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Machine finish:A paper finish that results from the interaction of the paper with the Fourdrinier process as opposed to post machine embossing.

Magnetic black: Black pigments containing black iron oxides, used for magnetic ink character recognition.

Majuscule: a capital letter.

Make-ready: Paper that is used in the press set-up process before the printing run actually starts.

Margins: The space around the outside of all ad elements on a page including the "top," "foot," "outside" and "gutter"
margins. The "gutter" is the space between the design elements and the binding, and the "outside" is on the free side of the
paper.

Marketing: Promoting a concept to or informing a group of people about a specific service, opportunity or product.

Mask: A photo negative or positive used in the color separation process to color correct.

Masthead: the credit box, headed by the publication name, that lists sponsors, editors, writers, designers, illustrators, photographers, and others, along with the publication office address, subscription and advertisinginformation, etc.

Matte finish: A coated paper finish that goes through minimal calendaring.

Measure: (noun) in typography, the length of a line, even if the line is not filled with characters (such as a centered or partial line), designated in picas. When the text is set in columns, the line length is called columnmeasure.

Mechanical: A term used to describe finished artwork that is camera ready for reproduction, including all type, photos, illustrations, etc.

Mezzotint: for a halftone, a special screen that produces connected, dusty-looking dots.

Miniscule: a lowercase letter.

Miter limit: A value that determines when two lines that meet at a sharp angle switch from a pointed (mitered) joint to a squared-off (beveled) joint.

Moiré patterns: Undesirable wave patterns that are created by conflicting dot patterns in an image. A Moiré pattern is created when halftone screens of two different frequencies are superimposed on an image. For example, when you scan a halftone image, you see Moiré patterns on your monitor because the original halftone screen is different than the dots per inch (dpi) frequency of the scanned image.
Moiré patterns can be damaging when they occur in color separations. Set the screen angles and frequencies of your halftone screen correctly to avoid this problem.

Monospaced type: a (typewriter) typeface in which the amount of horizontal space taken up by each character is the same.

Multimedia / interactive media: A compilation of visual images, sounds, and text information for an electronic media presentation. The visual images may be motion video, digital image capture, or scanned art or photographic sources. The sound may be recorded, or computer created or enhanced