Term Description
Abhesive A material that resists adhesion. Abhesive coatings are applied to surfaces to prevent sticking, heat sealing, etc.
Abrasion Resistance The inherent ability of a surface to inhibit deterioration or destruction by friction. Also called 'rub or scuff resistance,' it relates to the toughness of an ink or coating.
Abrasiveness The tendency of a paper, coating or ink to abrade or wear away die edges, slitting blades, printing type, etc., by friction.
Absorbency That property of a porous material which causes it to take up liquids or vapors.
Absorption The penetration of one substance into the mass of another.
Accelerate To hasten the natural progress of an event or a series of events. This can be accomplished by using heat, fast drying solvents or by increasing the volume of air.
Accelerated Aging Procedures for subjecting pressure sensitive label stock to special environmental conditions in order to predict the course of natural aging.
Accelerator A material added to a liquid compound to convert the whole mass into a solid, or speed up its cure. Accelerators differ from catalysts in that they participate in the reaction and lose their chemical identity as a result.
Acetate A plastic synthesized from cellulose dissolved in acetic acid which exhibits rigidity, dimensional stability and ink receptivity. Transparent or matte films, sometimes used for label stocks.
Acetate Film A clear film made from cellulose acetate.
Acrylate Resins A type of copolymer used in UV inks, adhesives and coating formulations.
Acrylic A general chemical term of a particular family of thermoplastic resins based on acrylic acid and its derivatives.
Acrylic Adhesive Pressure sensitive adhesive based on high strength, acrylic polymers. Can be coated as a solvent or emulsion system.
Acrylic Emulsion A water-based latex made with acrylic polymers, used in coatings and adhesives.
Acrylic Ink Ink containing acrylic polymers used for printing on some plastics and other substrates, especially where outdoor exposure may be involved.
Adhere The sticking together of two surfaces by adhesion.
Adherence See adhesion.
Adherend The substance or surfaces to which the adhesive is applied; the surfaces which are bonded together.
Adhesion The state in which two surfaces are held together by interfacial forces. Measure of the strength with which one material sticks to another.
Adhesion Build-Up An increase in the peel adhesion value of a self adhesive material after it has been allowed to dwell on the applied surface.
Adhesion, Mechanical Adhesion cause by the physical interlocking of the adhesive with base surface irregularities of the adherend.
Adhesion Promoter See primer.
Adhesion, Peel The measure of the force required to remove a material from another surface at a specified angle and speed, after the material has been applied under specific conditions.
Adhesion, Shear A measure of the time required to slide a specific sized area of a pressure sensitive label material from a standard flat surface in a direction parallel to the surface. Weight and heat are sometimes used to speed up the test.
Adhesion, Specific The adhesion to a specific surface.
Adhesion Test Any of a variety of test methods used to determine the adequacy of ink, coating or adhesive adhesion to a substrate.
Adhesion, Ultimate The mature or final bond achieved, under controlled conditions, between ink, coating or adhesive to any flexible or rigid substrate.
Adhesive A substance capable of holding materials together by surface attachment.
Adhesive Bleed Adhesive ooze or flow from pressure sensitive label stock or labels as a result of cold flow; edge ooze, halo.
Adhesive Build-Up The transfer of adhesive from label material to machinery parts during conversion or application.
Adhesive, Cold Temperature An adhesive that will induce a bond to cold surfaces in a cold environment.
Adhesive Deposit See adhesive residue.
Adhesive Film Thin layer of dried adhesive (1 to 3 mils) provided in dry film form, with or without reinforcing material, which is cured by means of heat and pressure.
Adhesive, High Temperature An adhesive that will enable a pressure sensitive label to withstand sustained elevated temperatures.
Adhesive, Permanent An adhesive characterized by relatively high ultimate adhesion. Sometimes it can be removed when the degree of force used overcomes its bonding ability but generally it is not removable.
Adhesive, Pressure Sensitive A type of adhesive which in dry form is aggressively tacky at room temperature. It has the capability of promoting a bond to dissimilar surfaces on contact, with pressure.
Adhesive, Removable An adhesive characterized by relatively high cohesive strength and low ultimate adhesion. It can be removed easily from most surfaces. Some adhesive transfer could take place depending on the affinity of the adhesive to the surface.
Adhesive Residue The pressure sensitive adhesive remaining behind on a surface due to cohesive or priming failure when a pressure sensitive label is removed from that surface.
Adhesive Skip The absence of adhesive in some areas of film or paper label stock.
Adhesive Splitting Failure within the adhesive mass when labels are under stress or removed. If splitting occurs, part of the adhesive will remain on the labelled surface and part on the face material.
Adhesive Strike-Through When adhesive penetrates through the face material of a pressure sensitive lamination.
Adhesive Transfer The transfer of adhesive from its normal position on the label to the surface to which the label was attached.
Affinity An attraction or polar similarity between adhesive and adherend.
Aged Release The force required to remove a release liner from an adhesive after a measured period of time, often at elevated temperatures.
Aging The change or changes undergone by a material as a result of the passage of time.
Air Dried Forced (usually heated) air drying of coatings or inks.
Alcohol A group of organic solvents widely used in flexographic inks.
Alignment Refers to the relative alignment of the printing stations to each other and to the die stations on a label press. The relative position of a scanner or light source to a bar code.
Alligatoring Term describing the appearance of an adhesive, coating or sealer film that is cracked into large segments. Cracking or crazing.
Ambient Temperature A term used to denote the temperature of the surrounding air.
Analysis The separation of a substance or mixture of substances into the component parts, so that a knowledge of the percent composition can be obtained.
Anchor Coat A coating applied to the surface of a substrate to effect or increase the adhesion of subsequent coatings; primer, tie coat or pre-coat.
Aniline Dyes Coal-tar derivatives classified according to the degree of fastness to light or brightness. Basic dyes have extreme brightness, but are not fast to light. Acid dyes are less brilliant, but have greater light fastness. Direct dyes are much more fade resistant than basics and, in some cases, than acid dyes.
Aniline Printing Early name for rubber plate printing, using fast-drying fluid inks.
Anilox Inking In flexography, a two roll inking system consisting of a smooth roll which dips in an ink trough and transfers the ink to an etched metal roll with wells of fixed size that transfer the ink controllably to the plate.
Anilox Roll Mechanically engraved steel and chrome coated metering roll used in flexo presses to meter a controlled film of ink from the contacting rubber covered doctor roller to the printing plates which print the web. Volume of ink is affected by the cell count per linear inch and dimension of the cell and cell wall of the engraving. Sometimes manufactured from copper and chromium plated steel but ceramic coated rolls, which are then laser etched, are becoming more common.
Antioxidants Agents which retard the action of oxygen in substances subject to oxidation.
Antistatic Agents Ingredients in coatings that make the coating antistatic.
Antistatic Coatings Coatings applied to one or both surfaces of a substrate to reduce the electrostatic build up so that the material can be further processed, I.e. sheeted and stacked.
Anvil Cut Labels A pressure sensitive label which has been die-cut through all components of the label stock, including liner material; steel to steel cut.
Anvil Roll Hardened steel roll upon which the bearers of a rotary die cutter ride which also provides the hardened surface for die cutting.
Application Refers to a pressure sensitive label actually being adhered to a product.
Application Temperature Temperature at the time the label is applied. Most adhesives have a minimum application temperature rating. Testing is recommended when approaching this temperature.
Applicator A device that automatically feeds and applies pressure sensitive labels to a product.
Applicator Roll Coating, print, tint, lacquer or varnish roller that actually applies any of these to a substrate.
Aqueous Water containing or water based. Refers to adhesive or inking systems which use water as the carrier or vehicle.
Aqueous Inks Inks produced utilizing a water base.
Artificial Aging The accelerated testing of specimens to determine the change in properties, carried out over a short period of time. Such tests are indicative of what may be expected of a material under actual service conditions over extended periods.
Artwork The original design including drawings and text produced by the artist. All elements of the design from which the black and white art and printing plates are made. Also refers to all elements of the black and white production art.
Aspect Radio The ratio of height to width of a bar code symbol.
Auto Ignition Point The temperature at which mixtures of solvent vapor and air will ignite without the aid of a spark or flame.
Autoclave A pressurized, steam heated vessel generally used for sterilization. In label application, label must endure a cooking process by superheated steam under pressure.
Back Printing Refers to printing on the underside of a pressure sensitive substrate or laminate, i.e. on the adhesive or back of liner.
Back Split See split back.
Background The area surrounding a printed symbol.
Backing Refers to the carrier sheet of material in a pressure sensitive lamination as opposed to the face material. Usually has a release coating applied so that the adhesive will not stick too tightly to it. Release liner, backing paper, carrier, etc.
Bagginess A slack, floppy area usually caused by gauge variation. The material has been stretched and is actually longer in that area.
Ball-Up Specific term to describe the tendency of an adhesive to stick to itself; cohesiveness. Such an adhesive, when rolled between fingers, will not spread smoothly but will roll up in small spheres.
Bar The dark element of a printed bar code symbol.
Bar Code In optical reading, a system of symbols which identifies data through length, position size or thickness of lines or symbols. Codes are normally machine printed.
Bar Code Density The number of characters which can be represented in a lineal inch.
Bar Code Reader A device used to identify and read a bar code symbol.
Bar Length The bar dimension perpendicular to the bar width.
Bar Width Reduction Reduction of the nominal bar width dimension on film masters or printing plates to compensate for printing gain.
Bare Cylinder Diameter The diameter of the actual plate cylinder, before the stickyback and plates are mounted.
Barrier Coat A coating applied to the face material on the side opposite to the printing surface to provide increased opacity to the face material and/or to prevent migration between adhesive and the face material and improve anchorage of adhesive to face material. Sealer coat.
Base The major constituent, other than pigments and filler, comprising the non-volatile portion of an adhesive, coating or sealer compound.
Base Roll See anvil roll.
Basic Sheet Size The size of a sheet of paper which is used to determine paper weight. Sizes vary depending on the type of stock.
Basis Weight The weight in pounds of a ream of paper cut to a given size. Most backing papers used in pressure sensitive laminations are based on a ream size of 24" x 36"/500's. Face papers are more typically 25" x 38"/500's.
Batch Counter Device used on a sheeter/stacker to count and group sheeted labels.
Bearer Type-high supports mounted or molded around each end of a printing plate to help carry part of the impression load and to help prevent bounce. Also the load bearing surfaces(s) of a rotary die, usually positioned at each end of the die.
Bearing Block A device that holds the die in place and upon which pressure is added so as to effect the actual die cutting function. Pressure is almost always applied directly over the bearers at each end of the die.
Biax Biaxially oriented material, that is, oriented in the machine and transverse directions.
Bi-Directional Read The ability to read data successfully whether the scanning motion is left to right or right to left.
Bi-Directional Symbol A bar code symbol which permits reading in complementary directions.
Binder The component of an ink that supplies the cohesiveness.
Bit An abbreviation for 'binary digit'. A single character in a binary number.
Black-And-White Originals or reproductions in single color or monochrome, usually refers to artwork.
Bleed When the printed image extends beyond the trim edge of the label, it is called bleed.
Bleed-Through See penetration-migration.
Bleeding The diffusion or migration of an ink component or dye into an area where it is not wanted. The spreading or running of a pigment color by action of a solvent. Also the diffusion of migration of an adhesive component into the face material.
Blocking Undesired adhesion between the plies in rolls of pressure sensitive stock usually due to adhesive ooze, improper drying of inks, or improper curing of coatings, often to the extent that damage to at least one surface is visible upon their separation if they can in fact be separated.
Blocking Test A test used in measuring the tendency of surface-to-surface sticking.
Blowup An enlargement.
Body Stock See face material.
Bold Face Heavy face, in contrast to light face type. Used for emphasis, captions, subheadings, etc.
Bold-Face Type Name given to type that is heavier than text type with which it is used.
Bond To attach materials together by adhesives.
Bonding Range The time during which satisfactory bonds can be made. A bonding range of from 10 to 30 minutes indicates that maximum bonds can be achieved between 10 and 30 minutes.
Bonding Strength In paper, the force with which the fibers adhere to each other. In surface coatings, such as inks and adhesives, the strength with which the dried coating adheres to the surface of the substrate. Also refers to the degree of adhesion of a pressure sensitive face material to any surface.
Bounce The abnormal reaction to compression, which results in erratic rotational movement of the cylinders, causing missed or imperfect impressions. Can also occur with a rotary die causing imperfect die cutting.
Break A term used to denote a tear in a roll of face material or release liner. Such defects are generally spliced and marked by a protruding flag.
Breaking The operation of passing material over a dull edge which 'breaks' the adhesive layer, retarding curl and improving water absorption when remoistened for use.
Brightness The reflectivity of a sheet of paper for blue light measured under standardized conditions on a particular instrument designed and calibrated specifically for the purpose. Strictly speaking, brightness is not a colormetric quantity.
Burn Common term used for printing plate exposure.
Bursting Perf A fold perforation that permits mechanical bursting.
Bursting Strength The pressure required to rupture a material specimen when it is tested in a specified instrument under specified conditions. It is largely determined by the tensile strength and extensibility of the material.
Butt Cut Labels Rectangular labels in continuous form separated by a single knife cut to the liner across the web.
Butt Labels See butt cut labels.
Butt Roll See stub roll.
Butt Splice An end to end joining of two similar materials. For continuity of surface, design, etc. Often used in joining stickyback, printing plates and webs of substrates in process.
Butted Rectangles Die cut rectangles butted to each other with no around and/or across matrix to remove.
C1S Paper Abbreviation for coated one side paper.
CAD/CAM Computer Assisted Design/Computer Assisted Makeup or Manufacturing.
Caking The collecting of dried ink upon rollers and plates.
Calender Cuts Defects caused by creasing or cutting of the web of paper during calendering due to wrinkles in the web.
Calender Finished A term applied to any paper with a surface glazed by means of a calender stack.
Caliper The thickness of paper, usually expressed in thousandths of an inch (mils).
Camera-Ready Copy which is ready for photography. See artwork.
Carrier Sometimes used to refer to the liner material of pressure sensitive labels. Also a term sometimes used to describe the stock to which two layers of adhesive are applied in a double adhesive construction.
Cast Coated A high-gloss enamel finish.
Cast Coated Paper A paper, the coating of which is allowed to harden or set while in contact with a finished casting surface.
Cast Film Plastic sheeting manufactured by the casting process, as opposed to the extruding process.
Cast Vinyl Vinyl sheeting manufactured by coating a liquid vinyl acetate or similar ester onto a casting paper and curing in a heated oven.
Catalyst A substance which has the capability of initiating or accelerating the speed of a reaction between two or more substances when introduced into their presence.
Cavity Usually refers to the engraving on a rotary die cutter that die cuts a single shape.
Cell A small engraved or etched depression in an anilox roll that carries the ink to the plate.
Cellulose Fibrous substance of wood, cotton and other vegetable matter.
Centigrade A scale of temperature which features 0 and 100 degrees as the freezing and boiling points of water. Also called Celsius.
Centipoise One hundred of a poise; a unit for measuring viscosity.
Central Impression A press with a number of printing units around a large cylinder which serves as the impression cylinder against which the substrate rides.
Ceramic Anilox Roll Engraved inking roll used in flexographic printing. New techniques in manufacturing allow for vastly improved anilox roll performance and life.
Chalking A form of coating deterioration characterized by the formation of a loose, chalk-like powder on the film surface.
Character A single group of bars and spaces which represent an individual number, letter or punctuation mark.
Charge Usually refers to the degree or type of electrical property carried by a substrate.
Check Digit A digit included within a symbol whose value is based mathematically on other characters included in the symbol. It is used for the purpose of performing a mathematical check to ensure the accuracy of the read.
Checking The presence of hair line carcks in a varnish coating, a lacquer coating, a film or in an adhesive coating. Crazing.
Chemical Curing The setting or curing of an adhesive, coating or sealer brought about by the addition of a catalyst or accelerator.
Chemical Resistance The resistance of a pressure sensitive label to the deteriorating effects resulting from exposure to chemicals under specified conditions.
Chill Roll Metal roll or drum cooled internally with water, etc. Often used after the press dryer to cool the printed web prior to die cutting, rewinding, etc.
Choke An image whose edges have been pulled inslightly from those of the original. The image area remains essentially the same except for a narrow strip of reduction around its perimeter.
Chokes and Spreads Overlaps of overprinting images to prevent color fringes or white borders around image detail due to slight misregister during printing.
Chromatic Scale The colors of the spectrum: red, orange, yellow, green, blue and violet.
Circumferential Register See running register.
Clarity Degree of clearness.
Clay Coated A term used to describe a paper with a clay coating on either one or both sides.
Clear Area A required clear space, containing no dark marks, which precedes the start character of a symbol and follows the stop character. Also known as quiet area.
Co-Extrusions Film produced by more than one extruder through a common die. Films have been made with as many as 13 layers.
Co-Polymer Two or more mixed monomers which, when polymerized, yield a complex product having properties different from either simple polymer alone.
Coated Paper General term applying to all papers which have been surface coated with pigments.
Coating In printing, an emulsion, varnish or lacquer applied in-line or off-line, often over a printed surface to give it added protection.
Coating Weight The weight of a coating per unit area, such as lb/1,000 square feet, lb/ream or grams/sq meter.
Cobwebbing A filmy, web-like build up of dried ink or varnish that appears on the doctor roll or the end of the impression rolls.
COD Cash on Delivery. Customer must pay in full at time of delivery. Shipper retains title until carrier obtains remittance.
Cohesion The internal strength of an adhesive mass; resistance to flow, and resistance to failure in the adhesive when labels are removed or are under stress. See cohesive strength.
Cohesive Failure The mode of failure wherein the adhesive splits, leaving some residue on the labeled surface and part on the label.
Cohesive Strength A measure of that property of an adhesive which resists forces parallel to the surface, I.e. resistance to adhesive splitting.
Cold Cracking The breaking or shattering under stress of plastic coatings that have become brittle due to lowered temperatures.
Cold Flow The tendency of a pressure sensitive adhesive to act like a heavy, viscous liquid over long periods of time. Such phenomena as 'oozing' or 'incraeses in adhesion' are the results of this characteristic.
Cold Temperature Adhesive An adhesive that will enable a pressure sensitive label to adhere or stick well when applied to a cold substrate, often in cold ambient temperatures.
Collating Assembling in proper order.
Color Correction Any method such as masking, dot-etching, re-etching, and/or electronic scanning used to correct for color errors in process inks.
Color Fastness That property of a pressure sensitive label to retain its color in normal storagte or to resist change in color when exposed to light, heat or other deleterious influences.
Color Key A series of colored films used to check individual colors and stripping. When overlaid in printing sequence it will produce a multicolored image. A color key is limited to yellow, orange, dark blue, magenta, cyan, black, white, gold, brown, green, red, beige and any combinations thereof. Basically a photographic positive of the separation negatives in generic color.
Color Matching To duplicate the hue, value and intensity of a given color sample usually by blending appropriate elements.
Color Permanence See color fastness.
Color Process A reproduction of any subject where the colors are separated by any method utilizing at least the three primary process colors - yellow, magenta and cyan. Using halftone plates to produce intermediate colors and shades. Linework and screenwork can be utilized.
Color Proof A printed or simulated printed image of each process color (cyan, magenta, yellow and black) using inks, toners or dyes to give a simulated impression of the final printed reproduction. Color proofs are now most often generated by computer.
Color Retention The property of a color to resist fading or other deterioration on exposure to light.
Color Separated Art See pre-separated art.
Color Separation The process of separating colored originals into yellow, magenta, cyan and black printing negatives. Mostly done on computer controlled scanners.
Color Stability See color fastness.
Color Stations Each printing section of the press or set of rollers used to print each individual color.
Color Transparency A full-color photographic positive image on a transparent support from which color separations are usually produced. Can be viewed with the aid of a lighted color transparency viewer.
Colorant The color portion of an ink; may be a pigment, dye, or a combination of the two.
Combination Plate A single engraving which includes both line and halftone.
Compatibility The ability of ink, film, substrate and/or solvents to function together in an acceptable manner.
Condensed Type Proportionally narrow or slender type faces.
Conditioning Process of subjecting material to specific temperature and humidity conditions for stipulated periods of time.
Conformability The ability of a pressure sensitive material to yield to the contours of a surface (curved or rough). See flexibility.
Consistency Usually refers to the general body characteristics of an ink or other coatings.
Continuous Code A bar code or symbol where the space between characters (intercharacter gap) is part of the code.
Continuous Label Fan-folded labels manufactured from a continuous web of label stock which is not cut into units prior to execution. Continuous labels are mostly used for data processing applications.
Controlled Release A release level greater than that provided by an unmodified release coating.
Controlled Release Additive A material added to silicone release coatings to create the desired higher release level.
Converter Refers to that type of manufacturer who produces plain or printed rolls, sheets, bags or pouches, etc., from rolls of film, foil or paper, including pressure sensitives.
Copier Label A label designed for overprinting by a plain paper photocopier.
Copy Any furnished material (manuscript, pictures, artwork, etc.) to be used in the production of printing.
Copy Preparation Directions for desired size and other details for illustrations, and the arrangement into proper position of various parts of the label being prepared for reproduction.
Core A tube on which paper, film, or foil labels are wound for shipment. Also the metal body of a roller which is rubber covered.
Core Holder Device for affixing core to shaft; core chuck.
Core Plugs Metal, wood or compressed paper plugs which are driven into the paper core of the finished roll to prevent crushing or other damge to the core.
Corner Radius Describes the arc or curvature of the die blades where they meet so that they can impart a rounded corner to a die cut label.
Corona Treating An electrical discharge which is used to raise the critical surface tension of low or inert substrates thereby enhancing printability.
Coupon Removable label either supplying information or havng redeemable value. They may be either pressure sensitive or non-pressure sensitive.
Coverage Ink or coating mileage; the surface area covered by a given quantity of ink or coating material. In flexography, the extent or degree to which a base material is covered, colored, or hidden by an ink or coating.
Cracking See crazing.
Crazing The appearance of a network of small cracks in a varnish coat or a plastic facestock.
Cromalin One-piece color proofing for four-color process.
Crop To eliminate portions of the copy (indicated by cropmarks).
Cross Direction The direction across the web. Papers are weaker and are affected more by changes in relative humidity in the cross direction that the grain direction.
Crush Cut A cut made by a rotary blade in contact with an anvil or base roll.
Crush Score See score.
Crushed Core Core that gives way and becomes out-of-round either from too much tension or a bump.
CSA Canadian Standards Association. Canadian association similar to Underwriters Laboratories.
Cure To change the properties of adhesives, coatings or inks by chemical reaction. The 'curing' of inks uses high intensity UV lamps whereas the 'curing' of rubber requires considerable heat and pressure. 'Curing' is achieved by condensation, polymerization or vulcanization.
Curetime The time/temperature combination required to bring about the desired level of cure.
Curing Temperature Temperature to which an adhesive, ink or coating is subjected to for curing.
Curl The tendency of material by itself or in a laminate to bend or partly wrap around the axis of one of its directions. Curl is often caused by humidity or improper tension.
Cut An expression commonly used to designate an engraving or photographic print. Also to dilute an ink, lacquer, varnish, etc. with solvents or with clear base; to thin.
Cut-Off In web printing, the cut or print length corresponding to the circumference of the plate cylinder and/or die cutter; repeat length.
Cut Rule Steel rule blades designed to cut materials being produced on flat-bed die cutting equipment.
Cuts The number of rolls slit from a master roll.
Cyan A substractive primary color which reflects blue and green light and absorbs red light.
Cylinder In flexography, most rolelrs in the printing press are called rolls with the exception of that upon which the rubber plates are mounted, and the one which received the impression, and these are usually referred to as cylinders, I.e., plates, cylinder, impression cylinder.
Cyrell DuPont's trademark for photopolymer plate material.
Dark Reaction Ultraviolet inks usually turn solid at the bottom of the can when the shelf life of the material has expired. It is called this because it occurs in the absence of light, oxygen, and normal ink bodying agents.
Debossed An indent or cut in design or lettering of a surface.
Deckle Web width of paper machine.
Defoamer A substance or mixture of substance which when added to foaming solutions causes small bubbles to collect into large bubbles which rise to the surface and break.
Delamination The separation of a material into layers in a direction approximately parallel to the surface. The partial or complete separation of the layers of a laminate.
Depth of Field The range between the maximum and minimum distance from which a symbol can be read.
Destaticization Treating plastic materials to minimize their accumulation of static electricity.
Destructible Label See tamperproof label.
Detackification The destroying of the tack or stickiness of a pressure sensitive adhesive.
Die Any of various tools or devices used for imparting or cutting a desired shape, form or finish to or from a material. A device in converting machinery used for cutting only the face material of a pressure sensitive laminate or for punching out shapes from teh entire laminate or any other material.
Die Adapter A device used to modify a die station of one type of press so that it will accommodate dies originally designed to be used on different presses.
Die Blades Sharpened, thin steel blades used in flat or rotary dies. Also refers to blades on machine engraved or EDM manufactured rotary dies.
Die Cut To cut labgels with a die. A term used to describe a label formed by die-cutting.
Die Cut Label Pressure sensitive labels mounted on a release liner from which the matrix has been die cut and usually removed.
Die-Cutting The process of using dies or sharp steel rules to cut any shape for labels.
Die Hold-Down Assembly A steel block incorporating bearings which apply pressure to the bearer surface of a rotary die cutter through pressure screws.
Die Life Mileage expected from a new die and that expected following a resharpening of a die.
Die Lines A hand drawn or computer generated layout of the die cut shape or shapes on a clear or matte finish acetate or mylar.
Die Stain Used to check die cutting accuracy. Usually done with diluted ink applied to the die cut surface of the backing or liner material. The ink wicks into any fractures of the silicone coated surface thereby exhibiting the problem areas.
Dielectric Dielectric values refer specifically to the insulating value of a material; a nonconductor of electric current.
Dielectric Paper A dense, well formed, chemically pure papre used as an insulting material in electrical equipment to prevent the flow of electrical charges.
Dielectric Strength The voltage which a material will withstand without allow passage of the current through it.
Differential Release A release liner with release coatings on both sides. One side has easy release while the opposite side is tighter such that the adhesive stays with the tighter side during winding and other subsequent converting.
Diluent A liquid used to thin ink.
Dimensional Stability That property of a material which enables it to resist length, width, or thickness changes under varying conditions of heat, cold, moisture and other influences; ability to hold size, consistency of dimensions.
Direct Thermal Printing method utilizing heat impinged upon a specially coated substrate so that the heat turns the surface black.
Discoloration Any change from the original color, or an unintended inconsistency of color.
Discrete Code A bar code or symbol where the spaces between characters (intercharacter gap) are not part of the code.
Dishing See telescoping.
Dispenser A device that feeds pressure sensitive labels, either manually or automatically, making them ready for application. It can serve as a package for the labels as well (dispenser boxes).
Dispensing Edge A relatively sharp edge around which a backing material is pulled in order to dispense a pressure sensitive label from the backing.
Dispersion A uniform distribution of solid particles in a vehicle.
Distorted Intentionally compensating for shrinkage, stretch, etc. of the flexographic printing plates.
Distortion Copy Copy which is intentionally distorted in preparation, in order to compensate for the effects of dimensional changes due to subsequent processing. Flexographic rubber printing plates require such allowances to compensate for shrinkage, etc.
Doctor Blade A thin flexible blade mounted parallel to and adjustable against the surface an engraved anilox roll for the purpose of scraping off excess ink or coatings.
Doctor Roll The fountain or metering roll in a flexographic press which doctors off excess ink from the engraved anilox roll.
Dot The individual element of halftones. All the dots in a halftone have equal density and spacing and vary in area.
Dot Etching Chemically reducing halftone dots to control the amount of color to be printed. Dot etching negatives increases color; dot etching positives reduces color.
Dot Gain or Spread A printing characteristic in which dots print larger on the paper than they are on the films, causing darker tones or colors. See dot growth.
Dot Growth The increase in size of a dot from the film to the printed sheet. Dot gain consists of two parts, physical dot gain and optical dot gain due to the physics of light absorption and reflection.
Dot Matrix Produces its printed image by firing pins or hammers against a ribbon and then onto paper.
Double Coated A pressure sensitive product consisting of a carrier material with similar or dissimilar adhesives applied to the two surfaces and wound with a silicone release paper.
Downtime Nonproductive time caused by equipment malfunction, roll changes, plate or die problems, etc.
Draw-Down A method of roughly determining color shade by drawing down a small amount of ink with a meyer rod.
Drier In inkmaking, any substance added to hasten drying. Also part of a printing press through which the web travels in order to effectively dry the ink or coating applied. Also spelled 'dryer'.
Driving Side That side of a flexographic press on which the main gear train(s) are located. Also gear side; opposite of operator side.
Drop-Out To knock out color from behind another color so that the first color will not affect the appearance of the second color.
Dry Edge The edge of paper or film where there is no adhesive. This makes for easy removal of release liner.
Dry Lap See pattern coated.
Dryer See drier.
Dryers Substances added to printing inks or coatings to accelerate the rate of drying or decrease setting time.
Drying Tunnel See drier.
Dwell Refers to the length of time pressure is applied to a pressure sensitive label during application. The time that a pressure sensitive material remains on a surface before testing the adhesion or removability. Also the time that a hot stamp, embossing head, or thermal die remains in contact with the surface of a pressure sensitive material.
Dye Tests See die stain.
Dyes Synthetic or natural organic chemicals that are soluble in most common solvents, characterized by good transparency, high tinctorial strength, and low specific gravity.
Dyne Level Dyne is a measurement of surface tension or energy. The level is the actual reading of the critical surface tension. Low dyne levels indicates a low surface energy which can contribute to poor ink adhesion.
EAN European Article Numbering System, the international standard bar code for retail food packages.
Edge Curl See curl.
Edge Guide See web guide.
Edge Lift The edge of a label rising from the labeled surface. This condition occurs most frequently on small diameter curved surfaces. Resistance to edge lift is dependent on the bond strength of the adhesive and the flexibility of the facestock.
EDM Electronic discharge machining process for removing metal - as in rotary dies.
EDM Die Die produced using electronic discharge machining. Die made with this process will last longer than standard dies.
EDP Electronic Data Processing-Pressure sensitive lables, usually blank, for use on computer printing equipment. Webs are usually perforated, fanfolded and hole-punched for pin-wheel feeding.
Elastic Memory A tendency of some materials to attempt to return to their original length after being elongated.
Electronic Pre-Press Computer assisted designing of new labels from conceptual through to the separated, stepped films required for plate making.
Electrostatic Printing A method of printing in which the ink is affixed to the web by electrostatic methods.
Element A single binary position in a character; also dimensionally, the narrowest width in a character-bar or space.
Elliptical Dot Elongated dots which improve gradation of tones particularly in middle tones and vignettes. (Also called chain and sausage dots.)
Elmendorf Test A standard test for determining the tearing strength of paper.
Elongation The distance a material will stretch lengthwise before breaking, expressed as a percentage of original length. Elongation is not necessarily an indication of conformability.
Embossing Impressing surface with dies to produce a relief image or texture. Often utilizing a set of matched rolls to get the desired effect.
Emulsification The process of dispersing one liquid in another when the two liquids normally do not mix.
Emulsifying Agent Substance used to produce an emulsion of two liquids which do not naturally mix.
Emulsion A type of mixture wherein two or more immiscible (or unmixable) materials are held together in a homogeneous mixture by the action of a third agent. The term 'emulsifying agent' is applied to the material which is added to hold the emulsion.
Emulsion Side The side of the film coated with the silver halide emulsion.
Encapsulated Ink Ink encapsulated with a coating giving a free flowing dry system which can be activated by heat or pressure.
Encapsulization The process of encapsulizing or trapping a substance (I.e. fragrance) within a coating so that it can be applied on press.
Encoded Area The total lineal dimension consumed by all characters of a code pattern including start/stop codes and data.
Engraved Roll Various surfaces available such as chrome or ceramic, these transfer rolls have mechanical or laser engraved cells. See anilox roll.
Engraving A general term normally applied to any pattern which has been cut into or incised into a surface by hand, mechanical or etching processes.
Engravings Old zinc style printing plates.
Enhanced Spectrum Ultraviolet energy is normally generated v vaporizing mercury in a quartz tube which emits a spectrum with specific energy level peaks. Changing the material in the lamp from mercury to another element produces a different (enhanced) spectrum with additional peaks or shifted energy peaks.
EPA Environmental Protection Agency
Evaporation The changing from the liquid to the gaseous or vapor state as when the solvent leaves the printed ink film.
Exothermic A reaction which produces heat as a by-product of the reaction process.
Expose To subject (a sensitive film, plate, etc.) to the action of a light source.
Extenders Any material added to an ink to reduce its color strength and/or viscosity.
Eyemark A small rectangular printed area usually located near the edge of a web or design, to activate an automatic electronic position regulator for controlling register of the printed design with subsequent equipment or operations.
Face-Cut Label Any pressure sensitive label where the face material is cut to the liner.
Face Material Any paper, film, fabric, laminate or foil material suitable for converting into pressure sensitive label stock. In the finished construction this web is bonded to the adhesive layer and becomes the functional part of the construction.
Face Slit A slit in the face material of a pressure sensitive produce to facilitate removal from the backing.
Face Split See face slit.
Face Stock See face material.
Fadeometer Instrument used to measure the fade resistant properties of inks and other pigmented coatings.
Fading A gradual decrease in brilliance of color. The term is often applied to the change in color produced by exposure to light.
Fan Fold See continuous labels.
Fatigue A condition of stress created by repeated flexing or impact force upon the adhesive-adhered interface.
Feathering A defect which is characterized by ragged, coarse edges, or undersirable irregular edges around a print.
Feed Slots Round or rectangular holes or slits put in pressure sensitive label stock to maintain the register of pressure sensitive labels while they are being printed or imprinted.
Festoon Material take-up system usually used with a butt splicer in order to continue feeding a press while the splice is being made on stationary material.
Fill-In Generally used to refer to the open portions of small type and half-tones filled by ink.
Filling-In Refers to the filling-in of small reverse areas or copy of a printed design.
Film A transparent material used for face stock for pressure sensitive labels. Often used in applications requiring maximum durability.
Film Master A photographic film representation of a specific symbol from which a printing plate is produced.
Film Positive A positive contact print on a filmbase material.
Films Face and liner material manufactured from synthetic high molecular weight polymers.
FINAT European organization of label printers similar to TLMI.
Fineness of Grind Gauge Instrument consisting of a flat block with two calibrated gradient slots from 0 to 0.001 inch on which ink is drawn down with a steel blade. Undispersed pigment or other particles in ink show streaks starting at their particle size.
Finish The surface property of a material determined by its texture and gloss. Also an important physical property of paper. It describes surface contour and characteristics measurable by smoothness, gloss, absorbability and print quality. Finish of paper can be aesthetic or functional.
Finishing Usually refers to the last thing done prior to shipping, I.e. rewinding, packing, etc.
Fish Eyes Round or eye-shaped deformations in a coating (adhesive, release, protective, etc.); craters.
Flag A marker, usually strips of colored paper or board, inserted in rolls of pressure sensitive materials and extending from an edge to designate a deviation from standard, such as a splice, defect or specification change. A warning to the operator handling the material during the next operation in the converting process, usually indicating an area that is to be inspected closely.
Flagging Usually refer to the 'lifting' of a pressure sensitive label from the surface to which it has been applied. This condition most often occurs when the label has been applied around a curved surface.
Flame-Resistant Paper A paper which has been treated with chemicals which enables it to resist flame. While not actually fireproof, it will not support combustion, will char but not carry a flame.
Flammable Capable of being ignited.
Flash Point The temperature at which a flammable liquid will flash when ignited by small flame passed over the surface.
Flat Pack A continuous web folded at a cross perforation at regular intervals. See fan fold.
Flexibility A property of face materials, measured under specified conditions, that indicates how readily they will conform to curved surfaces.
Flexible Printed Circuit A printed circuit or conductive pattern, on or between insulating layers, which remains flexible after processing.
Flexible Die See magnetic die.
Flexing Condition that can occur on a die when the die circumference is less than the width of the cross-blades. Causes the center of the cross-blades to fail to cut properly and consistently.
Flexlight Union Carbide's trademark for photopolymer plate material.
Flexographic Printing Formerly called aniline printing. A method of rotary printing that employs flexible, raised relief image plates and rapid-drying inks.
Flexography Relief printing process using a simple inking system and fluid inks.
Flock A commercial fuzz or lint consisting of fine strands or filaments from textile fibers, animal hair, synthetic resins, etc. It is applied to an adhesive coated surface to produce a decorative felt-like appearance.
Flood Coat The coating of an entire surface with an ink, adhesive, coating, etc.
Flow Out The capacity of an ink or adhesive to spread, filling in the hills and valleys on the surface of the printed or non-printed substrate.
Fluorescent Paper A paper that is coated with a fluorescent pigment which no tonly reflects a visible wave length, but is activated by most of the remaining absorbed light to re-emit it as color of a longer wave length which results in reinforcement of the reflected color.
Fluorescent Pigments By absorbing unwanted wave lengths of light and converting them into light of desired wave lengths, tehse colors seem to possess an actual glow of their own.
Flying Splice A splicing or joining of two webs accomplished while the web is in motion.
Foaming A property of a liquid related to a surface tension. Frothing.
FOB Free on board. Indicates that a quoted price includes loading on a railroad car or truck at the designated point, but no further transportation costs are included.
Focal Distance Ultraviolet light energy, like visible light, can be collected and focused by an elliptical reflector. The focal distance is the distance from the lamp to the substrate, whereas the maximum energy is concentrated at that distance which gives the narrowest band of focused light.
Foil A very thin metal sheet that can be used as face stock material in label production.
Foil Paper Laminate A foil laminated to a sheet of paper used as a face stock. The foil is usually topcoated to improve ink receptivity.
Font In composition, the complete assortment of type of one size and face.
Format The size, style, layout, margins, etc., of a label.
Fountain A pan or trough on a flexographic press which contains the ink and in which the fountain roller revolves.
Four-Color Process Printing with yellow, magenta and cyan color inks plus black, using screens to create all other colors.
Freezer Adhesives Adhesives that will function at temperatures below the freezing point. They are usually removable at room temperatures.
FTA Flexographic Technical Association
Fuse To join two surfaces by heating them to their melting or softening point.
Gapping Openings between layers within a roll of self wound laminating tape.
Gauge A unit of measure usually the thickness or diameter and generally express by a number.
Gauge Bands Areas where material or liner is thicker, forming a hard ridge as layer after layer builds up in the same spot.
Gear Chart A handy reference compilation of the various printing lengths, or repeats, obtainable within the different gearing systems.
Gear Side See driving side.
Gear Streaks In printing, parallel streaks appearing across the printed web at the same interval as the gear teeth on a cylinder. Same gear marks.
Gel A state or condition in which an ink, varnish or coating has a jelly-like consistency.
Gelling The thickening of an ink or other liquid, which cannot be reversed by stirring.
Ghosting (New) Vary faint reproduction of printed design without actual ink transfer.
Ghosting (Old) Shadows or indistinct images appearing in solids or reveses typically caused by poor ink distribution and/or poor base ink formulation.
Glassine A super calendered, smooth, dense, transparent or translucent paper manufactured primarily from chemical wood pulps which have been beaten to secure a high degree of hydration of the stock. Sometimes used as a backing paper.
Gloss Characteristic of the surface which causes it to reflect light at a given angle.
Glue See adhesive.
Grab Ability of an adhesive to quickly adhere to a surface with a minimum of pressure (usually touched to the surface with its own weight). Also called instant adhesion or initial tack.
Grain In papermaking, the direction in which most fibers lie corresponding with the alignment of the fibers in the direction of the paper travel through the paper machine.
Gram Unit of weight in the metric system; the weight of one cubic centimeter of water at standard conditions. 28.35 grams equal one ounce.
Gravure Printing A printing process employing minute engraved wells. Generally, deeply etched wells carry more ink than a raised surface, hence print darker values. Shallow wells print light values. A doctor blade wipes excess ink from the cylindrical printing surface. Rotogravure employs etched cylinders and webfed stock.
Guard Bars The bars which are at both ends and center of a UPC and EAN symbol. They provide reference points for scanning.
Guillotine An instrument for trimming sheets of paper (with a downward cutting action).
Gum Reference to a broad class of synthetic and natural adhesive materials which exhibit good tack characteristics. See adhesive.
Hairline Register Register within +/- 1/2 row of dots.
Halftone The reproduction of continuous-tone subjects such as photographs through a contact halftone screen, which converts the image into dots with equal spacing and different sizes.
Halo An undesirable, peripheral outline of a printed image. An undesirable, peripheral outline of adhesive around the edge of an applied pressure sensitive label (due to adhesive ooze or substrate shrinkage).
Hang Tag A term used to describe fold-over labels generally used for product identification. These products usually 'hang' in the retail marketplace.
Hard Dot A term that refers to a dot where the fringe or halo is so slight as to be barely noticeable and the dot is very sharp.
Hardness Degree of hardness. Shore and Rockwell being two scales used to measure and compare hardness.
Haze A degree of cloudiness in a plastic material.
Heat Seal Labels Label paper that has a coating which melts under heat to form the bonding agent.
Heat Sealing The process of bonding two surfaces together by healing the adherent surfaces so that the heat seal coating or film is melted, thereby affecting an adhesion between the two surfaces. Pressure is often added along with heat.
Heat Sealing Adhesive An adhesive film applied to a substrate to be later reactivated by the application of heat.
Helium Neon Laser The type of laser most commonly used in bar code scanners.
Hickey A piece of foreign matter in paper or similar defect. A burr or defect on the printing plate or engraving. Spots or imperfections in the printing due to dirt on the press, dried or lumpy ink, paper dust particles, etc.
High-Speed Unwind A device used to accelerate the unwinding of a roll of labels on a high speed automatic label dispenser.
High Temperature Adhesive An adhesive that will enable a pressure sensitive label to adhere or stick well when aplpied to a hot substrate. Its characteristic will be such as to have a high degree of resistance to aging or deterioration at the elevated temperatures.
Holding Power The ability to withstand stress, as in holding rigid label materials on small diameter cylindrical objects. Involves both adhesive and cohesive strength and flexibility of the face material.
Hologram The pattern on a photosensitive material or embossed into a polymeric film structure resulting from an interference pattern created by a laser light striking an object, then merging with a reference beam of the same light.
Hot Melt Adhesives Thermoplastic materials with 100% solids that liquefy when heated and resolidify on cooling to form a bond with the face sheet the adhesive was applied to and a pressure sensitive lamination which includes a release coated backing sheet.
Hot Stamping An image producing method utilizing support film which carries a colored metallic substance which can be transferred using heat and pressure. Most commonly used to create metallic effects.
Hue In color, the main attribute of a color which distinguishes it from other colors. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue are color hues.
Hydroscopic The quality of some materials to absorb atmospheric moisture; exhibiting an affinity for water.
ID Inside diameter.
IML In-mold label.
Impregnate To saturate or permeate a material with a substance.
Impression The image transferred from the printing plate to the substrate or the adjustment required to affect the same.
Impression Cylinder In printing, the cylinder on a printing press over which the material feeds to pick up the impression from the inked plate.
Impressions Imprints generally caused by defect on core or bad splice, etc. Can show up for many feet on certain materials.
Imprinting Technique in which changeable copy is added to blank or previously printed labels, tags, etc., with a secondary printing device such as an imprinter, computer printer, typewriter, etc.
In-Line Press A press coupled to another operation such as sheeting, die-cutting, creasing, etc. A multi-color press in which the color stations are mounted horizontally in a line.
In-Mold Labels (IML) Special type of labels which are pre-applied to plastic bottles during the blow-molding operation.
Index Holes See feed slots.
Index Punch See feed slots.
Infeed Nip A mechanism designed to control the forward travel of the web into the press.
Infrared Type of heaters used for drying.
Infrared Light Refers to infrared rays, the longer wave lengths below the red in the spectrum. Used as a source of heat.
Inhibitor A compound (usually organic) that retards or stops a chemical reaction such as corrosion, oxidation or polymerization.
Initial Release A release test run immediately after coating and laminating.
Initial Tack Degree of stickiness when a pressure sensitve label is first applied to a product.
Ink Bleed Penetration of one color of ink into the facestock in such a manner as to cause one color to run into and discolor either the background color of the facestock, or another color of ink that is laid down adjacent to the color that is bleeding.
Ink Fountain Device which stores and supplies ink to the inking rollers on a printing press.
Ink Holdout Describes the degree to which pigment and binder stay on the surface of a material; a function of the ink, material and solvent (or chemical) interactions.
Ink Pan See ink fountain.
Ink Pump Electric or air driven mechanical pump that circulates an ink or coating from a holding tank to the ink fountain.
Internal Bond See cohesive strength.
Ion Deposition A method of printing using a non-impact electonic image process.
Ir-Scannable Capable of being read by an infrared scanner.
Irradiation Treated with ultra-violet light or another high energy ray.
Jig Device used to assist the correct placement of a semi-automatically applied pressure sensitive label. Usually it is made to fit the shape of the product being labeled.
Jog To intermittently operate a press for very short increments of web travel. Inching.
Journals The end shafts on which a roll rotates, usually within the needle bearing or bushing of a die block.
Jumbo Roll A full width roll of converted material where the outside diameter is larger than standard.
Key-Line In artwork, an outline drawing of finished art for labels to indicate the exact shape, position, and size for such elements as halftones, line sketches, text, etc.
Key Mark or Triger A code bit(s) that provides the scanner with the instruction that the code is in a position to be read. Used in some fixed beam readers.
Kickout The precipitation of the solid part of an ink or coating.
Kiss Cut A die-cutting operation which cuts through the face sheet to a liner but not through the liner.
Kiss Impression The lilghtest possible impression which will transfer the film of ink from the transfer roll to the plate and from the plate to the material being printed.
Knife Cut Labels See butt cut labels.
Knock-Out In color printing, the process of dropping an image out of the color such as dropping white type out of a color background. Often called reverse printing.
Kromekote A trademark of a clay coated paper with a highly polished, mirror-like finish; high gloss.
Label The functional portion of a pressure sensitive construction comprising the face material and adhesive, die cut into various shapes.
Label Panel Main panel of a container.
Label Stock Pressure sensitive laminate from which labels are produced, usually refers to roll stock.
Labeling Machine Dispensing apparatus that, by means of driving or pulling the backing, delivers a pressure sensitive label and applies it to a product.
Lacquer A clear protective coating, usually glossy, applied to a printed web in-line on a label press just prior to die-cutting.
Ladder See matrix.
Laminant An adhesive for combining and bonding a combination of films, foils, plastics, papers or other materials. Pressure sensitive constructions are often call laminants.
Laminate A web material formed by bonding two or more materials together as in a pressure sensitive construction. To apply one layer of material over another.
Lamination A plastic film bonded by heat, adhesive, and/or pressure to a printed web for protection or appearance. Two or more materials bonded together functioning as one.
Land See tie.
Laser Paper Paper suitable to accept laser printing.
Laser Printing A method of printing which utilizes a laser beam to put images onto a substrate. Usually the surface of the substrate must have specific characteristics to accept laser printing.
Laser Scanner An optical reading device using a low energy laser light beam as its source of illumination.
Latex An emulsion of rubber or resin particles dispersed in an aqueous medium. A natural or synthetic elastomeric dispersion in an aqueous system.
Latex Paper Paper manufactured by two major processes; one of which is where latex is incorporated with the fibers in the beater prior to formation of the sheet, and the second of which is wehre a preformed web of absorbent fiber is saturated with properly compounded latex. The paeprs are characterized by strength, folding endurance, resistance to penetration by water, flexibility, durability and resistance to abrasion.
LATMA Label and Tag Manufacturers of Australia, an Australian organization similar to TLMI.
Lay Flat A label material with good non-curling characteristics making it suitable for automatic overwrapping, insertion or any other form of further processing requiring a flat sheet (stayflat).
Lay-Up See artwork.
Layout The drawing or sketch of a proposed design.
Legging The stringing out of a pressure sensitive adhesive which frequently occurs following die-cutting when the matrix or waste skeleton is being stripped.
Letterpress Printing process which employs a relief or raised inked image which comes into direct contact with thematerial being printed. Hard relief plates and oil base inks are used.
Leuco Dyes Used in the manufacture of some grades of IR, direct thermal papers.
Lexan General Electric Company's trademark for polycarbonate film.
Lifting Defect where label exhibits some degree of lifting from the applied surface.
Light Pen A hand-held scanning wand which is used as a contact bar code reader.
Line and Screen Any reproduction of line and single or multiple screenwork not utilizing the combination of the three primary colors. Any number of colors can be utilized.
Line Hole Punching See feed slots.
Line Width Reduction Degree of gain allowed for when making up bar code films.
Liner See backing.
Lithographic Paper A paper coated on at least one side, suitably prepared for lithographic printing.
Logo The abbreviation of trade jargon for logotype. Name, symbol or mark to identify a company (trademark).
Loss of Tack The adhesive loses its adhesion properties; does not grab as well as it should.
Luminescent Pigments Special pigments available to produce striking effects in the dark. Basically there are two types; one is activated by ultra-violet radiation, producing very strong luminescence. The second is known as phosphorescent pigments, it does not require any separate source of radiation.
M Abbreviation for a quantity of 1,000.
Machine Direction The direction of any material parallel to its forward movement on the press.
Magenta A subtractive primary color which relfects blue and red light and absorbs green light.
Magnetic Cylinder A cylinder used in die-cutting that is magnetized to accept and hold in place flexible steel dies. Also used for metal-backed printing plates.
Magnetic Dies A thin, flexible, steel 'foil' bearing the actual die-cutting blades that is held on to a base cylinder magnetically. Quite common in EDP label production where identical repeats are frequently used.
Make and Hold Material that has been manufactured and is being helf for customer release.
Makeready On printing presses, all operations prior to running; such as mounting plates, adjusting the in-feed, edge guide, putting ink in the fountain, adjusting the impression, setting up the die-cutting, color matching, etc. All preparatory operations preceding production.
Marking Order Any order which cannot be filled from stock and is to be made according to purchaser's specifications; custom order.
Mandrel A shaft upon which cylinders, or other devices, are mounted or affixed. Also unwind or rewind shaft on to which rolls of materials (or labels) are mounted.
Manila Describes the color of paper manufactured from rope stocks.
Marginal Punching See feed slots; pin feed.
Masking Covering part of a surface to protect it from exposing, etching, etc.
Master Roll A full width roll that has finished the primary manufacturing process and is usually untrimmed and unslit.
Material Usually refers to unconverted stock, pressure sensitive or not.
Material Splice An area where tape has been used to attach two rolls of material together to form one continuous web.
Matrix (Waste Skeleton) The face material and adhesive surrounding a self-adhesive label usually removed after die-cutting.
Matte Finish A low-floss or no-gloss finish. A UV-curable clear coat may also be used to produce a matte or textured finish.
Mechanical Term for a camera-ready pasteup of artwork including type, photos, line art, etc.; all on one piece of artboard.
Membrane Switch Self-contained sealed film lamination printed with conductive inks that form trace paths for electrical currents. Primarily composed of pressure sensitive polycarbonate and/or polyester films designed to replace traditional glass-type switches.
Memory The property of a material that attempts to return it to its original configuration after being distorted.
Metal Foil Thin, flexible layer of metal, such as aluminum, used as face materials. Thinner gauges are often laminated to paper for strength.
Metalized Paper A label substrate consisting of a lacquered C1S paper on which a very thin film of aluminum has been deposited.
Metalizing Applying a thin coating of metal to a non-metallic surface. May be done by chemical desposition or by exposing the surface to varporized metal in a vacuum chamber.
Meyer Rod A method of coating utilizing a wire wrapped stainless steel rod which meters specific amounts of coating as it is applied to a substrate.
Mezzotint An irregular, random dot halftone.
MICR Magnetic Ink Character Recognition. The process of machine reading characters by means of magnetic sensing.
Micrometer A mechanical device for measuring thickness (usually in thousands of an inch).
Micron A unit of measure. One-millionth of a meter or about .00004" (25 microns = 0.001").
Migration The movement of one or more of the components of a pressure sensitive adhesive to either the labeled surface or face material. Also the movement of one or more of the components of either or both the face material and the labeled surface into the adhesive and/or ink.
Migration of Plasticizer Loss of plasticizer from an elastomeric plastic compound with subsequent absorption by an adjacent medium of lower plasticizer concentration, often causes a loss of adhesion.
MIL United of thickness measurement used for thin materials. 1 mil = 0.001 inch = 100 gauge.
Mileage The surface area covered by a given quantity of ink or coating; coverage.
Mill Roll Roll of paper, film or foil as received by the converter from the mill.
Millipoise 1/100th of a poise. The unit of viscosity measurement.
Minimum Application Temperature The lowest temperature at which a pressure sensitive label (adhesive) can be applied to a product and still retain its initial tack.
Miscible Capable of being mixed; mutually soluble.
Misread A condition which occurs when the data output of a reader does not agree with the encoded data presented.
MMSI A million square inches of material.
Module The narrowest unit of measure in a bar code. A module may be 'black' or 'white'. Contiguous modules are used to form bars or spaces which are wider than one unit.
Moire In color process printing, an undesirable screen pattern formed by improper screen angles of overprinting halftones.
Moisture Content The moisture present in a material as determined by specified methods.
Moisture Resistance That property of a material which resists uptake or passage of moisture.
Moistureproof The property of a material which makes it substantially impervious to water vapor.
Mold Release Agents Materials used in the manufacture of molded objects to facilitate their removal from the mold. Mold release agents can cause serious adhesion problems in some instances.
Mono Web A brand name for a printed pressure sensitive label web that is self-wound. A release coating is applied over the print so that the adhesive on the back will not stick to the printed surface. The acutal die-cutting becomes a function of the label application equipment. The process is covered by patent.
Monomer A primary chemical structure which reacts with itself, under the influence of catalytic action, to create polymeric forms of much greater molecular weight.
Mottle A spotty or uneven appearance of printing mainly in solid areas.
Mounting The process of affixing plates on a cylinder or base in proper position to allow register, color to color to die.
Mounting and Proofing Device for accurately positioning plates on the plate cylinder and for obtaining proofs of those plates.
Mounting Plate Grid used to mount plates accurately.
MSDS Material Safety Data Sheet. A written or printed text concerning a hazardous chemical with all pertinent information about the product as well as precaution and protection information.
MSI A thousand square inches of material.
Multi-Process A combination of any of the printing processes and other decorating methods. An application of lacquer utilizing another printing station other than the main printing process shall not qualify as multi-process.
MVTR A measure of the rate of water vapor transmission through any material.
Mylar DuPont's trademark for clear, tough polymeric polyester film.
Nameplate Describes a label product generally manufactured of metal or other material designed to withstand exposure to adverse conditions. Usually contains information such as serial numbers of components, electrical requirements and are generally affixed to products utilizing a permanent adhesive.
Natural Aging The change in a material occurring when it is exposed to normal environmental conditions.
Natural Rubber Coagulated latex obtained from rubber trees and shrubs sometimes used as bases for adhesives and coatings. It has very low compression and permanent set and good resistance to cold flow. Sunlight, oxygen and ozone resistance is not as good as that of most synthetic rubbers.
Negative A photographic image of originals on paper, film or glass in reverse from that of the original copy. Dark areas appear light and vice versa.
Negative Image A reversed image.
Neoprene Rubber A polymer of chloroprene, it is used as an adhesive base. Commonly used where oil and gasoline resistance is required. Resistance to swelling action of aromatics (pure and in fuels) is poor but much better than natural rubber. Also used to coat doctor or metering rolls.
NIP Line of contact between two rolls. Often referred to as the pull or draw rolls of a web press.
NIP Non impact printing.
Nominal Size The standard size for a bar code symbol. Most codes can be used over a range of magnifications, commonly from 0.80 to 1.20 nominal.
Non-Blocking Refers to an applied adhesive that will not adhere to other surfaces under normal storage conditions.
Non-Flammable Not ready combustible. The opposite of flammable.
Non-Oriented Film Film which has not been subject to stress to align the polymer chains and improve properties.
Non-Polar Having no concentrations of electrical charge on a molecular scale, incapable of significant dielectric loss. Examples among resins are polstyrene and polyethylene.
Non-Prime Label A label supplying supportive information to a product or performing any other function.
Non-Read Ink Any ink with a sufficiently high reflectance to prohibit detection by an optical scanner. Non-read inks are used as visual guides that do not interfere with data reading.
Non-Returnable Core Biodegradable. A disposable core composed structurally so as to make it suitable for one-time use.
Non-Volatile Refers to the portion of an adhesive, coating or sealer that does not evaporate or vaporize at relatively low temperatures.
Non-Woven Materials Usually refers to paper 'tissues' or synthetics like rayon.
Numeric A machine vocabulary that includes only numbers as contrasted to alphanumeric which includes both letters and numerals.
Nylon DuPont's trade name for a strong plastic film which has high oil and gas resistance; used a filament in strapping tapes, with high impact resistance.
Nyloprint BASF's trade name for photopolymer plate material.
OCR Optical Character Recognition. An information processing technology dealing with the conversion of imprinted or written data to another language and medium.
OCR-A An abbreviation commonly applied to the character set contained in ANSI Std. X3.17-1974.
OCR-B An abbreviation commonly applied to the character set contained in ANSI Std. X3.49-1975.
OD Outside diameter of a cylinder, roller or roll of labels.
OEM Original Equipment Manufacturer. One who produces a component or components used in the making of a finished assembled product.
Off-Cut That part of the trim width that is not utilized. Usually a narrow roll which is left over because the customer placed an order which does not utilize the full master roll width.
Off-Line Refers to devices that operate independently of a large central processing unit.
Offset A defect characterized by the partial transference of ink from a freshly printed surface to an adjacent surface, as that of another sheet, film or the backing paper in a roll. Also the accidental transfer of ink from the idler or other rolls in a press to the web.
Offset Paper A paper designed for use on presses with general characteristics to resist distortion from stretching or shrinking, freedom from fuzz and a smooth surface which will take ink evenly without 'set-off'.
Offset Powder A fine mist of powder sprayed between two sheets of stock during the press run to prevent the moist ink of one sheet from offsetting onto the back of the succeeding sheet. Also used as a slip additive to assist stacking.
Offset Printing A process of indirect printing in which an impression of type or a design on a plate is printed on a rubber blanketed cylinder from which it is impressed, I.e. offset upon the surface to be decorated.
Offsetting Describes the unwanted transfer of ink from one printed surface to another surface.
Olefins A group of unsaturated hydrocarbons of the general formula CnH2n, and named after the corresponding paraffins by the addition of 'ene' or 'ylene' to the stem.
Oleo Resins Semi-solid mixtures of the resin and essential oil of the plant from which they exude, and sometimes referred to as balsams. Oleoresinous materials also consist of products of drying oils and natural or synthetic resins.
Oligomer A chemical compound whose molecules consist of a group linked monomers. This is a compound intermediate in size between the single monomer unit and the huge polymer molecule.
On-Line An operation in which peripheral devices are connected directly to the computer central processor.
One Component Adhesive A pressure sensitive adhesive in which all of the necessary properties are derived from a single uniquely designed synthetic polymer.
Ooze Adhesive moving out of ends of rolls or stacks of sheets causing ends to feel sticky and possibly causing material to block. Adhesive cold flow.
Opacimeter The instrument with which the degree of opacity may be measured.
Opacity The measure of the amount of light that can pass through a material. The hiding property of an ink film; property of film allowing printed material to show through in varying degrees.
Opaque Ink An ink that is not transparent and reflects only its color regardless of what colors it overprints.
Opaqueness The degree of opacity.
Operating Range The sum of a scanner's optical throw and depth of field.
Operating Side That side of a label press on which the printing unit adjustments are located. Opposite of driving side or gear side.
OPP Oriented polypropylene.
Optical Relates to the utilization of light. Sometimes involves the use of light sensitive devices to acquire information.
Optical Character Reader An information processing device that accepts and processes machine or hand written characters.
Optical Throw The distance from the face of the code reader or scanner to the beginning of the depth of field.
Opticite Film Trademark of a label film supplied by Dow Chemical (polystyrene type).
Orange Peel Rough coating causing an 'orange peel' appearance. See mottle.
Orientation The alignment of the crystalline structure in polymeric materials so as to produce a highly uniform structure. Can be accomplished by cold drawing or stretching during fabrication. Also, the alignment of bars and spaces to the scanner.
Original The material that is required to be reproduced in the printing process. Usually a photograph, transparency, art, artist's drawing or merchandise sample.
Overlaminating Application of a clear film to a label stock for the purpose of protection or to enhance graphic quality, usually done in-line on the press.
Overlap In applying a label around a bottle or container, one end extends over the other and adheres to itself.
Overlay In artwork, a transparent film or tissue over copy on which color breaks, instructions or corrections are indicated. Also, transparent prints which, when combined or overlaid, form a composite picture.
Overrun Production manufactured in excess of the specified order quantity. (Industry standard +/-10%).
Overs See overrun.
Oxidation The chemical reaction involving the process of combining with oxygen to form an oxide. The deterioration of an adhesive film due to atmospheric exposure. The breakdown of a hot melt adhesive due to prolonged heating and oxide formation.
Packaging A coordinated system for the preparation of goods for shipment, distribution and storage.
Padding Binding sheets of paper - blank, ruled, etc., together by applying flexible glue or adhesive to one edge of the stack.
Pass One trip for the material through a production piece of equipment. Certain constructions require additional passes to complete the production.
Pattern Adhesive See pattern coated.
Pattern Coated Refers to the width and spacing arrangement of strips of adhesive laid down parallel to machine direction and across the width of pressure sensitive label stock during its manufacture. Also refers to adhesive coating applied in a pattern which is not related to web direction.
Pattern Varnish Spot varnish applied to the printed surface in a desired pattern.
PCS Print Contrast Signal. A measurement of contract between the bars an dspaces of a symbol. A minimum PCS value is needed for a symbol to be scannable. PCS values can be calculated an displayed automatically on suitable instruments.
Pearlescent Pigments A class of pigments consisting of particles that are essentially transparent crystals of a high refractive index. The optical effect is one of partial reflection from the two sides of each flake. When reflections from parallel plates reinforce each other, the result is a silvery luster. Effects possible range from brillant highlighting to moderate enhancement of the normal surface gloss.
Peel Adhesion Peel adhesion is the force required to remove a pressure sensitive label from a standard test panel at a specified angle and speed after the label has been applied to the test panel under specified conditions for a specific time period.
Peelback A method of separating a bond of two flexible materials or a flexible and a rigid material that have been bonded with an adhesive. The flexible material is pulled from the mating surface at a 90 or 180 degree angle to the plane in which it is adhered. The stress is concentrated only along the adhesive line of immediate separation.
Peeler Plate A sharp edged, flat piece of metal around which the backing or carrier material is threaded, the prime function being a mechanical device which causes a pressure sensitive label to be dispensed from the backing material.
Perforated Refers to a series of small incisions made in laid-on labels and/or their release liner to facilitate tearing along a pre-determined line, or for fan folding.
Permanent Adhesive An adhesive characterized by having relatively high ultimate adhesion to a wide variety of surfaces.
Permeability The property of a material that allows or resists a substance to pass or flow through it; the rate of such passage.
Phosphorescent Face A face material coated with a phosphorescent ink, that emits light in a visible spectrum.
Photoinitiator In ultraviolet-curing systems, the chemical which, when expposed to UV light, breaks certain chemical bonds in the system to start the chain reactions which cause polymer formation. This chemical is commonly referred to as a catalyst.
Photopolymer Plate material that is photosensitive and upon exposure, its compounds polymerize to form a tough, abrasion resistant surface which becomes the inking media.
Piecework Describes a payroll system generally used in production environments where employees are paid according to the actual number of pieces produced in a given time period.
Piggyback Pressure sensitive constructions that have two release coated liners, two layers of adhesive and a face material which allows a label to be applied, complete with backing, for future or further application.
Pigment Finely ground, solid particles used to give color or opacity to printing inks and coatings, and usually insoluble in such a mixture.
Pin Feed See feed slots.
Pin Register The use of accurately positioned holes and special pins or pin bars on copy, film, plates and presses to insure proper register of color.
Pinch Roll See nip roll or pull roll.
Pinhole A very small hole which may permit the passage of light, moisture or electrical current.
Pinholing Refers to the failure of a printed ink to form a complete film. This condition will become visible by the appearance of small holes in the solid print area.
Piping Also known as tunneling, a condition occurring in an incompletely bonded laminate characterized by release of longitudinal portions of the substrate and delamination of these portions to form these pipelike structures. The material fails to adhere to release paper or film tightly enough and a line of air forms between them. Usually starts at one edge and works across web.
Pitch Diameter The measure of a gear or cylinder, determined by diving the circumference by Pi (3.1416).
Plasticizer A substance added to materials to impart softness, flexibility, workability, elongation and dispensability.
Plasticizer Migration The migration of liquid plasticizers from some plastics into an adhesive and/or face material. Often causes excessive softening or degradation of adhesives.
Plasticizer Resistance Plasticizers can migrate into adhesives and/or inks and cause a breakdown, resulting in loss of adhesion to the substrate. If the adhesive or ink is formulated to resist the plasticizer, the breakdown may not occur.
Plate The image carrier in letterpress and flexographic printing.
Plate Cylinder There are two types of plate cylinders; the integral, with the shaft a permanent part of the body and the demountable, in which the sahft is removable to receive a multiplicity of bodies of varying diameters, and in some cases face widths. These plate rolls are undercut in their diameter so as to accommodate various thicknesses of mounting tape and plate materials.
Plate Roll See plate cylinder.
Platen Press Printing press in which a flat surface bearing the paper is pressed against a flat surface bearing the inked type. PLIABILITY See flexibility.
Ply Each layer in a multi-layered structure.
Point Printer's unit of measurement to designate type size. There are 12 points to a pica; approximately 72 points to an inch. Also, a term used for an expression of thickness of a sheet of material in one-thousands of an inch increments, I.e. 7 point = .007" thick.
Poise The unit of viscosity, expressed as one dyne per second per square centimeter.
Polar See non-polar.
Polar Solvent Solvents with oxygen in their molecule, I.e. alcohols, water, esters, etc.
Polarity Refers to the relative surface charge of the material, resulting from the molecular structure of the adherent surface.
Polycarbonate A high clarity film having the versatality of acetate with the durability of polyester.
Polyester A strong film having good resistance to moisture, solvents, oils, etc., usually transparent, although available with opaque and metalized finish. A clear complex ester formed by polymerization or condensation. Excellent strength, clarity and dimensionally stable.
Polyester Liner A polyester film that is silicone release coated. It provides an excellent die-cutting surface and is also used on overlaminating films to provide a smooth, glass-like surface of adhesive.
Polyester Metalized Film A clear polyester film, vacuum metalized on one side to provide a metallic look.
Polyester Overlam A clear, glossy polyester film coated with clear acrylic adhesive. Can also be supplied with a matte surface.
Polyethylene A tough, stretchy plastic film having very good low temperature characteristics. Also used a great deal for producing semi-rigid recyclable bottles.
Polymer A compound formed by the reaction of simple molecules called monomers, having functional groups that permit their combination to proceed to high molecular weights under suitable conditions. A long-chain molecular structure.
Polymerization A chemical reaction initiated by a catalyst, haet or light, in which monomers and/or oligomers combine to form a polymer.
Polypropylene Similar to polyethylene but stronger and having a higher temperature resistance. Various thermoplastic plastics are polymers of propylene; excellent clarity. Also used in various thicknesses in the printing of labels as well as backing or liner materials.
Polystyrene A thermoplastic produced by the polymerization of styrene. The electrical insulating properties are outstandingly good and the material is relatively unaffected by moisture.
Polyvinyl Refers to a group of resins formed by polymerizing various vinyl monomers.
Polyvinylidene Chloride A usually very thin transparent film with excellent resistance to acids, water and organic solvents. Saran.
Poor Trapping Condition in wet printing that results when less ink transfers to previously printed ink than to unprinted paper. Also called under-trapping.
POP Point of Purchase. The location at which a product is sold, the store or retail counter.
POP Display The displays or merchandising units used at the point of purchase.
Porosity The property of paper that governs the degree of permeability, I.e., the passage of a substance through it.
Post Cure The continuation of a polymerization (curing) process within a UV ink or coating, after exposure to UV radiation has been terminated.
Pot Life The time period during which an adhesive or coating remains effective and workable.
PP Polypropylene.
Pre-Separated Art Artwork in which the basic layout, register marks and major color is prepared on illustration board and each additional colo rplate is drawn on a separate sheet or film overlay.
Press, In-Line Press with the printing units in-line.
Press Proofs Printed sections of substrate material made on a press to allow for approval or final corrections before the production printing run is made.
Press Slip Coating An overall emulstion type coating applied in-line on a press to eliminate spray powder, usually having a good degree of slip additive.
Press, Stack Flexographic press with printing units in horizontal stacks.
Press, Web Press which prints substrates supplied on rolls.
Pressure Sensitive Laminate See pressure sensitive stock.
Price Mark Special pressure sensitive stock for use in pricing guns.
Prime Coat Base coat applied first to enhance subsequent printing.
Process Printing Printing from a series of two or more halftone plates to produce intermediate colors and shades. In 4-color process, the colors are yellow, magenta, cyan and black.
Production Control A system to ensure the efficient use of materials, manpower, facilities and transportation in order to assure the availability of s specific product, in a pre-determined quantity, within a specified time period.
Proofing Press Press that produces printed progressive proofs.
Protective Coating A coating that protects the printing and the surface of a pressure sensitve label from either abrasion, sunlight, chemicals (their fumes and dilute solutions) and moisture or a combination of these.
PSI Pounds per Square Inch.
Pull Roll See nip roll.
Punched Out Labels Anvil cut or sheeted labels.
PVC Vinyl; polyvinyl chloride.
Quality Those characteristics of a product that allow: 1) manufacture at a given cost-value relationship, 2) uniformity to meet parameters ofcustomer specifications, 3) caliber of competitve performance.
Quality Control A system of inspections and/or tests instituted at various stages of production in manufacturing or printing to ensure that the end product will meet pre-determined standards of quality.
Quick Stick The property of a pressure sensitive adhesive which allows it to adhere to a surface under light pressure. Also, a measure of the bond strength right after application; quick tack, quick adhesion.
Quiet Area See Clear Area.
Reactive Diluent A liquid used to reduce the viscosity or tack of an ink. The diluent becomes an integral part of the polymer which forms when the ink is cured.
Ream Five hundred sheets of paper.
Ream Weight The amount which one ream of paper weighs.
Recycle Process for reuse.
Reel A finished roll of labels.
Reflectance The amount of light returned from an illuminated surface.
Register The corresponding placement of one color to the next, etc., as well as the printing placement as it relates to die-cutting, scoring, perfing, etc.
Register Marks Symbols attached to original copy prior to photography, used for positioning films in register, or registering two or more colors when printing.
Relative Humidity The amount of water vapor present in the atmosphere, expressed as a percent of maximum that could be present at the same room temperature.
Release The force required to free or separate a pressure sensitive label from its release liner, using a specific measuring device.
Release Agent Materials used to facilitate the removal of molded items from their molds. These agents can cause serious problems in adhesion when aplying labels to the molded products.
Release Coat The release liner treatment material that allows pressure sensitive labels to release from the release liner. Usually made from silicone.
Release Coat Transfer The transfer of release coat from the release liner to the pressure sensitive adhesive during release.
Release Liner The component of th epressure sensitive label stock which functions as a carrier for the pressure sensitive label. Prior to application, it protects the adhesive, and readily separates from the label immediately before the label is applied to product.
Relief Angle The angle of the raised portion of a printing plate.
Removability A relative term applied to pressure sensitive labels to describe the force or condition under which they can be removed from a substrate. A removable label would be one in which no damage or staining occurs to the substrate or the face material on removal.
Removable Adhesive A pressure sensitive adhesive characterized by low ultimate adhesion and clean removability from a wide variety of surfaces.
Rendering The finished production of a design, drawing, painting, etc. by hand using any of various artist tools, I.e. pencils, pens, knives, brushes, air brushes.
Repeat The printing length of a plate cylinder, determined by one revolution of the place cylinder gear.
Repositionable The ability of a pressure sensitive label to be bonded to a surface, removed and repositioned. This can only be done for a limited period of time (20 minutes). Beyond that time, the bond may begin to become permanent, except in cases where a removable adhesive is used.
Repositionable Adhesive A permanent adhesive that can be removed and repositioned for a short, finite time after application.
Repositioning The relamination of labels to a different location on the backing sheet following die-cutting.
Residue Something that remains after a part is removed, such as removing a label and leaving adhesive on the surface.
Restivity The ability of a material to resist passage of electrical current either through its bulk or on a surface. The resistivity unit of volume is the ohm-cm.
Retarders Combinations of liquids, solvents and extenders that are added to an adhesive, coating or ink to slow down the drying rate of the material.
Reverse Angle Doctor See doctor blade.
Reverse Printing Printing on the underside of a transparent film. Also, a design in which the copy is 'dropped-out' and the background is printed making the copy appear in the color of the background.
Reverse Roller Coating The coating is pre-metered between two rolls, then wiped off onto the web, which is driven by a third backup roll. The amount of coating is controlled by the gap between the metering and applicator rolls and also by relative speed or rotation between the same two rolls.
Rewind The take-up spindle or mandrel on a press. Also, the act of winding a roll of material through a machine to effect the opposite unwind.
Rewinding & Inspection The operation of winding the material from the press roll onto a core (or coreless) to produce rolls of the desired width, diameter and tension. Out-of-spec labels can be removed during this oepration.
Right Reading An image whose parts are spatially oriented to each other as they are on the original or as they are to be printed, in contrast to the way they would appear reflected in a mirror.
Rockwell Hardness A method of determining the surface hardness of a substance. Degree of hardness.
Roll Coater A machine utilizing rolls to mechanically apply an adhesive or coating to flexible substrates.
Roll Label Pressure sensitive labels that are produced in a continuous roll form.
Roll-To-Roll A method of running materials through a printing machine. A roll of material is fed into a printing unit, is printed, then is rewound into a roll as it exits the machine.
Roll-To-Sheet A method of running material through a printing machine. A roll of material is fed into a printing unit, is printed, then is sheeted as it exits the printing machine.
Rotary Press A press that in normal use featutrees a roll-to-roll operation.
Rotary Printing Accomplished by means of a cylindrical impression cylinder and a cylindrical printing plate.
Rotogravure Printing Printing process that utilizes cylinders that have the design etched into the metal surface. The material to be printed comes in contact with the etched cylinder (which is carrying the ink) and the ink is transferred. A rubber pressure roll facilitates this transfer. Also known as gravure printing.
Rough Sketch An impromptu drawing of a picture or design, often in color. Often developed into comprehensive artwork.
Rub Test Test performed to determine the durability and abrasion resistance of the printed surface of a label.
Rubber Base Adhesive Pressure sensitive adhesive based on natural or synthetic rubber. Can be coated as a solvent, hot melt or emulsion system.
Running Register That control on a flexographic press which accurately positions, while in the run mode, the printing of each color station in the direction of the web travel. Also called circumferential register or longitudinal register.
Rupture A cleavage or break in the adhesive film, resulting from physical stress.
Sandwich Constructions Panels composed of a lightweight core material to which two relatively thin, dense, high strength faces or skins are adhered.
Saturation (Impregnation) The addition of various materials such as latex or rubber to a face material so as to improve its various physical properties.
Scan The search for a symbol which is to be optically recognized. A search for marks to be recognized by the recognition unit of the optical scanner.
Score To make an impression or a partial cut in a material for the purpose of bending, creasing, folding or tearing.
Score Cut See score.
Scoring See score.
Scrap See waste.
Screen Printing A method of printing in which the ink is forced through a design on a taut screen onto the object to be printed.
Scuff The action of rubbing against a surface with applied pressure. Also, the damage which has taken place through rubbing.
Sealer A coating designed to prevent the passage of a substance through a substrate; barrier coat.
Second Surface Printing Refers to printing on another surface in addition to the primary surface.
Secondary Label Sometimes smaller than a primary label with information covering ingredients, nutrition, instructions for use, cautions and warnings, prices, promotional advertising, rebates, etc.
Self-Adhesive Label See pressure sensitive label.
Self-Adhesive Products Converted pressure sensitive labels and products usually carried by a release liner.
Self-Checking A bar code or symbol using a checking algorithm which can be applied to each character to guard against undetected errors. Non self-checked codes may employ a check digit or other redundancy in addition to the data message.
Self-Extinguishing A somewhat loosely used term describing the ability of a material to cease burning once the source of flame has been removed.
Self-Wound A roll of material with a single liner, which is coated on both sides with a release coating and a carrier having a pressure sensitive adhesive on both sides. Also, a material that has pressure sensitive adhesive applied to one side and then rolled up on itself (no liner).
Semi-Automatic A labeling machine in which only part of the operation is controlled by the direct action of a human. The automatic part of the operation is controlled by the machine.
Semi-Gloss Paper Coated 1 side litho.
Separator See pattern coated.
Serial Code A bar code symbol typically used with a fixed beam scanner where the scanning action is caused by the motion of the symbol past the scanning head. The bits of the symbol are evaluated one at a time as the symbol passes.
Service Temperature The temperature range that a pressure sensitive label will withstand after 24-72 horus residence time on the labeled surface. The range is expressed in degrees Fahrenheit and/or Celsius.
Set The point during the bonding process when the adhesive has reached such structural proportions so as to prevent the movement of the substrate's surface.
Set-Off Improperly dried or cured inks or coatings that transfer to the back of the liner material either in roll form or sheet form.
Setups See make ready.
Sharpen To decrease in color strength, as when halftone dots are made smaller.
Shear The relative movement of adjacent layers in a liquid or plastic during flow. See cohesive strength.
Shear Cut Term that describes a cut of a continuous web of stock using an action similar to the action of scissors.
Shear Rate Time required for breakdown of the shear strength.
Shear Strength The relative resistance of an adhesive coated film or paper to a stress applied in such a manner that the adhering surfaces slide in a plane parallel to their plane of contact; the internal or cohesive strength of the adhesive.
Shear Stress Where normal stress is perpendicular to the designed plane, shear stress is parallel to the plane.
Shear Test A method of separating adhesive bonded materials by forcing the interfaces to slide over each other. The force exerted is distributed over the entire bonded area at the same time. Strengths are recorded in pounds per square inch, or in minutes or hours to failure.
Sheet-Fed Designates a printing press to which paper is fed in sheets rather than in rolls.
Sheet-Form Pressure sensitive label stock packaged in sheets and designed for used on a sheet feed press.
Shelf-Life The period of time during which a product can be stored under specified conditions and still remain suitable for use. Normally 6-9 months. Also called storage life.
Shell Cup A device for measuring viscosity.
Shellac An alcohol-soluble natural resin widely used in flexographic inks.
Shore Hardness A method of determining the hardness of a mterial using a scelroscope.
Shrink Wrapping A method of packaging where labels are overwrapped with a shrink film and then passed through a heat tunnel to shrink the film tightly against the labels.
Shrinkage Reduction in any dimension.
Side Roll See off-cut.
Silicone A polymer of organo-siloxane used as an ink additive to aid ink flow out. Also is used for pressure sensitive adhesives capable of withstanding extreme temperatures. A polymeric material with exceptionally high repellency properties towards adhesives used extensively in the coating of release liners.
Silicone Adhesive Adhesive compounds of this base have remarkable stability through a wide temperature range. Chief limitations for present use are their high temperature cure, and sensitivity to aliphatic and aromatic fuels; pressure sensitive adhesive which permits bonding to difficult surfaces; outstanding high temperature and low temperature performance; highly resistant to oxidation, ozone and corona radiation and has good dielectric properties.
Silicone Coating A unique polymer system which can be a very effective release coating.
Silicone Stain Test A water based stain used to test silicone coating coverage and continuity on die cut paper release liners.
Single-Faced Where adhesive is applied to one side of a carrier, as in self-wound laminating films and tapes.
Size See primer.
Skeleton See matrix.
Skid Wooden or plastic platform on which most materials are now shipped.
Skipping Missing print, tints or coatings on a substrate due to dry-in of ink or coatings in the cells of the anilox roll.
Skips Areas wherein the adhesive or the release coating are missing from the lamination.
Slip Additive Additive to inks or varnishes to effect improved slip or lubricating qualities.
Slip Sheet or Interliner Interleave layer of material utilized to assist converting thin, unmanageable materials. This layer is later removed.
Slit To cut rolls of stock to specified widths. Either rotary or stationary knives or blades are used with mechanical unwinding and rewinding devices.
Slit Back See split back.
Slit Face See split face.
Slitter A machine to cut roll stock in the long direction. Three types are used: 1) razor blade slitter, 2) shear slitter, 3) score slitter.
Slot A cut made in a material of a specific size and location. May have the face material removed when used to feed through imprinters.
Slug Small piece of flexographic printing plate used to print variable information.
Soft Dot A dot is referred to as 'soft' when the halo surrounding it is excessive and almost equals the area of the dot itself.
Solids Content The percentage weight of non-volatile components in an ink, coating or adhesive.
Solvent A chemical substance capable of thinning or reducing the viscosity of ink, coating or adhesives. Specifically, a solvent is a liquid that dissolves another substance.
Solvent Adhesive Adhesive components that are dissolved in a variety of organic solvents for coating. Rubbe3r or acrylic based systems can be coated this way.
Solvent-Free The absence of any solvent in an ink, coating or adhesive.
Solvent Resistance The resistance of a pressure sensitive label to the action of specific organic liquids. May apply either to adhesive or the printing.
Solvent Retention The solvent that remains in the adhesive or ink. If the adhesive is not thoroughly dried, solvent retention could reduce the efficiency of the adhesive. If all the solvent is not removed from the ink, the retentive portions will tend to keep the ink soft.
Solventless Silicone A silicone release coating applied without the use of any organic solvent or water. Also known as 100 percent solids silicone.
Space The lighter element of a bar code formed by the background between bars.
Specific Adhesion The force required to remove a pressure sensitive adhesive from a specific product under specified conditions. Also, the relative tendency of adhesives to form bonds on specific surfaces. Some may be permanent on one surface and removable from another.
Specific Gravity The ratio of the weight of a specimen to the weight of an equal volume of water.
Splice A method of joining webs to produce an operational continuous web.
Split Back Slits in the release liner to facilitate its removal by hand.
Split Face Slits in face of pressure sensitive product usually for the purpose of facilitating removal from the release coated backing.
Split Liner See split back.
Spot Label Label that does not extend completely around can or bottle. Usually confined to less than half the circumference.
Spot Varnish See pattern varnish.
Spread The enlargement of a printed image from the printnig plate to the printed image. Also, a photospread to achieve required ink bleeds or traps.
Spreads and Chokes See chokes and spreads.
Spunbonded Olefin Describes a synthetic plastic material formed by the random distribution of very fine continuous fibers which are self bonded by heat and pressure.
Squeeze-Out The flow of excess adhesive or coating when pressure is applied.
Stabilize To increase the steadiness of a film, keep it from changing or fluctuating. Usually vinyl films are stabilized by laminating a polyester to one or both sides of the vinyl.
Stabilized Kraft Term used to describe paper that is treated to provide moisture resistance and dimensional stability.
Stabilizer An ingredient used in the formulation of some plastics, especially elastomers, to assist in maintaining the physical and chemical properties of the compounded materials at their initial values throughout the processing and service life of the material.
Stack Press Flexographic press where the printing stations are placed one above the other, each with its own impression roll.
Stacker Device on the take-off end of a press that automatically stacks sheeted labels.
Stain Resistance The ability of a label to be applied to a surface without discoloring that surface. Also, the ability of a printed label to resist staining due to exposure to the product being labeled.
Staining A discoloration of a surface caused by adhesive residue.
Start/Stop Character A bar code character that provides the scanner with start or stop reading instructions as well as code orientation. The start character is normally at the left-hand end of a picket fence oriented code. The stop character is normally at the right-hand end.
Static Electrical charges generated in handling materials which cause materials to cling together. Can jump to humans or equipment causing shock or fire if solvent is there. With reference to films, causes them to cling to one another or to other insulating surfaces.
Static Cling An induced property of a film which enables it to grab onto a smooth clean surface without using a pressure sensitive adhesive. Static cling is a phrase applied to both mechanical grabbing and grabbing by electrical static.
Static Electricity A built-up electrical charge on the surface of a substrate or other surfaces, usually induced by friction and usually under low atmospheric humidity conditions.
Static Eliminator A device for neutralizing static electricity.
Static Neutralizer In printing presses, an attachment designed to remove static electricity from the paper to avoid ink set-off and trouble with feeding the paper.
Steel-To-Steel Label See anvil cut or sheeted labels.
Step and Repeat The act or equipment for the positioning and exposing multiple complete images on film in preparation for plate making.
Stepped Anvil See undercut anvil.
Stick Designating adhesion or stickiness.
Stickyback Double faced adhesive coated material used for mounting printing plates to the plate cylinder.
Stiffness The measure or degree of resistance to bending stress of a material.
Stock Paper or other material to be converted. Substrate.
Storage Stability The ability of a material to be stored under normal conditions of temperature and humidity without change in its properties.
Stretch/Shrink Factors Calculations of dimensional change which occur in rubber plate molding and mounting and photopolymer plate mounting when applied to the plate cylinder.
Striation A fine streaky pattern of parallel lines,, usually in the cross direction of the web.
Strike-Through The penetration of the adhesive or ink through the substrate.
Stringiness A condition of the adhesive in which it feels very soft and mushy, an on close examination relatively long 'strings' of adhesive can be pulled out of the adhesive.
Strip Coated See pattern coated.
Stripped When separate pieces of film are taped together to create the complete printing image. Also refers to die cut labels from which the matrix has been removed.
Stripper-Plate See peeler plate.
Stripping The removal of the face material outside and around the die cut shape of a label; roller around which matrix is removed from die cut label web.
Stub Roll A short roll of face material or pressure sensitive label stock.
Styrene A liquid unsaturated hydrocarbon (C8H8). See polystyrene.
Substrate The surface to which a label is applied; adherent. Converters also refer to the face stock being printed as the substrate.
Subsurface Printing Printing the underside of a transparent film. Ultimately the ink will be sandwiched between the film that was printed and the film or surface to which it is applied.
Sunlight Resistance The ability of a material to resist the deteriorating effects of sunlight especially those wavelengths in the ultraviolet and the infrared ends of the spectrum.
Sunlight Resistant Adhesive An adhesive which contains an inhibitor to resist destruction by ultraviolet rays.
Surface Preparation The physical and chemical methods used to prepare a surface for further processing.
Surface Resistivity The electrical resistance of a material between the two opposite points of a unit of its surface.
Surface Tension The property, due to molecular forces, by which all liquids through contraction of the surface, tend to bring the contained volume into a form having the least area. If an ink is to be compatible with a substrate, the surfae tension of the ink must approximate that of the substrate.
Surface Treating See primer, sizing, corona discharge.
Surfactants A coined word used in industry to include all surface active agents.
Symbol Length The length of a symbol measured from the beginning of the quiet area adjacent to the start character to the end of the quiet area adjacent to the stop character.
Synthetic Resin Resins prepared by chemical means.
Synthetic Rubber Elastomer manufactured by a chemical process as distinguished from natural rubber obtained from trees.
Synthetics Those materials developed and manufactured through chemistry, which tend to replace natural materials.
Tack Range The time during which an adhesive remains tacky.
Tackifier An additive used to improve the stickiness or tack of an adhesive.
Tackiness The stickiness of the adhesive.
Tag Label Labels on heavy paper or tag stock with die cut holes so labels can be folded over a packaging material as in a header or hanger label.
Tags Any identification that is only partially affixed to the product/item. System tags: converted through roll-fed production equipment. Merchandise tags: converted through narrow web roll-fed production equipment.
Tamper-Evident Label A pressure sensitive construction made of materials which will partially destruct, indicating that a package, label or container has been tampered with.
Tamperproof Destructible. A pressure sensitive material which cannot be removed intact from a substrate thus making reuse of the label impossible.
Tape A single faced, self-wound, adhesive coated substrate wound on spools for consumer use.
TAPPI Technical Association of the Paper and Pulp Industry.
Tarnishproof Label Refers to a pressure sensitive label being free of substances that will discolor or blemish copper or silver.
Tear Strength Force required to tear a specimen under standardized conditions, with an instrument designed to measure force required, by simulating use conditions under which tearing might be accomplished.
Tear Tab An additional area of face stock attached by the release liner to a pressure sensitivwe label produced in single form to facilitate removal of the release liner.
Tedlar DuPont's trademark for bi-axially oriented polyvinyl fluoride. One of the most durable, chemical-resistant, protective films.
Teeth Per Inch (TPI) Denotes the number of cuts per inch in a perforation blade.
Telescoping Transverse slipping of a successive winds of a roll of material so that the edge is conical rather than flat.
Tensile Strength The force parallel to the plane of the specimen required to break a given width and length of stock under specified conditions.
Tension The mechanical control of unwinding or rewinding paper, film, foil and other roll materials. The stress caused by a force operating to extend, stretch or pull apart.
Tension Release Loss of tension within a roll of material, usually occurs when there is an actual shrinkage of the adhesive. Once this happens, register control is not possible and the roll must be rewound to re-establish tension.
Therimage A method of container decoration that utilizes pressure and heat to transfer the image from a carrier to the surface of a container.
Thermal Refers to the use of heat in any process.
Thermal Proof A computer generated color proof utilizing coarse screens, etc. to simulate a finished design. Not usable as artwork.
Thermal Transfer Paper A face paper specifically designed to accept heat activated ink from the ribbon of a thermal transfer printer.
Thermographic A printing method utilizing heat to achieve an image.
Thermographic Paper A label paper having a heat activated coating that will accept an image from a thermal graphic printer.
Thermoset The property of an adhesive normally fluid to set or become rigid and non-meltable when heated.
Thickness Distrance from one surface of either tape, label or adhesive to the other, usually expressed in mils, or thousandths of an inch. This is normally measured under slight pressure with a special gauge.
Thixotropic Describes materials which exhibit thixotropy.
Thixotropy The ability of gel like liquids to 'thin out' when under shear forces or when agitated.
Thread In a press or coating machine, the routing of a web between the various rollers or other parts of the machine (or thread-up).
Tie A term used to denote the uncut portion of a perforation.
Tie Coat One layer of a coating used to improve the adhesion of a succeeding coating.
Tight Release The level of adhesion between the release liner and the adhesive on a pressure sensitive material, when the liner is difficult to remove.
Tints Even tone areas (strengths) of a solid color.
TLMI Tag and Label manufacturers Institute, Inc. A group of tag and label manufacturers and suppliers in North America whose purpose is to provide a forum for the exchange of ideas, information and education for those engaged in the manufacture of tag and label products.
Tolerance A specified range that products must fall within.
Tooling Usually refers to die cutters, butt cutters, etc., used to cut out the labels.
Tooth Count Refers to the actual number of teeth there are on the gear which is attached to the dies and printing cylinders. Each tooth count refers to a separate and actual repeat length.
Top Lamination See overlaminating.
Topcoat A surface treatment or coating on a material which enhances ink receptivity. Sometimes refers to a protective coating.
Torsion Stress caused by twisting a material.
Toxicity The degree of intensity of virulence of a substrance judged to be injurious to living tissue; poisonous.
Tracking The manner in which a web travels through rotary equipment.
Tractor Feed See pin feed.
Transfer Adhesive Sandwich Pressure sensitive adhesive coated between two release liners with a release differential, so that the release liners can be peeled away successively, in order that the adhesive alone can be applied to a substrate.
Transfer Roll Plain or engraved roll rotating in contact with another plain roll or doctor blade transferring variable amounts of ink in a flexographic inking system.
Transfer Tape A pressure sensitive adhesive, unsupported, applied to a two-side differentially release coated liner.
Translucency Ability to transmit light without being transparent.
Translucent Transmitting light in a diffuse manner so that objects beyond cannot be clearly distringuished; partly transparent.
Transparency Color or monochrome photographic positive on a transparent base. Also, that property of a material which transmits light rays so that objects can be distinctly seen through it.
Transparent Transmitting light without appreciable scattering so that objects beyond are clearly distinguishable.
Transparent Label A pressure sensitive label whose face material, adhesive and protective coatings, transmit light so that objects can be seen through it.
Transverse Direction The direction of a base stock from left to right, from side to side, as opposed to the web direction; cross direction.
Trapping The overlapping of various colors in a design to prevent their separating and not touching as a result of registration variables during printing. The condition of printing ink on ink, making sure the first-down ink is dry when the next one is printed over it to properly hide the first down color.
Trim The normal edge waste from a master roll.
Trim Marks In printing, marks placed on the copy to indicate the edge of the label where it will be cut. See crop marks.
Tunnel The compartment through which the web passes for drying after printing.
Tunneling A condition caused by incomplete bonding of laminates, characterized by release of longitudinal portions of the substrate and deformation of these portions to form tunnel-like structures.
Turning Bars An arrangement of stationary bars on a press, which guide the web in such a manner that it is turned front to back, and will be printed on the reverse side by the printing units located subsequenty to the turning bars.
Tyvek DuPont's trademark for spun bonded polyolefin material frequently used as a face stock where very high tensile strength is required.
UL Underwriters Laboratories
Ultimate Adhesion The maximum adhesion possible from a pressure sensitive adhesive.
Ultimate Strength The maximum stress a material is capable of withstanding under specified load or tension.
Ultraviolet Zone of invisible radiations beyond the violet end of the spectrum of visible radiations. Since UV wave lengths are shorter than the visible, their photons have more energy, enough to initiate some chemical reactions. Radiation from a source such as a high-intensity mercury vapor tube emitting light in the 315 to 400 millimicron range.
Unbleached A term applied to paper or pulp which has not been treated with bleaching agents.
Under Cure Degree of cure less than optimum. May be evidenced by tackiness, softness, off-color or inferior physical properties of a coating.
Undercut Anvil Die station base roll that has had the 'bearer' area diameter reduced in order to allow the blades of a rotary die to cut deeper than was originally intended. Stepped anvil.
Undercut Plate Cylinder See plate cylinder.
Under-Run Production or delivery of labels which is less than the quantity specified in an order.
Unwind Mandrel and brake device from which a roll is unwound and fed into a web press.
Unwind Adhesion The force required to unwind self-wound laminating film from a roll under prescribed conditions.
UPS Symbols See bar codes.
UV The part of the spectrum wherein the wavelength of light is shorter than that of visible light.
UV Curing A system which uses ultraviolet rays to affect a curing process.
UV Inhibitor An additive that increases resistance to degradation caused by UV light.
UV Ink Solventless, 100% solids ink that is cured by ultraviolet radiation.
UV Resistance The ability of any material to withstand extended exposure to sunlight without degradation, hardening or excessive discoloration.
UV Stabilizer Any chemical compound which, when mixed with a thermoplastic resin, selectively absorbs UV rays.
UV Varnish Lacquer or varnish usually applied over the printed web used as a protective layer that is cured by exposure to a high intensity ultraviolet light source (100% solids).
Varnish A thin, clear coating of mixtures of natural and synthetic resins and drying oils applied to a printed web for protection or appearance. In inkmaking, it can be part of the ink's vehicle or carrier.
Vehicle In printing inks, the fluid component which serves as the dispersant for the pigment and gives the ink flow (carrier).
Vignette An illustration in which the background fades gradually until it blends into the unpritned area.
Vinyl Synthetic plastic products which can be made in film, sheet or other forms. Vinyls can be manufactured in rigid or flexible constructions. Generally more flexible and formable than polyesters. Also known as PVC or polyvinyl chloride. A tough, durable plastic film having excellent resistance to oils, chemicals and many solvents. It has excellent abrasion-resistance. It can also be colored. Its high stretch is due to the addition of a plasticizer.
Viscosimeter An instrument for measuring the viscosity or resistance to flow.
Viscosity Resistance to flow. It is related to the properties of tack and yield value; the flow rate.
Void An area of a coated film which does not have the coating. An adhesive skip; adhesive void.
Vulcanizing Cross linking an adhesive substance by the application of heat and catalysts.
Wand Scanner See light pen.
Warm Color A color that appears to be on the reddish side.
Washup The step in press make-ready of cleaning the rollers, plates and sometimes the ink fountains of a printing press.
Waste See matrix.
Water Soluble Adhesive A pressure sensitive adhesive in which all components are water soluble.
Waterborne Adhesive A dispersion of fine particles in another liquid. Many pressure sensitive adhesives are waterborne or emulsion systems.
Weatherability Ability of the label to withstand the effects of outdoor weathering, including time.
Weatherometer A testing machine designed for evaluating the ability of a pressure sensitive label to withstand various simulated weather conditions.
Weaving A poorly wound roll of labels (or other material) in which the individual layers of the labels are not in proper alignment with the other layers.
Web The paper, foil, film or other flexible material, from a roll, as it moves through the machine in the process of being formed or in the process of being converted, printed, etc.
Web Direction See machine direction.
Web Guide Device which keeps the web traveling straight and true through the press.
Web Press A press which prints from rolls (or webs) of material.
Web Tension The amount of pull or tension applied in the direction of travel of a web of paper through a web press.
Wet Strength The tensile strength of paper when it is wetted after manufacture.
Wetting The relative ability of a liquid adhesive to display interfacial affinity for an adherent and to flow uniformly over the adherent surface.
Wetting Agent A preparation usually added to aqueous solutions to facilitate their spreading or increase their ability to evenly wet or penetrate a surface.
Whip See bounce.
Wicking Tendency of a liquid to 'travel' through paper. Refers to absorption of moisture into paper through the raw edge.
Wrap-Around Label Label that extends completely around bottle or can and overlaps itself.
Wrinkles Small creases or folds in a smooth surface.
Xenergy Term used to describe a radiation curing process for silicone coatings.
Xerography A method of printing in which negatively charged ink powder is attracted to a positively charged metal plate, from which it is transferred to the printing surface by electrostatic attraction.
Yellowing A change manifested by a gradual color change in the original appearance of a pressure sensitive face paper, characterized by the development of yellowish and brownish hues.
Yield Number of square inches of film (or paper) per pound of product per mil.
Zahn Cup A device for measuring viscosity.
Zig Zag Fold Same as fan fold.
Zone Release Coating (Liner) Term refers to a liner and face stock which are permanently bonded with only the label portion capable of being removed from the liner.