Here at BTS, we take great pride in making sure our customers feel comfortable when they come to us with a question about our products and services. See, we don’t expect you to know everything about our products or for you to understand which one will be the most effective for your business; that’s why we’re here!
Our team has the experience and knowledge to advise you on what will have the most impact, and they’ll use clear and understandable language to do that – avoiding all that technical jargon. In some cases, there is no alternative and we have to say it as it is in order to describe what we do and how our products work, but do not fear…
In this week’s blog, we’ve pulled together a glossary of all those words, terms and acronyms that you might find print experts like us using… so, now you can be experts too!
A0
Paper size of 841 x 1189 mm
A1
Paper size of 594 x 841 mm
A2
Paper size of 420 x 594 mm
A3
Paper size of 297 x 420 mm
A4
Papersize of 210 x 297 mm
A5
Paper size of 148 x 210 mm
A6
Paper size of 105 x 148 mm
A7
Paper size of 74 x 105 mm
A8
Paper size of 52 x 74 mm
Acrobat Reader
PDF document viewer provided by Adobe
AirPrint
Allows for wireless printing from certain Apple devices including iPads and Macs
Auto Reduction
Allows users to re-size documents automatically when scanning
ADF
An Automatic Document Feeder attaches to a printer in order to feed documents one page at a time. Compatible with fax, copiers and scanners
C0
Envelope size of 917 x 1297mm
C1
Envelope size of 648 x 917mm
C2
Envelope size of 458 x 648mm
C3
Envelope size of 324 x 458mm
C4
Envelope size of 229 x 324mm
C5
Envelope size of 162 x 229mm
C6
Envelope size of 114 x 162mm
C7
Envelope size of 81 x 114mm
C8
Envelope size of 57 x 81mm
CAD
Computer Aided Design, which is software used predominantly in the building and architecture industries
CMYK
An abbreviation applied to inks and toners – Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black. Printers mix these colours together in order to create every single colour
Colour Balance
Refers to how intense colours appear in relation to each other. It can be used to improve the quality of printing, in particular photographic images
Colour Calibration
Hardware and software adjustments used to maintain consistency between devices and outputs
Consumables
Refers to items which are literally consumed by a printer, ink and toner cartridges, for example. Consumables need to be replaced periodically by the user
Copy
A feature available on most MFPs, which allows users to create identical copies of a document
Cyan
One of four core colours used in ink and toner cartridges – any colour can be generated when blended together
Default two-sided printing
Allows users to print on both sides of the paper without the need to manually reverse the sheets
DPI
Dots Per Inch, a measurement signifying the resolution of the print. The higher the DPI, the better the print quality.
Driver
Software that communicates between a computer and printer or another external device
Duplex Printing
A feature that allows users to automatically print on both sides of a sheet of paper
Ethernet
A type of network for connecting wired local area networks (LANs), enabling devices to communicate with each other through a protocol
Fax Speed
The transmission speed of a fax machine’s modem, recorded in kbps
Finishing
Tools that enablefolding, stapling, punching or trimming
Firmware
Software which is built into devices to control the operations of the device
FTP
File Transfer Protocol, the program used to transfer files through the Internet from one device to another
Greyscale
A technique used for printing an image only using shades of grey
GSM
Grams per square metre, which refers to the weight of printer paper
HDD
Hard Disk Drive for physical data storage
Ink Cartridge
A replaceable component of an inkjet printer containing the ink
Inkjet Printer
A type of printer in which droplets of ink are dropped onto the paper, the most common type of printing technology used today
ISDN
Integrated Services Digital Network, an international standard for fast digital data communication over telephones lines
JPEG
A commonly used image file format
LAN
Local Area Network, a computer network that uses Ethernet cables or Wi-Fi technology to connect multiple computers together
Laser Printer
Uses laser beams to attract powdered ink onto the page
LCD
Liquid Crystal Display, a commonly used type of electronic display
MFP
Acronym for multifunctional printer
MICR
Magnetic Ink Character Recognition, the toner used for printing reference numbers on cheques
Mono
The colour black in printing
Multifunction Printer
A printer that features print, scan and fax capabilities
Network
A system that allows multiple computers to access a main computer
OCR
Optical Character Recognition, the conversion of hand-written characters into machine-encoded text
Optical Resolution
Physical resolution prior to software enhancements being added
PDF
Portable Document Format, acommonly used format for viewing documents
PDL
Page Description Language, which provides conversion of data from a computer to the printer to specify the arrangement of a printed page
PostScript
A printer format language used by various printing devices, e.g. Apple Macs
Print Noise Level
The noise emitted from a printer during the printing of a document, measured in Db
Printer Media
Relates to any type of material which a document is printed onto
Proof
Also known as a sample or test print sent before final production to check for accuracies
Ream
Used to describe a 500-sheet block of paper
Resolution
The amount ink or toner dots in a given area, the higher the better
RIP
Raster Image Processor, part of an output device that converts vector shapes into pixels or dots before printing
Scanner
Afunction which scans 2D images and 3D objects and converts them into a 2D digital format for manipulation. Scanners can be purchased as a standalone item or as part of a multifunction printer
TIFF
A File format ideal for exchanging bitmapped images between applications
Toner
A powder used to print text and images onto paper, used primarily in laser printers and photocopiers
USB
Universal Serial Bus, used to connect a range of computer peripherals to PCs and laptops
Wireless Network
A local area network from which multiple computers and peripherals can be connected together without any wires
Wireless Printing
A feature which allows for documents from a PC or laptop to be sent wirelessly to a printer
Wireless Technology
Devices enabled with wireless technology are capable of transferring information over short distances without the use of wires
Yield
The capacity of an ink or toner cartridge, measured by the number of pages it can print
We’re always happy to talk or answer any questions you may have about any of the above – get in touch now!