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The Heidelberg website glossary explains, in alphabetical order, a multitude of terms relevant to printing, as well as some terms used in Heidelberg's product catalogue.

Simply click on the letter of your choice to access the information you need.

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Faber und Faber Verlag

Faber und Faber Verlag, founded in 1990 in Leipzig, has – according to information from the company – produced the world’s smallest book ever to have been manufactured in a production run. Measuring just 2.4 x 2.9 mm, the copies were bound in leather by hand. The volume is entitled "Bilder ABC" ("Picture ABC") and contains images of letters by Josua Reichert.

Facsimile

Facsimile (Latin: fac simile – to make similar) is the term generally used to describe the most natural possible reproduction of an original (image, handwriting, book) complete with all its characteristics including dirty marks, damage or traces of use. This is the highest degree of similarity which a reproduction can achieve in comparison to the original, and nothing is added, left out or improved. Copyists in the Middle Ages were already trying to achieve reproductions of texts and books which were true to the originals by writing them out and illustrating them by hand. The first full facsimiles date from the early 17th century, and were engraved in copper. Facsimiles were also produced using the wood engraving method. The invention of lithography in the late 18th Century and collotype in the mid 19th Century made facsimiles as we understand them today possible. Collotype is still an ideal method of reproducing color originals, but it is very expensive.

Felt side

The side of the paper not in contact with the wire of the paper machine. Especially in lower-quality grades, this side offers much better performance characteristics than the reverse, called the wire side. The wire side bears a slight imprint from the metal mesh and contains fewer fillers due to the flow of water.

Ferro-gallic ink

Ferro-gallic ink is a very durable type of ink that consists of gallic acid (also known as tannin - 3,4,5-trihydroxybenzoic acid, chemical formula: C6H2(OH)3COOH), iron sulfate and possibly a binder (gum arabic). Ferro-gallic ink has been known since antiquity. It got its name from the oak galls used as a source of tannin. The ink was used for documents of all kinds until the advent of chemical dyes in the very recent past. When fresh, pure ferro-gallic ink has only a pale color. Only after being applied to paper and exposed to atmospheric oxygen does it form a strongly coloring, black pigment. It is insoluble in water and thus very difficult to remove. After extended periods of time, ferro-gallic ink attacks paper and parchment, causing what is known as ink corrosion.

FGD

The Forschungsgesellschaft Druckmaschinen e.V. (FGD -Printing Press Research Association) headquartered in Frankfurt was founded in 1955 by leading German printing press manufacturers as a non-profit organization. It acts as a coordinating office between the printing press industry and the research activities in the field of printing presses and printing processes. In particular, it works together with the Institut für Druckmaschinen und Druckverfahren (IDD -Institute for Printing Presses and Printing Processes) at Darmstadt University of Technology.

Fillers

Fillers are additives used in paper manufacture that fill the gaps between the paper fibers and enhance opacity, whiteness, and smoothness. The most common fillers are mineral compounds such as kaolin or calcium carbonate; they are generally added to the liquid pulp mass. In finished papers, the filler content can be as high as 35%.

Fine Paper

Fine paper is the general term used to describe paper of superior quality. In production, particular attention is given to the stability of the surface as well as good, even transparency (also with watermarks) and of course good printability.

Finishing

In printing, the term "finishing" is used to cover the operations that take place after the actual print run and lead to the finished printed product. Depending on the type of product, this includes folding, collating and trimming of the printed sheets, as well as binding and possibly also packing.

FireWire

The name FireWire was coined by computer manufacturer Apple and refers to a serial interface with a high transfer rate that complies with US standard IEEE 1394. Up to now, this standard specifies transfer rates up to a maximum of 400 Mbit/s. Even higher rates have already been proposed for standardization. FireWire interfaces are becoming more and more common in workplace computers and are today mainly used for connecting video cameras and similar products to computers, although they are also increasingly being used for mass storage devices, scanners and other peripherals.

Flatbed scanner

See Scanner.

Flash

Developed by Macromedia Inc., Flash is the popular modern method of adding graphic animations to Internet pages. Macromedia offers various software tools for creating Flash animations. To make these animations visible, a web browser needs the Flash Player plug-in, which is available free of charge.

Flexographic printing

Flexographic printing, a letterpress process, uses photopolymer wash-off printing plates (letterpress plates) or variations of these (rubber printing plates) as printing forms. Using low-viscosity ink it is possible to print on very different materials with screen rulings of up to 54 l/cm. Flexographic printing is a very fast, uncomplicated printing process suitable for packaging printing and multi-color newspaper printing.

Fluorescent printing inks

Fluorescent printing inks are stimulated into shining, thus changing color, when exposed to ultraviolet (UV) light. There are various types that react to UV light of different wavelengths. Fluorescent printing inks are used for protection and to identify documents at risk of being forged.

FOGRA

The Forschungsgesellschaft Druck e.V., Munich, (FOGRA) was set up to promote printing technology. The association has its own institute with over 50 employees. The duties which the organization has set itself include research into orders, development work focussing in particular on quality control tools, knowledge transfer through the use of brochures and printed materials, lectures, advice, seminars, symposia, a literature database, cooperation in standardization bodies and the provision of expert reports in the case of conflicts.

Fold

In bookbinding a sharp break or bend in the papers. By folding either a product with consecutively numbered pages or simply a smaller format is produced. Folding is generally done by special folding machines. A distinction is made between right angle and parallel folds. In right angle folding the next fold is always at a right angle to the previous one. In parallel folding, always parallel to the first.

Folding machines

A distinction is made between two main types of folding machine. First the knife folder, where a blunt edged knife presses the paper between two continuously moving rollers. The paper is caught between the rollers and carried away, a fold being made where the knife made contact. The buckle or plate folder feeds the paper end first between a pair of continuously revolving rollers. Both methods of folding ca be combined in one machine - the combination folder.

Font

Font is the word for a type face. A font usually has several styles in various weights and versions.

Four-em quad

A four-em quad is a typographical unit of measurement corresponding to 36 points.

Fraktur

Fraktur is a black-letter typeface created in 1517 that was the most common typeface in Germany right up to the 20th century. Fraktur was also widespread at times in countries neighboring Germany to the east and southeast. Its name (Latin for "broken") is based on the broken strokes in which it was originally written by hand. Precursors to Frankfurt are considered to the Ghotic typeface, which Johannes Gutenberg used to typeset his 42-line bible of 1455, and the Schwabacher typeface, which has been used since roughly 1570 and which the first Lutheran bibles were printed.

Frame

A Technology introduced in Netscape Navigator 2In computer-speak, a frame is a rectangular area absolutely positioned on the display screen. In the online world, a frame refers to a single section of a Web page that's been coded to display "frames." In computer-speak, a frame is a rectangular area absolutely positioned on the display screen. In the online world, a frame refers to a single section of a Web page that's been coded to display "frames."

Front matter

The term front matter (or prelims) is used for all the pages of a book that appear before the actual text. These can consist of the bastard title, full title, imprint, dedication, contents page, foreword and unprinted pages.

Full ink coverage

The full ink coverage is the smallest quantity of ink that can completely cover the surface of a particular printing stock so that no gaps are visible. In offset printing, the full ink coverage for smooth coated art papers is 1.5 to 2 gsm, and for uncoated papers is in the region of 3 gsm.

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