Glossary

The PRINTING United Alliance Glossary serves as an excellent industry terminology resource. It is the language by which we all communicate. Without it, universal understanding would be impossible.

To keep our constituents well informed about changes to the increasingly complex industry terminology, PRINTING United Alliance has developed this glossary of terms. Definitions are for general reference only. Usage may vary between companies, individuals, or national and country customs. The information presented is as accurate as the authors and editors can ascertain and PRINTING United Alliance assumes no responsibility for the use of information presented herein.
  • Rigid PVC
    Polyvinyl chloride or polyvinyl chloride/acetate with a relatively high degree of hardness or resistance to bending or flexing.
  • Rigidsol
    A plastisol having a high modulus of elasticity.
  • Ringer
    A t-shirt, usually white bodied, with contrasting ribbed neck and sleeve bands.
  • Ring-spun yarn
    Twisted strands of natural or synthetic material produced on ring-frame equipment (a finer yarn than open-end yarn).
  • Ripple finish
    An irregular paper finish of undulations or waves formed by an embossing process.
  • Risk
    A relative term, referring to the expected probability of adverse effects from exposure to a substance or process.
  • Robot (industrial)
    A programmable, multifunctional machine designed to perform specific, repetitive tasks.
  • Robotics
    A mechanical computer controlled apparatus that resembles a human being and is capable of performing human task; the act of using robots.
  • Rockwell hardness number
    Number derived from the net increase in depth of impression as the load on a penetrator (steel ball or diamond cone) is increased from a fixed minimum load to a higher load and then returned to minimum load.
  • Roll fed
    A printing press or converting machine that receives substrate as a continuous web.
  • Roll label
    Labels produced on continuous strips and packaged in continuous roll form.
  • Roll out
    Ink spread on a surface by hand roller or brayer for testing purposes.
  • Roller coater (roll coater)
    A machine designed for solidly coating sheet material by means of a series of rubber or steel rollers.
  • Roller frame
    A screen frame where the side members roll to tension the mesh.
  • Roller rim punting
    A method of applying color to the rim of an item with a neoprene or steel roller.
  • Room temperature curing adhesive
    Adhesive that sets within an hour at room temperatures from 21° to 30°C (68° to 86°F) and reach full strength without heating.
  • Roomlight film
    Silver based photographic material that can be handled under yellow safelight, tungsten, or fluorescent lighting conditions.
  • Rope and groove
    A screen stretching method that involves a wooden frame where the mesh is held in place by a rope pushed into a deep groove; no longer used in the industry.
  • Rosette
    A pattern formed when halftone color images are printed in register at the correct angle; a sub-image element in four color process that resembles the symmetrical shape of a rose.
  • Rosin
    A natural soft resin obtained after removing turpentine from the sap of a southern pine tree.
  • Rosin oil
    An oil obtained from the destructive distillation of rosin.
  • Rotary load
    Refers to one design of a garment printing device whereby the loading pallet/platen rotates around a central shaft.
  • Rotary screen printing
    The screen printing of roll to roll (web) materials using a semi-rigid cylindrical metal screen that revolves on its axis with a squeegee blade mounted inside the print cylinder.
  • Rotational register
    Registration of a work piece by rotating either the printing screen or the printing base on its center.
  • Rotational viscometry
    A method for measuring the viscosity of a material by sensing the torque required to rotate an immersed spindle at constant speed, where the torque is proportional to the viscous drag on the spindle, and thus to the fluid viscosity.