SADDLE-STITCHED A term that denotes a binding method where the folded pages are stitched from the outside of the spine through to the center of the gutter where the wire staples are clinched. Saddle stitching is done on paper after folding in half and then opening. The stapling or wiring is done along the middle fold, which is known as the saddle. Three staples are used. They are visible when the publication is opened to the center page. Saddle stitching is used only with folded sections.

This is one of the cheaper and more popular binding methods and is suitable for pamphlets, catalogues, booklets, or magazines, but usually limited to publications of 64 pages, or 96 pages of lightweight stock. Because the pages lie flat when the publication is opened, the gutter margin can be relatively narrow, but the type will still be visible. Other terms for saddle-stitched are pamphlet stitched, saddle wired, stitch bound, saddle-wired, and wire-stitched. See also BINDING GUTTER SPINE WIRE STITCHING

SADDLE-WIRED Another term for saddle-stitched. See SADDLE-STICHED

SALESMAN SAMPLE In publishing, a book made for presentation and sale of a forthcoming title, usually containing the title page, several pages of text and a few illustrations (if the edition will contain any), samples of several styles of binding, and perhaps a pages on which to record the details of the transaction, including customer name and address. See also MARKETING

SALES REP A sales representative. In the book trade, someone employed by a publisher or distributor to present new titles to retail bookstores and take their orders for the books. Also termed a book traveler or traveler. See also MARKETING

SAN See STANDARD ADDRESS NUMBER

SANS SERIF French for without serif. Without stroke. A term that describes any typeface in which the characters have no serifs (the short angled strokes or ornaments at the ends of the main strokes of a character). A sans serif typeface usually has a more uncomplicated appearance than does a typeface with serifs. A sans serif typeface normally does not have the contrasting thick and thin strokes found in serif faces.

This typeface is easy to read and can be used anywhere. Most sans serifs are formed with uniform, unshaded strokes. However, sans serif is used more frequently in display type, such as headlines, than in blocks of text. When used for body type, according to studies, it is considered to be more difficult read than serif typefaces such as Times Roman. Popular sans serif fonts include Arial, Helvetica, Avant Garde, Franklin Gothic, and Geneva. In contrast serif fonts include such typefaces as Times Roman, Courier, New Century Schoolbook, and Palatino.

Serifs originated in the little strokes in manuscript writing where the pen struck or left the paper. When cutting their type according to the models provided by the scribes, the first printers carried serifs into type metal and type designing conventions. Subsequently, when reducing the letters to their simplest, the serifs were the first aspect to be discarded. Simple sans serif types, which resembled a child's alphabet, first appeared in Germany. To those, who love the roman faces, the sans serif characters are misshapen and ugly. Accordingly, some English typographers refer to the sans serifs by grotesque. The common name for sans serif in the United States has been gothic. However, in Europe gothic denotes the black letters. The terms, sans serif and gothic, are synonymous. See also GOTHIC GROTESQUE SERIF STROKE TYPEFACE

SASE A commonly used acronym for self-addressed stamped envelope. Aspiring authors are cautioned to include a self-addressed stamped envelope in any mailing of unsolicited material to a book publisher in order to increase the likelihood of receiving a response. Mail order marketers routinely include an SASE with the promotional material that they send to a potential customer for their goods or services. See also BUSINESS REPLY MAIL ENVELOPE PAPER

SATIN FINISH Another term to describe a dull finish on coated paper, often used for matte art paper. COATED PAPER MATTE ART PAPER

SATIRE A literary composition that exposes the failings of individuals or societies to ridicule. A manner of writing that uses irony, sarcasm, exaggeration, ridicule, or humor to expose or denounce foolishness, sin, or pomposity. It mixes a critical attitude with wit and humor in an effort to improve mankind and human institutions. Although the writer may introduce serious statements, he usually relies on a moral code understood by the readers. The satirist's goal is to show the hypocrisy of his target in the hope that readers will return to the real intent of it. Therefore, satire is undeniably moral even when no clear values are promoted in the work. See also IRONY PARODY NONFICTION

SATURATION An indicator of the purity of a particular color, saturation is used in reference to the amount of gray it contains. The higher the gray level, the lower is the saturation. Less gray in a color means higher saturation. The more saturated a color is, the richer it appears. Saturation is the extent to which one or two of the three RGB primaries in a color predominate. As the proportions of RGB approach equality, the color becomes desaturated and tends towards gray or white. See also RGB ADDITIVE PRIMARY COLORS

SCALABLE The ability to be changed in size or scale easily and without major changes, or to adapt easily to changes in scale. For example, the scalability of the UNIX operating system permits it to be used with little change in results on both small and large computers.

SCALABLE FONT Any font that can be scaled up or down to print characters of any size of the typeface within a specified range, without creating unattractive distortions. The font is defined in shape, but not in size. Scalable fonts also obtain high resolution from a printer or monitor, thereby giving a better appearance. Laser printers use scalable fonts. The shapes of the characters are stored as vector graphics, rather than bitmaps. In contrast, printing devices, such as daisy wheel printers, print characters of only one size. Outline font technology is commonly used to produce scalable fonts, although other technologies are also used. PostScript and TrueType fonts are the most popular scalable fonts for Microsoft Windows 95/98 systems and Macintosh. Scalable fonts are also called object-oriented fonts, vector fonts, or outline fonts. The term, outline font, results from the fact that the most common method of representing scalable fonts is by defining the outline of each character. See also BIT-MAPPED FONT DAISY WHEEL PRINTER FONT OUTLINE FONT POSTSCRIPT POSTSCRIPT FONT TRUE TYPE

SCALE To enlarge or reduce in size an image, page, or graphic display, proportionally. To size proportionally. That is, to change a graphical object's dimensions, while maintaining its shape. Most graphics software, particularly vector-based packages, enable the user to maintain the aspect ratio between width and height, while enlarging or reducing the object, to avoid distortion. The term also means to calculate the percentage of enlargement or reduction necessary to accommodate certain dimensions. See also ASPECT RATIO ENLARGEMENT PROPORTION SCALE SCALABLE SCALING

SCALING The process of determining the percentage by which to reduce or enlarge an image to fit a particular area. Also, the means of calculating the enlargement or reduction necessary. The use of a proportion scale to size an illustration. Finally, the process of enlarging or reducing a graphical image or font to a desired size. See also PROPORTION SCALE TRACKING

SCALLOPED COLUMNS A page layout consisting of columns of unequal length that are aligned at the top. The bottoms of the columns vary. Scalloped columns are also called hanging columns. See also COLUMN PAGE LAYOUT

SCAMP A term to denote a rough sketch of a design sufficient to illustrate the basic concept. See akso ROUGH LAYOUT

SCAN To convert an image into electronic information for subsequent manipulation and storage by a computer. See DIGITIZE OPTICAL-SCANNER RECOGNITION SCANNER

SCANNER A device used to convert hardcopy materials, such as paper, slides, or transparencies, into bitmapped images that can be manipulated and reproduced on the computer. A scanner converts a picture or text into a pattern of dots, which can be stored and understood by a computer. The file can subsequently be edited or merged with text by a word processing or page layout program. The scanner takes a digital snapshot of a page by shining light onto the image, sensing the intensity of the reflection from the page at every point, and converting this information into electronic form to transmit to a computer. There are several types of scanners. Drum scanners are the best, but are expensive. Film scanners are used for scanning transparencies; whereas flatbed scanners are used to scan reflective material, such as printed photos. See BITMAP DIGITIZE FLATBED SCANNER INPUT DEVICE OPTICAL-CHARACTER RECOGNITION PIXEL

SCORE To cut the surface (e,g., of paper) deeply enough with a dull or round-faced steel rule that the material can be broken (or folded) along the resulting cut line. To make cut lines, notches, or marks in material. See also FOLD PRE-SCORED STEEL RULE

SCORING The act or process of cutting the surface of something sufficiently deeply that it may be easily folded without damage later. Scoring paper or cardboard makes it easier to fold without damage or tearing. Folding machines can also score paper. In addition, letterpress and offset presses sometimes can be set up to score paper. See also LETTERPRESS STEEL RULE

SC PAPER See SUPERCALENDERED PAPER

SCRAPERBOARD A cardboard coated with impermeable white clay and covered by a layer of black India ink. Drawings are created by scraping away the ink in patterns to expose the white surface below. Also called scratch board or scratch card. See also INDIA INK

SCREEN An engraved glass plate or film through which continuous tone copy is photographed for conversion to dots for halftone printing. A screen is marked with a grid pattern of two sets of opaque parallel ruled lines, which intersect at right-angles, thereby forming transparent squares or screen apertures. When printed, the dots created by screening merge and give an illusion of continuous tone. The number of lines determines the coarseness of the final pattern of dots. More lines produce higher quality. Accordingly, screens are classified by their number of lines per inch (lpi). The standard screen rulings (number of lines per inch) are 65, 85, 100, 120, 133, 150, 200 and 300. The screen selected depends on the printing process and the paper to be used. Screens of sixty-five to eighty-five-lines per inch are used where newsprint will be the paper. The screen may be a ruled glass screen or contact screen. The term, screen, is short for or halftone screen. It is also called glass screen or crossline screen

Screen also means to convert a continuous-tone image to a half-tone, using a screen or software. In addition, the term denotes a negative that contains a pattern of varying sized dots and white spaces used to give the continuous tones of a photograph. Finally, screens describe the shading or tinting of a solid image area. Screens are defined in terms of ink coverage ranging from 1% solid to 99%. See also COARSE SCREEN CONTACT SCREEN CONTINUOUS TONE FREQUENCY HALFTONE LINES PER INCH MOIRE EFFECT RESCREEN TINT

SCREEN ANGLE The angle at which a halftone screen is placed in photography in order to avoid unwanted moiré patterns when halftones are later superimposed. This is the direction of the rows of dots in a halftone screen. Each element in the four-color separation process must be photographed through a screen placed at a precise angle. Normally used angles for lithography are 45 degrees for black, 75 degrees for magenta, 105 degrees for cyan, and 90 degrees for yellow. See also COLOR SEPARATION LITHOGRAPHY MOIRE EFFECT SCREEN

SCREEN DENSITY An alternative term for screen frequency. See SCREEN FREQUENCY

SCREEN FONT Another term for bitmapped font. See BITMAPPED FONT

SCREEN FREQUENCY The number of lines in a halftone image, as normally indicated by the number of lines per inch (LPI) or lines per centimeter (LPCM). Alternatively, the density of dots on the screen (image), as revealed by the number of dots per inch (DPI). Screens usually range from 50 lines per inch to 300 lines per inch, depending on the process and paper used. A frequency of 200 lines per inch is used only for high-quality printing. Screen frequency is also termed line count, ruling, screen ruling. screen size, and screen value. See also DENSITY HALFTONE LINES PER INCH

SCREEN RULING Screen frequency. See SCREEN FREQUENCY

SCREENED PRINT A high contrast photographic print that has been screened for reproduction as a line cut. It is produced from a halftone screen made from a halftone negative, or by diffusion transfer. A screened print is also termed a velox. See also CONTRAST HALFTONE HIGH CONTRAST LINE CUT SCREEN VELOX

SCRIPT A term that describes any style of type that resembles cursive handwriting (not italics). Such a typeface modeled on handwriting generally uses continuous strokes that connect letters. Further, it employs both thick and thin strokes. Letters are highly rounded, slant to the right, and are ornamented with flourishes. Script type is often fused in invitations, greeting cards, announcements, and advertisements.

Scripts are sometimes mistaken for italics because the letters of both types slant. However, italics are not imitations of cursive handwriting. Although they may slant, they maintain the spirit of the typeface family. Further, characters in italics do not connect. See also CURSIVE ITALIC TYPEFACE

SCROLL To move a page on a computer monitor screen upwards or downwards in order to view a particular part of a document, text, or image, or a different material in a file that is above, or falls below, what is presently visible on the screen. In order to scroll, one uses a mouse in combination with the scroll bar - the long bar on the right hand side of the screen - or depresses one of the vertical arrow keys on the keyboard. See also PAGE DOWN KEY PAGE UP KEY

SCROLLING The act of moving what is displayed on a computer monitor up or down in order to view another part of the same file that does not presently appear on the screen. The movement of an entire document or file relative to the window view by use of an arrow key on the keyboard or a combination of mouse and scroll bar. To display pages of a multipage document on a monitor in sequence one page at a time by using the up or down arrow keys on a computer keyboard or the Page Up or Page Down keys. See also DOCUMENT SCROLL

SCUM In offset lithography, an undesirable film of ink left in a non-image area of a printing plate. See also INK

SEARCH A word processing function that enables the user to automatically locate all instances of any character or specified string of characters, word, or phrase in a document. See also DESCRIPTOR FULL TEXT SEARCH

SEARCH AND REPLACE In word processing, a combination of the search function mentioned above and a replace function. The feature of document production software enables the user to automatically and quickly locate all occurrences of a particular word or phrase and immediately replace them with a previously designated word or phrase.

Word processors usually have two search-and-replace modes. In one mode, all replacements are automatically made without further instructions. In the second mode, the user must approve each individual replacement. Search and replace is also termed find and replace, find and change, and search and replace.

SECOND SERIAL RIGHTS See SERIAL RIGHTS

SECTION A printed sheet folded to make 8, 16, 32, or another multiple of pages, ready for binding and trimming. A unit of folded pages, typically 32 pages, produced by the printing or folding machine. Sections are sewn together to form a book block or gathered for perfect binding. See BOOK BLOCK PERFECT BINDING

The term also applies to a segment of a book. Chapters may be divided into sections, each with its own subtitle. In turn, sections may be further divided into subsections, and again into paragraphs. See also CHAPTER PARTS TEXT

SECTION MARK A character (§) used to mark a subdivision of a paragraph in a legal citation, a part of a chapter in a book, or another section of a publication. Also used as a footnote symbol. See also PUNCTUATION SYMBOL

SECURITY PAPER Paper used for checks and important documents. Security paper possesses special features designed to defeat counterfeiting and prevent fraud. It may use special dyes and patterns, watermarks, and metallic strips to help make documents tamperproof and to prevent fraud. It is always a high quality of paper, whether wood-free or containing rag.

SELF MAILER A brochure or printed mailing piece that is designed to be mailed without the use of an envelope. See also BROCHURE DIRECT MAIL

SELF-PUBLISHER Any writer who has sufficient confidence in his or her work, as well as entrepreneurial spirit, energy and ability, to publish his or her own writing and reap the rewards thereof. The undertaking involves performing all tasks required to get the manuscript typeset, printed, bound, and distributed. The marketing of the work is a responsibility as important and difficult as the actual writing and production. See also CO-OP PUBLISHING PUBLISHER VANITY PRESS

SELF-PUBLISHED WRITER Any person who writes a book or other publication and publishes it by himself/herself. A certain courage is necessary in order to commit one's words, opinions, and emotions to paper and to share them with others. Published writers are able to ignore rejection and continue on. See also PRIVATELY PRINTED

SELVAGE A term often used to describe the detachable perforated strip of paper along the edges of printed or unprinted paper, whether multipart forms or continuous fanfold paper. Also, the border of a roll, or section of book cloth, which is intended to be removed. See also FANFOLD PAPER MULTIPART FORMS

SEMANTICS The study of the meaning of language. The study of linguistic developments through the classification and examination of changes in meaning and form.

SEMI-CHEMICAL PULP A combination of both chemical and mechanical pulp for use in papermaking. The fibers are separated mechanically after an initial chemical treatment. See also CHEMICAL PULP MECHANICAL PULP PULP

SEMICOLON A punctuation mark (;) used to denote a break in continuity that is greater than that implied by a comma. Semi-colons are often used to separate independent clauses in a series when commas would not add sufficient clarity. More commonly, the semi-colon is used in a sentence to separate the two main clauses, which are not connected by a conjunction. See also PUNCTUATION

SEMI-MONTHLY Appearing or occurring twice per month. In publishing, the term denotes a semimonthly publication. That is a publication issued twice per month. See also BIWEEKLY SEMIWEEKLY

SEMIWEEKLY Appearing or occurring twice per week. In publishing, the term denotes a semiweekly publication. See also BIWEEKLY

SEPARATION A color separation. See COLOR SEPARATION

SERIAL A publication, such as a newspaper, magazine, or a series of books, that is issued in successive parts, or at regular intervals. Annual reports, yearbooks, and directories also constitute serials. Serials usually bear dates and/or issue numbers. They are expected to continue indefinitely. See also ISSN PERIODICAL

SERIAL RIGHTS The right to publish a serialized version of a work in a periodical, as in issues of a newspaper, trade journal, or a magazine. First serial rights are the exclusive rights to serialize the book in a periodical for the first time. After that, the rights revert to the writer. The division of royalties is usually 90% for the author and 10% for the agent (or publisher, if the latter is acting as agent). Second serial rights are the excerpts, etc., that appear in magazines and newspapers after the book has been released. Also included are condensations, selections, adaptations, and anthologies. The division of royalties for second serial rights is usually 50% to the author and 50% to the agent. If the rights are for serializing the book after it has been published, the serial rights can be called post publication rights. First North American serial rights are the rights for first time publication of the writer's work in North America. These are the rights usually purchased by a periodical. See also RIGHT ROYALTY

SERIES See TYPE SERIES

SERIF The small cross stroke or finishing stroke at the beginning or end of the main stroke of the letter added as an embellishment. The "tails" on a character that make it easier to read. Serifs are used in many forms. They may be concave, convex, angled, flat, perpendicular, square, sharp, round, small, or prominent. Similarly, there are many different terms for serifs. These include rounded, abrupt, adnate (flowing smoothly into the main letter), long, short, thick, and thin.

Serifs were first created by Roman stonecutters who, when chiseling beautifully proportioned letters, found that a cross-stroke at the end of the chisel line would finish the letter and make a perfect baseline. The serifs used by medieval scribes evolved for different reasons. They resulted from the spread of ink where the pen first touched the paper and also where the basic stroke ended. See also ABRUPT SERIF LETTERFORM SANS SERIF STROKE TAIL

SERIF TYPEFACE A typeface design marked by the use of serifs, the fine strokes at the ends of the main strokes of letters. Examples of a serif typeface include Times Roman, Courier, and New Century Schoolbook. Examples of a sans serif typeface include Arial, Helvetica, and Franklin Gothic. Serif typefaces are considered to be easier to read than sans serif and therefore more suitable for body text. See also ARIAL COURIER HELVETICA SANS SERIF SERIF TIMES ROMAN TYPEFACE

SERVICE BUREAU A term for prepress service bureau, a business that specializes in high-quality scanning and printing using equipment (drum scanners, imagesetters, etc.) not normally affordable by the average user. The service bureau provides various services related to publishing, such as prepress production, desktop publishing, graphics file format conversion, typesetting, image-setting, and optical scanning of graphics. Any service can be rented by the hour. A service bureau is also termed an out-put house or prep service. See also PREPRESS VENDOR

SET In printing, a character set - a group of related characters. Also, the average width of the letters of a font, usually measured (in points) by the width of the average lowercase letter. See also CHARACTER SET PROPORTIONAL FONT

SET-OFF The unintended transfer of the printed image on one sheet to the back of another when the ink on the first rubs off onto the second. See also HOLDOUT INK

SET SOLID A term that describes type that has been set without additional line spacing (leading) added. In contrast, type is often set with extra space added, such as 10 point type set on 12 point. See also LEAD LEADING

SEWING In bookbinding, signatures are frequently bound together by sewing with thread. Each signature is linked to the next. The advantages of Smyth sewing are that it is relatively permanent and enables the pages to lie flat, despite the thickness of the book. However, it is relatively expensive. Therefore, it is used mainly for casebound books with hardcovers, end leaves, cloth covering, and headbands. In addition, a fabric tape for added strength is attached by sewing. See also CASEBOUND BOOK ENDLEAF HEADBAND SIDE SEWING SIGNATURE SMYTHE SEWN

SHADE In matters pertaining to color, the color resulting from addition of a small amount of black pigment to a pure color. See also CAST HUE PIGMENT

SHADOW The darkest areas of a photograph or illustration, rather than the midtones or highlights. They are formed by the largest dots in a halftone. The contrasts of a photograph or drawing can be adjusted before scanning by marking the areas of shadow and highlights. See also HIGHLIGHT IMAGE SHADOW MIDDLE TONES

SHADOW PRINT A design style applied to text that uses a duplicate of each character to create a shadow effect. The duplicate character is typically located below and to the right of the original character. See also DROP SHADOW

SHARPEN To increase the contrast between light and dark tones of an image. See also CONTRAST

SHEET A single rectangular piece of paper on which to write. A sheet represents two pages - one on each of its sides. If folded to create four printed pages, the sheet is called a leaflet. The terms leaf and sheet are synonymous. See also GRIPPER MARGIN LEAF

SHEET-FED A printing term descriptive of a printing press that prints only on sheets of paper. It does not use webs or rolls of paper (reels). In contrast, many high-speed presses are web-fed and cannot accept paper in the form of sheets. See also REEL WEB-FED

SHEET-FED SCANNER A flatbed scanner that can load a series of documents automatically for scanning. It is equipped with a single-sheet feed mechanism, which pulls the documents into the scanner one by one where they are scanned individually on the stationary scanning mechanism. See also DIGITIZE SCANNER

SHEET FEEDER A paper-feed mechanism that holds a stack of paper and feeds it to a printer page by individual page. Sheet feeders are optional for dot-matrix printers, but are an integral part of laser printers. Most modern fax machines are also supplied with sheet feeders, as are some scanners. Cut-sheet feeder is another name for a sheet feeder. See also FRICTION FEED GRIPPER MARGIN

SHEETWISE The printing of different images on the two sides of a sheet of paper. One side of the paper is printed with one plate. Then, the sheet is turned over and printed with another plate, but using the same side guides and gripper. See also GRIPPER SIDE GUIDE

SHELFBACK An alternative term for spine or backstrip. See SPINE

SHELF LIFE The period of time before a time-sensitive product, such as a catalog, becomes obsolete.

SHIPPING AND HANDLING The warehouse expenses associated with fulfillment of a direct-mail order. These include postage and the expense of order picking and packing for shipment. See also MAIL ORDER

SHORT DISCOUNT In book selling, any discount from the suggested retail for a book, if less than 40%. A retailer (bookseller) margin of 40% is common in the book trade. Therefore, a retailer cost, which provides less than 40% based on the publisher's suggested retail price, is termed a short discount. Textbooks are frequently sold to colleges on a short discount. Short rate is another term for short discount. See also DISCOUNTS LIST PRICE TEXT EDITION

SHORT GRAIN A term to denote the orientation of a sheet when the grain runs in the same direction as the width of the sheet (the sheet's shorter dimension). See also AGAINST THE GRAIN GRAIN

SHORT INK A term used to denote an ink that has a creamy consistency and does not flow freely. The opposite of a long ink. See also INK LONG INK

SHORT RATE Another term for short discount. A short rate discount. See SHORT DISCOUNT

SHORT RUN A subjective term applicable to a printing run of less than 10,000 copies. The definition can vary in accordance with set-up time and running time. In turn, this is largely influenced by the type of piece to be printed and the type and size of machine. For example, in some types of rotogravure printing, many would consider a run of 200,000 - 300,000 to be a short run. See also PRIVATE PRESS QUICK PRINTING ROTOGRAVURE

SHORT RUN PRINTER A printing of 500-5,000 copies of a book would be considered to be a short run. A run of only 25 copies could be termed a super short run. Small runs of 100-1200 are possible with the use of laser presses. See also DIRECT IMGE PLATE PRINTING ON DEMAND QUICK PRINTER SMALL, LOCAL PRINTERS

SHORTS An abbreviated form of short shipments. See SHORT SHIPMENT

SHORT SHIPMENT A term to describe a shipment, which is incomplete. The quantity of one or more of the items, which were ordered, is less than what the customer had requested. The common reason for a short shipment is a temporary unavailability of stock. The customer may cancel his order for those items, which were shortshipped, or, instead, permit them to remain back-ordered. If back-ordered, the goods will be shipped as soon as they become available. See also BACK ORDERED INVOICE SYMBOLS

SHOW-THROUGH An undesirable printing condition in which the ink on one side of the paper is visible on the other side in normal light. The problem results from insufficient opacity of the paper rather than strike-through. See also OPACITY STRIKE-THROUGH

SIDEBAR A block of text that has been placed at the side of the main body of text in a document and often separated by a border, colored background, or other graphic element. Also, a short, related story set adjacent to a main feature or article in a newspaper or magazine. A companion piece to the main story, often providing background or statistical information. Sidebars can be used to augment the content of the feature. In addition, the term can denote a vertical bar positioned usually on the right hand side of the screen. See also BOX FEATURE SIDEHEAD TEXT BLOCK

SIDE GUIDE A guide on sheet-fed presses that serves to keep the sheet in sideways position as it approaches the front guides prior to entering the impression cylinder. See also GRIPPER PRESS SHEET SHEET-FED

SIDE HEAD A term that describes a heading located in the margin of a printed document and which is aligned with the top of the body text. Also, a subheading that has been set flush into the text on the left side. See also HEAD HEADER SIDEBAR

SIDE SEWING The act or process of binding the pages of a book by sewing by hand or machine along the back of the text block, rather than through the backbone of each signature. Side sewing is usually used to bind books formed from single sheets, rather than folded signatures. The sheets are put into correct sequence. Holes are drilled or punched along the spine edge of the text. Then, the text block is sewn with thread or a flat fabric tape. Side sewing is also termed side stitching. See also BINDING SEWING SIGNATURE TEXT BLOCK

SIDE-WIRE STITCHING A binding method commonly used for magazines and other periodicals prior to affixing the cover. Folded signatures are stacked one on top of each other and wire staples are inserted along the left side at the binding edge. The staples are then clinched on the underside. Although this gives a strong, durable, and cheap binding, pages bound by this method do not lie flat. Therefore, there must be a wide gutter margin - at least one inch for a book up to ½" in thickness, and more for a thicker book. Side-wire stitching is also termed side-stitching or stabbing. See also BINDING GUTTER MARGIN SIGNATURE STABBING

SIGNATURE In bookbinding, a printed sheet on which a number of pages have been printed together. The sheet is subsequently folded, bound with other signatures, and trimmed to form a book or pamphlet. Signatures are folded in multiples of 4, 8, 16, 24, 32, or more pages. Also, a completed press sheet, before folding, collating, binding and trimming. Most printing is done on sheets larger than the final page size. Multiple pieces are frequently printed in multiples of 4 pages. The smallest is a 4-page signature, the largest is 64. The latter has 32 pages on each side of the sheet. Signatures of 8 pages or 16 pages are most common. See also GRIND-OFF IMPOSITION PRESS SHEET PRINTER SPREAD SECTION UP

SIGNATURE PRINTING The printing of books, magazines, pamphlets, and the like on signatures, large sheets of paper that subsequently are folded, bound, and trimmed to form finished publications. The pages of these publications must be printed on both sides and out of order (half right side up and half upside down) in order that they appear in correct sequence and orientation after folding and binding. See also PRINTER SPREAD

SILHOUETTE HALFTONE See HALFTONE

SILKSCREEN A printing method used to imprint T-shirts and heavy grades of paper. It involves forcing ink through a stencil onto the surface to be printed. All parts of the design not be printed are covered. Silkscreen printing plates are less expensive than those for lithography, but the cost of each print is higher. As a result, the silkscreen process is best suited to small runs. The process gives good ink distribution, making it suitable for large posters and printing on fabrics. See also LITHOGRAPHY

SILVER PRINT See BROWNLINE PROOF

SIMILE A figure of speech in which one thing is likened to another (unlike) thing in one aspect by the use of "like," "as," etc. (e.g., he is as slow as a turtle"). See also FIGURE OF SPEECH IMAGERY METAPHOR

SIMPLEX In desktop publishing, the opposite of duplex printing. Printing on only one side of the paper. See also DUPLEX PRINTING

SIMULTANEOUS EDITION A term to describe an edition of a book, which is published at the same time as another (different) edition. The two editions are considered to be simultaneous editions. See also EDITION

SIMULTANEOUS SUBMISSION Any manuscript or query letter that is submitted for consideration to more than one editor or publisher at the same time. The recipient may or may not be advised that other editors and/or publishers are also receiving the manuscript or query letter. Many editors dislike this practice because it introduces an uncertainty as to whether they will be able to obtain rights to the manuscript if, after investing the time to evaluate it, they wish to do so. They prefer that the author wait for a reaction from one publisher before submitting to another. See also FACSIMILE PHOTOCOPY QUERY LETTER READER

SINGLE COPY ORDER A book order received from a bookseller consisting of only one item - one copy of one title. See also PURCHASE ORDER UNIVERSAL DISCOUNT

SINGLE FOLD A term to describe the result of folding a sheet of paper once. This creates four pages. Depending on where the fold lies, the pages may be equal in size or two pages may be larger than the remaining two pages. See also ACCORDION FOLD DOUBLE FOLD FRENCH FOLD LETTER FOLD PANEL FOLD PARALLEL FOLD RIGHT-ANGLE FOLD

SINKAGE In printing, the extra white space at the top of the opening page of a chapter. The lowering of the initial line of text at the beginning of a chapter from its regular location on a normal page of text. Also, the amount by which the first line of text has been lowered. See also DEEP SINKAGE HEAD MARGIN MARGIN

SIX-COLOR A printing process involving the use of six different colors, rather than the more common four-colors. They could consist of the standard four-color process inks (cyan, magenta, yellow, and black) plus two spot colors specified by Pantone numbers. The use of the two additional specific colors would provide assurance of accurately reproducing these two colors through the entire printing run without unacceptable variations (i.e., in all parts of all sheets). These might be stimulated by a desire to replicate accurately a skin or hair color, a particular shade of a color (e.g., a particular pink for lipstick) or the company's logo in the company colors. See also CMYK FOUR-COLOR PROCESS PANTONE SPOT COLOR

SIX-UP In printing, the imposition of six items on the same sheet in order to take better advantage of full capacity and minimize paper consumption by reducing loss due to scrap. See also EIGHT-UP FOUR-UP IMPOSITION UP

SIZE The starch- or casein-based solution that is added to paper in order to reduce its absorbency and improve its strength. If size is added to the surface of paper to control ink retention, it is termed surface size. Sized paper is used for many printing, coating, gluing, and other purposes. See also PAPER SIZING

SIZING A treatment for paper that improves its resistance to penetration by liquids, such as water, thereby reducing its absorbency of water and improving its strength. The treatment can be applied to the surface of the sheet or its interior. In surface treatment, starch is applied to the paper's surface to increase its strength and resist penetration by oil-based inks. In the second case, chemicals are added to the pulp before the paper sheet is formed. The purpose of this treatment is to prevent penetration of the sheet by water-based inks. This is termed internal sizing or engine sizing. The term sizing is sometimes used to describe the starch used in the surface treatment, or the chemicals added to the pulp in the internal sizing treatment. See also PAPER

SKID A low wood platform on which paper or books are delivered, or cut sheets held in a printing plant. Skids are a uniform 48" by 40" in dimensions and about 4" or slightly more in height. The two opposite ends of a skid are open to enable a forklift truck to insert its fork into it and lift and carry it. A skid is also termed a pallet.

SKU Stock keeping unit. A term to denote a numbered warehouse bin, container, or rack space. More commonly, the term is used in reference to a product code and, therefore, one specific and unique item of a particular size, color, flavor, UPC code, etc., SKU numbers and UPC codes are often identical. They identify the products in the computerized inventory of a manufacturer or seller and system of ordering, invoicing, and selling. See also INVENTORY UNIVERSAL PRODUCT CODE

SLAB SERIF Another term for Egyptian. See EGYPTIAN

SLANG Widely used and understood, but very informal in use in vocabulary and idioms, slang is more metaphorical, playful, and vivid than the normal language of polite usage. It consists of entirely new words, as well as new meanings ascribed to existing words. With time, slang either passes into disuse or is accepted as part of standard usage. See also JOURNALESE STYLE

SLANT See ITALIC

SLASH A short oblique stroke, either forward leaning (/) or backward leaning (\), but usually the former. The latter is normally termed a backslash. See also SOLIDUS VIRGULE

SLEEPER In publishing, a term applicable to a book for which there was little demand when first published, but which has sold in steadily increasing quantity as the months and/or years have passed.

SLICKS In publishing, a term that describes magazines printed on slick paper (coated paper). In contrast, pulps refers to magazines printed on less expensive paper, similar to newsprint. See also COATED PAPER

SLIPCASE A hard protective case made of sturdy cardboard, often cloth covered, and having one open end into which a book (or set of books) can be inserted with the spine exposed to view. Slip cases are intended to provide a decorative effect and protection for expensive books. See also HARDCOVER LIMITED EDITION

SLITTING A term to denote the cutting of printed sheets by a cutting wheel at the end of a printing press, or on a folding machine.

SLUG In typography and printing, a thin strip of type metal that is less than type-high, or such a strip containing a type-high number or other character for temporary use, in one piece as might be produced by a Linotype machine. Also, a word or short phrase by which an article may be identified as it goes through the process of production. It normally appears at the upper corner of submitted copy. In addition, the term is sometimes used to denote a particular heading that appears in each edition of a newspaper. Finally, some use slug in place of bullet. See also BULLET LINOTYPE

SLUR A spot on a printed surface that is blurred or unclear. An area of a printed image that has been smeared, due to slippage of the paper during the printing stage. See also INK

SLUSH A collective term that is used in reference to the unsolicited manuscripts and like material received by a publisher. Editors of large-circulation magazines in the United States often let it be known that materials in their slush pile are never read and simply returned. However, usually someone, often a junior on the editorial staff, will read enough of a submission to be able to give an assessment of it. The editors admit that they cannot risk overlooking good new talent by completely ignoring unsolicited submissions. See also OVER-THE-TRANSOM UINSOLICITED MANUSCRIPT

SLUSH PILE The pile of unsolicited and unread manuscripts and query letters that have accumulated in the office of a publisher or editor. These over-the-transom or unsolicited manuscripts are apportioned among young editorial assistants and secretaries at some publishing houses. If an assistant discovers a manuscript that is subsequently accepted upon his or her recommendation, he or she may be assigned responsibility for its supervision. See also OVER-THE-TRANSOM QUERY LETTER SLUSH UNSOLICITED MANUSCRIPTS

SMALL CAPS An additional set of capital letters in Roman face for a particular typeface that are equal in height to the lowercase letters of the same face. The height of the small capital letters is the x-height of the font. The small capitals are additional to the capitals of normal height. See also EMPHASIS LOWERCASE X-HEIGHT

SMALL, LOCAL PRINTERS Small printers that specialize in the printing of letterheads, envelopes, flyers, brochures, and similar materials. They are the best suited to print small quantities, such as 10,000 or less, of envelopes, brochures and other simple items. Such small printers can usually offer fast turnarounds on orders received. Some have words, such as express, quick, and instant, in their names. See also JOB PRINTER QUICK PRINTER SHORT RUN PRINTER

SMYTH SEWN A machine sewing system commonly used in book binding of hardcover books. The system, originally developed by the Smythe Manufacturing Company and known as Smythe Sewing, is called signature sewing. In this method, signatures are sewn through the spine fold with several stitches to hold pages together after trimming and before the cover is attached. Each signature is attached to the next. See also HARDCOVER SEWING SIGNATURE

SOFT BACK A term that describes a conventional book that has been bound with a paper back cover. See also SOFT COVER

SOFT COPY A term descriptive of a digital version of a manuscript or typeset copy. Also, the temporary display of computer output on a monitor. In contrast, a hard copy refers to a printout or other tangible form of an electronic file. See also DIGITAL HARD COPY MANUSCRIPT OUTPUT

SOFT COVER A term that describes a book that has been bound with heavy paper. Soft cover is also known as softcover, paperback, or paperbound. See also PAPERBACK PAPERBOUND

SOFT DOT A dot in photographic images that has excessive halation around its edges. This diminishes the dot density. See also HALATION HARD DOT

SOFT FONT A printer font that is copied from a computer's hard disk to the printer's memory when required for printing. It vanishes from the printer's memory when power to the printer is turned off. Consequently, soft fonts must be reloaded whenever the printer is turned on. A soft font is a bit-mapped font and therefore fixed in size and style. However, a wide variety of soft fonts is available. The disadvantage of soft fonts is that they require a lot of memory (10K bits to 200K bits per character) and time to download to the printer. Soft fonts are most commonly used with laser printers and other page printers. They are also called downloadable fonts See also BITMAPPED FONT DOWNLOADABLE FONT FONT FONT CARTRIDGE INTERNAL FONT

SOFT HYPHEN A hyphen formatted to take effect only if the word containing the hyphen wraps to the next line. In that instance, the word will be hyphenated in order to improve the line's kerning. A special command is used to insert the hyphen into the word within a page layout program. A soft hyphen is also called a discretionary hyphen. See also HARD HYPHEN HYPHEN NON-BREAKING HYPHEN REQUIRED HYPHEN

SOFT PAGE BREAK A soft return. See SOFT RETURN

SOFT PROOF A proof of an image or page layout that is viewed on a computer monitor, rather than a hard proof that is printed on paper or another tangible substrate. See also HARD HARD PROOF PAGE LAYOUT

SOFT RETURN In word processing, a line break that is inserted into a document automatically by a word processor when the next word entered in the current line of text would overflow into the margin. The cursor moves to the beginning of the next line in the text document. The location of the line break changes automatically if one adds or deletes text above (ahead of) it, changes page size, fonts, or margins. Both soft returns and hard returns are codes that, when inserted into a document, cause the output device (printer, monitor, etc.) to advance to the next line. See also HARD PAGE BREAK HARD RETURN WORD WRAP

SOLID A term used in reference to any printing area that receives 100 percent ink coverage, rather than a screen tint. Also, any area of an image on a plate or film that, when printed, provides ink coverage of 100 percent. In addition, the term describes type set without leading. See also LEADING TINT

SOLID INK-JET PRINTER A type of color printer that uses wax-based inks manufactured in sticks resembling crayons. The sticks are heated and the melted ink is sprayed onto the page to cool and solidify. A solid ink-jet printer can print on most surfaces and produces vivid colors. However, it is relatively slow and expensive. Another name for a solid ink-jet printer is phase-change printer.

SOLIDUS (/) A slash character designed for typing fractions, although it originally functioned as a comma. Although the regular slash is the virgule, the solidus has a different angle, permitting better kerning of numbers over and under it. A solidus is sometimes termed a slash, slant, virigule, diagonal, or shilling mark. See also KERNING SLASH VIRGULE

SORT In electronic publishing, to arrange data in sequence in accordance with specified parameters. Also, an operation that sorts, often alphabetically or by ascending or descending numerical order. In traditional publishing, a character that is not part of the regular font, but is usually supplied as an extra (e.g., fractions). See also ASCENDING ORDER DESCENDING ORDER LEXICOGRAPHIC SORT ZIP CODE

SORTING In direct mail or mail order, the arranging of mailing pieces for a bulk mailing by zip code in order to facilitate faster and cheaper processing and more reliable delivery. See also ASCENDING ORDER DESCENDING ORDER ZIP CODE SEQUENCE

SP An abbreviation for spelling used by proofreaders to indicate that the spelling of the particular word is suspect. See also PROOFREADER PROOFREADER'S MARKS

SPACE BAND A term to describe the individual space between two characters. See also CHARACTER

SPEC Short for specifications. See SPECIFICATIONS

SPECIAL COLOR A term used to describe any specific color or shade of ink used on a printing press, which is additional to the four colors (cmyk) used in normal 4-color process printing. A special color may be used to ensure that the color predominant in the company's logo (perhaps, a particular blue) is faithfully reproduced wherever it appears. Alternatively, a metallic or fluorescent ink may be sought for a special effect, etc. See also CMYK FOUR COLOR PROCESS PANTONE SPOT COLOR

SPECIALTY PRINTERS Printers that specialize in the manufacture of such items as envelopes, folders, catalogs, folders and irregularly shaped pieces. Because his equipment is designed for specific tasks, a specialty printer may be able to offer lower prices on certain types of printing jobs.

SPECIFICATIONS In printing, the written description of how a finished printing job should appear. It specifies the required number of impressions, type style and size, leading, line measure, indentations, headlines, paper grade, ink colors, and other aspects. Printing specifications sometimes include finishing specifications, such as trim size, required folds, and binding method. See also ESTIMATE QUOTATION SPEC SHEET

SPECKLING The appearance of isolated bright pixels in largely dark image areas. Speckling is caused by noise in the scanning device or sometimes due to incorrect readings. See also PIXEL SCANNER

SPEC SHEET The sheet of specifications to submit to a printer when requesting a quotation. It should contain the following:

• number of pages (ideally, a number divisible by 16 or 32 for economy).
• type of inside paper
• dimensions of the finished size.
• the cover paper desired and the number of ink colors
• type of binding (perfect, comb bound, hardcover)
• number of books wanted
• delivery address.
• desired delivery date
• name, address, and telephone number
• form in which artwork will be submitted.