Rag paper - high quality stationery made from cotton rags.

Ragged - lines of type that do not start or end at the same position.

Ranged left/right - successive lines of type which are of unequal length and which are aligned at either the right or left hand column.

Raster Image Processor (RIP) - the hardware engine which calculates the bit-mapped image of text and graphics from a series of instructions. It may, or may not, understand a page description language but the end result should, if the device has been properly designed, be the same. Typical RIPs which aren't PDL-based include the Tall Trees JLaser, the LaserMaster and AST's TurboLaser controller. A basic page printer comes with a controller and not a RIP which goes some way to explaining the lack of control.

Ream - 500 sheets of paper.

Reference marks - symbols used in text to direct the reader to a footnote. Eg asterisk (*), dagger, double dagger, section mark ( ), paragraph mark ( ).

Register - the correct positioning of an image especially when printing one colour on another.

Register - the printing of two or more plates in juxtaposition so that they complete a design if printing on the same side of the sheet or back up accurately if printed on opposite sides of the sheet.

Register marks - used in colour printing to position the paper correctly. Usually crosses or circles.

Resolution - the measurement used in typesetting to express quality of output. Measured in dots per inch, the greater the number of dots, the more smoother and cleaner appearance the character/image will have. Currently Page (laser) Printers print at 300, 406 and 600dpi. Typesetting machines print at 1,200 dpi or more.

Retouching - a means of altering artwork or colour separations to correct faults or enhance the image.

Reverse out - to reproduce as a white image out of a solid background.

Revise - indicates the stages at which corrections have been incorporated from earlier proofs and new proofs submitted. Eg First revise, second revise.

RGB - Red, green, blue additive primary colours. RGB files must be converted to CMYK at the pre-press stage prior to printing 4 colour process.

RIP - Acronym for Raster Image Processor, which generates a bitmap to send to the printing device (Filmsetter, Platesetter or digital press) .  The input data is either a file written in a page description language such as PDF or another bitmap. In the latter case, the RIP applies either smoothing or interpolation algorithms to the input bitmap to generate the output bitmap.

Right reading - a positive or negative which reads from left to right.

Rotary press - a web or reel fed printing press which uses a curved printing plate mounted on the plate cylinder.

Rough - a preliminary sketch of a proposed design.

Royal - a size of printing paper 20in x 25in (508 x 635mm).

Runaround (see also Text wrap) - the ability within a program to run text around a graphic image within a document, without the need to adjust each line manually.

Run-Around - In composition, type set to fit around a picture or other design element.

Running head - a line of type at the top of a page which repeats a heading.