What is the Bleed - What does bleed mean??

This entry has two definitions Definition 1 In printing bleed refers to the printed area of a sheet that will be trimmed off after printing As it can be difficult to print a specific area with precision it is sometimes simpler to expand the printed area using bleed and then trim the sheet to the required size Bleed is intended to improve the quality of the finished product the area of bleed can account for any movement of the sheet during printing any design inconsistencies and prevents the appearance of unprinted edges on the final product When bleed extends to each edge of the sheet being printed this is known as full bleed Definition 2 Bleed is also sometimes used to refer to the undesirable movement of a printing ink or a component of an ink such as the pigment or dye into an area where it should not be This could be the penetration of an ink into the face material causing discolouration of the face material or the spreading of an ink of one colour into an adjacent area that contains ink of a different colour Bleed tends to occur when printing inks are too viscous applied in too large a quantity or when they dry incorrectly It can also occur if the face material is highly absorbant

Glossary

Key - What does key mean?

Definition of KEY:

One of the four colours used in four colour process printing; this colour is actually black. Black is referred to as "Key" because early four colour process printing used plates (one for each colour) to transfer ink to the correct position on a substrate; while the cyan, magenta, and yellow plates were used to add colour, a fourth key plate was required to add detail (such as lines and contrast) and black was the most common colour used on this plate.

It is necessary to include black as a fourth colour for a number of reasons. While combining the other three colours should produce a perfect black that absorbs all visible light, the actual result is a dark muddy colour (sometimes known as composite black or process black). If a very deep black is required, a coloured or grey bedding mix of CMY is laid down first and a full black layer is added on top; this is known as rich black. Combining the three primary colours usually creates a slight blur and so, as the detailed elements of an image (such as text and outlines) are usually printed in black, using a separate black colour means that it is possible to produce finer details. When inks are being used, layering three colours in one place tends to soak paper substrates, which increases the likelihood of bleed and can prevent the ink from drying properly, if at all. Using black ink is also less expensive than using the corresponding amounts of CMY to create black.

Key is one of the four colours used in four colour process printing; the key colour is actually black. Most desktop printers use a standalone key or black cartridge (seen here on the right).

Here is the Harvard-style citation to use if you would like to reference this definition of the word key:
Label Planet (2020) What does key mean? | Key Definition. Available at: https://www.labelplanet.co.uk/glossary/key/ (Accessed: January 1, 2024).

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