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| F&G | A term in the binding process referring to folding and gathering |
| Face | 1. Edge of a bound publication opposite the spine.
Also called foredge. 2. An abbreviation for typeface referring to a family of a general style |
| Fake Duotone | Halftone in one ink colour printed over screen tint of a second ink colour. Also called dummy duotone, duograph, duplex halftone, false duotone, flat tint halftone and halftone with screen and sometimes a colourized tiff |
| Fan Fold | Paper folding that emulates an accordion or fan, the folds being alternating and parallel |
| Fast Colour Inks | Inks with colours that retain their density and resist fading as the product is used and washed |
| Fat Face | Type that is quite varied in its use of very thin and very wide strokes |
| Feeding the Boxes | The process whereby an individual feeds folded sections into the boxes (or hoppers) of a finishing line for binding |
| Feeding Unit | Component of a printing press that moves paper into the register unit |
| Felt | A cloth conveyor belt that receives papers from the Fourdrinier wire and delivers it to the drier |
| Felt Finish | The smoother side of paper, usually a soft weave pattern used for book papers |
| Felt Side | Side of the paper that was not in contact with the Fourdrinier wire during papermaking, as compared to wire side |
| Fifth Colour | Ink colour used in addition to the four needed by four-colour process |
| File Format | The order and conventions by which data is laid down on a storage medium |
| Filling In | A fault in printing where the ink fills in the fine line or halftone dot areas |
| Film | The positive or negative used for making the printing plates, which incorporate all the text, line artwork and halftones |
| Film Coat | Also called wash coat; any thinly coated paper stock |
| Film Scanner | Most commonly for scanning 35mm film by mounting film in a holder which may be automatically drawn through the device. May use a linear array CCD or an area array CCD |
| Final Proof | The last proof before sending material to the printer, showing all corrections |
| Fine Screen | Screen with ruling of 150 lines per inch (80 lines per centimetre) or more |
| Finish | 1. Surface characteristics of paper. 2. General term for trimming, folding, binding and all other post-press operations |
| Finished Size | Size of product after production is completed, as compared to flat size. Also called trimmed size |
| Fist | A symbol used in printing to indicate the index; seen as a pointing finger on a hand "+" |
| Fit | Refers to ability of film to be registered during stripping and assembly. Good fit means that all images register to other film for the same job |
| Fixed Costs | Costs that remain the same regardless of how many pieces are printed. Copyrighting, photography and design are fixed costs |
| Flash Media | Generic term used to describe compact storage devices used in digital cameras |
| Flash Point | A term given to the lowest temperature of ignitibility of vapors given off by a substance |
| Flat | The assemblage of negatives and positives that are used as a composite image to create the printing plate |
| Flat Back Binding | Perfect- or thread-sewn binding whereby the back of the back is square (as opposed to bowed) once the cover has been drawn on |
| Flat Colour | 1. Any colour created by printing only one ink, as
compared to a colour created by printing four-colour
process. Also called block colour and spot colour. 2. Colour that seems weak or lifeless |
| Flat Plan (Flats) | Diagram of the flats for a publication showing imposition and indicating colours |
| Flat Size | Size of product after printing and trimming, but before folding, as compared to finished size |
| Flatbed Scanner | A digitisation device delivering scanned image data to a computer, the glass face on which the original is placed being flat |
| Flatsam / Pankake | Dry-gummed paper which glues when wet |
| Flexography (Flexo) | Method of printing on a web press using rubber or plastic plates with raised images. Also called aniline printing because flexographic inks originally used aniline dyes |
| Flock Paper | Paper that is patterned by sizing, and than coated with powders of wool or cotton (flock) |
| Flood | To print a sheet completely with an ink or varnish. Also called painting the sheet |
| Fluid Ink | Also called liquid ink; ink with low viscosity |
| Flush | Flush left means the left ends of lines of type line up vertically; flush right means to line up the right ends of type |
| Flush Cover | Cover trimmed to the same size as inside pages, as compared to overhang cover. Also called cut flush |
| Flushed Pigment | The results of combining a wet ink pigment with a varnish and having the wet pigment mix or transfer over to the varnish |
| Flyleaf | Leaf, at the front and back of a casebound book that is the one side of the end paper not glued to the case |
| Foil Emboss | To foil stamp and emboss an image. Also called heat stamp |
| Foil Paper | Metal foil laminated paper |
| Foil Stamp | Method of printing that releases foil from its backing when stamped with the heated die. Also called block print, hot foil stamp and stamp |
| Foils | Papers that have a surface resembling metal |
| Fold Marks | With printed matter, markings indicating where a fold is to occur, usually located at the top edges |
| Fold Memory | Fold in paper which will not straighten out completely |
| Folder | A bindery machine dedicated to folding printed materials |
| Folio (page number) | The actual page number in a publication |
| Font | A set of characters having the same typeface and characteristics such as size, spacing and italic |
| For Position Only (FPO) | Refers to inexpensive copies of photos or art used on mechanical to indicate placement and scaling, but not intended for reproduction |
| Foredge | The outermost (furthest from the spine) margin of a page. The foredge is where a book will be gripped by the reader |
| Form bond | Grade of writing/printing paper designed to provide strenght and manifolding qualities which are required for business forms. Made from chemical wood and/or methcnical pulp, and generally exhibits good perforating, folding, punching properties etc |
| Form Rollers | The rollers, either inking or dampening, which directly contact the plate on a printing press |
| Format | Size, style, shape, layout or organization of a layout or printed product |
| Forwarding | In the case bookwork field, the binding process which involves folding, rounding, backing, headbanding and reinforcing |
| Fountain | Trough or container, on a printing press, that holds fluids such as ink, varnish or water. Also called duct |
| Fountain Solution | In lithography, a solution of water, a natural or synthetic gum and other chemicals used to dampen the plate and keep non-printing areas from accepting ink |
| Four Colour Process Printing | Colour printing by means of the three subtractive primary colours (cyan, magenta, yellow) and black superimposed; the colours of the original having been separated by a photographic or electronic process |
| Fourdrinier | A machine with a copper wire screen that receives the pulp slurry in the paper making process; it will become the final paper sheet |
| Four-up, Three-up, Two-up | Number of similar items printed on one sheet of paper. Also called four-to-view, three-to-view, etc |
| Free Sheet | Paper made from cooked wood fibres mixed with chemicals and washed free of impurities, as compared to groundwood paper. Also called woodfree paper |
| French Fold | A printed sheet, printed one side only, folded with two right angle folds to form a four page uncut section |
| Fringe | A halo that appears around halftone dots |
| Frontlist | A generic term used to describe books in their first year of publication |
| Fugitive Inks | Colours that lose tone and permanency when exposed to light |
| Full-Range Halftone | Halftone ranging from 0 percent coverage in its highlights to 100 percent coverage in its shadows |
| Full-Scale Black | Black separation made to have dots throughout the entire tonal range of the image, as compared to half-scale black and skeleton black. Also called full-range black |
| Furnish | The slurry mixture of fibers, water, chemicals and pigments that is delivered to the Fourdrinier machine in the paper making process |
| Fuzz | A term for the fibers that project from the paper surface |