Glossary

Acetate : A clear film used for silkscreening. Once embedded, the film turns clear causing the illusion that it is floating 3 dimensionally within the 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 then mixed to produce a thick, opaque liquid, called "slurry". The First layer of slurry is poured into mold and embedment is glued onto partially-set layer. A 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 multi-colored 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 a mold is placed in an autoclave to be cured at approximately 150°F 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.

Die-Cutting : To cut a specific shape from printed paperusing a Cutting Die.

Double Cast : This type of casting is performed for various applications, such as those requiring a 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 that is 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 an acrylic surface by a laser beam.

Laser Cutout : Various patterns can be cut out of Acrylic by a laser and then 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 a "trademark."

L.P.I. : Lines Per Inch. Number of lines of dots in one linear inch.

Metal Casting : Miniature metal figurines with a gold or silver color finish used as an embedment for an acrylic piece.

Negative : In photography when a 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 of 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.

Screenprinting : Printing method by which an image is transferred to a surface by squeegeeing ink through a screen. The screens are treated with a light-sensitive emulsion. Next the film positives are put in contact with screens and exposed to light, which hardens emulsion not covered by film, leaving a soft area on the screen for squeegeed ink to be forced through. This is also referred to as "silkscreening."

Trapping : Overlapping of colors to remove gaps during printing.

Trim Line : Line on artwork used mark where the waste areo on a printed paper is.

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.