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O

OBC
Outside back cover.

Oblique
Sloping; not upright. Oblique typefaces are also known as Italic. Font descriptions use either term.

OFC
Outside front cover.

Offprint
A run-on or reprint of an article first published in a magazine or journal.

Offset
The transfer of ink from one material to another. Besides referring to printing in general, often refers specifically to the undesirable effect of ink rubbing off from one printed sheet to another.

Offset Lithography
Indirect printing method in which the inked image on the press-plate is first printed onto a rubber blanket, then in turn offsets the inked impression on to the sheet of paper. Sheet-fed offset lithographic presses are generally used in Asia for book printing work.

Offset Printing
Offset lithography.

Oldstyle
A style of type characterized by stressed strokes and triangular serifs. An example of an oldstyle face is Garamond.

Onion Skin
A translucent lightweight paper used in air-mail stationery.

Opacity
The extent to which a paper is capable of obscuring matter printed on the reverse or underlying page.

Orphan
Line of type on its own at the top or bottom of a page.

Outline
A typeface in which the characters are formed with only the outline defined rather than from solid strokes.

Over Run
See Run-On.

Overlay
A transparent sheet used in the preparation of multi-color artwork showing the color breakdown.

Overprinting
Printing over an area already printed. Black type over an image should overprint to facilitate editorial changes, etc. Overprinting also eliminates the risk of registration problems which occur with knock-out type.

Overs
Copies of a printed job in excess of the required amount.

Overstrike
A method used in word processing to produce a character not in the typeface by superimposing two separate characters, e.g. "$" using "S" and "l".

Ozalid
Photographic proof made from flats for checking final film for accuracy, layout and imposition before plates are made. Also called a blue line. In Asian Printing, approval of Ozalids or bluelines is a necessary step before printing can take place.