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Glossary Of Printing Terms [21]

F Fake Duotone A fake duotone, or duograph, is done by printing a single color with a one-color halftone over it. This process is generally not preferred over a regular duotone, as it loses much of the contrast of the image.
Fast Color Ink This term refers to inks that are "color fast", meaning they retain the density of their color and do not fade despite washing and excessive handling. Depending on the ink, color fast may imply UV fade-resistant
Film Gauge A physical property of photographic or motion picture film stock which defines its width. Traditionally the major film gauges in usage are 8 mm, 16 mm, 35 mm, and 65/70 mm.
Fine Papers Printing and writing paper grades based mainly on chemical pulps. Normally the content of mechanical pulps are below 10% and the amount of fillers in the range 5–25%.[1]
Flat Color Any color created by printing only one ink, as compared to a color created by printing four-color process. Also called block color and spot color.
Flat Size Size of product after printing and trimming, but before folding, as compared to finished size.
Flexography A form of printing process which utilizes a flexible relief plate. It is essentially a modern version of letterpress which can be used for printing on almost any type of substrate. The first such patented press was built in Liverpool, England by Bibby, Baron and Sons in 1890. Flexography is good at printing on a variety of different materials like plastic, foil, acetate film, brown paper, and other materials used in packaging. Typical products printed using flexography include brown corrugated boxes, flexible packaging including retail and shopping bags, food and hygiene bags and sacks, milk and beverage cartons, flexible plastics, self-adhesive labels, disposable cups and containers, envelopes and wallpaper.
Flock Printing A printing process in which short fibers of rayon, cotton, wool or another natural or synthetic material are applied to an adhesive-coated surface. This adds a velvet or suede-like texture to the surface. Since the fibers can be dyed, flocking can also add a color to a printed area.
Flood In printing, this term refers to filling an entire page with ink, so that no blank paper or canvas remains. This is also known as "painting the sheet".
Flyleaf In book design, a blank leaf in the front or back cover.
Fogging In photography is the deterioration in the quality of the image caused either by extraneous light or the effects of a processing chemical.
Foil Stamping Also known as foil application, it is typically a commercial printing process, the application of metallic or pigmented foil on to a solid surface by application of a heated die onto foil, making it permanently adhere to the surface below leaving the design of the dye. In the process known as hot foil stamping, foil stamping machines uses heat to transfer metallic foil to a solid surface. Examples of items that are foil stamped include annual reports, pocket folders, product packaging, note cards/thank you cards, business cards, envelopes and letterhead. The foil stamp is a permanent process.
Foldout A folded insert or section, as of a cover, whose full size exceeds that of the regular page.
Folio The term "folio", from the Latin "folium" (leaf), has three interconnected but distinct meanings in the world of books and printing. It is firstly a term for a common method of arranging sheets of paper into book form, folding the sheet only once, and a term for a book made in this way. Secondly, it is a general term for a sheet, leaf or page in (especially) manuscripts and old books, and thirdly, an approximate term for the size of a book, and for a book of this size.
Form An object, usually in the shape of a block or a plate, used in printing to apply ink on the printed surface.
Form Roller(s) One of several rollers found in the inking system and dampening system of a printing press used in offset lithography, which are in direct contact with, and transfer ink or dampening solution to, the printing plate.
Fountain Solution A mixture of water and other chemicals distributed by the dampening system on a printing press used in offset lithography. Lithographic printing operates on the principle that oil and water do not mix to any great extent; offset presses first treat metal printing plates with a fountain solution, which works to desensitize the non-image areas, rendering them ink-repellent. The fountain solution is applied to the plate through a series of rollers in a variety of configurations.
Four-color Process Printing The CMYK color model (process color, four color) is a subtractive color model, used in color printing, and is also used to describe the printing process itself. CMYK refers to the four inks used in some color printing: cyan, magenta, yellow and key (black). Though it varies by print house, press operator, press manufacturer, and press run, ink is typically applied in the order of the abbreviation.
Free sheet Paper constructed from wood fibers that have been cooked with chemicals to clean them of impurities. Also known as "woodfree paper".
FRP Fibre-reinforced plastic (FRP) is a composite material made of a polymer matrix reinforced with fibres.
Full-scale Black Black separation made to have dots throughout the entire tonal range of the image, as compared to half-scale black and skeleton black. Also called full-range black.