Printing Glossary - Letter F

Fadeout Halftone: Reducing the contrast of a halftone to make it more readable after a printing process. It belongs to file preparation and imaging before printing.

Fake Duotone is The use of two colors, with one being blank or a halftone negative and the other being in color. It belongs to file preparation and imaging before printing.

Fanfold: A longitudinal continuous multiple-ply form. It is manufactured from a single ride Web. It is a standard concept in printing. Usage varies with process and material.

Fanout commonly denotes A distortion that occurs when printing a paper where the absorption of moisture at the edges of the paper causes waviness. It happens, particularly at the grain. It concerns the properties or grades of the paper stock.

Technically, fast drying ink describes An ink which dries fast when printing is over. It affects drying, adhesion, and print appearance.

Feathering — When an ink image spreads with a fuzziness that looks feather-like. It affects drying, adhesion, and print appearance.

Feed Rollers describes runner wheels which transport sheets of paper from the feed pile and into the grippers on a printing press. It concerns the properties or grades of the paper stock.

Feeder describes The area of a printing press that distinguishes the sheets and then keeps them in their printing position. It is equipment used for production or quality control.

Feel — The general impression of the finishing of a paper. It concerns the properties or grades of the paper stock.

Feet-Per-Minute: Usually Abbreviated as FPM, it is used to refer to the speed of a papermaking machine. It concerns the properties or grades of the paper stock.

Felt — A belt made of cotton, wool or synthetic materials that are used in transporting the paper in the manufacturing process. It acts as a conveyor which also removes water from paper as it moves through the paper machine. It concerns the properties or grades of the paper stock.

Felt Finish: A finish of a paper where felts of distinctive weaves were used instead of the conventional or standard wove felts. It concerns the properties or grades of the paper stock. Selection affects stiffness, opacity, and printability.

Felt Side is The right side of the paper that is the top part, opposite from the wire side or underneath. It concerns the properties or grades of the paper stock.

Fiber can be defined as Small strands of cotton, wood or other cellulose products that are used in making paper. In a premium market, all fibers are usually lignin free and are made into a finished product known as Pulp. It concerns the properties or grades of the paper stock. Selection affects stiffness, opacity, and printability.

Fiber Orientation is The arrangement of fibers in a sheet which can be influenced in a papermaking process. It concerns the properties or grades of the paper stock.

Fibrillae means string-like elements used in a bonding process when the paper is being manufactured. It concerns the properties or grades of the paper stock.

Fibrillation — Loosening the fibrillae when beating fibers in a manufacturing process. It is a method of producing printed images.

Fill is The maximum width of paper that can be made from a paper machine. It concerns the properties or grades of the paper stock.

Filler commonly denotes Minerals that are added to the pulp to improve its smoothness, opacity, brightness and also its printing capability. It is a metric used for setup or quality evaluation. Higher values do not always imply better quality; context matters.

Filling In — Also known as filling up or plugging, it is a condition in offset lithography where the ink fills the area between the plug up or the halftone dots. It affects drying, adhesion, and print appearance. Formulation choices influence drying time and rub resistance.

Fine Papers commonly denotes The various types of premium papers that are used for printing, writing, and other purposes. It concerns the properties or grades of the paper stock.

Finish can be defined as The physical appearance and texture of a paper's surface. It could be laid, linen, felt, etc. It concerns the properties or grades of the paper stock.

Finishing Broke refers to Paper discarded after any finishing operations. It concerns the properties or grades of the paper stock.

First Color Down — The first color printed. It is a standard concept in printing.

Flag: A paper that protrudes from a skid or roll of paper used in marking. It concerns the properties or grades of the paper stock.

Flash Exposure is The supplemented exposure in halftone photography which gives strengths to the dots in shadowy areas of negatives. It belongs to file preparation and imaging before printing.

Flat Color is The printing of two or more colors without any form of overlaying color dots. It is a standard concept in printing.

Flatbed Press refers to A press which plates are assembled along a flat metal bed where the paper is then placed on the impression cylinder. It concerns the properties or grades of the paper stock.

Flatbed Scanner means A device which scans images in a similar way to a photocopying machine. It is a standard concept in printing.

Within the trade, flexography refers to Letterpress printing which uses a form of relief printing. It is also known as aniline printing in a more formal setting. It is equipment used for production or quality control.

Within the trade, flop refers to A negative which has emulsion on the wrong side. It involves reversing a negative or positive. It is a standard concept in printing.

Flow is An ink property which causes it to level out as a liquid. An example is shorter inks cause poor flow while longer inks produce better flow. It affects drying, adhesion, and print appearance. Formulation choices influence drying time and rub resistance.

Fluorescent Inks: Brilliant inks with fluorescent pigments. It affects drying, adhesion, and print appearance.

In print practice, flush cover means A book cover which has been trimmed to the text paper's dimension. It concerns the properties or grades of the paper stock.

Flyleaf means An unprinted page that is part of a print. It is also known as end-leaf. It is a standard concept in printing.

Within the trade, fog refers to An unwanted neutral density in clear areas of paper or a photographic film. It could be caused by flare, age, illumination, unsafe darkroom, etc. It concerns the properties or grades of the paper stock. Selection affects stiffness, opacity, and printability.

Foil describes A material in a tissue-like manner present in a roll or sheet form on one side with a stamping metallic coloring. It is performed after printing to enhance function or look. Setup and materials determine the final effect.

Within the trade, folding endurance refers to A paper test which involves measuring the number of double folds which can be made on a sheet of paper when under tension and right before it breaks. It concerns the properties or grades of the paper stock.

In print practice, foldout means A page which surpasses the dimensions of an individual page. It is a standard concept in printing.

In print practice, folio means A sheet that is 17x22 in size or more. Also refers to page numbers. It is a standard concept in printing.

Foot is The bottom part of printed information on a page. It is a standard concept in printing.

In print practice, for position only (fpo) means A low-resolution image in digital imaging that is kept in a document to be replaced later with a better resolution version of that same image. It is a standard concept in printing. Usage varies with process and material.

Within the trade, formation refers to Refers to the proper assembly or lack of it in fiber distribution in the manufacturing of paper. It concerns the properties or grades of the paper stock.

Fountain: The unit on a press which contains ink given to distributing system. It affects drying, adhesion, and print appearance.

Fountain Solution is A solution of water, synthetic or natural gum and other chemicals in a lithography process, that is used to make plate damp. It keeps non-printing areas from collecting ink. It affects drying, adhesion, and print appearance. Formulation choices influence drying time and rub resistance.

Four-Color Process: The four common colors of ink that are black, yellow, cyan and magenta that is used in producing a full-color photograph. It affects drying, adhesion, and print appearance. Formulation choices influence drying time and rub resistance.

Four-Sided Trim (trim 4) — After a printed and folded job is done, a trim of all four sides would be taken to remove any registration marks or references while giving it a clean edge. It belongs to file preparation and imaging before printing. Correct setup reduces errors on press.

Fourdrinier — A paper machine which produces a continuous web of paper. It concerns the properties or grades of the paper stock.