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
UL: Underwriters Laboratories.
Ultimate Adhesion: The resistance to removal of a label after adhesion has been allowed to build for a period of time. The time required to reach ultimate adhesion varies with the adhesive, substrate and labeling conditions, but is approximately 24 hours.
Ultra-Violet Resistance (UV): The ability of a material to withstand extended exposure to sunlight (ultra-violet) without degradation, hardening, or excessive discoloration.
Unbleached: A term applied to paper or pulp which has not been treated with bleaching agents.
Undercut Plate Cylinder: See plate cylinder.
Under Run: Production of fewer copies than ordered. See over run.
Up: Printing two or three up means printing multiple copies of the same image on the same sheet.
UV Coating: Liquid laminate bonded and cured with ultraviolet light. Environmentally friendly.
Varnish: A clear liquid applied to printed surfaces for looks and protection. (UV coating looks better.)
Verso: The left hand page of an open book.
Vignette Halftone: A halftone whose background gradually fades to white.
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, and can also be colored. Its high stretch is due to the addition of plasticizer.
Washup: Removing printing ink from a press, washing the rollers and blanket. Certain ink colors require multiple washups to avoid ink and chemical contamination.
Waste: A term for planned spoilage.
Watermark: A distinctive design created in paper at the time of manufacture that can be easily seen by holding the paper up to a light.
Weatherability: Capability of a label to withstand the effects of outdoor conditions such as sunlight, heat, cold, humidity, rain, snow, and time.
Web: The paper, foil, film or other flexible material, from a roll, that moves through the machine in the process of being formed, converted, printed, etc.
Web Direction: See machine direction.
Web Press: The name of a type of presses that print from rolls of paper.
Web Tension: The amount of pull or tension applied in the direction of travel of a web of paper through a web press.
Wire O: A bindery trade name for mechanical binding using double loops of wire through a hole.
Wire-O Binding: A method of wire binding books along the binding edge that will allow the book to lay flat using double loops.
With The Grain: Folding or feeding paper into the press or folder parallel to the grain of the paper.
Work and Tumble: Printing one side of a sheet and turning it over from the gripper to the tail to print the second side using the same side guide and plate for the second side.
Work and Turn: Printing one side of a sheet and turning it over from left to right ussing the same side guides and plate for the second side.
Wove Paper: A paper having a uniform unlined surface with a smooth finish.
Wrap Around Label: Label that extends completely around the labeled surface.
Yellowing: Gradual color change in the original appearance of a P.S. label, characterized by the development of yellowish and brownish hues.