Fine Print School | Glossary: M

Mailshop: A company that specializes in personalizing, assembling and inserting the elements of a mail package. They will also address, sort, tag and deliver the mailing to the proper postal facility. Also referred to as lettershop.

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Mainframe: A class of large and expensive computers that can manage a large number of users at once (several thousand). A mainframe is a “central” computer used for many tasks and can support many programs simultaneous. If super computers are at the top of the scale, then mainframes are at the next notch below them.

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Majuscule: The historical terms for capital or upper-case letters.

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Make up: A page’’s construction. The process of arranging type and graphics into their proper areas, using the layout as a guide; assembling type and art into finished pages.

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Makeready: 1. The combination of activities that comprise the preparation of a printing press to print a job.

2. One of the reasons that a conventional printing job can be so expensive to keep repeating is that the makeready process is very time consuming and, therefore expensive.

Obviously the shorter the print run, the larger the percentage of the price is attributable to the makeready process.

Something that designers and their clients often overlook.

3. The process of setting up and adjusting a printing press for a particular ink, paper and specifications prior to printing.

This includes adjusting the infeed, grippers and guides, adjusting ink for proper coverage, registering copy, and matching the printed piece with the proof to be sure everything is correct.

4. The paper used while making all the necessary adjustments before printing the actual run.

Also referred to as Set Up.

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Making Order: A custom order placed with the mill for an item that has specifications that are different than a stock item. This is generally more expensive than ordering a stock item and may require a minimum order quantity.

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Management Information Base: MIB

A repository designed to enable communications between network devices in open systems, in an OSI network.

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Manifold: A term meaning “multiple parts” in the forms industry.

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Manual Focus: Allows for the user to adjust the lens to create the desired sharpness for both the foreground and background of the subject matter.

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Manuscript: The original text of an author’s work, handwritten or typed.

It can also refer to a book or document written before the invention of printing.

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Manutius, Aldus (1449-1515): One of the most prominent letterpress printers of the Italian Renaissance.

In 1493, Manutius founded a print shop in Venice and subsequently published a series of compact and inexpensive but nevertheless highly scientific works from classical Greek, Latin and Italian authors.

Around 1,000 copies of these “Aldines”, as they were known, were produced.

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Map Paper: A cotton content paper used for printing charts, graphs and maps.

Is a durable paper with a high finish, has good printability, withstands folding, has a high opacity and often is water repellent, mildew proof and resists abrasion.

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Marbled Paper: Colored paper with a veined, mottled, or swirling pattern, in imitation of marble, which is used with paper-covered boards and as end papers in books.

The use of marbled papers was especially popular during the Victorian era.

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Margin: 1. The non printed areas around the image area of a page.

2. The space between the edge of the page and the printed text. Sometimes in binding, the margins are trimmed or cropped.

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Marginal Copy: Any copy printed in the margin areas of a page.

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Marginal Punching: Evenly spaced holes that are punched into the left and right margins of a continuous form, used at the collator to guide the paper through and align each part. They are also used to guide the form through a continuous printer. Also referred to as pinfeed holes or lineholes.

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Marginal Words: Word printed on each part of a multi-part form, generally printed in red iink and located at the top or bottom of the sheet. They are used for part to part designations, such as Original Copy, Duplicate Copy, and Triplicate Copy. They can also be used to make reference to the form they are printed on or to provide special instructions.

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Margins: The free areas on a printed page between the edges of the text and the page edges.

According to the position on the page, it is possible to distinguish between head, foot and side margins and the central gutter.

When measuring the margin widths, ratios are often used. The gutter has a value of two and the other margin widths in the sequence head-side-foot are assigned values in relation to this.

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Marketing to One: The use of digital technologies to combine data and marketing processes into a package that sends a personalized message about

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Markup: Text and/or style edits to the draft of a document. The markup will give details on changes in formatting of the text, with indications of point sizes, typefaces/fonts, leading, etc. to be used.

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Markup Language: The use of tags and attributes to identify the logical structure of a document on the World Wide Web.

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Mask: 1.Using an opaque material to block out an area of an image or negative to prevent light exposure in that area.

2.In colour separation photography, an intermediate photographic negative or positive used in colour correction.

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Masking Material: A yellow or orange opaque paper or plastic material. The material is used to prevent light from exposing the non-image areas of a printing plate or film.

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Masking Sheet: A flat sheet of yellow or orange opaque masking material used to assemble and position negatives for exposing plates. The material is used to prevent light from exposing the non-image areas of a printing plate or film. Also called goldenrod paper.

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Master Page: A page that is used as a template or layout guide for all of the other pages in a publication.

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Masthead: A list of business and staff information which is related to a publication and is usually found near the beginning of a periodical or on the editorial page of a newspaper. It also refers to the identifying logotype that appears at the top of the front page of a newspaper or newsletter.

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Matching: The process of assembling a unique piece with the mail package that contains a matching unique piece. Such as a personalized letter having to be matched with the appropriately addressed envelope.

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Matchprint: 1.Color proof made from separation films. Photographic proof made from all color flats showing color quality as well as accuracy, layout and imposition before plates are made.

2.Kodak’’s negative or positive integral (single sheet) proofing system.

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Material Safety Data Sheets: Written or printed sheets that contain information about the potential hazards of a chemical and the precaution and protection information to use for safety purposes.

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Matrix: 1. The waste area of the facestock and adhesive that is removed from around the label after it is die cut. Also referred to as waste skeleton.

2. The mold used for making type for letterpress or plates for flexography, also called mats.

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Fine Print Knowledge Center

Glossary: M