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.
  • Imperial fluid ounce
    A unit of measure of capacity equal to 1/40th of an imperial quart or 1,0408 fluid ounces, US.
  • Imperial gallon (imp gal)
    A unit of volume in the British Imperial System used in liquid and dry measure equal to 4,546 liters.
  • Imperial quart
    A unit of volume or capacity equal to 40 Imperial fluid ounces, 1/4 Imperial gallon, 69.35 cubic inches or 1.2 quarts, US.
  • Inks and Matched Component Systems

    Matched Components

    Solvent and UV curable inks will generally have about the same life span for a vehicle or fleet application, when you use a matched over laminate protection system. The company 3M does make inks for solvent, latex and UV curable inkjet printers that are known as MCS, or Matched Component System inks. When products are manufactured using 3M media, inks and over laminates, they are then eligible to be covered under the 3M™ MCS™ Warranty for up to 5 years of coverage. You can look up the specifics of the program at the 3M graphics site. And yes, there are clients that specify jobs that must be covered by this program, so you must have all of the necessary ingredients to be able to bid on these projects. [[{"fid":"1003","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"}}]]
  • Instrument metamerism
    The phenomenon in a scanner where two colors that look the same to an observer look different to the scanner, or two colors that look different to an observer look the same to the scanner.
  • Intercoat adhesion
    1) The ability of inks and coatings to adhere to one another 2) The ability of an ink or coating to maintain its integrity without separating or layering.
  • International paper size
    Common paper sizes in Europe and Japan — A3 297 x 420 mm (11.7 x 16.5 in), A4 210 x 297 mm (8.3 x 11.7 in), A5 148 x 210 (5.8 x 8.3 in), B4 250 x 353 mm (10.1 x 14.3 in), B5 176 x 250 (7.2 x 10.1 in), B6 125 x 176 mm (5.0 x 7.2 in).
  • Introduction to Offset Pad Printing
    Understanding the pad printing process is rather difficult for most people. Everyone has heard of it but nobody knows exactly what it means or how it works. The great advantage of offset pad printing relies on the fact that, next to the printing of flat objects, odd shaped objects can also be printed on.