Glossary of Print and Design Terms

We are proud to present the largest glossary of print and design terms on the internet. We are continually seeking to grow and improve this glossary, so if you spot any definition you do not agree with, a term that is missing, or have any comments in general, please email our reference team.

 

Jacket	The paper cover sometimes called the "dust cover" of a hardbound book
Jaggies	As observed along a diagonal line of square pixels. Especially apparent in low resolution graphical images
JFIF	JFIF also known as the JPEG File Interchange Format is the technical name for the file format more widely known as JPEG
Job Offset	Job Offset is where each printed document in the printer's output tray is offset to either the left or right of the previous printed document allowing each document to be easily identified
Jog	To vibrate a stack of finished pages so that they are tightly aligned for final trimming
JPEG (Joint Photographics Experts Group)	Named after the Joint Photographic Experts Group who devised it. The JPEG format compresses images but sacrifices image detail (lossy compression)
JPEG2000 (JP2)	A file format which uses wavelet based image compression which offers high compression ratios without the image degradation associated with standard JPEG compression