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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
L*a*b*
Color space. See CIE color space.
lacquer
A clear gloss coating applied to printed material for strength, appearance and protection.
laid
A parallel lined paper that has a handmade look, usually used for high quality stationery.
laminate
A thin transparent plastic coating applied to paper or board for protection and to give it a glossy finish.
Lamarr Hedy
Famous movie actress from the 30s and 40s who was one of the first to appear nude in a major movie. During the second World War she also invented (along with George Antheilt) spread spectrum technology which is used in modems and mobile phones nowadays. A drawing of her face is still used by Corel for their drawing program Corel Draw. Apparently they never had permission for this (or were not aware of copyright laws) and Hedy took Corel to court. Both parties reached a settlement out of court.
LAN
Abbreviation for Local Area Network, a group of interconnected computers in one geographical area that share resources.
land line
A copper wire or fiber optic cable, above or below ground, that is used to send data. A telephone system is a typical example.
landscape
Describes a horizontal orientation of a page format, as opposed to portrait, which is a vertical orientation.
LASER
Abbreviation for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation: a device that amplifies a single frequency of light within the spectrum to create a directional, intense beam. That beam of light can be used to write data on a printing plate or film. Fortunately lasers are also used in CD-players and disco’s so you can have fun with them as well.
laser diode
A solid-state miniature exposure lamp emitting a small spot of light. Laser diodes are used in some imagesetters.
laser engraving
A paper cutting technique whereby laser technology is utilized to cut away certain unmasked areas of the paper. The cutting is a result of the exposure of the paper to the laser ray, which actually evaporates the paper.
laser printer
A desktop output device that produces images from digital data on paper or film. The images can be text, graphics, or halftones. Somewhat like a photocopying machine, the laser printer’s cylinder is electronically charged to make it lightsensitive. The cylinder is exposed with a laser to create the invisible latent image that will accept toner particles. The toner is applied, the particles are transferred from the cylinder to the paper, and fused with heat and pressure.
late binding
In prepress late binding refers to delaying the conversion of data into a format that is optimised for one specific type of output as long as possible. This may include rendering pages before actually imposing them, making it easier to switch to a different press or press sheet size at the last possible moment. Keeping data in RGB until the job needs to be rendered is another example of a late binding technique. The opposite of late binding is early binding.
lay edge
Edge of a sheet of paper being fed into a printing press.
layout
A drawing, sketch or plan of a piece, page or advertisement showing all elements in position, a “blueprint”.
LC
Abbreviation for Lower Case
LCD
Abbreviation for Liquid Cristal Display: a display that uses liquid crystals. The best display quality is offered by so-called TFT LCD screens.
LDAP
Abbreviation for Lightweight Directory Access Protocol
lead
See leading
leader
A row of dots, hyphens, periods or dashes used to lead the eye of the user across the page.
leading
The space between lines of type in a block of text (pronounced “ledding”). Leading is usually expressed in points, like the size of text itself. It includes the point size of the text; so 10 point text set with 10 point leading would have the lines of type touching each other. Conventionally a leading of 120% is used in a normal block of body text; so a 10 point type is normally set with 12-point leading.
leading edge
See gripper edge
leaf
One of a number of folds (each containing two pages) which comprises a book or manuscript.
leaf stamping
A metal die, either (flat, or embossed), created from the image or copy, which is then heated to a specific temperature which allows the transfer of a film of pigmented polyester to the paper.
LED
Abbreviation for Light Emitting Diode
ledger paper
A stiff heavy business paper generally used for keeping records.
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