Most businesspeople do not know much about the fine art of printing. They simple design their advertising literature, and send it off to their commercial printer, where they will work their magic and produce the amazing results. However, it is a good idea to get a good grasp of the basics of printing, because doing so can help you make better designs for your marketing materials.

Paper stock

There are two primary types of paper stock: text and cover. Text stock is more transparent (easier to see through) than cover stock. Within those two classifications, there is a further division based on the weight (or thickness) of the paper. There is an 80# Gloss Text stock for example, and an 80# Gloss Cover stock. Most promotional material, including flyers, is printed in either 80# or 100# text or cover stock.

Spread

The spread of a print design is often misunderstood by businesspeople. Spread is a term used to describe how the page is looked at. There are two kinds of spread: reader spread and printer spread. Basically, reader spread is how the reader sees the page, while printer spread is how the printer sees the page. For example, think of a normal magazine. When you open it, you may see page 15 on one side and page 16 on the other. As you are looking at those pages that is reader spread. However, page 15 is not on the same piece of paper as page 16, due to the folding and stapling of the pages. If you took the staples out of the magazine, and laid the pages out, that would be printer spread.

It is important to know the basics of spread because it can save you money when you have your designs printed. If you are printing something that will be arranged in magazine form, you must deliver the design to the printer in printer spread. Otherwise, the printer will have to rearrange the pages, which will cost you more time and money.

Signature

The signature is basically a large piece of paper upon which several pages are printed. This is then divided up into the standard pages that you see in the finished product. The number of pages that are on a signature depends on a number of factors, including the printer’s supplies and the size of your pages.

Imposition

The imposition is just the orientation of the pages on a signature. If you were to look at a signature, you would see some pages upside down, while others are turned sideways, and still others are in normal orientation. In the finished product, however, they will (hopefully) all be in the normal, readable format.

These are just a few basic terms in the world of printing. They are good to know, though, even for businesspeople who are not intimately involved in the printing process. You are still overseeing the design of your color printing efforts, and having an understanding of the process will help you maximize your time and money.