In the United States and Canada, the weight, in pounds, of a ream (500 sheets) of paper cut to the basic size. Also called ream weight and substance weight (sub weight). In countries using ISO paper sizes, the weight, in grams of one square meter of paper. Also called grammage and ream weight.

General term for paper over 110# index, 80# cover or 200 gsm that is commonly used for products such as file folders, displays and post cards. Also called paperboard.

Category of paper commonly used for writing, printing and photocopying. Also called business paper, communication paper, correspondence paper and writing paper.

Category of paper suitable for books, magazines, catalogs, advertising and general printing needs. Book paper is divided into uncoated paper (also called offset paper), coated paper (also called art paper, enamel paper, gloss paper and slick paper) and text paper.

(1) Thickness of paper or other substrate expressed in thousandths of an inch (mils or points), pages per inch (ppi), thousandths of a millimeter (microns) or pages per centimeter (ppc). (2) Device on a sheetfed press that detects double sheets or on a binding machine that detects missing signatures or inserts.

High gloss, coated paper made by pressing the paper against a polished, hot, metal drum while the coating is still wet.

Coated paper rated #4 or #5 with basis weight from 35# to 50# (50 to 75 gsm) commonly used for catalogs and magazines.

Paper with a coating in the four major categories cast, gloss, dull and matte.

Business that makes products such as boxes, bags, envelopes and displays.

(1) Regarding ink, the relative thickness of a layer of printed ink. (2) Regarding color, the relative ability of a color to absorb light reflected from it or block light passing through it. (3) Regarding paper, the relative tightness or looseness of fibers.

Device for cutting, scoring, stamping, embossing and debossing.

To cut irregular shapes in paper or paperboard using a die.

A metallic or pigmented coating on plastic sheets or rolls used in foils stamping and foil embossing

Thickness of film.

Thin sheet of plastic bonded to a printed product for protection or increased gloss.

Papers made specifically for writing or commercial printing, as compared to coarse papers and industrial papers. Also called cultural papers and graphic papers.

Costs that remain the same regardless of how many pieces are printed. Copyrighting, photography and design are fixed costs.

Method of printing on a web press using rubber or plastic plates with raised images. Also called aniline printing because flexographic inks originally used aniline dyes. Abbreviated flexo.

Method of printing that releases foil from its backing when stamped with the heated die. Also called block print, hot foil stamp and stamp.

Strong paper used for wrapping and to make grocery bags and large envelopes.

To cut the top layer of a pressure sensitive sheet and not the backing

Any kind of tag attached with adhesive to something so as to identify the object or its contents. Labels come in many forms and can be differentiated by the type of base material, called stock, that they are printed on, and by the adhesive type that they use. The most common type is made with a paper stock and a colloquial term for it is a sticker. Labels have many uses, from product identification to name tags. Special types of labels called digital labels (printed through a digital process) can also have special applications such as RFID tags, security inks, and sandwich process labels.

A thin transparent plastic sheet (coating) applied to usually a thick stock (covers, post cards, etc.) providing protection against liquid and heavy use, and usually accents existing color, providing a glossy (or lens) effect.

(1) All activities required to prepare a press or other machine to function for a specific printing or bindery job, as compared to production run. Also called setup. (2) Paper used in the makeready process at any stage in production. Makeready paper is part of waste or spoilage.

The thickness of plastic films as printing substrates are expressed in mils.

The use of air to move material from one place to another.

(1) Amount of time that one printing job spends on press, including time required for makeready. (2) Time of day at which a printing job goes on press.

It is called pressure sensitive because when the adhesive comes in contact with a surface and pressure is applied to the label, the adhesive will allow the facestock to stick

Paper material with self sticking adhesive covered by a backing sheet.

Press run intended to manufacture products as specified, as compared to makeready

Charges that are directly related to the cost of production, generally figured on per M basis. It can include materials, press time, other machine operations and miscellaneous labor.

Binding a booklet or magazine with staples in the seam where it folds.

Paper that, due to mistakes or accidents, must be thrown away instead of delivered printed to the customer, as compared to waste. Planned paper waste for all printing operations.

Any surface on which printing is done.

Grade of dense, strong paper used for products such as badges and file folders.

1. The process of cutting the product to its finished size. The excess that is cut off is also referred to as the trim. 2. Combining various roll sizes to be slit from a full width roll from the paper machine so that an acceptable percentage of the salable width will be used.

Unusable paper or paper damage during normal makeready, printing or binding operations, as compared to spoilage. A term for planned spoilage

A roll of printing paper.