B

back cylinder pressure - Additional pressure applied through the impression cylinder assisting the image transfer to the press sheet.

backbone - The back of a bound book; also called the spine.

backing up - Printing the reverse side of a sheet already printed on one side.

bagasse - Crushed sugar cane or fiber used in papers.

baggy roll - Mill roll defect usually associated with a variation in caliper and/or basis weight across the web; stretched paper results, which tends to cause problems in the forms manufacturing process. Rolls are normally checked for baggy areas by striking with a baton and listening for variations in audible pitch.

band - (1) A strip of paper, printed or unprinted, that wraps around loose sheets (in lieu of binding with a cover) or assembled pieces. (2) The operation of putting a paper band around loose sheets or assembled pieces. (3) Metal straps wrapped around skids of cartons or materials wrapped in waterproof paper, to secure the contents to the skid for shipment.

barium sulfate - Substance used as a standard for white, in lieu of the availability of a practical 100 percent reflecting diffuser.

baronial envelope - A square envelope generally used with announcements.

base color - A first color used as a background on which other colors are printed.

base stock - Manufactured paper that will be further processed as laminated, Duplex Cover, Bristol Cover, or off machine embossed papers.

baseline - In typesetting, the invisible line on which letters and numbers set.

basic size - The standard sheet size of a given grade.

basis weight - The weight in pounds per ream of paper cut to its basic size in inches. A metric system is used outside of North America.

beater - Blender-type machine used to pulverize pulp and for mixing additives and color to the stock.

beater sized - Process of adding sizing material to the pulp in the beater.

bindery - A process of perforating, folding, trimming and eventually binding a printed piece.

binding - (1) Attaching sheets into a single unit by adhesives, sewing, stitching, metal prongs, snaps, etc. The operations that comprise collating, perforating, and folding the elements of a form into the finished product. (2) That portion or edge of a book of forms which is bound.

binding edge - The edge where the binding will be done.

black printer - In four-color process printing, the black plate made to give definition to neutral tones and detail.

blank - (1) Category of paperboard ranging in thickness from 15 to 48 points. Blanks may be C1S, C2S, or uncoated and are used for signs and posters. (2) Alternate term for shell.

blanket - In offset lithography, the rubber-coated fabric clamped around the blanket cylinder, which transfers the image from plate to paper.

blanket contamination - Unwanted matter that becomes attached to the offset blanket and interferes with print quality.

blanket creep - Movement of the blanket surface that comes in contact with the printing plate or paper.

blanket cylinder - The printing press cylinder on which the blanket is mounted.

blanket pull - The tack between blanket and paper.

bleach - Chemical, usually chlorine, used to whiten pulp.

bleaching - Chemical treatment to brighten, whiten, purify, refine, and balance pulp fiber.

bleed - (1) In printing, printed image that runs off the edges of a page. (2) The migration of ink into unwanted areas.

blind embossing - A printing technique in which a bas-relief design is pushed forward without foil or ink.

blocking - The shearshim of piled printed sheets caused by wet ink.

blocking out - Eliminating portions of negatives by opaquing the image.

blowup - Enlargement from the original size.

blueprint - In printing, a type of photo-print used as a proof. It can be folded to show how the finished printed product will look.

boldface - Thicker, visually heavier type vs. thin visually light type. Darker type.

bond paper - Strong, durable writing paper, consisting of wood, cotton, or both, most commonly used for letterheads, stationery, business forms, etc.

bonding strength - The strength of the paper fibers to resistance of picking or tearing during offset printing.

book paper - A general term used to define papers that are most suitable for book manufacture.

booklet - A printed piece bound together, containing a few pages.

brightness - The reflections of paper when measured under a specially calibrated wave of blue light.

bristol - General term referring to paper 6 points or thicker with basis weight between 90 lbs and 200 lbs. Used for products such as index cards, file folders, and displays.

bristol board - A high quality heavy weight paper, sometimes made with cotton fiber prepared or glued together, usually with a caliper thickness of 0.006" and up.

broke - Machine trim or undesirable paper that is returned to the beaters.

broken carton - An open carton of paper with some of its contents removed.

bulk - Sheet thickness. High-bulk sheets have fewer sheets per inch than low-bulk.

bulking dummy - Unprinted sheets of actual paper folded in the signature size and signature number of a given job, to determine bulk.

bursting strength - The point to which paper can withstand pressure without rupturing.

butted joint - Joining two webs of paper, placing them end-to-end and pasting a strip over and under to make a continuous sheet without overlapping.