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Glossary Of Printing Terms [22]

L Laid paper A type of paper having a ribbed texture imparted by the manufacturing process. In the pre-mechanical period of European papermaking (from the 12th century into the 19th century), laid paper was the predominant kind of paper produced. Its use, however, diminished in the 19th century, when it was largely supplanted by wove paper. Laid paper is still commonly used by artists as a support for charcoal drawings.
Lap Register Register where ink colors overlap slightly, as compared to butt register.
Large Format Prints For digital document printers, prints beyond 14 x 20 inches are called “large format.” The largest toner printers are at about 16 x 26 inches, and anything over that is usually printed using inkjet on sheets 17 x 22 inches or so. In the offset world, large format refers to presses that print sheets over 42 inches, with some at 60 and 72 inches, with 81 inches as the largest offset litho press.
Laser Bonding A marking technique that uses lasers to bond an additive marking substance to a substrate. It was first invented in the mid 1990s. Laser bonding produces permanent marks on metal, glass, ceramic and plastic parts for a diverse range of industrial and artistic applications, ranging from aerospace and medical to the awards and engraving industries. It differs from the more widely known techniques of laser engraving and laser ablation in that it is an additive process, adding material to the substrate surface instead of removing it.
Laser printing An electrostatic digital printing process which produces high-quality text and graphics (and moderate-quality photographs) by repeatedly passing a laser beam back and forth over a negatively charged cylinder called a "drum" to define a differentially charged image. The drum then selectively collects electrically charged powdered ink (toner), and transfers the image to paper, which is then heated in order to permanently fuse the text and/or imagery. As with digital photocopiers, laser printers employ a xerographic printing process. However, laser printing differs from analog photocopiers in that the image is produced by the direct scanning of the medium across the printer's photoreceptor. This enables laser printing to copy images more quickly than most photocopiers. Invented at Xerox PARC in the 1970s, laser printers were introduced for the office and then home markets in subsequent years by IBM, Canon, Xerox, Apple, HP and many others. Over the decades, quality and speed have increased as price has fallen, and the once cutting-edge printing devices are now ubiquitous.
Lay Flat Bind Method of perfect binding that allows a publication to lie fully open.
Leading In typography, leading refers to the distance between the baselines of successive lines of type. The term originated in the days of hand-typesetting, when thin strips of lead were inserted into the forms to increase the vertical distance between lines of type. The term is still used in modern page layout software such as QuarkXPress and Adobe InDesign.
Leaf A single sheet of paper in books.
Ledger Paper A strong durable medium to heavy writing paper with good erasing quality used in business ledgers and record books.
Letter fold Also known as C-fold, it is a document folding method that uses two parallel folds to create six panels of roughly the same size – three panels on each side of the paper. The outer panels are folded toward each other so that they overlap.
Letter Paper A paper size commonly used as home or office stationery in Canada, the United States, Mexico and the Dominican Republic. It measures 8.5 by 11.0 inches (215.9 by 279.4 mm). US Letter size paper is a standard defined by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), in contrast to the A4 paper used by all other nations, which is defined by the International Organization for Standardization.
Letterhead The heading at the top of a sheet of letter paper (stationery). That heading usually consists of a name and an address, and a logo or corporate design, and sometimes a background pattern. The term "letterhead" is often used to refer to the whole sheet imprinted with such a heading.
Letterpress A technique of relief printing using a printing press, a process by which many copies are produced by repeated direct impression of an inked, raised surface against sheets or a continuous roll of paper.
Lightweight Paper Low grammage paper made from rags and bleached kraft pulp, used for advertising material (catalogues, leaflets, mailings etc.), commercial and/or jobbing work (magazines, brochures, instruction leaflets, forms etc.).
Line Copy A document or drawing consisting of two tones, as black and white, without intermediate gradations.
Line Negative High contrast negative usually made from line copy.
Line Printer A line printer is a type of high-speed impact printer that prints text or graphics by striking a series of characters or dots against a continuous form or paper roll to create a line of text or image. Line printers are distinguished by their ability to print an entire line of characters or pixels simultaneously, making them significantly faster than serial printers that print one character at a time. Line printers are commonly used in environments that require high-volume printing of documents, reports, invoices, labels, and forms, such as data centers, banks, manufacturing facilities, and distribution centers. While line printers are less common today due to the widespread adoption of laser and inkjet printers, they are still used in specialized applications where high-speed, high-volume printing is required.
Linen Finish A finish on paper resembling the texture of linen cloth, mostly used for business stationery elements, like letterhead, envelopes and business cards.
Lithography The process of producing a picture, writing, or the like, on a flat, specially prepared stone, with some greasy or oily substance, and of taking ink impressions from this as in ordinary printing. It was invented in 1796 by German author Alois Senefelder as a cheap method of publishing theatrical works. Lithography can be used to print text or artwork onto paper or other suitable material.
Loose Proof Also known as first proof, random proof, scatter proof and show-color proof, it is the proof of a halftone or color separation that is not assembled with other elements from a page, as compared to composite proof.
Looseleaf A piece of paper that is not bound in place, but typically punched so as to be organized in a ring binder. Loose leaves may be sold as free sheets, or made up into notepads, where perforations allow them to be removed easily.
Low Key Photo A style of photography that utilizes predominantly dark tones to create a dramatic looking image.