Acetate: A clear film used for silk-screening. Once
embedded, the film turns clear seems to be floating 3
dimensionally within acrylic piece.
Artwork: Any non-typeset drawing, photo, illustration, or
lettering to be printed and used in or on product.
Autoclave: A sealed oven with thick walls used for making
chemical reactions under high pressure. Regular curing time for
acrylic is 12 hours.
Bleed: Illustration or printed matter that extends over crop
marks.
Camera-Ready Art: Any drawing, photo, illustration or lettering
that is suitable to withstand photographic reproduction.
Casting: A mold, which may be either cardboard or metal, is
built according to desired shape. Acrylic resin powder and
crystal-clear liquid are mixed to produce a thick, opaque
liquid, called "slurry". First layer of slurry is poured into
mold and embedment is glued onto partially-set layer. Final
layer of slurry is poured over embedment to fill mold.
Color Filling: The process through which ink is used to add
color to laser-engraved text. However, the choice of standard
colors is limited to red, white, metallic silver, gold, gray,
copper, and a deep blue.
Color Separation: The separation of multicolored art by camera
or laser-scan technique. Each film corresponds to one printing
color.
Crop Mark: A marking placed on artwork to show where an
illustration is to be cut.
Cropping: The process of removing an unnecessary portion of a
picture, illustration, or photograph.
Curing: The process in which mold is placed in autoclave to be
cured at approximately 150F under pressure.
Cutting Die: A tool with very sharp edges used to cut a specific
shape from printed paper. This tool is used for the production
of dimensional decals. Deal Toy: An acrylic piece with artwork embedded
inside used for commemorating a financial transaction, for
example, a merger, acquisition, or issue of shares.
Die-Cutting: To cut a specific shape from printed paper using a
Cutting Die.
Double Cast: This type of casting is performed for various
applications, such as those requiring copy to show on three or
more sides of piece.
D.P.I.: Dots per Inch. Unit of measure used for the resolution
of a picture.
Drop Shipping: Blind Shipping of merchandise from the
manufacturer to the end-user to save time, rather than to the
distributor, who would have to forward it to the end-user.
Electronic Artwork: Artwork created using computer software.
File Format: Manner by which data is arranged or coded in
different programs or computers, for instance, AI, EPS, CDR,
JPG, or PDF.
Financial Tombstone: An acrylic piece with artwork embedded
inside used for commemorating a financial transaction, for
example, a merger, acquisition, or issue of shares.
Font: Letters, numbers, punctuation, and special characters of a
particular typeface available in typesetting.
Four-Color Process Printing: Color process technique by which
four solid colors -- cyan, magenta, yellow, and black - are
blended together in a microdot pattern to produce a full color
picture that can be similar to a photograph.
Halftone: Screened reproduction of an original made up of dots
varying in size to create the illusion of a variation in tone.
Can be done in various colors.
JPEG: Standard format used for files containing high-resolution
color images.
Laser Engraving: An imprinting method by which electronic
artwork is etched into acrylic surface by a laser beam.
Laser Cutout: Various patterns can be cut out of Acrylic by, a
laser and used as embedments. Many colors are available.
Logo: A drawing, illustration, symbol, abbreviation, lettering
style, or word that is legally registered by a company and used
for identification purposes. Also known as "trademark".
Lucite:
Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) or poly(methyl
2-methylpropenoate) is the synthetic polymer of methyl
methacrylate. This thermoplastic and transparent plastic is sold
by the tradenames Plexiglas, Perspex, Acrylite, Acrylplast, and
Lucite and is commonly called acrylic glass or simply acrylic.
The material was developed in 1928 in various laboratories and
was brought to market in 1933 by the German Company Rohm and
Haas (GmbH & Co. KG).
L.P.I.: Lines Per Inch. Number of lines of dots in one linear
inch.
Metal Casting: Miniature metal figurine with a gold or silver
color finish used as an embedment for an acrylic piece.
Negative: In photography, film with an image having density
values opposite those of the original.
Offset Printing: A mechanical printing process where a positive
image is transferred from machine to the paper.
Overrun: Quantity produced in excess of original order. The
coated paper standard practice in the industry allows a +5%
margin for overruns.
Paper Insert: A white piece of cardboard used as an embedment
with printing on one or both sides.
Paper Proof: A printed version of a document for approval for
size, text and color prior to printing.
Personalize: Recipient's name on product.
PMS: Pantone Matching System. Trademark of a color scale
commonly used for matching colors for printing. Each color has a
coded number, which gives measurements for mixing inks to
achieve color match.
Positive: Image reproduction with the same density values as the
original.
Pre-Production Sample: A sample of the finished product for
approval to begin production of order.
Random Sample: A piece that was previously produced in excess of
the quantity ordered by a customer
Scanning: Digitizing a document and converting it into an image
using dots in order to enable its electronic use.
Screen-printing: Printing method by which image is transferred
to surface by squeegeeing ink through a screen. The, screens are
treated with a light-sensitive emulsion. Then, film positives
are put in contact with screens and exposed to light, which
hardens emulsion not covered by film, leaving a soft area on
screen for squeegeed ink to be forced through. Also referred to
as, "silk-screening".
Trapping: Overlapping of colors to remove gaps during printing.
Trim Line: Line on artwork used where to the waste on a printed
paper.
Under run: Number of products manufactured is less than the
number ordered. A standard practice in the industry is to allow
a -5% margin for under runs.
Also see the Acrylics,
Embedments & Awards FAQ |
