Label Printing and Printers Glossary
The wholesale label printing glossary resource for all of your questions.
A - D E - H I - L M - P Q - T U - Z All
ID: Inside diameter.
Idler Rolls: Roller mechanisms on converting machines used to support, smooth or direct the web in its course of travel through a machine. Not driven.
Image Area: Portion of paper on which ink can appear.
Impact Printing: Any printing system where microprocessor-controlled hammer impacts against a ribbon and a substrate.
Imposition: Positioning printed pages so they will fold in the proper order.
Impression: Putting an image on paper.
Impression Cylinder: In printing, the cylinder on a printing press over which the material feeds to pick up the impression from the inked plate.
Imprint: Adding copy to a previously printed page.
Imprinting: Technique which applies variable copy to blank or pre-printed labels with a secondary device.
Indicia: Postal information place on a printed product.
Ink Fountain: The reservoir on a printing press that hold the ink.
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: Special type of labels which are pre-applied to plastic bottles during the blow-molding operation.
Infeed Nip: A mechanism designed to control the forward travel of the web into the press.
Infrared: The band of light wavelengths too long to be seen by the human eye. Represented by waves that are between 750 and 4 million nanometers.
Ink Jet: A method of printing using liquid ink projected a drop at a time against a substrate.
Interleaved Bar Code: A bar code in which characters are paired using bars to represent the first character and spaces to represent the second.
Journals: The end shafts on which a roll rotates, usually within the needle bearing or busing of a die block.
Key Mark or Trigger: A code bit(s) that tells the scanner if the code is in a position to be read; used with some fixed beam readers.
Keylines: Lines on mechanical art that show position of photographs or illustrations.
Kiss Die Cut: To cut the top layer of a pressure sensitive sheet and not the backing.
Knock Out: To mask out an image.
Label: The functional portion of a pressure-sensitive construction compromising the face material and adhesive, die cut into various shapes.
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.
Laid Finish: Simulating the surface of handmade paper.
Laminant: An adhesive for combining and bonding a combination of films, foils, plastics, papers or other materials. Pressure-sensitive constructions are often called laminants.
Laminate: To cover with film, to bond or glue one surface to 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.
Laser Paper: Paper suitable to accept laser printing.
Laser Scanner: An optical bar code reading device that uses a low energy laser light beam to illuminate the code.
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 where a preformed web of absorbent fiber is saturated with properly compounded latex. The papers are characterized by strength, folding endurance, resistance to penetration by water, flexibility, durability and resistance to abrasion.
Layflat: 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 (stay flat).
Legging: The stringing out of a P.S. adhesive. This can occur when the label is being removed from a substrate or release liner or when the matrix is being removed during die cutting and stripping.
Letterpress Printing: Printing process in which ink is applied to a surface from raised portions of rigid printing plates or type.
Lexan: General Electric Company's trademark for polycarbonate film.
Lift Tab: Ungummed edge of a label designed to make removal from the release liner easier. Sometimes used with order picking labels.
Line Copy: High contrast copy not requiring a halftone.
Lines Per Inch: The number of rows of dots per inch in a halftone.
Lithographic Paper: A paper coated on at least one side, suitably prepared for lithographic printing.
Loupe: A magnifying glass used to review a printed image, plate and position film.