Working in publishing, it feels there are always new terms to learn everyday. Here are some terms used for magazines, newspapers, books and other publications with definitions that are a bit more obscure to those outside of the business.
There's a few about newspaper sizes which have a large effect on perception by it's audiences and each format has unique design challenges.
Barn door coverAlso known as a split front cover, the barn door cover opens up with two flaps meeting at the center of a magazine cover with advertising on the inside.
BellybandA bellyband is a printed wrapper on the outside of a magazine or book. It usually has an advertisement on it. The name might help you imagine it. It's usually less than the full height of the publication and must be removed to read the magazine.
[[Berliner]]The berliner newspaper format isn't common here in the US. It's wider and taller than a compact or tabloid newspaper and folded in half vertically like a broadsheet. European newspapers tend to have greater innovation than the American market, and their doing much better economically than the US industry. This might be attributed to the greater number of commuters using public transport and the more newspapers competing in each jurisdiction increasing the perceived need to innovate. While American newspapers are competing against the internet and other news sources, the publishers seem less reactive in areas where only there is one dominant newspaper.
[[Broadsheet]]This is the largest of the newspaper formats. The page size is typically over 22" in height. These large newspapers are becoming less common due to the cost of printing such large pages. The half fold of the format is what gives us the "above the fold" term that we use in web. Stories with more importance are placed above the fold for display purposes. Examples of the broadsheet format would include The Washington Post and Baltimore Sun which happen to be my area's local papers.
"Le Monde is in the Berliner format. The Guardian is in the British broadsheet format, whereas the Daily Mail is a tabloid, and the Times a compact. Berliner Zeitung and Neues Deutschland are of sizes between broadsheet and Berliner. A piece of white A4 paper is placed in front for scale." Image courtesy of
Wikimedia CommonsThe term center spread can refer to a double truck—facing pages of full editorial content, the feature story in the center of a publication which could consist of several double trucks or it can refer to a double truck that "jumps the gutter—there are elements that are printed across both pages including the center margin.
[[Column inch]]A colmun inch is a newspaper or magazine measurement referring to the width of the text column by a height of one inch. Since these publications use a design grid so heavily, it simplifies things to use column inches to determine story length and advertising space. There are generally about 25-35 words in a column inch depending on the publications size and set up.
CompactAs opposed to broadsheet, the compact newspaper has a much shorter height. The height is about halved. The format tends to have shorter stories due to its size, but it's also considered much easier to read and handle. Compacts have become popular for publications designed for commuter train/bus travel. These tend to be smaller than even the tabloid format. It's more common in the United Kingdom than anywhere else. My local compact is the Express which is a news aggregated digest produced by the Washington Post.
Credit lineThe credit line refers to the citing of photo sources.
Display advertisingAs opposed to the commonly known text based classified ads, display advertising is the more heavily design oriented advertising. Display ads typically should emphasize photographs and design elements more heavily than text. The reality is that clients don't often understand the difference between classifieds and display, so it is up to the designer and sales staff to communicate these aesthetical differences. Display ads are traditionally placed next to editorial content. Classifieds tend to be sectioned off since they are text which could cause confusion. Billboards and signs are also considered display advertising.
On the web, the term display advertising is more and more often being used to refer to advertising that relies on the traditional print payment scheme: page views (called circulation in print) rather than click throughs.
Double-TruckA double truck is two facing pages of a publication that contains no advertising, just editorial photos, design and writing.
DummyThis is a mockup or layout of a page. It could just contain a setup of several pages of the publication outlining what images and text should be put on one pages. It could also be a more specific sketch outlining the layout within the page.
[[Folio]]A folio can refer to a single sheet of paper forming two pages in a publications' binding. It can also refer to the publication info printed on the bottom or top of a page including the page number. Newspapers and magazines often include the publication name and date in their folio line.
Full bleedA full bleed is a page that is printed and then cut off to have ink going right to the edge of the publication.
GatefoldA gatefold is a flap inside of the cover that opens up allowing for a fold out advertisement.
GutterThis is the center margin where two pages meet in a publication.
JumpA jump is a split in a story. Whenever you see a newspaper or magazine say that a story is continued to or from somewhere else in the publication, that would be a jump. The actual text explaining where to go or where you came from is a jump line. Jumps can be due to ad placement or just to place more stories closer to the front of the publications. Newspapers can fit more stories on their front page by jumping them.
KillThis is when a story, part of a story or an advertisement are removed from a publication and will not be printed in a future edition. If it's going to be printed in a later edition, then it would be "held" or put on "hold"
[[Masthead (publishing)|Masthead]]While many people mistakenly think that the mast head is the logo of the newspaper, the term actucally refers to the editorial staff box.
Open PageThis is a page in a publication that has no advertising, just editorial content.
[[Tabloid]]Tabloid is a small newspaper size like a compact. They can be as large as 17x11", but there are smaller formats as well. The company I work for just released a new tabloid format the almost square size of 11.5" tall by 11" wide. I'm designing the "Back to School" publication through the company at this new size this fall, in fact. The tabloid format is traditionally reserved for weekly publications and less breaking news, however with the cost of newsprint becoming increasingly prohibitive the tabloid format is catching on
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