, style, weight, and symbol set. Ten-point Courier is one font; ten-point Courier Italic is another; ten-point Courier Bold is another, and so on. A laser printer font is a computer file that contains all the bitmaps needed to print a full set of characters and symbols. Along with the bitmap information the file also includes a header with various sorts of information identifying the font, such as typeface or point size. Bitmap fonts may be stored in three places for HP LaserJet printers: the ROM built into the printer itself; the ROM in an accessory cartridge to plug into the printer; and soft font files that are stored on disk and can be downloaded (transferred) to the RAM of the printer.

• Black
  True black is not possible using only cyan, magenta and yellow and so the "four color process is used in today's printers with the fourth color being black. This is also termed CMYK with K representing Black.
• Bleed
  When ink or toner appears along the edges of sheet of paper. Usually achieved by printing onto a larger sheet of paper and then trimming to desired size.
• Bleeding
  Bleeding is a printing defect where colors bleed through the paper into one another, usually caused by either too muck ink or highly absorbent paper.

• Booklet Printing
  Allows printing a document as a booklet. In booklet printing, pages are reordered and printed two-up on each side of a sheet of paper. This allows for folding the paper in the middle, forming a booklet, and results in the pages falling in the correct order with no page shuffling.

• Brightness
  Refers to the reflectance and whiteness of a sheet of paper. Higher brightness papers are more expensive to produce and are usually associated with higher quality. Also refers to the measure of the overall intensity of an image. The lower a brightness value, the darker the image will be and the higher the brightness value, the lighter the image will be.

• Browser
  A program that allows access to documents on the World Wide Web (WWW), such as Internet Explorer. Browsers can be either text or graphic. They read HTML coded pages that reside on a server and interpret the coding into what appears as Web pages. Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer are examples of Web browsers.

• BubbleJet
  BubbleJet is Canon’s trade name for the inkjet technology of heating a water-based ink, causing a bubble of ink to expand and thus be expelled out of the print head nozzle. The resultant vacuum then draws a bubble of ink into the printer head in readiness.
• Buffer
  The buffer, also called the printer memory, is where the data sent from the computer is stored prior to and during the printing process.

• Busy
  A handshake signal sent from printer to computer indicating that the printer cannot accept any more characters.

• Byte
  Eight bits of data operated on as a unit. A byte represents a numerical value between 0 and 255 (decimal 2 to the eight power). It can also represent a character.

C

• C5
  An international envelope size, also known as ISO-C5 (162 x 229 mm [6.4 x 9.1 inches]).
• Calibration
  (Types: Print, Screen or Application): A process that adjusts the color, or black and white values in the image to compensate for changes that software packages and printers make to these values. Example: Scan an image, then print. Notice the differences between printed image and original. Calibration rescans and makes adjustments to minimize these differences.
• Calibrated RGB
  An RGB color space used by Color Management Software as an interchange standard. The Calibrated RGB color space is defined according to specifications for a color monitor.
• Caliper
  A measure of thickness of a sheet of media.
• Carrier Sheet
  The sheet to which labels are temporarily attached. Usually this sheet has a slick feeling or appears shiny. To be used, labels must be peeled off the carrier sheet.
• Cartridge
  The printer cartridge is the physical case which holds the ink in the printer. Some printer cartridges also include an attached printhead.
• Cartridge Core
  Empty laser toner or ink cartridge.
• Cartridge Fonts
  A plastic unit that inserts into a printer. The cartridge contains fonts that are stored in ROM. The advantage of cartridge fonts is simplicity.  Once the cartridge is inserted into the printer and the software is set up to call for the fonts on the cartridge, it can be considered a permanent part of the system. Font cartridges have an average lifetime of 500 insertions per cartridge.
• Centronics Interface
  This 36-pin connection was designed by Centronics Corp. and has become the preferred way to attach most printers to a PC parallel data port.
• Centronics Parallel Interface
  Standard for connecting printers and other peripheral devices to the computer. Unlike serial, the parallel interface transmits a full byte of data at a time. (8 bits at a time)
• Character
  Printable letters or symbols.
• Character Height
  Height of the printed upper case letter; defined in points. One point is .014 inch.
• Character Per Inch (CPI)
  Number of characters that will print within one horizontal inch. Also known as Pitch. 10 pitch = 10 character per inch.  This can only be predictably calculated with non-proportional (fixed spaced) fonts where the horizontal space that each character takes up is of equal proportion.
• Characters Per Line (CPL)
  CPL refers to the number of characters that will fit on a single horizontal line.
• Characters Per Second  (CPS)
  Refers to printing speed, for example, number of characters that will print per second.
• Characters
  Characters are letters or symbols that appear on the screen or the printed page.
• Charge Coupled Device (CCD)
  Converts light into analog signals. The part of a scanner that converts a reflected image to usable data.
• Chrome
  A color transparency.
• Chroma
  The degree of purity, brilliance or saturation of a color.
• CMY
  The basic ink or toner colors used in color printing. Cyan (C), magenta (M), and yellow (Y), are the three primary pigment colors; K represents "true" black. Through half-toning, CMY can be blended to produce up to 16.7 million shades. CMY is the acronym for the three subtractive color primaries used in the three-color printing process – Cyan (blue), Magenta (red), and Yellow.
• CMYK
  CMYK is the four-color printing process – Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black – used in conventional color printing and color inkjet printing. By overlaying these four colors a vast range of colors can be produced. CMYK works better for the paper medium than the traditional RGB scheme because true-to-life colors are extremely difficult to reproduce on paper and often come out looking “flat”.  Colors are called subtractive colors, because they absorb all light rays except those of the specific color produced. The sum of cyan, magenta and yellow in equal amounts yield composite black.
• Cold Start
  Initializing the start-up conditions in a computer or printer. The cold-start process assumes no previous activity in the computer; all registers in the machine are set to initial conditions and the power-on self-test is conducted in its entirety.
• Color
  A specific visual sensation produced by light waves, and determined by hue, brightness and saturation. The source of color can be direct (such as from the color phosphors of a computer monitor or color TV) or from a reflection (such as from inks on a printed page).
• Color Additive
  Color Additive is a term used to describe the process of mixing colors by adding pigments until the desired color is achieved. It is commonly seen in formats such as televisions, where the manipulation of light can bring about true-to-life colors.
• Color Cast
  The modification of an image by the unintentional addition of another color. An image is said to have a color cast when a tint of another color affects the entire image.
• Color Gamut
  The varying ranges of colors that can be experienced by the human eye - and reproduced by artificial means such as photography, RGB display monitors and CMYK color printers. Because color gamut between RGB displays and CMYK printers are different, accurate color matching is important in color printing.
• Color Management System (CMS)
  A "device-independent" technology (usually residing in the computer operating system or as a third-party software application) that achieves color matching between input devices, monitors and printers. The CMS typically creates profiles that describe color data from an input device, predict how the printer will produce that data, and preview how that image will look on a color monitor.
• Color Map
  A mathematical transformation table, developed by a printer manufacturer and residing within driver software that optimizes CMYK color output technology for the RGB color data sent by the computer to the printer.
• Color Matching
  The process of resolving color accuracy contention arising from the different color gamut of the human eye, photography, RGB monitors and CMYK printers.
• Color Proof
  Used to check color accuracy of the final printed piece.
• Color Rendering Dictionary (CRD)
  A feature found in PostScript 2 and Postscript 3 color printers improving color matching between what you see on the screen and the printed output when working with RGB images only. CRD's are used by the printer’s PostScript interpreter when converting RGB data to CMYK data for printing.
• Color Rendering Style
  A feature of Color Management Software maintaining the best possible color translation from one color device to another. Types of color rendering styles are: Solid Color, Photographic, and Presentation.
• Color Rendering Technology
  A technology, such as ColorSmart, that combines both color matching and half toning techniques to produce vivid and accurate color hardcopy output.
• Color Separation
  The image or file conversion into four channels, one each for cyan, magenta, yellow, and black, for the creation of printing plates.
• Color Space
  A geometric representation describing the visible or producible colors in any color model.
• Color Subtractive
  Color Subtractive is a term used to describe the process of mixing colors by subtracting pigments until the desired color is achieved. Color Subtractive mixing is most commonly seen in print media, where it is nearly impossible to achieve true-to-life colors and the addition of pigments can warp or muddy the page. By subtracting colors, the paper quality can be preserved.
• COM 10
  Commercial number 10 envelope size (4.25 x 9.5 inches).
• Comma (,)
  A comma in a fax dial sequence indicates that the device will pause at that point in the dialing sequence.
• Comp
  A preliminary version of a design, often created for client input or approval; usually referred to as a comp.
• Composite Black
  Composite black is an almost black, created by mixing cyan, magenta and yellow inks. However, this produces a muddy black and so the CMYK model, which adds pure black as a fourth ink, is used in high quality printing.
• Condensed Printing
  Condensed printing is the printing process where the characters are printed narrower than normal, thus allowing wide tables or spreadsheets to fit onto the paper.
• Configuration
  Changing printer settings to allow a computer to communicate properly with the computer.
• Continuous Ink Jet (CIJ)
  A Continuous Ink Jet (CIJ) is a type of inkjet printing that is widely used in industrial applications but rarely used in commercial ones. A continuous stream of printer ink is manipulated by electrostatic fields into a stencil or pattern. This technology is most often used in applications such as printing labels on mass marketing envelopes, or printing "best before dates" onto perishables. It is an expensive and messy form of printing, and has never been used to any real extent in commercial applications or desktop publishing.
• Continuous Tone
  Images represented by a series of evenly graduated tones, as in a photograph; sometimes called a contone.
• Contone
  A technique used by color printing technologies, which is a compromise between increased halftone cell size (giving more shades per halftone cell) and increased resolution (giving less invisible halftone cells).
• Contrast
  A measure of the range of brightness for an image. Low contrast numbers are mostly gray, while high contrast numbers are stark blacks and whites. The difference between the dark and light areas of an image. The lower the number value, the more closely the shades will resemble each other. The higher the number, the more the shades will stand out from each other.

  The amount of contrast will depend on the difference between the brightness of the paper surface and areas with maximum toner density. Contrast is also used to describe the distribution of tones within an image. An image with little mid-tone detail, heavy shadows, and bright highlights is said to be high-contrast. Conversely, an image with lots of mid-tone detail and little detail in the highlights and shadows is considered low-contrast.

• Control Code
  PCL language code that initiates a printer function. (See Escape Codes, Setup Strings, Escape Sequences, etc.)
• Core
  A core is an empty cartridge shell, either inkjet or laser.
• Crop
  The process of selecting only the desired part of an image for printing. Or, to remove part of an image. The portion of the image that is selected remains, while the portion that is not selected is removed.
• Curl
  Amount of curvature in a sheet of paper when it is laid on a flat surface.  In-ream curl is the amount of curvature the sheet has at the time it is loaded into the paper tray, before printing.  Post-image curl is the amount of curvature the sheet has after it has moved through the fusing and delivery operations.  Any in-ream curl toward the side to be imaged is undesirable, while a small amount of curl on the opposite side is acceptable.
• Cursor
  A highlighted or bright, sometimes blinking, line or other mark that shows where the next letter or character will appear. Sometimes, the cursor is a special picture or icon.
• Custom
  Allows selecting custom print quality settings as specified in the Print Quality Details screen in the printer driver.
• Custom Color System
  A system of named color swatches that can be matched on press u sing process or spot colors. PANTONE and Rematch are examples of custom color systems.

D

• Daisy-Chain
  A method of connecting multiple SCSI devices.
• Data
  Groups of facts processed into information. A graphic or textual representation of facts, concepts, numbers, letters, symbols, or instructions used for communication or processing.  Data, in printing terms, is the electronic representation of the printed page, which is then turned into a physical printed page.
• Data Communication
  Two or more computers or peripherals talking to each other.
• Dedicated line
  A single telephone line that is used exclusively for either voice calls or fax calls.
• Default
  Default refers to a setting that suits most printing applications and so will be used by the printer/software unless told otherwise.
• Default Printer
  The printer selected within Windows to be used for printing, without optionally choosing another printer
• Density
  The measurement of the darkness or opacity of an image - the amount of light it absorbs. Density can be evaluated visually comparing it to pre-printed density scales, or it can be measured with a Densitometer.
• Densitometer
  An instrument that measures density according to a specified standard. Status T densitometers are commonly used in the graphic arts industry.
• Developer
  A Developer is a piece of Laser printer technology that collects the toner and applies it to the electrostatic image. It consists of a bar that contains tiny plastic beads. The beads contain a slight negative charge, allowing them to collect the positively charged toner.
• Diffuse Dither
  A method for printing continuous-tone images on laser printers in which the grayscale information is represented by randomly located printer dots. Diffuse dithers do not photocopy well because of the small, random, dot location in the image.
• Dip Switches
  DIP, or Dual - In line - Package, means the same size and shape as an integrated circuit, simply put, a mechanical switch that can be mounted on a circuit board. Used on our scanners to determine ROM address.
• Disk Based Soft Fonts
  Scalable fonts that can be downloaded from the computers hard disk to the printer's memory.
• Dithering
  Compensation for either color or resolution limitations when rendering an image. Values of adjacent dots or pixels are altered to create intermediate color values. Also see Half-toning.
• DL
  An international envelope size also known as ISO-DL (110 x 220 mm [4.3 X 8.6 inch]).
• Dot Gain
  The change in the size of a printing dot from the film to the printed sheet, or from the original to the copy, usually expressed in percentages. An increase in dot size from 40% to 50% is called a 10% dot gain.
• Dot Matrix Printer
  Dot Matrix printing was common in the 1970's and 1980's before the widespread use of inkjet and laser printers. A dot matrix is simply an array of dots that make up an image or document. Dot matrix printers were loud and the resolution was extremely poor, but for many years they were the only printers available on the market. A dot matrix printer or impact matrix printer refers to a type of computer printer with a print head that runs back and forth on the page and prints by impact, striking an ink-soaked cloth ribbon against the paper, much like a typewriter. Unlike a typewriter or daisy wheel printer, letters are drawn out of a dot matrix, and thus, varied fonts and arbitrary graphics can be produced. Because the printing involves mechanical pressure, these printers can create carbon copies and carbonless copies. In today's market, dot matrix printers are commonly used and referred to as a receipt printer or POS printer.
• Dots per inch (DPI)
  A measure of the resolution of a printed or scanned image. Generally, more dots per inch mean a higher resolution, a greater amount of visible detail in the image, and a larger file size.  Dots per Inch (DPI) is the term used to describe the resolution of an image. It represents the actual color points, or “dots” within a square inch of space. The higher the dpi, and the smaller the dots are, the better the image looks. Dpi is similar to pixels on a monitor or television screen. DPI is a value for the measurement of the resolution of a printed or scanned image or text. A higher DPI will generally mean higher resolution and therefore higher quality.
• Downloading
  Transferring data or soft fonts from a computer to the printer.
• Drag-and-Drop
  The ability to execute a function graphically with a mouse without typing a command. For example, in Windows Explorer, copy or move a file by "dragging" it from one folder and "dropping" it into another by clicking and holding on a file icon, and then moving the mouse to the new location before letting up on the button.  You can Drag and Drop files directly into the Print Buffer for example.
• Driver
  A driver is a program that controls a device such as printers. A driver acts like a translator between the device and programs that use the device. Each device has its own set of specialized commands that only its driver knows. In contrast, most programs access devices by using generic commands. The driver, therefore, accepts generic commands from a program and then translates them into specialized commands for the device.
• Drivers
  Files used by some software applications to read and write peripheral device characteristics. Printer drivers convert software commands into printer language.
• Drop on Demand (DOD)
  Drop on Demand is a term used to describe the most common type of inkjet printers. Ink is heated and moved into the inkjet nozzles in precise measurements as it is needed, thus saving ink from being wasted. This is a more efficient way to apply ink than the continuous ink jet, which is most often used for industrial applications.
• DSL
  Digital Subscriber Line. A technology that enables a high-speed, direct connection to the Internet through telephone lines.
• DSL Filter
  A phone line filter to allow a standard telephone or fax to be used on the line also used for DSL.
• Duplex
  Double-sided print. Printing on both sides of sheet of paper.
• Duplex printing accessory (also called a "duplexer")
  An accessory used for automatically printing on both sides of a sheet of paper. This accessory is not supported on all printers. Some printers offer this as a optional accessory or as an installed option.
• Duty Cycle
  In print and copy terminology, duty cycle refers to the number of copies or prints that the device can reliably produce on a monthly basis. Exceeding the duty cycle number on a regular basis can lead to equipment malfunctions and breakdowns over time.
• Dye
  Dyes are soluble colorants, usually chemical, used in printer inks. They dissolve in solvents such as water or alcohol.
• Dye-Based Inks
  Dye-based inks are generally much stronger and can produce more color of a given density per unit of mass then other inks. However, they can be more susceptible to fading, especially when exposed to ultraviolet radiation as in sunlight.
• Dye-Sublimation
  A special print technology used for demanding graphic arts and photographic applications that require continuous tone output.

E

• Electrostatic
  A process of creating images using the force of high voltage to attract or repel media (toner), as needed, to form the desired image.
• Electrostatic Image
  An Electrostatic Image is created on an assembly drum during the dry writing reproduction process. An electrostatic image is an arrangement of negatively charged energy within the positively charged sheet created on an assembly drum. The negative energy is a perfect reproduction of the image to be copied by the dry writer or laser printer.
• Electrography
  Electrography, also known as Xerography, was the term used to describe the dry writing process developed by Charles Carlson and the Haloid Company, in 1939. The Haloid Company later refined the process and changed their name to Xerox. Electrography is a means of using static electricity to apply pigment to paper. It is the basic technology behind laser printers and photocopying machines.
• E-mail (electronic mail)
  An abbreviation for electronic mail. Software that is used to electronically transmit items over a communications network.
• Email Printing
  An Internet connected printer that allows printing by way of receiving files/attachments to emails.
• Embedded Printer Commands
  Printer commands written directly into a software package.
• Emphasis Tool
  A tool used in scanner software for adjusting middle tones not affected by highlight and shadow tools.
• Encapsulated PostScript (EPS)
  It is a common file format allowing the exchange of PostScript graphic files between applications and computer platforms.
• Enhanced input/output (EIO)
  Printer accessory slots used for transferring data between the computer and printer. Modular I/O (MIO) accessories for older printers and the newer EIO technology are not compatible.
• Escape Character
  PCL software commands sent to the printer. The printer distinguishes these commands from regular text by the presence of an Escape Sequence (EC), a special control code.
• Escape Sequences
  PCL software commands sent to the printer. The printer distinguishes these commands from regular text by the presence of an escape character (EC), a special control code. Also known as PCL printer commands.
• Executive
  A smaller-sized paper, primarily used in the United States and Canada for corporate communications (7.25 x 10.5 inches).
• Export
  Saves documents from the desktop into image types that other applications can use.
• Extended Warranty
  Commonly misused term that actually describes a specific "service agreement." Service agreements provide specified additional servicing beyond the standard warranty period.
• External Hard Drive
  This is a disk that attaches to a computer for storing large amounts of information. Most computers now come equipped with internal hard drives that can hold many gigabytes (GB) of information. Adding an external hard drive is normally done to increase a computer's storage capacity.

F

• Factory Default
  A setting programmed into the printer at the factory. These settings are in use until overridden from the control panel or by sending printer commands.
• Faster Printing
  Prints documents using lower resolution or quality to produce faster results. This option provides the best combination of print quality and print speed for most print jobs.  Some times referred to as Normal quality.
• >Fax Settings
  Fax-related items that, when set or changed, continue to use the choice made until changed again. An example would be the number of times set for the device to redial a busy number. These settings are in their own section of the control panel menu.
• Feathering
  A term used when describing printed text quality. Feathering occurs when deposited ink follows the contours of the paper. Depending on the viscosity of the ink, the rougher the grain of the paper the more pronounced the feathering would be.
• File Format
  A particular way of saving information in a file. Most software applications only recognize a certain number of different file formats.  Software known as file conversion software was created to change a file’s format so transporting files from one software application to another is possible.
• Filtering
  Filtering is the process of removing unwanted particles from the ink which would otherwise clog the print head and render the printer damaged.
• Firmware
  Firmware is software contained in a Read-Only Memory (ROM) device. Firmware is a cross between hardware and software.
• Fixed Spaced
  Fixed Spaced are those fonts for which the inter-character spacing is constant. Using fixed spacing, all character cells are the same width.
• Flat
  The assembled composite of film for each set of pages ready for plate making. A flat consists of all the pages that will print on one side of a sheet of paper.
• Flatbed Scanner
  Captures images from photographs and line drawings placed on a flat glass imaging area, usually called a platen. Scan choices usually include full-color, grayscale, or bitmap options.  Multifunction or All-In-One Printers with have either a flatbed scanner or sheet fed scanner built in.
• Font
  Fonts are a collection of characters and symbols of the same typeface design. A font is described by symbol set, spacing, pitch and/or point size (bitmapped fonts only) style, and stroke weight and typeface family. Fonts can refer to internal printer internal, or fonts stored in optional font cartridges and soft font disks. Fonts can either be bitmapped or scalable.
• Font Cartridge
  Font Cartridge is a plug-in device containing additional fonts. Cartridges are installed in the printer so that a greater variety of fonts can be selected for printing.
• Font Characteristics
  Font Characteristics are the symbol set, spacing, pitch and/or point size, style, stroke, weight, and typeface family selections that determine what a printed font looks like.
• Font Metric
  See Font Characteristics
• Font Width
  Font Width is the measurement of the horizontal spacing of each character in a font. Software applications use this information to determine how many characters can fit on a given line. Also known as FONT METRIC.
• Four-Color Process
  Four-color process refers to the CMYK process of printing that results in an acceptable color spectrum.
• Fuser
  A fuser is the part of a laser printer that melts the toner onto the medium. It consists of a hot roller and a back-up roller. After toner is transferred onto the paper, the fuser applies heat and pressure to ensure that the toner stays on the paper permanently, which is why paper is warm when it comes out of a laser printer.

G

• Gamma Correction
  A correction changing the brightness of a particular gray or color level or range of gray or color levels in a computer display. For example, all 60 percent grays might be changed to 25 percent grays.
• Gamma Value
  A measure of the contrast in a halftone.
• Gamut
  A gamut is the range of colors a device can produce. An image gamut is the range of colors within a particular image.
• Gamut Mapping
  The process whereby Color Management Software compresses s - “maps” - the colors in a digital image to fit the color gamut of a particular device.
• Generic Toner Kit
  This is a copy of the OEM toner kit, made by a third party manufacturer to OEM Specifications. Does not require recycling.
• Ghosting
  Refers to an object or letter that is repeated several times down the length of a page at even intervals. The repeated image appears as a light or dark area relative to the surrounding image. This condition most often occurs when a fine gray scale follows a large black pattern.
• Glossy Paper
  Printing paper with a smooth shiny surface finish to give maximum detail and tonal range.
• Gradient Fill
  A color or grayscale fill made of smooth transitions between two different colors or shades.
• Grayscale
  The shades of gray. Gray shades can vary greatly depending upon system capabilities. Each different shade of gray is treated as a different color because each shade is unique.  Commonly there are l6 or 256 shades of gray supported by a software or hardware device. Black and white printers or monochrome monitors do not support any shades of gray, they can only "see" light and dark, with no in between colors.   It is also a method of scanning a continuous tone image and saving the information as shades of gray. For output, grayscales are converted into black and white dots of varying sizes to represent gray levels from black to white.

H

• Halftone
  A method for representing original continuous tone images using dot patterns of various sizes. The pattern is determined by the line frequency, screen angle and dot shape.
• Half-toning
  Half-toning, also called dithering, is the printing process that blends the inks or toner of eight primary colors (cyan, magenta, yellow, black, red, green, blue, and "no color") to produce the 16.7 million shades of a color gamut.  The method by which color printers blend the inks or toner of eight primary colors (cyan, magenta, yellow, black, red, green, blue, and "no color") to produce the 16.7 million shades of a color gamut.
• Header
  Programming term for data at the beginning of a file defining various parameters of that file. Each file format will have a unique HEADER. This header is necessary for the system to read the file. Also, a term used for a fixed text set at the top of a word processing document or web page.
• Height
  The height of a font is the measurement of the body of the type in points. A PCL point is .014 inch. The body of the type is slightly greater than the distance from the bottom of a descender to the top of an unaccented capital letter.
• Hexachrome
  Hexachrome is an expansion of the normal four color process, CMYK, that also includes orange and green, thus significantly increasing the number of color combinations available.
• Highlights
  The whitest or brightest parts of a photograph containing halftone dots visible to the eye; the opposite of shadows.
• Histograms
  A visual representation of an image’s color tonal range. An excellent tool for identifying image deficiencies.
• Horizontal Motion Index (HMI)
  HMI defines the distance between columns in .008 of an inch increment. When fixed pitch fonts are selected, all printable characters including the space and backspace characters are affected by HMI. When proportional fonts are selected, HMI affects only the control space character.
• HP-GL/2
  An industry standard language for pen plotters that is integrated into the PCL 5-printer language. Allows drawing of vector (line) drawings, such as circles and rectangles.
• Hue
  Color, or the gradation of color.  Hue is the most important of the three properties of color, determined by the wavelength of the light ray.  The color name; such as green, blue, purple, pink, or its numeric value.

I

• Imagesetter
  Devices converting PostScript code of page layout files into rasterized format for high-resolution output to film or paper.
• Impact Printer
  An impact printer is a type of printer that forms the characters by the impact of either pins or preformed characters onto the ink ribbon and presses it against the paper (e.g. Dot Matrix).
• Import
  A function that allows opening files in one application from files saved in other applications.
• InfraRed Receiver
  Enables wireless printing from any IRDA-compliant portable device (such as a laptop computer) to the printer.
• Initialize
  To set the starting values and conditions to predetermined levels.
• Ink
  A specially formulated liquid, usually with a dye base. Majorities of inks are water-based liquids. An ink is a liquid containing various pigments and/or dyes used for coloring a surface to render an image or text.
• Inkjet Nozzles
  Inkjet Nozzles are tiny hoses that distribute ink in an inkjet printer. The nozzles are part of the priming area, where the ink is heated and measured depending on the desired color. The smaller the nozzles, the higher the DPI (Dots Per Inch) and ultimately a higher resolution.
• Imposition
  A process in traditional printing where pages are assembled into flats for printing onto one side of a large sheet of paper.
• Intensity
  Another name for color saturation.
• Interface
  A device or component used to alter or convert signals between circuits, systems, devices, or programs.
• Interface Cable
  The data transmission cable used to connect a printer or peripheral device to a computer.
• Interface Connection
  Some printers come with two or three interface connectors. RS-232C serial and Centronics Parallel ports are found on these printers.  Newer models come with USB as well.
• Internal Fonts
  The fonts resident in the printer memory when shipped from the factory.
• Interpolation
  The method used by Scanners to scan at resolutions higher than their built in dpi. Interpolation is an algorithmic process of reproducing pixels in an image to achieve a higher resolution.
• Interrupt
  The suspension of a process caused by an event external to the process.
• I/O Connector
  Most printers come with an interface connector located on the back panel.  The cable that connects the computer to the printer is attached here. Computers also have I/O connectors. There are numerous third party connectors available for an assortment of special purposes.
• IR Port
  The IR port works by transmitting data similarly to a serial port, but without a cable and operating at speeds of up to 4 MB (megabits) per second. When the IR connection is established, the status light comes on. If the connection is broken or when the print job is complete, the status light goes off.
• ISDN
  Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN). A suite of internationally adopted standards for end-to-end digital communication over the public telephone network.
• ISO
  International Standards Organization - ISO standards apply to printer cartridge yields.

J

• Jaggies
  The jagged edges on type and diagonal lines seen on a monitor or output device.
• Jet
  Jet is another term for the nozzle in the printhead portion of the printer or cartridge. Commonly referred to as a nozzle.
• Jet Pak
  A mail away system to professionally re-manufacture an ink cartridge. Saves you... guess what! (See "Money" below).
• Job
  A specific piece of work to be batch-processed by the computer or a peripheral device, such as a printer.
• Job Offset
  Separating successive print jobs by shifting the paper output stacker.
• Job Size
  The printer formats data into an image before physically picking up a sheet of paper. The image size is determined by the JOB SIZE setting. The software application usually sends a command telling the printer what size image to use for text. If no command is sent, the printer defaults to the image size specified by the control panel JOB SIZE setting. Job size allows selection of one of four image sizes to fit four paper sizes.

K

• K
  Symbol for kilo (thousand). The term 64 KB actually means 65,536.  K-byte one thousand twenty four (1024) bytes. A unit of measure for the computer memory of data storage.   This is smaller than MEGA (MB) and GIGA (GB).  This is also the symbol for True Black.
• Kerning
  The adjustment of spacing between proportionally spaced characters in order to make them visually consistent, balanced, and attractive. Kerning is not used with fixed-spaced fonts.
• Kerning Pair
  Spacing information for proportional fonts plus some pairs of characters typically spaced close together.
• Knockout
  If two colors are to print in the same area, the bottom color is removed, or knocked out, to allow the top color to print on blank paper. This allows the top color to print pure, without being muddied by the color beneath it.

L

• Label Printer
  A label printer is a computer peripheral that prints on self-adhesive label material and sometimes card-stock. Label printers are different from ordinary printers because they need to have special feed mechanisms to handle rolled stock, or tear sheet (fanfold) stock. Label printers have a wide variety of applications, including supply chain management, retail price marking, shipping labels, blood and laboratory specimen marking, and fixed assets management. There are five types of label printers:
  • 1.     Desktop label printers are designed for light to medium duty use with a roll of stock up to 4". They are quiet and inexpensive.
  • 2.     Commercial label printers can typically hold a larger roll of stock (up to 8") and are geared for medium volume printing.
  • 3.     Industrial label printers are designed for heavy duty, continuous operation in warehouses, distribution centers and factories.
  • 4.     RFID label printers are specialized label printers that print and encode at the same time on RFID tags enclosed in paper or printable synthetic materials. RFID tags need to have printed information for backwards compatibility with barcode systems, and so humans can identify the tag.
  • 5.     Label printer applicators are designed to automate the labeling process. These systems are common in manufacturing and warehousing facilities that require cases and pallets to be labeled for shipping.
• Language Switching
  Resetting the printer firmware in order to change the language the printer is able to interpret when processing data.  An example is printers that autoswitch between PCL 5 language and PostScript language.
• Landscape Orientation
  Printing across the length of the page (as opposed to portrait orientation printing across the width of the page).
• Laser
  A device that produces a narrow, intense beam of coherent, single-wavelength light waves.
• Laser Optical System
  This conventional method utilizes a lens, mirror, and single light source, for precise exposure of the photoconductor drum. The use of a single light source results in even gradations and consistent image quality.
• Laser printer
  A laser printer is a common type of computer printer that rapidly produces high quality text and graphics on plain paper. Like photocopiers, laser printers employ a xerographic printing process but differ from analog photocopiers in that the image is produced by the direct scanning of a laser beam across the printer's photoreceptor.
• Laser Printing
  Laser printing is a process that produces very high quality text and graphics, both monochrome and color, at fast speeds. A laser is used to scan an image onto a metal drum, thus charging the drum electrostatically. Powdered ink is then attracted to the charge and transferred to paper using heat and pressure. This process is used in laser printers, photocopiers and fax machines.
• LED Optical System
  Developed for use with tandem print engines, this system requires precise alignment and mounting. This system consists of a bar supporting a mounted LED array with a lens array situated on top for projecting the LED light onto the photoconductor drum. Printing with LED requires 600 LEDs per inch lined up along the entire width of the paper. Slight differences in the brightness and positioning of each LED can result in uneven gradation. Therefore, an automatic inspection and correction system is necessary to ensure consistent image quality.
• Legal
  8.5 x 14 inch size paper, primarily used in the United States and Canada for printing legal documents.
• Letter
  8.5 x 11 inch size paper, primarily used in the United States and Canada.
• Light Emitting Diode (LED)
  A diode that, when the proper current is applied, emits light.
• Line Art
  Artwork consisting of solid blacks and whites with no shades of gray
• Line Printer
  The line printer is a form of high speed impact printer in which a line of type is printed at a time. A fast line printer can print as many as 3,000 lines per minute. It is usually both faster and less expensive (in total ownership) than laser printers. In printing box labels, medium volume accounting and other large business applications, line printers remain in use. Multi-part paper forms (carbon copies) are sometimes useful when exact copies are needed for legal accountability or other reasons. The disadvantages of line printers are that they cannot print graphics, and the print quality is low. Laser A laser is a device that produces a beam of coherent single-wavelength light waves.
• Line Spacing
  The number of text lines that are printed per vertical inch of a page. HP LaserJet series printers default to six lines per inch.
• Lines Per Inch - (LPI)
  LPI refers to the number of lines printed per vertical inch, typically 6 or 8 for most printers, though this value can usually be adjusted.
• Load
  The term load refers to making a specific program resident in memory or adding program information to a file or directory.
• Local Area Network (LAN)
  One or more PC workstations and one or more servers or hosts connected together allowing the sharing of files, printers or other peripherals.
• Lower Cassette
  Optional paper cassette attached to printer.  The cassette comes either in various paper sizes or is adjustable for various size papers. Additional envelope trays are available also.
• LPT
  LPT is a parallel port on a PC computer, usually used for printers.
• LPT1
  The first parallel or printer port on a PC.

M

• Macro
  For printers, this means a collection of escape sequences, control codes, and data downloaded to the printer either permanently or temporarily. The execution of a printer macro can be initiated using a single command. For software, this means a collection of common keystrokes and functions combined to ease a particular sequence of required tasks into a simple "recalled" execution.
• Mega (M)
  Abbreviated M and refers to one million. In computer data, this represents a power of 2 that is close to one million (1,048,576). Thus, 12 MHz represents 12 million frequency oscillations per second; 12 Mbytes refers to 12,582,912 bytes of memory.
• Megabyte (MByte or MB)
  Approximately one million bytes (1,048,576 bytes). Refers to an amount of computer or printer memory, or disk space (one byte = eight bits).   Smaller than a GIGA (GB)
• Magnetic Ink Character Recognition (MICR) Toner
  Special magnetic Toner used in printing bank checks on plain paper.
• Mainframe
  A larger centralized computer system, which is the central source to access memory and programs from individual attached terminals. This is not quite the same as a Server
• Maintenance Kits
  Maintenance kits contain parts that should be replaced when your printer reaches its maintenance interval, or when print defects or paper jams start occurring that are caused by worn rollers, separation pads, or fusers. The maintenance interval is the number of pages after which a maintenance kit should be installed. This is only an approximation and each manufacturer contains different parts in their maintenance kits.
• Mask
  A photographic term meaning to isolate one part of an image for color correction, contrast reduction, tonal adjustment, or detail enhancement. Masking allows only certain areas to be manipulated, by protecting areas that are not masked. Masking capabilities are built-into many publishing packages.
• Match Prints
  Color proofs formed when the four color process layers are exposed and fused together. Sometimes, additional spot color layers are added as well.
• Matte Paper
  Matte is a term used to describe a non reflective, non-textured surface.
• Mechanical
  Raw artwork produced by a graphic artist and given to the print shop. Mechanicals consist of a base layer with type and illustrations; clear overlays may be used to indicate where colors and images should be stripped-in by the print shop. Mechanicals are being replaced by image setters outputting to film.
• Media
  Any material to be printed, including envelopes, labels, transparencies, and all types of paper. Paper types include letterhead, pre-punched, recycled, bond, color stock, card stock and pre-printed.  Refer to a Paper Guide for more information.
• Memory
  Generally refers to the amount of Random Access Memory (RAM) in a computer or printer.
• Memory Card Reader
  A device that can read some removable memory devices from cameras and other hand held devices. This removeable memory can include CompactFlash, Smart Media Secure digital memory.
• Menu
  A list of items presented for selection from the printer control panel. The typical printer has several menus, including the Printing menu and the Configuration menu.
• Micro Fine Toner
  Special Fine grain (small particle size) toner used in printers with high resolution.
• Mid Tones
  The colors or shade of gray halfway between the lightest and darkest areas in a photograph.
• Minimize
  To reduce the size of an image to be printed.
• Modem
  Language translator device, converts data to a form transmittable over phone lines.  Faxes use modem (one on each end) to transmit the scanned documents between the fax machines.
• Modular I/O (MI/O)
  Modular Input/Output device. An easily removable hardware device enabling communication between the printer and host computer.
• Moiré Pattern
  An undesirable pattern formed in images when the halftone screen angles of the color separations are set to the wrong angles. When copying a printed original, (which already contains a screen), using Printed Mode will avoid undesirable moiré patterns. Using any other mode on a printed original, will result in another screen being applied to the printed output causing a moiré to appear.
• Monarch
  The standard letter envelope used primarily in the United States and Canada for personal correspondence (3.9 x 7.5 inches).
• Monitor
  Refers to a CRT display unit.  Also refers to a device or software that monitors print jobs on a local or remote printer.
• Monochrome Printer
  A monochrome printer can only produce an image consisting of one color, usually black. A monochrome printer may also be able to produce graduations of tone of that color, such as a grey-scale.
• Mopier
  An HP LaserJet series printer equipped to deliver multiple original prints or generate multiple copies of a single print job.
• Mottled
  Formed when ink or toner is absorbed unevenly into the paper. Areas of high ink/toner absorbency will produce a different color than areas of less ink/toner absorbency and will look splotchy. Use paper specially designed for color printing.
• MP Size
  A control panel selection item used to tell the printer the physical size of the paper in the Multi-Purpose (MP) tray. The MP tray does not have paper-size sensors (due to the fact that there is only one printer tray (the MP tray) to accommodate different page sizes.
• MP Tray
  A Multi-Purpose tray supporting several types and sizes of paper and other print media. This allows the printer to be very versatile without the necessity of a separate tray for each size of media. Since the Multi-Purpose tray handles various sizes of media, the MP size setting on the printer's control panel must be changed to reflect the media in the tray.
• Multifunction Printer
  A multifunction printer is a single device that serves several functions, including printing. Typically, multifunction printers can act as a printer, a scanner, a fax machine and a photocopier.
• Multi Purpose Tray (MP Tray)
  An MP tray holds or supports several types of print media in various sizes, thus increasing the versatility of the printer.

N

• Nozzle
  Nozzles are the tiny tubes through which the heated bubbles of ink are sprayed onto the page, thus producing the printed image.

• OCR
  Optical Character Recognition (OCR) is the process of turning an image into computer-editable text. An image is an electronic picture of text such as a scanned paper document or an electronic fax file. Images do not have editable text characters; they have many tiny dots (pixels) that together form a picture of text.  During OCR, the software analyzes an image and defines characters to produce editable text.
• OEM
  Original Equipment Manufacturer.
• Offline/Online
  Offline is the condition when the printer does not accept information from the host computer. When a printer is Online, it accepts information from the host. When the printer is Online, the Online lamp is lit.
• Optical Character Recognition Software
  OCR software converts an electronic image of text, such as a scanned document, into a form word processors, spreadsheets, and database programs can use.
• Optical Density
  Optical density is a measure of the overall blackness of a printed image, also called jetness.
• Optical disk
  A very high-density information storage medium using light to read and write digital information.
• Orientation
  The direction of the characters on the page. If the print is across the width of the page, it is portrait-oriented. If the print is across the length of the page, it is landscape-oriented.
• Overhead
  In communications, all information, such as control, routing, and error-checking characters, that is in addition to user-transmitted data. This includes information carrying network status or operational instructions, network routing information, and re-transmissions of user data messages received in error.
• Overhead Slide
  A transparent media that can be printed by a printer for use on an Overhead Projector.
• Overprint
  The process where two colors are printed over one another. Used to eliminate registration problems, black type and lines are commonly overprinted on top of lighter colors.

P

• Page Formatting
  The arrangement of information on a page. Page formatting involves setting margins, line spacing, and text length.
• Page Preview Image
  Shows how a sample document will print with the currently specified printer driver settings.
• Pantone Matching System
  A patented process for defining colors. In traditional printing, PMS colors are specified from a swatch book and then closely duplicated by print shops using formula books for mixing inks. In digital printing, Pantone approved Raster Image Processor’s can duplicate a limited number of PMS colors. PMS colors are specified by application software and sent to the RIP where lookup tables are used to let the printer know what percentages of toner to use for each color.
• Paper
  Paper types include letterhead, pre-punched, recycled, bond, color stock, card stock, and preprinted. See Media.
• Parallel Cable
  The cable (connection) between the computer's and printer's parallel ports, which allows a computer to send a printer several bits of data, simultaneously.
• Parallel I/O
  An input/output interface that transmits 8 bits of information simultaneously.  Centronics is an industry-wide standard form of a parallel interface used by HP.
• Parallel Port
  A connector on the computer that allows for connecting to other devices, such as a printer. Another name for parallel port is LPT port.
• PC Faxing
  Faxing electronic documents from and receiving incoming faxes to the computer. The computer must have a PC fax program installed to use PC faxing.
• PCL
  Printer Control Language: a protocol designed by Hewlett-Packard to allow PCs to communicate with its laser printers. PCL has become a de facto standard for laser and ink jet printers and is supported by virtually all printer manufacturers. 'HP compatible' or 'LaserJet compatible' means that a printer supports the PCL command set. The printer language that drives HP Deskjet, HP LaserJet, and other Hewlett-Packard printers. PCL defines a standard set of commands enabling programs to communicate with HP or HP-compatible printers.
• PCL 5e or PCL 6
  Two of the many different versions of HP’s printer control language.
• PCL Commands
  HP proprietary language that provides access to printer features. Once a PCL command sets a parameter, it remains set until the same PCL command is repeated with a new value. A reset (E) can change it. There are three parts of PCL commands: control codes, two-character escape sequences, and parameterized escape sequences.
• PDL
  Page Description Language: a language for describing the layout and contents of a printed page used with laser printers. The best-known PDLs are Adobe PostScript and Hewlett-Packard PCL (Printer Control Language). Both PostScript and modern versions of PCL are object-oriented, describing a page in terms of geometrical objects such as lines, arcs, and circles.
• Parallel Port
  An I/O channel for a parallel device, like a printer, which sends and receives data eight bits at a time over 8 separate wires. Maximum throughput is around 500Kbit/s. Increasingly, other devices such as removable storage drives; scanners etc. share the printer parallel port using a 'pass through' mechanism.
• Photographic Rendering
  A color rendering style preserving tonal relationships in images. Unprintable colors are mapped to printable colors to retain differences in lightness, slightly sacrificing color accuracy as necessary.
• Pigment Inks
  While conventional inks are essentially oil-based dyes, pigment inks consist of tiny chunks of solid pigment suspended in a liquid solution. According to their proponents, pigment inks offer richer, deeper colors and have fewer tendencies to run, bleed or feather.
• Pica
  A unit of measure in traditional typesetting. There are six picas to an inch. A pica consists of twelve points.
• Piezo Inkjet
  A piezo inkjet uses a process whereby small electrical pulses from piezoelectric crystals are used to force the ink through the nozzles.
• Pigment
  Pigment is a solid colorant used in inks. Being insoluble, pigments produce better quality images in most situations and also provide better protection against fading.
• Pigmented Inks
  Pigmented inks contain agents that ensure adhesion of the pigment to the surface and prevent it from being removed by mechanical abrasion. These materials are typically referred to as resins (in solvent-based inks) or binding agents (in water-based inks). Pigmented inks are advantageous when printing on paper because the pigment stays on the surface of the paper. This is desirable because more ink on the surface of the paper means less ink needs to be used to create the same intensity of color.
• Pitch
  Describes the number of characters printed in a horizontal inch. Pitch only applies to fixed-spaced fonts since the number of characters per inch (cpi) varies for proportionally spaced fonts.
• Pixel
  The smallest distinct element of a raster image, the smallest unit of information in a scanner or monitor.
• Point
  A unit of measure for specifying type. There are seventy two points in an inch
• Portable Document Viewer
  A mini-program that can be attached to an electronic document and e-mailed, such as Adobe Acrobat. The recipient will be able to view, annotate, and print the document - no matter what program was used to create the original document.
• Portrait
  Select to print a page or envelope that is taller than it is wide when viewing the text right side up. Feed the paper as usual; the image will rotate on the page if necessary.
• PostScript
  A page description language developed by Adobe Systems used to describe type and visual elements for printing.
• PostScript Emulation (PS)
  Hewlett-Packard's PostScript Level 1 or 2 Emulation is a printer language provided with the printer software.  Also a  body of text that appears at the end of a document; may be identified with the symbol P.S.
• PostScript Language
  A page description language created by Adobe(R) Systems, Inc., specifically for describing the appearance of text and graphics on a page.
• Postscript Printer Description (PPD)
  used to inform application packages which output device characteristics to use.
• Plain Paper Fax (PPF)
  Usually based on a laser printer, thermal transfer or ink printer.
• Preprinted
  Media that has pre-designed forms already printed on the paper (letterhead, for example).
• Presentation Graphics Rendering
  A color rendering style that does not try to precisely match printed colors to displayed colors. It is appropriate for bright saturated colors used in illustrations and graphs.
• Process Colors
  The four ink colors used to simulate full-color process printing: cyan, magenta, yellow, and black.
• Print Alignment
  Print alignment refers to small adjustments made to the orientation of the printhead, in relation to the paper, to ensure clean printing with straight lines.
• Printer Dot
  The individual pixel in a halftone image. The size of a printer dot is variable, ranging from zero (all white) to the size of the halftone screen (all black).
• Printer Driver
  Program files that allow a software application to communicate with the printer and use its features.
• Printer Driver Help
  On-screen instructions regarding the use of the printer driver.
• Printer Software
  Any or all of the software shipped with the printer. The printer is packaged with a compact disk containing the software required to access all of the printer's features. If the printer has been correctly set up, the appropriate software is already installed.
• Printer Software Help
  On-screen instructions regarding the use of the printer software. Help screens that can be activated from the Help button (or a question mark symbol) in the printer software.
• Printer Ribbon
  An inked strip of cloth used for making an impression, as in a typewriter. Examples, thermal printer ribbons, dot matrix printer ribbons, point of sale printer ribbons, etc.
• Printhead
  A printhead is the device in an inkjet printer which sprays droplets of ink onto a sheet of paper. Most desktop inkjet printers use cartridges that come with the print head attached; a few printers have separate print heads next to which the ink cartridge is inserted. The printhead is the part of the printer or printer cartridge that contains the necessary electrical and/or electronic circuitry and nozzles needed to spray the ink onto the paper during the printing process.
• Print Media
  See Media.
• Private Job
  Allows specifying that a job be not printed until released by using a 4-digit personal identification number (PIN) through the printer's control panel.
• Process Colors
  The four primary ink colors (CMYK) used in color printing.
• Proof and Hold
  Provides a quick and easy way to print and proof one copy of a job and then print the additional copies.
• ProRes Resolution
  Refers to the number of dots per inch (dpi) used to print the page. As resolution is increased, the quality (clarity and visual appeal) of print on the page is improved. ProRes 1200 prints at 1200 by 1200 dpi and provides the best print quality on HP printers.

Q

• Quick Copy
  Prints the requested number of copies of a job and stores a copy on the printer's hard disk. Additional copies of the job can be printed later.
• Quick Sets
  Allows saving the current driver settings (for example, page orientation, two-sided printing, paper source) for reuse.

R

• Random access memory (RAM)
  It is a type of computer memory that can be accessed randomly; that is, any byte of memory can be accessed without touching the preceding bytes. RAM is the most common type of memory found in computers and other devices, such as printers.
• Raster Graphics
  Images composed of groups of dots are raster images. Pictures in newspapers or on televisions are examples of raster images. PCL includes commands for printing raster images.
• Raster Image
  Electronic representation of a page or image using a numerically defined grid (called pixels). Raster images can be black and white, grayscale, indexed color, or photographic quality color.
• Raster Image Processor (RIP)
  Used to rasterize PC output into a format the printer or image setter can understand.
• Rasterizer
  A software routine that converts outline fonts or vector data into rows of dots for use by a computer device requiring dots. For example, printers and video screens do not use lines; they print dots that take the form of lines.
• Ready Message
  Displayed on the control panel when no error conditions are present. When errors occur, an error message replaces the ready message in PCL printers until the situation is corrected or the printer auto-continues.
• Rendering
  Rendering is the process of converting electronic information into visible images on paper.
• Reservoir
  The reservoir is the receptacle that contains the ink in an inkjet system.
• Resolution
  In technical terms, the resolution is the number of individual DPI stored and used to re-create the image. In layman's terms, it’s the sharpness or fineness of the image. The Resolution of an image is how clear it is to the eye. The higher the resolution, the better the quality of the image. Resolution is measured in Dots Per Inch (DPI). The resolution for standard magazine quality images is about 300 dpi, while photo quality images can be as high as 1200 dpi. After 300 dpi, it becomes harder and harder for the average person to discern the exact quality of the image, as the resolution is so small that the image blends perfectly.
• RET
  Resolution Enhancement Technology is an HP technology that improves the print quality standard (but doesn’t change the DPI).
• RGB
  Red-Green-Blue: By varying the intensity of each of these colors in a single pixel, the human eye can be fooled into seeing a wide range of colors. Red (R), green (G), and blue-violet (B), the three primary light colors used to create the 16.7 million possible colors of a computer monitor (or television screen). RGB colors are additive; their sum in equal amounts produces white light.
• RIP Once
  The ability to create an image of a page and then save the compressed image in memory.
• Rough
  An early layout or design, often done on tracing paper, giving a general idea of the size and positioning of text and graphical elements.
• Rotated
  Rotates the document image on the paper 180 degrees.

S

• Sans Serif
  Typeface without decorative extensions from the upper and/or lower end of the character.
• Saturation
  The intensity or amount of a color. Saturation is the degree by which a color is pure and undiluted by white light. High saturation produces bright vibrant colors moving through pastels as saturation decreases to black or shades of gray. The extremes are 100% saturation, which contains no white and 0% saturation which contains no color.
• Scalable Font
  A mathematical description of a certain set of characters and symbols that can be scaled by a printer that can scale (PCL5 printers). A scalable font is not limited by point size. Limitations occur due to printer hardware, or software. However, it must have a symbol set selection.
• Scalable Typeface
  Any typeface that can be scaled to produce characters in varying sizes.
• Scatter
  A halftone method in which dots of ink are blended in a random manner, then printed on a page to produce millions of colors. This method is often selected when pages require the highest image quality.
• Screen
  Traditionally, the glass or film device laid over a photograph to convert it to a halftone. Now used to mean the halftone pattern itself.
• Screen Angle
  In traditional printing, halftone screen rulings, or its digital equivalent are set to specific angles on the screen. Now, Screen Angles are used to mean the halftone pattern itself.
• Screen Ruling
  The number of lines per inch on a halftone screen, also called screen frequency.
• Separation
  The process of separating a color image into the primary color components for printing: cyan, magenta, yellow and black. Also used to refer to the four sheets of film resulting from the separation process of a color image.
• Serial Port
  A connection that allows a computer to send data to a printer one bit at a time.
• Serif
  A typeface with short, decorative strokes at the upper and/or lower end of the character.
• Set-up Strings
  PCL printer commands usually entered in a designated field of a software program. Set-up strings are sent to the printer prior to printable data.
• Shadows
  The darkest areas of a photograph containing halftone dots visible to the eye; the opposite of highlights.
• Signature
  A group of pages printed on a sheet of paper, which when folded and trimmed, will appear in their proper publication sequence.
• Simplex
  Single-sided. Printing on one side of a sheet of paper.
• Size
  The dimensions of a sheet of paper or other print media.
• Soft Font
  A font stored on a floppy disk or on the computer's hard disk. Soft fonts (downloadable fonts) are supported on all HP LaserJet series printers except the Original HP LaserJet series printer. Advantages of the soft fonts are that they are relatively inexpensive. They are also more flexible than a cartridge as they can be mixed from one floppy disk with fonts from another. Disadvantages of soft fonts are that they must be transferred, or downloaded from the floppy disk or hard disk into the printer's RAM before they can be used.  Since everything disappears once the printer power is turned off or the printer languages (PostScript to PCL) are changed, download the soft fonts needed each time the power turns back on or printer languages switch. Fonts downloaded into printer memory also reduce the amount of memory available for other purposes.  Additional memory may be required. Advantages of soft fonts are that they are relatively inexpensive. They are also more flexible than a cartridge, as they can be mixed from one floppy disk with fonts from another.
• Software
  The programs that determine and control the actions of the computer.
• Software Application
  Any word processing, programming or special application package that can be installed on a computer system. Microsoft Word is an examples of software packages.
• Solid Color Rendering
  A color rendering style used when color accuracy is crucial. Unprintable colors are mapped to the closest printable colors. It does the best job of preserving the saturation of displayed colors.
• Solvent
  The solvent is the ingredient in ink that dissolves a dye. In inkjet cartridges, the solvent is water.
• Source
  The paper tray where paper or other print media is loaded for use in the printer.
• Spacing
  Fonts have either fixed or proportional spacing.  Fixed-spaced fonts are those for which the inter-character spacing is constant (CPI). Proportionally spaced fonts are those with inter-character spacing, which varies with the natural shape of a character.
• Spot Color
  A solid color, often applied on its own plate in traditional printing. The opposite of a process color, spot color uses specified colors like those within the Pantone Matching System.
• Spread
  In page layout, a pair of facing pages. In printing, the enlargement of a color area to build traps with adjacent areas of different colors
• Standard Web Offset Publication (SWOP)
  The name for the North American ink color standards used for process color printing.
• Stripping
  The process of creating a mechanical into plate-ready film. This involves taping together pieces of film to create a printing plate. The people performing this work are called strippers.
• Stroke Weight
  Describes the thickness of the strokes that compose characters. Medium and bold are examples of stroke weights.
• Stored Job
  Download a print job to the printer's hard disk without printing it, and then print the job at any time through the printer's control panel.
• Style
  The angularity of the strokes of the characters with respect to the X-axis. Upright, italic, and bold are examples of font styles.
• Subtractive Color Process
  Printing devices create color on paper using the subtractive color process. The ink or toner blocks the reflection of certain colors by subtracting them. For example, yellow is printed by subtracting blue and red. When Cyan Magenta and Yellow are all subtracted in equal amounts, they create white light.
• Summary Information
  Information, such as creator or keywords, about a document or file that can be added to that item in the Summary Information dialog box to help find the item quickly.
• Supply
  A consumable (disposable) item such as ink or print cartridges, media, etc. The warranty period for supplies is usually 90 days.
• Symbol Set
  A unique ordering of the characters in a font. Each symbol set is defined with a unique set of applications in mind. Symbol sets are created for many purposes, for example the Legal symbol set includes special characters used in the law profession.

T

• Tagged Image File Format (TIFF)
  TIFF refers to the standard file format for high-resolution bitmapped graphics with cross-platform compatibility.
• Tagging
  The process of labeling text, business graphics, and photographic objects on a page so that the best color map can be assigned to the object by the color output device.
• Tandem Drum System
  Each of the four colors is developed virtually simultaneously using four aligned developing units. The four color image is then transferred to an intermediate transfer belt and then onto the paper or other medium. This allows full-color printing at speeds similar to monochrome printing.
• Temp File
  A file created by an operating system or software. It is used temporarily and then deleted.
• Thermal printer
  A thermal printer uses heat to transfer an impression onto paper. There are thermal wax transfer printers which adhere a wax-based ink onto paper. More commonly there are direct thermal printers which print the image by burning dots onto coated paper when the paper passes over the heating elements. This printer is mostly used for point of sale systems.
• Thermal Transfer
  A printer technology that uses heat to transfer colored dye onto paper.
• Thermal Transfer Ribbon
  A wide ribbon, looks like carbon paper but operates under the principal of applied heat. Usually this product is found in Plain Paper Fax Machines.
• Thumbnail
  Describes the size of an image frequently found on Web pages. Usually, photo or picture archives will present a thumbnail version of its contents (makes the page load quicker); and, when a user clicks on the small image, a larger version will appear. Sometimes, these links will be to a new page containing the larger graphic and, other times, right to the image directly.
• Thumbnails
  Tiny sketches, the size of a human thumbnail, of the graphic design of a document. The small format reduces drawing time and simplifies design elements. Thumbnails help to see the overall design without the clutter of headlines, illustrations, and multiple colors.
• Thermo Auto chrome
  A print technology which has emerged in digital camera companion printers and which is claimed to produce photographic-quality output on a par with the more well-known dye-sublimation technique.
• Time and Materials (T&M)
  Support option whereby customers are charged for the actual time and materials required to complete the repair.
• Toner
  A powdered ink composed of plastic, carbon black, and iron oxide. The materials in toner are mixed, resolidified, and ground into an extremely fine powder. Toner is a dry powdery substance used in laser printers and photocopiers which forms the text and images on the printed paper. In its early form it was simply carbon powder. In order to improve the quality of the printout the individual carbon particles were blended in a polymer. The polymer particles can be melted by the heat of the fuser, causing it to bind to the fibers in the paper. The exact polymer varies by manufacturer but might be a Styrene Acrylate Copolymer or a Polyester Resin. Typically, you can print thousands of pages with a single cartridge.
• Toolbox
  The Toolbox is a Web page that opens in a Web browser and provides access to the device management and troubleshooting tools, embedded Web server, and device documentation.
• Transfer Drum System
  Each of the four colors is developed one by one on a single photoconductor drum, then transferred to the paper or other medium on a transfer drum. Therefore, one color print takes four times the print time as a same speed monochrome printer.
• Transformer
  A device used to step the voltage and current levels of AC signals.
• Trap
  Traps are used where one color touches another to guard against common registration shifts resulting in white halos around text, or white gaps between areas of color. When two colors trap, their edges overlap slightly.
• Treatment
  The combination of font style and/or weight. For example, some treatments of Times Roman font include: upright, or bold, or italic.
• True Black
  True black is produced by black ink as opposed to composite black, produced from a mixture of Cyan, Magenta and Yellow, which lacks a true black color.
• TWAIN
  TWAIN defines an industry standard software protocol and application-programming interface (API) for communication between programs and image acquisition devices. In other words, TWAIN allows for scanning a document while working in a program, such as a layout or image-editing program.
• Type
  The unique properties of paper or other print media, such as rough, transparency, label, etc.
• Type Director
  A Font management software. It creates a bitmap font on the computer for PCL4 printers (no ability to scale) and will create an outline for the PCL 5 printers (that can scale). Type Director does not make scaleable fonts for the PCL4 printers, it only creates bitmaps. Type Director also provides two other functions: updating supported software drivers and downloading the created soft font to the printer.

U

• Undercover Removal (UCR)
  A color separation technique replacing cyan, magenta, and yellow inks with black ink in shadow tones
• Universal Tray
  A paper tray that can be adjusted for many paper sizes.
• Unsharp Masking
  A filtering process used to enhance scanned imaged by finding edges and making them clearer. The name evolved from traditional publishing and referred to a photographic handling process.
• Unsolicited Status
  (USTATUS) Printer status information sent as a result of certain printer events, such as when the printer runs out of paper, a job finishes printing, or a certain time period elapses. There are several types of unsolicited status information (Device, Job, Page, and Timed); unsolicited status must be enabled with the USTATUS command.
• User Default
  The printer's default environment selected through the control panel with the remainder of the environment features set to the factory default values.
• UV Ink
  UV inks consist mainly of acrylic monomers with an initiator package. After printing, the ink has to be cured by a high dose of UV-light. The advantage of UV-curable inks is that they "dry" as soon as they are cured, they can be printed on a wide range of uncoated substrates and make a very robust image.

V

• Virgin Cartridge
  A toner cartridge that was used once and not yet recycled.
• Vector Image
  Mathematical descriptions of lines in space. Vectors are used by object-oriented illustration programs and Postscript to describe lines, create objects, and draw type outlines.

W

• Warm Start
  The process of restarting the computer or printer without conducting some lengthy initial power-on self-test steps, such as the memory tests.
• Watermark
  A feature in the printer driver that allows for text to print in the background of a page.
• Write Black
  "Write Black" is a term used to describe the reproductive process of laser printers. An electrostatic image is created of the areas to be filled with toner, and the rest of the page is left blank. The toner fills the areas selected for filling by the laser, thus creating the desired image. Write black printing is much more precise than write white printing which occurs in photocopiers.
• Write White
  “Write White” is a term used to describe the reproductive process of traditional photocopiers. The assembly drum is used to recreate the white areas of the page, rather than the black areas of the page. In essence, it makes an image of everything around the image. The spaces between the areas charged are filled with toner, thus creating the desired image. This is backward to the laser printer, and is generally less precise.
• WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get)
  WYSIWIG refers to the ability of applications and viewing devices to duplicate the ultimate physical output of the printing device.

Z

• Zoom In
  To make a page larger on the screen, in order to see more detail.
• Zoom Out
  To make a page smaller on the screen, in order to have a broader view of the page.
• ZoomSmart
  Causes the document to print on a paper size other than the one for which it is formatted. This option is useful if a document is formatted for a paper size that is not available. This feature also allows enlarging or reducing the size of a document.