Buyer's Guide · Reference
Short answer: most print disputes trace back to five words — bleed, trim, caliper, dot gain and AQL — so learn those first. The 40 terms below are the ones that decide your quote, your sample and your delivery, grouped in the order a project meets them.
Last updated: · 7 min read · By the Renjie editorial team · Includes: four reference tables
A print quote is built from four numbers — unit cost, tooling, make-ready and wastage — and only the first is usually visible.
| Term | What it means in buyer language |
|---|---|
| MOQ | Smallest run a press sets up profitably; typically 500 offset. |
| Unit cost | Price per finished copy, before freight and duty. |
| Tooling | One-time dies or blocks, reusable on reprints. |
| Make-ready | Press setup before the first sellable sheet. |
| Wastage | Copies lost to setup and errors; priced in already. |
| Over-run / under-run | Quantity tolerance on delivery, commonly ±5–10%. |
| Pre-production sample | Physical proof on your real stock, for written approval. |
| AQL | Acceptable Quality Limit — the sampling plan for batch acceptance. |
| Incoterms (EXW/FOB/CIF) | Where cost and risk stop; FOB is the China default. |
| Landed cost | Goods + freight + duty + last mile: budget on this. |
Paper is bought by weight (gsm) but printed by thickness (caliper) — two 350 gsm boards can differ 15% in caliper, and that moves spine width and box fit.
| Term | What it means in buyer language |
|---|---|
| GSM | Weight of one square metre; text 80–170, covers 250–400. |
| Caliper | Actual thickness; governs spine width and stiffness. |
| Bulk | Thickness for its weight — bulky feels thick at low gsm. |
| Art paper (coated) | Clay-coated smooth stock; the default for illustrated books. |
| Uncoated / offset | No coating; takes pencil, scuffs more easily. |
| Greyboard | Recycled board, typically 1.0–2.5 mm, for covers. |
| Grain direction | Fibre direction; bind against it and pages warp. |
| Text and cover stock | Interior paper versus the heavier outer cover. |
| FSC Mix | A chain-of-custody claim, verified by certificate number under FSC rules. |
| Caliper tolerance | Mill variance, usually ±5% — why two "2 mm" boards differ. |
Colour problems are argued in ΔE, dot gain and ink density, not in "it looks too red". Four of these terms appear on every serious specification.
| Term | What it means in buyer language |
|---|---|
| CMYK | Four-colour process; every tone built from four plates. |
| Spot colour / Pantone | One premixed ink on its own plate — exact, and costs a plate. |
| Bleed | Art past the trim edge, typically 3 mm. |
| Trim and safety margin | Final cut line, plus the keep-clear zone inside it. |
| Preflight | Automated check of bleed, colour, fonts and resolution. |
| 300 dpi | Minimum image resolution at final print size. |
| Dot gain (TVI) | How dots grow on paper; midtones print darker than proof. |
| ΔE (Delta E) | Colour difference; under 2 is invisible, 3–5 visible side by side. |
| G7 | An Idealliance calibration method for shared gray balance — a method, not a certificate. |
| ISO 12647 | ISO tolerances for ink density and tone in offset. |
These decide durability and the two largest items after paper, so specify by name: "2.5 mm greyboard, case bound, matte lamination" beats "nice thick cover".
| Term | What it means in buyer language |
|---|---|
| Perfect binding | Glued square spine; the standard paperback above ~64 pages. |
| PUR | Flexible adhesive that holds coated stock and lays flat. |
| Saddle stitch | Stapled through the fold; cheapest under ~64 pages. |
| Section sewn | Thread-sewn sections; most durable, opens flat. |
| Case bound | Hardcover case over board, endpapers glued in. |
| Wire-o | Metal spiral opening 360° — diaries and workbooks. |
| Lamination | Cover film — matte, gloss, soft-touch — for scuff resistance. |
| Die-cut | Custom shape cut by a steel rule die. |
| Deboss / emboss | Recessed or raised relief pressed into the cover. |
| Foil stamping | Foil transferred by heated die; the premium accent. |
Mark every term you cannot define from memory and ask about those four or five: that is where the money and the schedule risk sit.
Send a quote through the quote form with the lines you are unsure of — we will translate each one beside the price.
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