Glossary

The PRINTING United Alliance Glossary serves as an excellent industry terminology resource. It is the language by which we all communicate. Without it, universal understanding would be impossible.

To keep our constituents well informed about changes to the increasingly complex industry terminology, PRINTING United Alliance has developed this glossary of terms. Definitions are for general reference only. Usage may vary between companies, individuals, or national and country customs. The information presented is as accurate as the authors and editors can ascertain and PRINTING United Alliance assumes no responsibility for the use of information presented herein.
  • Line count
    The number of lines of halftone dots per centimeter or linear inch.
  • Line drawing
    Artwork, originals or printed matter consisting of lines or solids or dark and light tones.
  • Line dropping
    Subsampling to reduce the number of raster lines in an image by dropping every nth raster line from the scan. See also pixel dropping.
  • Line gauge
    A ruler scaled in picas and points, but may also include inches and agate measurements, used by printers.
  • Line image
    A photographic image that is composed of fine, solid lines or dots or other shapes, all solid black or color, with no graduations of tones as in a continuous tone image.
  • Line replication
    Creating more raster lines than are actually scanned by replicating every nth raster line from the scan. See also pixel replication.
  • Line shot
    An exposure, made in a camera, of line art copy or larger solid areas that are not graduated in tones.
  • Line speed
    The rate of travel of a substrate through a production line such as a drying or curing line.
  • Line tone
    A form of halftone made up of parallel lines instead of dots.
  • Line width
    The actual width of a screen printed line measured very accurately and precisely in mils; also refer to conductor width.
  • Linear (LIN)
    Related to a line, measurement involving a single dimension not square or cubic.
  • Linearity
    (1) The closeness of a calibration curve to a specified straight line. Non-linearity is expressed as the maximum deviation of any calibration point on a specified straight line during any one calibration cycle; (2) The degree to which the input of a signal is proportional to the output.
  • Lines
    (1) Thin markings denoting the contour of a design; (2) Parallel rows of halftone dots.
  • Lines per centimeter (LPC)
    The number of dots per centimeter. (As a general rule the higher the dot count per centimeter, the higher the resolution).
  • Lines per inch (LPI)
    The number of dots per inch. (As a general rule the higher the dot count per inch, the higher the resolution).
  • Lining
    Face sheet or cardboard stock where the face or surface material differs from the center core laminations.
  • Lining gold (lining palladium) (lining platinum)
    Royal metal compositions suitable for lining on glass or ceramic ware.
  • Linkage
    The connections or links between various components of a motion display and the display motor.
  • Linoleates
    Generally, the salts or soaps of linseed fatty acid. (Cobalt, lead and manganese linoleates are widely used in drier compositions for inks).
  • Linseed oil
    A yellowish oil extracted from flaxseeds used as a drying oil in printing ink.
  • Lint
    (1) Cotton fibers, usually loose on the surface of textile goods; (2) Any small unintended foreign substance trapped in the first or second surfaces of a print and visible by sight or feel; (3) Paper dust loose on the surface of paper products; (4) Clinging bits of fuzz.
  • Liquefy
    To convert or be converted from a solid form to a liquid.
  • Liquid bright gold
    A complex organic resonate of colloidal gold, fluxes, organic resins, and organic solvents suitable for application to glass or china, where high temperature firing develops a bright mirror finish.
  • Liquid chromatography
    A chromographic process for analyzing liquids and solutions where the moving phase is a liquid.
  • Liquid crystal display (LCD)
    Type of electronic changeable copy sign using liquid crystals that become opaque or clear when exposed to a controlled voltage.