Saddle stitch In binding, to fasten a booklet by wiring it through the middle fold or spine of folded sheets. Also called saddle wire.

Safelight In photography, the special darkroom lamp used for illumination without fogging sensitized materials.

Sample Basic optical image element (analog) taken by the image sensor of a camera or scanner. A sample may be black and white, or it can be for several color channels. The sample is processed to obtain a pixel. Processing may involve conversion from device RGB to some standardized color space.

Scaling Determining the proper size of an image to be reduced or enlarged to fit a designated area.

Scanner An electronic device used to convert reflection or transparent materials into digital files that are used in the making of halftones and color and tone-corrected separations of images.

Score To impress or indent a mark in the printed paper to make folding easier and reducing the likelihood of cracking the paper.

Screen angles In color reproduction, angles at which the halftone screens are placed in relation to one another, to avoid undesirable moiré patterns. A set of angles often used is: black 45°, magenta 75°, yellow 90°, cyan 105°.

Screening That part of a RIP (Raster Image Processor) that calculates the tonal values of each spot for an output device. The function of a screener is device dependent because it is related to the resolution of the output device.

Screen ruling The number of lines or dots per inch on a halftone screen.

Scum A film of ink printing in the non-image areas of a plate where it should not print.

Self cover A cover of the same paper as inside text pages.

Semi-chemical pulp A combination of chemical and mechanical pulping with properties similar to chemical pulp.

Sensitivity guide A continuous-tone gray scale with numbered steps used to control exposures in platemaking and lithfilm photography.

Serif The short cross-lines at the ends of the main strokes of many letters in roman typefaces. Sans serif means no serif.

Server A file server provides file data interchange between compatible peripheral devices on a local area network. Servers are identified by the type of resource they provide (e.g., disk server, file server, printer server, communications server).

Set-off In presswork, when the ink of a printed sheet rubs off or marks the next sheet as it is being delivered. Also called offset.

SGML (Standard Generalized Mark-up Language) One of the coding languages for marking text for a variety of publishing purposes, including typesetting and electronic publishing. A well-designed SGML schema enables the publisher to mark text just once for multiple uses.

Shadow The darkest parts in a photograph, represented in a halftone by the largest dots.

Sharpen To decrease in color strength, as when halftone dots become smaller; opposite of dot spread or dot gain.

Sheetwise To print one side of a sheet of paper with one plate, then turn the sheet over and print the other side with another plate using same gripper and opposite side guide.

Shingling In image assembly and layouts, the center or gutter margin is varied according to the position of the page in the signature and the bulk of the paper. See creep.

Short ink An ink that is buttery and does not flow freely.

Show-through The undesirable condition in which the printing on the reverse side of a sheet can be seen through the sheet under normal lighting conditions.

Side guide On sheetfed presses, a guide on the feed board to position the sheet sideways as it feeds into the front guides before entering the impression cylinder.

Side stitch Binding by stapling along one side of a sheet.

Signature The name given to a printed sheet after it has been folded.

Silhouette halftone A halftone of a subject with all of the background removed.

Simplex When a sheet is printed on one side only, it's a "simplex," as opposed to duplex, meaning the job prints on both sides.

Sizing The treatment of paper that gives it resistance to the penetration of liquids (particularly water) or vapors.

Skid A platform support for a pile of cut sheets of paper.

Skinnies Word to describe a choke (i.e., spreads and chokes)

Skoch A term to indicate adding or moving something a tiny bit.

Slitting Cutting printed sheets or webs into two or more sections by means of cutting wheels on a press or folder.

Small caps An alphabet of SMALL CAPITAL LETTERS IS available in most roman typefaces approximately the height of the x-height of the lowercase letters. May also be used in combination with capital letters.

Soft dot Halftone dot with considerable fringe that causes dot gain or sharpening in printing or photography.

Soft ink Descriptive of the consistency of paste inks.

Soft proof A proof viewed on a screen. As opposed to a hard proof, which is a physical proofs you can hold in your hands. See hard proof.

Software See program.

SPC (Statistical Process Control)

Specifications A detailed description of a print order.

Spectrophotometer Instrument for measuring color for CIE color spaces. It is more accurate than most color colorimeters.

Spectrum The complete range of colors in the rainbow, from short wavelengths (blue) to long wavelengths (red).

Spine See backbone.

Spiral binding A book bound with wires in spiral form inserted through holes punched along the binding side.

Spool (Simultaneous Peripheral Operations OnLine) Refers to an output data set that is waiting for a print device.

Spot The smallest element of the addressability grid of an output device. Similar to a pixel, a spot is data, not something that can be seen. A spot is what the screener intended to form. A mark is what the marking engine actually placed at a spot location. A spot has a spatial aspect (size and location in the addressability grid), and a tonal and color aspect.

Spot varnish Varnish used to highlight a specific area of the printed sheet.

Spreads and chokes See chokes and spreads.

Star target Film pinwheel used to measure resolution of plates during production and degradation during printing.

Static neutralizer In printing presses, an attachment designed to remove the static electricity from the paper to avoid ink set-off and trouble with feeding the paper.

Step-and-repeat The procedure of multiple exposure using the same image by stepping it in position according to a predetermined layout or program. Now done with electronic imposition programs.

Stet A proofreader's mark, written in the margin, signifying that copy marked for correction should remain as it was.

Stochastic screening A digital screening process that converts images into very small dots (14-40 microns) of equal size and variable spacing. Second order screened images have variable size dots and variable spacing. Also called Frequency Modulated (FM) screening.

Stock Paper or other material to be printed.

Stock photography Used widely by creative professionals in need of ready-made images that illustrate a specific lifestyle, scene, mood, or process. Some stock images are royalty-free, but most carry a fee based on usage.

Strike-through See show-through.

Stripping In image assembly, the positioning of film negatives (or positives) on a flat to compose a page or imposed layout for platemaking. In printing, ink stripping on the ink rollers is prevented by plastic- or copper-coated steel rollers in the ink roller train.

Substance The weight in pounds of a ream (500 sheets) of paper cut to the standard size (17" x 22") for business papers (bond and ledger): e.g., 20 pounds. Similar to basis weight of other grades of paper.

Substrate Any material that can be printed on, such as paper, plastic, and fabric.

Subtractive primaries Yellow, magenta, and cyan, the hues used for process color printing inks.

Sulphate pulp Paper pulp made from wood chips cooked under pressure in a solution of caustic soda (sodium hydroxide) and sodium sulphide. Known as kraft.

Sulphite pulp Paper pulp made from wood chips cooked under pressure in a solution of bisulphite of lime (calcium bisulphite).

Supercalender In papermaking, a calender stack, separate from the papermaking machine, with alternate metal and resilient rolls, used to produce a high finish on paper.

Supercell A combination of subgroups of machine pixels or halftone dots that are handled as a single group.

Surprint In photomechanics, exposure from a second negative or flat superimposed on an exposed image of a previous negative or flat.

Swing-Arm-Mail-Inserter The industry's standard method for collating and inserting product into envelopes for direct mail. More than 100 billion envelopes are inserted by these machines every year.

SWOP (Specifications for Web Offset Publications) One of the major standards for print quality.