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.
  • Balance
    (1) A device for weighing material in the preparation of processing compounds and solutions; (2) Harmony and equilibrium of graphic elements due to placement.
  • Ball mill (mill) (paint mill) (pebble mill)
    A rotating cylinder containing smooth pebbles, porcelain balls, or steel balls in which organic pigment or inorganic ceramic material is ground in either a wet or dry state.
  • Ballast
    A step up transformer with a range of capacitors for regulating line voltage to a lamp housing.
  • Balopticon
    A projector used to project an image onto a drawing surface to enlarge or reduce photos, sketches, or drawings.
  • Balsam (copaiba)
    A natural resinous liquid used as a color vehicle.
  • Banding
    (1) Application of banded decoration to glass or ceramic items with a banding wheel; (2) Undesirable harsh, well defined transitions on a print.
  • Bandwidth
    The range of wavelengths between two identified limits, expressed in the same units as wavelength (nm).
  • Banned heavy salts
    Metal substances that are controlled by government restrictions (US) such as chrome, lead, arsenic, selenium, and antimony.
  • Banner
    A sign made of fabric, plastic, or other non-rigid material that has no enclosed framework.
  • Banner Applications

    Banner Applications

    Virtually anywhere and everywhere...
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  • Banner Media

    Digital Banner Media

    Digital media for banner production can be any one of a number of materials in the market place. Banners can typically be broken down into two categories; those that will live indoors and the banners that will be outdoors in the environment. Indoor banners typically require less protection and can be made of materials that might be unsuitable for an outdoor environment. There are a myriad of media for outdoors depending on the location and duration of the project. Solvent, latex and UV curable inks need not be laminated or protected for outdoor use, but doing so will add to the durability and cost of the project. Check with the manufacturer about a materials durability and longevity under the conditions your customer has in mind. Engineering digital products takes some consideration and sometimes testing to insure products can go the distance. Don’t be afraid to make some test banners to put them outside for testing purposes. [[{"fid":"911","view_mode":"default","fields":{"format":"default","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":""},"type":"media","attributes":{"class":"media-element file-default"}}]]
  • Banner Production
    Banners can be made with digitally cut self-adhesive vinyl or by digital printing directly onto banner materials with aqueous, solvent, UV or latex ink systems. Whether you cut or print, you will first need to start with a design and graphic design software. The feature list in your software can sometimes make or break your designs, so limiting yourself to inexpensive software can hurt your competitiveness. Standard software packages like Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop, CorelDRAW or FlexiSIGN will enable you to create distinguishing projects that sell banners and work well for your clients. You will need a modestly powerful computer to design with and usually another one to drive the cutters and printers with special RIP (raster image processor) software or cutting/printing software.
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    Plotters and printers:

    If you’re going to create vinyl-decorated banners, you’ll need a commercial grade vinyl cutter with good tracking. There are many such cutters in the marketplace with varying widths and feature sets, including the ability to vary cut force and speed. These are ideal because of their precision and media handling. Most entry-level cutters are fine for small decals, but don’t cut accurately beyond 8 – 10 feet. Ask about tracking before you choose a cutter to ensure that it will deliver accuracy for the lengths you require. Ten feet might seem silly, but pin striping a recreational vehicle is at least ten feet, maybe twenty+, so think about your possible future products, not just the common ones.   The alternative to cut vinyl lettering is to digitally print your banner.  Digitally printed banners are the de facto standard in the market place. With the prices for entry level digital printers at their lowest in years, there’s no excuse to own a sign shop and not have one. Banners can be produced with every ink type that digital printers typically are using, but the materials used must be compatible with the ink set in the printer. Water based inks need coated media, solvent printers typically do not need coated media, nor do UV curable or latex inks. When in doubt, check with the media manufacturer about an inks compatibility and longevity with the media in question. There are a myriad of choices in the digital printer world and your choice will depend on your products size and your business production needs.   Printers can be purchased that have basic ink sets of CMYK or extended ink sets that have light cyan, light magenta, light blacks, metallic silver and white. The majority of printers that one would consider for banner printing start at the 30” (762 mm) width mark, but can go all the way up to the maximum width of 5 meters (196.8”) in width. One of the lesser-known advantages of going wide is the ability to print multiple narrower rolls across the media width (each roll is a different job). This alone will increase productivity for narrower jobs and provide capability for wide material printing. Currently latex printers stop at the 126” (3200 mm) width, but both solvent and UV curable devices are available up to the maximum 5-meter width.
  • Banners
    Banner - A long strip of cloth bearing a slogan or design hung in a public place or carried in a demonstration or procession. That’s the definition of banner; before it morphed into a multifunctional digitally printed graphic message. Banners are big business for digital printers and sign shops in general. It’s estimated that 40%-50% of a sign shop’s profits come from banners. So, they’re not only popular, but they are easy to produce and profitable. The market for banners is deep and wide. You can sell in high volume to retail stores, and in lower volume to a wide variety of secondary markets including schools, municipalities, and individuals. Banners range in size and type, from extremely large to small, with mounting systems or grommets for hanging, horizontal or vertical. Learning to make, sell, and install banners correctly is an important step to becoming a lucrative sign professional. This basic guide to banner making which will give you an overview of the equipment, tools and supplies needed, display options, and a few tips. Let’s start with the basic equipment list.
  • Bar
    A standard unit of pressure equal to 105 newtons per square meter or 0.98697 standard atmosphere.
  • Barcol hardness
    A hardness value obtained by measuring the resistance to penetration of a sharp steel point under a spring load, gives direct readings on a 0 to 100 scale; also refer to Shore hardness.
  • Barium crown glass
    An optical glass containing soda (Na2O), lime (CaO), and silica (silicon dioxide) composites.
  • Barium flint glass
    An optical glass containing 45 to 65% lead oxide.
  • Barium oxide
    Derived from BaCO3 (witherite) used principally in optical and crystal glass instead of lime or red lead.
  • Barre
    A stripe-like pattern in woven fabric, parallel to the weft threads, and usually caused by dye differences in the fibers or physical differences in thread geometry.
  • Barrel distortion
    Image effect that spreads the center dimensions of the picture.
  • Barrier coat (primer) (sealer coat)
    A coating applied to face material to provide increased opacity to the face material and/or to prevent migration between adhesive and face material and to improve anchorage of adhesives to face material.
  • Barrier tape
    Reflective pressure sensitive strips printed with diagonal strips of red transparent ink for application to rear/side of a vehicle or to a street barrier, warning, or safety signal.
  • Barytes
    A colorless crystalline mineral of barium sulfate used as an ink pigment, extender, or filler.
  • Base
    (1) A firm, true surface on which the substrate is placed for printing; (2) A modifying additive for screen printing inks; an unpigmented ink or adhesive; refer to extender base and transparent base; (3) A specific type of resin that determines the character of the ink such as acrylic base, oil base, synthetic base, and vinyl base.
  • Base alignment
    The positioning of type with relation to the same base line, also refer to baseline.