G

This dictionary covers graphic design, prepress and print terminology.
Stan Schwartz supplied most of the terms of this online glossary.

A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I-J-K-L-M-N-O-P-Q-R-S-T-U-V-W-X-Y-Z

GAA

Abbreviation for the Gravure Association of America, an organization dedicated to the advancement and dissemination of information for the gravure industry.

galley

A long shallow tray that held metal type composition back in the days of Linotype machines.

galley proof

A proof taken from a galley of metal type.

galleys

A continuous roll of typeset text that was used for proofreading and is not yet assembled into pages. Now that layout applications are able to compose complete pages, galleys in the true form have become extinct. However, sheets of text output from a device, such as a laser printer, used for proofreading and not yet assembled into final pages are sometimes called galley sheets or galleys.

galley slave

Old term for a compositor.

gamma

- The computer number that denotes contrast, represented by the Greek letter y.
- The contrast in photographic images.

gamma correction

A modification of the tone curves to change the contrast of a reproduction. Gamma correction does what some people misinterpret as color correction because it changes middletone and clean up the picture.

gamut

The range of colors that a device can reproduce or capture. The human eye has the widest gamut, printing presses have a far narrower gamut.

gamut compression

The process of squeezing the color space represented in an image to one that can be reproduced in a second image generation, such as ink on paper, a direct digital color proof, etc.

gamut mapping

The process of color matching in which differences in color gamuts between the source device and the target device are taken into consideration. There are different types of gamut mapping:

  • perceptive mapping in which most or all of the colors are altered but the relationship between the colors is maintained. Because the human eye is very sensitive to the relationship between colors, such a remapping does not give the visual impression that all colors changed.
  • absolute colorimetric mapping in which colors that cannot be mapped to the target color gamut (because they do not exist in that model) are lost. These colors are simply clipped.
  • relative colorimetric mapping in which colors that cannot be mapped to the target color gamut (because they do not exist in that model) are replaced within the target gamut, preserving the lightness and hue of the colors
  • saturation mapping, in which all colors are scaled to the brightest saturation possible

ganging or gang printing or gang run printing

Running off any number of different jobs on the same sheet. After printing, the sheet is cut into individual jobs and the cost pro-rated.

gatefold

An oversize page where both sides fold into the gutter in overlapping layers. This folding technique is typically used to accommodate maps into books.

gateway

A network device that can connect two networks in which different protocols are used.

GATF

Abbreviation for the Graphic Arts Technical Foundation, an organization located in Pittsburgh, PA, dedicated to improving quality in the graphic arts through testing and education. GATF distribute a range of color quality control devices and publications.

gather

To assemble or collect sections into single copies of complete books for binding.

gathering

In finishing assembling sheets of paper or signatures into their proper sequence; collating.

GB

abbreviation for GigaByte or GigaBit. A lower case “b” should indicate gigabit but not everybody sticks to this convention. A gigabyte are 1073741824 bytes.

GCA

Abbreviation for Graphic Communications Association, a subgroup of the Printing Industries of America. It is now called IDEAlliance (International Digital Enterprise Alliance), a non-for-profit membership organization whose mission it is to advance user-driven, cross-industry solutions for all publishing and content-related processes by developing standards, fostering business alliances, and identifying best practices.

GCR

Abbreviation for Gray Component Replacement: a technique that replaces black ink by its equivalent portion of cyan, magenta and yellow, mainly in the neutral or desaturated parts of an image.

30 December 2009

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