Glossary of Print Terms
ABC Audit Bureau of Circulation. A service organization that validates publishers' circulation claims through regularly scheduled audits.
BPA Business Publications Audit of Circulation, Inc. A non-profit organization which audits specialized business publications.
Bleed Printing to the very edge of the page so that there is no margin around the add. Some publishers charge a 15% premium for this type of printing since it reduces the speed of the press and creates printed waste material.
CPM Cost Per Thousand. Term used in all media indicating the cost of reaching 1,000 people or households with a media vehicle. CPM is the cost of the media unit times 1,000 divided by number of prospects reached.
Circulation The number of copies distributed either paid or non-paid. Paid circulation refers to the number of copies that are sold.
Column Inch A unit of space one column wide and one inch deep.
Cover Positions A print term denoting premium positions. They are: 1st Cover - Outside front cover 2nd Cover - Inside front cover 3rd Cover - Inside back cover 4th Cover - Outside back cover.
Coverage The percentage ratio of circulation to households within a specified area. For example city zone coverage refers to the circulation in the city zone divided by the number of households residing there.
Duo-Tone (2 Color) Printing A printing process using two colors, printing one color on top of the other. This is a screening process.
Editorial Association The belief that product category ads will do better when placed in publications or positioned in certain sections which contain editorial material directly associated to the product. For example, advertising for scuba gear in a diving magazine.
Fixed Position A guaranteed position in a publication that will not be preempted.
Flat Rate Rates that are not subject to discounts.
Four-Color Process A sophisticated process of reproducing a color image onto a magazine page. This involves separating the image into four universal colors. They are always yellow, blue, red and black (shades may vary). The separation process is done by the production department of an agency. The publication combines the separated color sheets and reconstructs the actual color image onto the magazine page.
Gatefold A full-page or spread with an extended page, or page of a page, that folds outward.
Gunning Fog Index System for measuring copy readability. It provides a close approximation of the educational grade level that a person of average intelligence would need to understand the material without difficulty.
Half-Tone Engraving A photochemical process that uses a screen to break up the image into dots of varying sizes, which results in tone variations.
Horizontal Publication A publication having very broad editorial material. A vertical publication reaches a far more segmented audience.
Intaglio Printing Printing from a plate into which an image has been cut. The ink is deposited in the depressions and then transferred to the paper.
Island Position An ad positioned in the middle of a page (floating), surrounded by editorial material.
Junior Page Unit of measurement indicated a standard full-page, 7 x 10 inches, placed in a tabloid publication 9 7/8 x 12 inches.
LNA Leading National Advertisers. A service available to advertisers for the purpose of researching competitive advertising expenditures on a quarterly basis.
Letterpress Printing Oldest form of printing in which the printing plate has raised surfaces and the ink is spread onto the plate and then transferred directly to the paper.
Lineage A newspaper term denoting the number of agate lines or amount of space in an ad. An agate line measures one column wide and 1/14 inches deep. Therefore, 14 lines equals one column inch.
MAB Magazine Advertising Bureau. An organization which sponsors studies, generates and distributes media and marketing information, and conducts advertising and promotion activities that advocate magazines as an advertising medium.
MRI Media Records, Inc. An organization which publishes summaries of the lineage by various categories that are run in daily and Sunday newspapers. It provides competitive data to advertisers and newspapers in a market.
Mediamark Research, Inc. A syndicated study of magazine readership and product usage.
Offset Printing A form of printing where the image is transferred from the rotary plate to a rubber blanket and then pressed on printing.
PIB Publishers Information Bureau. A service that provides competitive information about magazine advertisers by clients and by magazine. It provides units of space, volume and cost.
Pass-Along Reader A person who reads a publication that he or a member of his family did not purchase. Also referred to as "secondary" readers.
Penetration The number of individuals who are actually exposed to the advertising medium.
Publisher's Statement A semi-annual sworn statement of circulation data given to the ABC by a publisher, who is a member of the Bureau, and issued unaudited (but subject to audit).
Readership A term used to express readership of a particular advertisement, and not of a particular publication.
Regional Edition A geographical portion of a national magazine's circulation which can be purchased by an advertiser.
ROP Run of Paper. A term used in newspaper advertising to indicate that the positioning of an ad is at the option of the publisher.
Roto (Roto-Gravure) A form of Intaglio printing where the image is chemically etched upon a copper cylinder. Many Sunday magazine supplements are printed in this process on various grates of coated paper.
Short Rate An additional charge an advertiser must pay at the end of a full year if he has not fulfilled his contract.
Simmons (SMRB) A syndicated magazine readership survey organization which reports on reader demographics, product usage, and other media usage.
Split-Run Using two different ads in the same publication, where the publisher will run the copy in different parts of his press run. Split runs are used to test the effectiveness of copy or space. An A/B split means copy alternates throughout the press run. There are also geographic splits, four-way splits, etc.
Spread Two facing pages in a publication containing a single ad.
Starch Slang for Daniel Starch and Staff, Inc., an independent advertising readership research organization. They conduct studies of over 100 consumer and business publications and newspapers and publish the findings in a "Starch Report." It gives scores on ad readership for specific issues of a publication.
TGI Target Group Index. Annual survey system of media usage and product/brand usage, broken down by demographic characteristics. The survey is conducted by a questionnaire placed and recovered by an interviewer.
Tearsheet A page on which an ad was placed in a publication and sent to an advertiser for proof of performance.
Trade Magazine Magazines edited to reach a member of a specific occupational group or business.
Vertical Publication A publication dealing with one specific topic and appealing to a particular audience, in contrast to horizontal publications which are more broad.