term paper mill

Essay mills explained: What they are and why you should avoid them

Essays and term papers can be stressful, especially for international students who sometimes doubt their ability to research in depth and write thousands of words in English, all to a tight deadline.  

That’s where essay mills come in, exploiting the fears of students and offering to do the hard work for them in exchange for money. 

But here’s the spoiler alert - you should absolutely avoid essay mills. All the time.

They don’t work for you. They don’t even work for the essay writers themselves, and you should see that as a big warning sign. But more on that below.

What are essay mills? 

Essay mills are pretty straightforward: You pay a company to write your essay for you. The company in turn offloads the essay to a (usually freelance) writer. A couple days or weeks later, and you get your completed essay in return. 

It’s not like a proofreading service, where someone can check your spelling, grammar and citations for a fee (though even those are controversial in universities). No, essay mills offer to write you an entire essay from scratch. 

In other words, they allow students to commit academic fraud. In fact, they exploit the worries and stresses of students and entice them into cheating. They’re considered deeply unethical, and put students themselves at risk of severe punishment if caught. 

Another business model of this kind are essay banks. Here, students can buy essays that have already been written. But there’s a much higher risk of getting caught for plagiarism, since who knows how many hundreds or thousands of people have used that very same essay. 

Are essay mills legal or illegal?

The legality of essay mills depends on where you go to university, but the unethicality is clear no matter the location. Here’s a quick rundown of essay mills’ legal status in popular study abroad countries:  

Anti - essay mill legislation in the UK was passed in the House of Commons in February 2021, and will soon be made law. It’s not totally illegal yet, but it’s just a matter of time. 

The Republic of Ireland has also passed a number of bills to help tackle essay mills, while the practice is totally illegal in Australia and New Zealand. 

As for the USA and Canada, some US states have made them illegal, while Canada is under mounting pressure to follow suit.  

But the content and nuances of these laws changes from place to place. For example, in some US states it’s illegal for the student to use them, whereas the bills in Ireland, the UK, New Zealand and Australia are an attempt to criminalise essay mill companies themselves.

However, when we talk about legality, we’re of course talking about the law. But just because you might not cause a criminal offense by using essay mills, it’s still academic fraud and/or plagiarism. And getting caught for that can come with some dire consequences. 

Long story short, you really shouldn’t use them, regardless of their legality. 

Why you should avoid essay mills

1. if it doesn’t make dollars, it doesn’t make sense.

The writer's pay is awful. I mean really bad. Trust me -- I write for a living, and I’ve seen hundreds of advertisements for essay mill jobs. Every time I see one I can’t believe how little money the writers make for so much time and effort.  

But does this affect you? Totally! Would you care about doing great work if, a) the money was terrible, and b) it wouldn’t take you anywhere in your career? I know I wouldn’t...

Let’s talk about cost and time to put this into some perspective. The price range of essay mills varies wildly depending on the writers they employ. You can pay anywhere between £10-£35 per page. Roll this out over a 10 page essay, and it could be anywhere between £100 and £350 for the final product. But you can also come across offers for much, much less money than this.

While that higher end of £350 might seem like a lot of money, trust me -- it’s really nothing for the amount of research, writing, citations, editing and proofreading required. 

If £100 per day is considered a “just fine but not great” sum of money in the UK, a writer would have to do all the work on your essay in 2.5 days just to make it worthwhile. And they’d have to do it without the subject knowledge that you have. 

2. The writers aren’t subject experts

Think about it: if they were a subject expert, would they really be working for a shady company that facilitates cheating? Not a chance. 

The main point is that these writers are badly underpaid and they’re not experts, therefore they’re putting very little effort or expertise into your essay. They just want to do it as quickly as possible before moving onto the next one. 

3. There’s no guarantee of a good grade

None. Since the writers are underpaid, lack expertise and rush their work, it’s a recipe for a bad final product. Multiple studies have shown that essay mills do mediocre work at best. 

The essay you pay hundreds of pounds for might get you a pass grade, but you could do much better yourself. 

4. The punishment is harsh

Every university has severe laws on plagiarism and academic fraud, which is the exact result of using an essay mill. At its most lenient, a student caught breaking rules on plagiarism will receive no grade at all for the work, but at worst they can be suspended or even expelled from your university.  

But the perfect “crime” goes unnoticed, right? Well, it’s unlikely in this case. 

5. Essay mills and detection services

Most universities use pretty innovative plagiarism detection software these days, which can pick up on any hint of fraudulent work. Thus, the risk of getting caught is very high. And by the time a student does get caught, they’ve already lost their hard earned cash to the essay mill company. 

6. Essay mills don’t care about you

The company doesn’t care about you, and nor does the writer. That’s a pretty bad starting point for doing business! Once they’ve got their money and done their sub-standard work, they can move on to exploiting someone else’s fears. 

7. There’s a risk of scams 

Most essay mill sites demand a deposit of the final amount, or sometimes the entire fee up front. Either way, you won’t see your essay until you’ve paid them something. This makes it a prime opportunity for scam artists to take your money without giving anything in return. 

You see, it’s extremely easy for scam artists to launch a website advertising essays for sale, then just shut the operation down once they’ve made some quick cash without doing any work. 

Speaking of scams, here’s an article on some other international student scams to watch out for !

8. There’s a risk of bribery too

And then there’s the risk of bribery. Even if a student thinks they’re anonymous while dealing with essay mills, they’re not. There’s an email address, bank account name, even their IP address to worry about. 

So if the company or the writer decides that they want to blackmail or bribe a student by threatening to unveil the truth, they can. And they’ll always be able to.  

A final word on essay mills: Honest work is the best work

It sounds old fashioned, but there’s no replacement for smart, hard, honest work. Any student can write a great term paper or essay assignment on their own. All it takes is time, research, and some focus. 

Even if you’re under pressure or lack some confidence in your English ability, there are so many better ways to deal with it. Use a study abroad education counsellor , speak to your teachers and your friends. They’ll be able to point you in the right direction and help make that essay easier. 

As for essay mills? Forget about them. They’re exploitative, they serve no good purpose, and you can do a better job yourself!

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Inside a Term Paper Mill

By chris higgins | oct 16, 2008.

Nick Mamatas is a published author. He has two novels in print, and a good bit of other stuff out there as well. So it's something of a shock when he admits, "for several years I made much of my freelance income writing term papers." Last week Mamatas published a fascinating article on his time in the term paper-writing industry. He explains what goes on in such an operation, breaks down the types of clients he worked with, and comments on the apparent legality of the practice (though it's, uh, more than frowned upon by pretty much everyone). Here's a sample:

The term paper biz is managed by brokers who take financial risks by accepting credit card payments and psychological risks by actually talking to the clients. Most of the customers just aren't very bright. One of my brokers would even mark assignments with the code words DUMB CLIENT. That meant to use simple English; nothing's worse than a client calling back to ask a broker — most of whom had no particular academic training — what certain words in the paper meant. One time a client actually asked to talk to me personally and lamented that he just didn't "know a lot about Plah-toe." Distance learning meant that he'd never heard anyone say the name. ... DUMB CLIENTS predominate. They should not be in college. They must buy model papers simply because they do not understand what a term paper is, much less anything going on in their assignments. I don't believe that most of them even handed the papers in as their own, as it would have been obvious that they didn't write them. Frequently I was asked to underline the thesis statement because locating it otherwise would have been too difficult. But that sort of thing was just average for the bottom of the barrel student-client.

Wow. The article goes on to describe the other types of clients Mamatas encountered, and even goes into detail on how much he was paid. Frankly this whole subject was news to me -- I've never bought a term paper, nor has anyone offered to sell me one. But then again, I went to college back in the dark ages (the 90's), when the World Wide Web was new-fangled and almost no one had cell phones. (We called them "car phones.")

Jason Kottke wrote about this story on Kottke.org and put up a poll asking readers if they had ever purchased a term paper. At the moment, the overwhelming majority have not (or at least won't admit it). So I'm curious: what's your experience with this issue? How prevalent is term paper buying in colleges today? Have you ever bought or sold a term paper?

(Via Kottke.org .) See also: a New York Times piece on a term paper mill which charges about $10 a page .

Fake Degrees and Credential Fraud, Contract Cheating, and Paper Mills: Overview and Historical Perspectives

• First Online: 11 January 2023

Cite this chapter

• Sarah Elaine Eaton 12 &
• Jamie J. Carmichael 13  

Part of the book series: Ethics and Integrity in Educational Contexts ((EIEC,volume 5))

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In this introductory chapter we provide an overview and historical perspectives of credential fraud, starting with definitions of key terms such as ‘fake degree’, ‘fraudulent degree’, ‘degree mill’, and ‘diploma mill’, among others. This chapter serves as a unifying thread for the volume as we discuss how fake degrees and other forms of credential fraud impact the entire lifecycle of the educational and professional spectrum. We show connections between the fake and fraudulent degree industry, contract cheating, admissions fraud, and scholarly paper mills, illustrating how the industries are linked, with mega-corporations selling both goods, such as bogus parchments, and services, student impersonation services, as well as fraudulent research and academic writing services. We synthesize what is currently known about the size and scope of these industries to provide an updated estimated valuation of the global academic fraud industry at $21 Billion USD. An original contribution of this work is our model of the ecosystem of commercial academic fraud that shows the relationship between fake degrees, contract cheating, admissions fraud, and scholarly paper mills.

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United States Department of Justice: The United States Attorney’s Office – Southern District of New York. (2016, 21 December) . Manhattan U.S. attorney charges executive of Axact In $140 million diploma mill scam . https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/manhattan-us-attorney-charges-executive-axact-140-million-diploma-mill-scam

Van Tol, J. E. (1990). Detecting, deterring and punishing the use of fraudulent academic credentials: A play in two acts. Santa Clara Law Review, 30 , 791–827.

Veeran-Colton, T., Sefcik, L., & Yorke, J. (2022). The extortionate cost of contract cheating. In S. E. Eaton, G. Curtis, B. M. Stoesz, K. Rundle, J. Clare, & J. Seeland (Eds.), Contract cheating in higher education: Global perspectives on theory, practice, and policy . Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-12680-2_16

Walsh, D. (2015, May 18). Fake diplomas, real cash: Pakistani company Axact reaps millions. New York Times . https://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/18/world/asia/fake-diplomas-real-cash-pakistani-company-axact-reaps-millions-columbiana-barkley.html

Yorke, J., Sefcik, L., & Veeran-Colton, T. (2020). Contract cheating and blackmail: A risky business? Studies in Higher Education, 47 (1), 55–66. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2020.1730313

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Eaton, S.E., Carmichael, J.J. (2023). Fake Degrees and Credential Fraud, Contract Cheating, and Paper Mills: Overview and Historical Perspectives. In: Eaton, S.E., Carmichael, J.J., Pethrick, H. (eds) Fake Degrees and Fraudulent Credentials in Higher Education . Ethics and Integrity in Educational Contexts, vol 5. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-21796-8_1

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Paper & Pulp Mill Glossary: The Ultimate Guide

Pulp and Paper Industry Expert

You have probably noticed that Paper Mill has a significant amount of jargon as well as acronyms. As a result, this page contains a curated and organized list of the most essential terminology and meanings from the Pulp & Paper Mill Glossary .

Glossary of Pulp & Paper Machinery – Technical terms & concepts

ABRASION RESISTANCE :

The ability of a paper product to withstand abrasion. Measured by determining the degree and rate at which a sample loses weight under specific rubbing action of an abrading substance, such as an eraser.

ABSORBENCY:

Property of pulp, paper, and its constituents and products that permits the entrainment and retention of other materials it contacts, such as liquid, gaseous and solid substances.

A rotating device for mixing fluids and fluid suspension in a tank or chest.

APPARENT DENSITY :

Weight (mass) per unit volume of a sheet of paper is obtained by dividing the basis weight (or grammage) by the caliper (thickness).

A device that obstructs the flow of fluid, whether to aid mixing or restrict the flow rate.

BASIS WEIGHT OF A REAM OF PAPER :

Weight in pounds of a ream of paper, usually consisting of 480, 500, or 1000 sheets of a specified size, according to grade. In countries using the metric system, more commonly referred to as grammage and expressed as g/m2.

A large, longitudinally partitioned oval tub is used to mix and mechanically “work” pulp with other ingredients to make paper.

BIOLOGICAL OXYGEN DEMAND (BOD) :

Amount of dissolved oxygen consumed in five days by biological processes breaking down organic matter in mill effluent.

BONDING STRENGTH :

An intralayer binding force in a multi-ply paperboard or laminate. Also refers to the degree of adherence of coating and film on a sheet and the inter-fiber binding force within a sheet.

BONE DRY OR OVER DTY :

Moisture-free conditions of pulp and paper. Usually determined by drying a known sample to a constant weight in a completely dry atmosphere at a temperature of 100°C to 105°C.

The point of the machine where the pulp suspension passes onto the paper machine wire.

BRIGHTNESS :

 The degree of the reflectivity of a sheet of pulp or paper for blue light is measured under specified standard conditions. (Also, though incorrectly, called whiteness).

Compactness property of a sheet to its weight (whose value decreases as compactness increases). Bulk is calculated as caliper divided by grammage.

BURSTING STRENGTH :

Resistance of paper to rupture when pressure is applied to a side by a specified instrument. Also called burst, Mullen, and pop strength.

CALENDER / CALENDERS :

At the dry end of a paper machine, smooth-faced rolls smooth, level, polish and improve gloss. The rollers can be metal or composite (soft). Hardness affects how much paper or board is crushed. Equipment can be lined up at the end of the paper machine before reel-up or outside the machine.

CALENDER FINISHED :

Paper and paperboard passed through a calender to improve surface characteristics by application of pressure, friction, or moisture.

The thickness of a sheet of paper or paperboard, measured under certain expressly stated conditions, expressed in units of thousandths of an inch (called “mils” when referring to paper and “points” when referring to paperboard)—in regions using metric measurement, usually measured in millionths of a meter (microns or µm). Also called thickness.

Quantity of paper shipped from mill in or on a freight car. Must exceed a freight classification zone minimum weight to qualify for carload freight rate.

CAST COATED PAPER:

Very high gloss coated paper and paperboard with surface characteristics produced by allowing the applied coating to harden while in contact with the surface of steam-heated, highly polished, chrome-plated drum.

 A vessel equipped with an agitating device for storing, collecting, mixing, and chemical treatment of pulp suspension. A large vessel fitted with an agitator for storing pulp stock.

 A machine that chips logs after de-barking.

CONSISTENCY REGULATOR:

A device for diluting pulp stuff to a steady, preset solids content.

CORRUGATED BOARD :

A pasted single or double-faced, multi-layered board is having a fluted bottom or middle layer.

CORRUGATING MEDIUM:

  Preboard to be converted to a corrugated board by passing it through a corrugating machine. (Sometimes abbreviated to CCM – Corrugated Case Medium).

COUCH PIT OR HOG PIT :

The paper-making machine has a tank with an agitator below it that is used to pick up couch broke. Also called a pig pit.

CROSS DIRECTION (CD):

Side to side direction of a paper machine or the paper sheet made on it, as opposed to machine direction, which runs from head to exit.

CUTTING PIPE :

Water jets used to trim the rough edge off the paper while it is being made on the machine (deckle edges).

 The point on a papermaking machine where the wet web leaves the wire before the presses.

CYLINDER MACHINE :

The machine makes paperboards. The forming cylinders are wrapped with wire, so fibers are picked up to form a web as they turn in a vat filled with stock solution, with water pouring out at the ends. The wet sheet is then transferred from the cylinder to felt for pressing and drying.

 Pressure vessels are used to chemically treat chips and other cellulosic fibrous materials such as straw, bagasse, rags, etc., under elevated temperature and pressure to separate fibres and produce pulp.

DIMENSIONAL STABILITY :

The ability of a sheet to maintain its original machine direction and cross direction dimensions with time and under variable moisture and relative humidity conditions.

DRYERS : Portion of a paper machine where water is removed from wet paper by passing it over rotating, steam heated, cylindrical, metal drums or by running it through a hot air stream.

ELONGATION OF PAPER:

 Physical property of a paper sheet that allows it to experience a certain degree of stretching.

FABRIC PRESS :

Paper machine wet press that uses a special multiple weave fabric belt sandwiched between the regular felt and the rubber covered roll, increasing the capacity to receive and remove water from the nip between the rolls.

An open through with an adjustable slit along the length at the bottom (slice) and an inlet pipe of a manifold. Used to distribute the pulp suspension across the width of the papermaking machine.

FLUFF PULP :

Thick sheet or batt of wood pulp fibres manufactured in roll or bale form suitable for dry disintegration into individual fibres.

Various pulps, dyes, additives and other chemicals blended together in stock preparation area of paper mill and fed to wet end of paper machine to make paper or paperboard. Also called stock.

GUILLOTINE:

A device for cutting or trimming piles of sheets of paper to the required size and with smooth edges.

A device for applying and distributing stock onto the wire that keeps fibres from clogging together so that a consistent formulation can be achieved. Also known as a breast box or flow box.

 A hood covering the paper machine drying section and designed for moist air removal.

HYDRAPULPER :

 A metal tank fitted with an agitator rotor for disintegrating pulp and broke in water.

INTEGRATED MILL :

Mill manufacturing complex in which all pulp and papermaking operations are conducted at one site.

KRAFT PULP :

 Fibrous materials used in pulp, paper, and paperboard manufacturing, are produced by chemically reducing woodchips into their parts by cooking in a vessel under pressure using an alkaline cooking liquor, also called sulfate pulp.

Name of equipment used for recovering fiber excess from backwater on an air flotation principle.

Organic solution with volatile solvents is used for coating paper to give a high surface gloss, grease resistance, heat sealing, and improved surface appearance.

 Device at the end of a cutting machine for jogging sheets into a neat pile.

MACHINE DIRECTION (MD) :

Direction from the wet end to the dry end of a paper machine or to a paper sheet parallel to its forward movement on a paper machine.

MECHANICAL PULP :

Pulp produced by reducing pulpwood logs and chips into their fibre components by the use or mechanical energy, via grinding stones, refiners etc.

MG CYLINDER:

Similar to a Yankee cylinder, usually more prominent in diameter, 23 feet, with lower steam pressure. It gives a smooth or glazed finish to one side of the sheet while leaving the other quite rough.

MOISTURE CONTENT (MC) :

Percentage of water by its weight in paper, pulp, paperboard, chips, Etc., which will vary according to atmospheric conditions because of the ability of these types of materials to absorb or emit moisture.

A surface effect produced by the addition of heavily dyed fibres of a different colour in the stock furnish.

The ability of substances such as paper, flue gases (smoke), and liquids to resist transmission of both diffuse and non-diffuse light through them. Prevents show through of dark printing in contact with the backside sheet of paper.

Ability of fluids to pass into paper and paperboard, related to size, shape and distribution orientation or the pores in a sheet and the compactness of the fibers.

A wringer device situated in the machine after the wire and couch consist of a loaded top and bottom roll, through which the paper and felt pass. Water is squeezed out of the form into the felt.

Cross machine visual display on the computer control system showing the actual variations from the target value.

 Fibrous material is produced mechanically or chemically reducing plants into their parts from which pulp, paper, and paperboard sheets are formed after proper slushing treatment—also used for dissolving purposes (dissolving pulp or chemical cellulose) to make rayon (or viscose) and other synthetic products.

Machine that disintegrates fibrous raw material using water and mechanical agitation.

RAG CONTENT :

Paper containing from 25% to 75% cotton or rag fibres, including bond, ledger, and specialty papers.

Stack or package of paper containing a number of sheets (usually 480, 500 or 520) designated as standard for that grade.

 A machine that modifies the fibre to the degree required by the final product. A series of metal blades rotate from a central shaft against static blades built inside the outer casing of a cone or disc.

REVERSE ROLLS :

Press rolls where the paper is fed through in the reverse direction from the normal flow of paper through the machine so that both sides of the paper have the same characteristics.

RIDING ROLL :

Roll mounted so that it rests under its own gravitational weight on the paper to control the tension, usually used during reeling operations.

SCREENS & STRAINERS :

A variety of devices for removing contraries from a pulp suspension by a filtering process, usually either pressure or vibratory.

SEMI CHEMICAL PULP :

Lower quality pulp made by cooking fibrous materials in a neutral sodium sulphite/sodium carbonate cooking liquor followed by a final separation of the fiber using unpressurised mechanical means.

Machine for cutting the paper web into sheets.

SIZE PRESS :

Paper mill processing unit consisting of two usually rubber covered rolls located between two dry end sections of the paper machine. Applies size solution to the surface of the paper sheet.

 Type of carbohydrate adhesive and sizing material obtained primarily from corn, wheat, rice, tapioca, maize and potatoes. Produces a higher degree of rigidity in a sheet and improves the finish by causing the fibres to lie flat.

Fibrous mixture that is made into paper. May consist of one or more types of beaten or refined pulps, with or without suitable fillers, dyes, additives, and other chemicals. Also called furnish.

SUPERCALENDER :

 Auxiliary piece of papermaking equipment is used on some paper machines, to obtain a denser paper with a higher finish than paper obtained on a calender.

TEAR STRENGTH :

Resistance of a paper sheet to tearing, is usually measured by the force required to tear a strip under standardized conditions. (See Elmendorf test).

TENSILE STRENGTH OF PAPER:

Resistant property of a sheet to pull or stress produced by tension. Expressed as the force per unit width of a sample that is tested to the point of rupture.

THERMOMECHANICAL PULP (TMP) :

Pulp is made by pre-steaming chips and then reducing them into their fiber components during initial mechanical treatment in refiners under elevated temperature and pressure. Subsequent refining is done at atmospheric pressure.

WET MACHINE :

Paper machine consisting essentially of a wire covered cylinder rotating in a vat of pulp stock on which a mat of varying thickness is formed by drainage. These mats are removed either intermittently in thick sheets called laps or continuously.

YANKEE CYLINDER :

Cast iron cylinder, 8-18 feet in diameter and designed to handle steam pressures of up to 160 psi. Functions as a press roll and surface for creping.

YANKEE DRYER :

Type of steam heated paper dryer consisting of a large, revolving drum equipped with a felt to held the sheet in contact with its highly polished surface. Commonly used for drying tissue type papers.

Glossary of Pulp & Paper Making Procedures

AIR DRYING:

A method of drying the paper web on the paper machine by blowing air along the direction of the web.

BLEACHING :

 Chemical treatment to whiten, purify and stabilise the pulp normally carried out in several stages.

 Blending of different pulps in a chest to determine the quality of the final product.

 Process of returning sheets to liquid form.

CHEMICAL PULPING :

Process of dissolving and extracting the lignin in wood with help of chemical reactions.

 Process by which paper or board is coated with an agent to improve its brightness and/or printing properties.

Process of reacting fibre-containing materials, such as wood, rag, straw and bagasse, with suitable chemicals, usually under high temperature and pressure, to reduce them into parts so that acceptable fibres can be separated and made into pulp.

 Creping of paper on the paper machine using a large drying cylinder known as a Yankee.

DEFIBRATION :

 Separation of wood fibres by mechanical and/or chemical means.

DEFIBERING :

Term for pulping processes i.e. separating the fibres of pulp bales, broke or waste paper, in water by mechanical action.

Removal or printing ink and impurities from recovered paper; to produce recycled fibre pulp with maximum whiteness by a floatation or washing process.

Formation of a paper or board web on the wire by removing water at the paper machine wet end.

ELMENDORF TEST :

Test commonly used in paper mill laboratories to determine tear resistant property of paper. Also called tear test.

Processing of paper after completion of papermaking operations, including supercalendering, slitting, rewinding, trimming, sorting, counting and packaging, prior to shipment from mill.

FLEXOGRAPHIC PRINTING :

 Rotary letterpress printing process using liquid ink. Solvent-based formulations made of aniline dyes and pigments (mixed with a binder) dry primarily by evaporation due to the solvent vehicle; water-based formulations have now become more common and are force-dried either by heat or irradiation (if the ink contains monomers that can be polymerized by UV-irradiation). Sometimes called aniline printing.

 First calendering, in which paper is passed through a roll nip to give it a smoother surface.

GRAVURE PRINTING:

Intaglio printing process employing minute engraved “wells” and a liquid ink. Generally, deeply etched wells carry more ink than a raised surface, hence they print darker values. Shallow wells are used to print light values. A doctor blade wipes excess ink from the cylindrical printing surface. Rotogravure employs etched cylinders and web fed stock. Sheet fed gravure, as its name implies, involves individual sheet feeding.

OFF MACHINE COATING :

Process of applying coating material to a web of paper or paperboard in a location that is away from the machine on which it is made.

OFFSET PRINTING :

The indirect printing process is where an impression of type or a design on a flat plate or cylinder is transferred to a rubber blanketed cylinder from which it is impressed (“offset”) upon the surface to be printed.

Separation of the fibres in the raw material permits individual cellulose fibres to form a free suspension in water.

 Pulp and paper mill operations conducted of fibre suspensions to rub, brush, crush, fray or cut fibres as desired. Imparts such characteristics as increased capacity to absorb water and improved sheet formation.

SULPHATE PROCESS :

An alkaline pulp manufacturing process in which the active components of the liquor used to cook chips in a pressurised vessel are primarily sodium sulphide and sodium hydroxide, with sodium sulphate and lime being used to replenish these chemicals in recovery operations. Also called kraft process.

SULPHITE PROCESS :

An acid pulp manufacturing process in which chips are reduced to their component parts by cooking in a pressurised vessel using a liquor composed of calcium, sodium, magnesium, or ammonia salts of sulphurous acid.

Glossary of General Paper Mill Terms and Definitions

AIR DRY (a.d.):

Weight of moisture-free pulp or paper plus a nominal 10% moisture based on the traditional assumption that this amount of moisture exists when they come into equilibrium with the atmosphere.

Papermaking chemicals are commonly used for precipitating rosin size onto pulp fibers to impart water-resistant properties (when used for water treatment) to the paper. Also, used for pitch control. More correctly called aluminum sulphate.

ANTI-TARNISH PAPER:

Term originally applied to higher weight tissues used for wrapping silverware, but now used for all papers so prepared that they will not rust of discolor razor blades, needles, silverware etc.

Water used in the papermaking process, recycled to reduce the wastage of fresh water, and normally contains residual amounts of fibres and chemicals.

 The waste paper stock used to make the bottom ply of a sheet of board.

 Paper or board to be further treated in various ways

BINDERS BOARD:

 Grey coloured, glazed board often used in the binding of hardcover books.

BISULPHITE PULP :

Pulp made by the bisulphite cooking process using bisulphite cooking liquor.

 Generic term for stiff paper, often consisting of several plies and with a grammage normally above 150g/m.

Bogus refer to a product that is made from recycled fiber or an inferior pulp to imitate higher quality grades. There are bogus back liner, bogus bristol, bogus kraft, bogus wrapping etc. Gray bogus is used for packaging material, void fill, wipes, bedding, and a variety of other industrial and agricultural purposes. It is biodegradable.

The name “bond” was initially given to a paper used for printing bonds and stock certificates. It is now used to refer to paper for letterheads and printing purposes. Important characteristics are finish, strength, freedom from fuzz, and rigidity.

BOOK PAPER:

A term used to refer to a variety of papers with similar physical properties and printing purposes in the graphic arts industry.

BRISTOL BORDS :

A fine quality cardboard made by pasting several sheets together, the middle sheets in it usually of inferior grade.

BROKE : In general, it is a paper waste produced during Paper trimmings or damaged paper due to breaks on paper machine and in finishing operations. This is recyclable in pulp mills.

BROKE PIT :

A pit below the machine into which broke is disposed from the machine floor.

 Greater diameter in the center of a papermaking roll, compared to the ends; this compensates for roll weight.

CARBONIZING PAPER :

Lightweight, uncoated paper made from unbleached chemical and/or mechanical pulps and surface coated with a carbon solvent or wax so that it takes up carbon inks and releases them under pressure, thereby duplicating the inked areas being printed.

CARBONLESS PAPER:

Copying paper that is treated or coated so it can be used without needing carbon coating or interleaved carbon paper.

CHEMICAL PULP:

The pulp is made from the process of extraction of cellulose from wood by dissolving the lignin that binds the cellulose.

CHEMICAL PULPING:

Mass of fibers resulting from reduction of wood or other fibrous raw material into component parts during cooking phases with various chemical liquors in processes such as sulphate, sulfite, soda and neutral sulfite semi-chemical process (NSCC).

CHEMICAL WOOD PULP:

Pulp is prepared from wood by either the kraft or other suitable digestion process.

CHEMITHERMOMECHANICAL PULP (CTMP) :

Pulp made by a thermomechanical process in which woodchips are pre-treated with a chemical, usually sodium sulfite, either prior to or during pre-steaming, as an aid to subsequent mechanical processing in refiners.

Inferior quality, low density, solid or lined paperboard made primarily from recycled wastepaper stock and used in low strength applications.

COMBINATION BOARD:

A Multi layered, cylinder made paperboard having outer and inner layers made from different pulp stocks.

CONSTRUCTION PAPER:

Heavy type of paper used for watercolour and crayon artwork, made in various colours primarily from groundwood pulp. Used for Sheathing paper, roofing, floor covering, automotive, soundproofing, industrial, pipe covering, refrigerator, and similar felt Sheathing paper, roofing, floor covering, automotive, soundproofing, industrial, pipe covering, refrigerator, and similar felt.

This waste backwater and rejected material from which fibre is recovered prior to discharge from the mill.

ELECTROSTATIC COPY PAPER:

Smooth finished, stable, medium weight bond paper made from chemical pulps. Generally treated with a zinc oxide coating material and used on dry type office copying machines.

FILLERS AND LOADINGS:

These are Minerals or compounds added to the stock to improve characteristics in the finished paper.

These are Small fiber particles that pass through the wire of the papermaking machine.

FINE PAPERS :

These are High quality printing, writing, and cover papers having excellent surface characteristics for pen and ink writing.

FLUORESCENT PAPER:

White paper is made with synthetic dyes that produce a brighter appearance when irradiation by some light. Alternatively, this describes paper that is surface coated with colored, light-emitting dyestuff materials (which reflect white light as color). Primarily these materials absorb radiation in the UV region and re-emit in the visible, tending to give the paper a bluish tinge.

FOURDRINIER :

The name of the brothers who developed the first process for making paper on a continuous wire belt. Paper machines incorporating this principle are Fourdrinier machines and are still the most common form of paper machine in use today.

GROUNDWOOD PULP:

The slurry produced by mechanically abrading fibers from debarked logs through forced contact with the surface of a revolving grindstone is used extensively to make newsprint and publication grades.

Plastic or wax coating materials in a molten state are applied to paper or paperboard sheets to produce a fluid-resistant surface with high gloss.

INDUSTRIAL PAPERS : This Paper is made for purposes such as industrial packaging, tissues, wrappings, impregnating, insulating, etc.

A paper of high strength made from sulfate pulp. Kraft papers vary from unbleached Kraft used for wrapping purposes to fully bleached Kraft used for strong Bond and Ledger papers.

LEDGER PAPER :

Highly sized paper made from bleached chemical pulp. Used to make accounting and record books; also used with accounting machines.

LINERBOARD :

 Kraft paperboard, generally unbleached, is used to line or face corrugated core board (on both sides) to form shipping boxes and other containers.

MACHINE COATED :

Paper and paperboard that have a surface coating of adhesives and minerals applied while being made on the paper machine as an integral part of the papermaking operation.

MACHINE FINISH (MF) :

The surface finish is produced on an uncoated sheet of paper as it is being made on the paper machine. It is usually accomplished with limited calendering on the machine calendar stacks.

MACHINE GLAZED (MG) :

A high gloss surface finish is produced on the wire side of a sheet by passing it over a large diameter, highly polished, steam-heated roll as used on Yankee-type paper machine dryers.

NEWSPRINT :

A Grade of paper, combining high percentages of groundwood pulp, made especially for use in the printing of newspapers.

Homogeneous sheet of felted cellulose fibers, bound together by overlapping and by self-bonding (“hydrogen bonding”) or by the use of bonding agents and made in a variety of types.

PAPER STOCK:

Water slurry of various pulp fibers, dyes, additives, and chemicals is pumped to the paper machine for forming into a sheet.

SILVICHEMICAI :

Name of Chemical by-products of the wood pulping process and other chemicals derived from wood.

SOFTWOOD :  Wood obtained from evergreen, cone bearing species of trees, such as pines, spruces, hemlocks, etc., which are characterized by having needles.

WET STRENGTH PAPER :

Paper in which the fiber constituents and/or the sheet are chemically treated to enhance resistance to tear, rupture or disintegration after becoming saturated with liquids.

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Glossary of Paper Terms

A list of terms, phrases and words associated with papermaking so if you’re unfamiliar with something we say in our product descriptions, our blog, or on social media – it’s probably in this list.

Absorbency Absorbent Papers Acidity/Alkalinity Alpha Cellulose Alpha Pulp Apparent Density Aqueous Coating Archival Paper Ash Basic Size Basis Weight Beater Binder Bleach Bleaching Blotting Paper Brightness Broke C1S Calcium Carbonate Calender Calendering Caliper Cellulose Cellulose Fiber Chlorination Clay Cleaner Close Formation Cobb Test Color Fastness Color Specification Commercial Match Contaminants Couch Roll Cross Direction Curl Dandy Roll Delignification Dimensional Stability Dirt Driers Dry End Embossed Felts Finish Formation Grain Groundwood Pulp Hardwood Hardwood Pulp Headbox Holdout Hydrophilic Hydrophobic Hydropulper Hygroexpansivity Integrated Mill Internal Bond Kraft Pulp Lignin M Weight Machine Direction Machine Finish Machine Glazed Mechanical Wood Pulp Mercerization Moisture Content Mullen Nip Opacity pH Point Porosity Press Press Section Pulper Refiner Retention Rewinder Sheeter/Winder Sheffield Size Sizing Smoothness Softwood Softwood Pulp Speck Starch Stiffness Stock Stock Preparation Supercalender TAPPI Tearing Resistance Tensile Strength Titanium Dioxide Tooth Tub-Size Press Two-Sidedness Uniformity Unsized Vellum Finish Virgin Stock Wax Pick Test Web Weight Wet End Wet Mullen Wet Tensile Strength Wire Yield Z-Direction Tensile Strength

The property of a material that causes it to take up a liquid with which it is in contact. Several measures of absorbency are: (a) the time required for the material to take up a specified volume of liquid; (b) the rate of rise of liquid along a vertical strip dipping into the liquid; (c) the area of a specimen wetted in a specified time; (d) the quantity of a liquid taken up by a completely saturated specimen. The method of measurement depends on the specific use of paper.

Absorbent Papers

Soft, loosely felted papers that readily absorb water solutions or liquid chemicals. They are not sized with water-repellent agents, but may be treated with materials that enhance their wet strength. They include blotting, filter, matrix, and toweling papers, and base paper for the manufacture of vegetable parchment, artificial leather, vulcanized fiber, and many other processed papers.

Acidity/Alkalinity

In paper, the condition that results in an acid or alkaline solution when the paper is treated or extracted with water. In testing paper acidity/alkalinity, the specimen is extracted with water at a definite temperature, and the extract is tested to determine its pH value or is titrated to determine the total amount of acid or alkali present.

Alpha Cellulose

Chemically treated wood pulp having greater than 90 percent alpha cellulose, i.e. cellulose that is resistant to 17.5 percent sodium hydroxide solution at 25 degrees Celsius.

Apparent Density

The apparent weight per unit volume. It is often calculated by dividing the basis weight by the thickness, though it must be recognized that the numerical value thus obtained depends on the definition of the ream. Consistent numerical values can be obtained by using in every case the basis weight in metric units (gsm) and the thickness in millimeters.

Aqueous Coating

A water-based coating applied after paper production, either on-machine or off-machine. An aqueous coating usually gives a gloss, dull, or matte finish and helps prevent the ink from rubbing off.

Archival Paper

Basis weight, blotting paper.

Paper that has been discarded anywhere in the process of manufacture. “Wet broke” is paper taken off the wet press of a paper machine; “dry broke” is made when paper is spoiled in going over the dryers or through the calender, trimmed off in the rewinding of rolls, trimmed from sheets being prepared for shipping, or discarded for manufacturing defects. It is usually returned to a repulping unit for reprocessing.

Bursting Strength

Calcium carbonate, calendering, cellulose fiber, chlorination, close formation, color fastness, color specification.

The quantitative description of color. The color specification consists of a dominant wavelength, purity, and luminous reflectivity under standardized conditions.

Commercial Match

Contaminants, cross direction, delignification, dimensional stability.

The aesthetic and physical characteristics of the surface of paper, often characterized by its smoothness:

• Super Vellum – a very toothy rough surface
• Super Smooth – an extremely smooth surface achieved with calendaring.

The orientation and distribution of fiber in paper. Uniform distribution results in superior formation.

Groundwood Pulp

Hardwood pulp, hydrophilic, hydrophobic, hydropulper.

Equipment used to reconstitute and blend fiber, water, pigments and chemistry preparing the “slurry” for the paper machine.

Hygroexpansivity

Integrated mill, internal bond.

The noncarbohydrate portion of the cell wall of plant material; it is usually determined as the reside after hydrolysis with strong acid of the plant material, after removal of waxes, tannins, and other extractives. Lignin is amorphous, has high molecular weight, and is predominantly aromatic in structure. It is not one compound, but varies in composition with the method of isolation and with the species, age, growing conditions, etc., of the plant. It is more or less completely removed during chemical pulping, but it is not removed by mechanical pulping. Bleaching of the pulp further removes or modifies any remaining lignin. Left in pulp, lignin causes yellowing over time.

Machine Direction

Machine finish, machine glazed, mechanical wood pulp, mercerization, moisture content, press section.

A series of rolls pressing against each other through which the paper travels, along with felts, that removes additional moisture/water from the paper web.

Sheeter/Winder

Softwood pulp, stock preparation, supercalender, tearing resistance, tensile strength, titanium dioxide, tub-size press, two-sidedness, vellum finish, virgin stock, wax pick test.

The relative weight of paper.

• M Weight is the weight of 1,000 sheets of paper
• Basis Weight is the fixed weight of a designated number of sheets (typically 500) of paper in the basic size.
• Basic Size is an established standard sheet size for a specific type of paper grade. For example, the Basic Size of text weight paper is 28×38.

Wet Tensile Strength

On a Fourdrinier paper machine, the slurry is deposited onto a wire, a circular fabric mesh conveyor belt in the “forming” section of the paper machine. This is where water is drained and surface characteristics are established for a paper web.

Z-Direction Tensile Strength

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• Against The Grain

Glossary of Paper Terms

Abrasion resistance.

The level at which paper can withstand continuous scuffing or rubbing.

The properties within paper that cause it to absorb liquids (inks, water, etc.) which come in contact with it.

Accordion Fold

A binding term describing a method of folding paper. When unfolded it looks like the folds of an accordion.

Acetate Proof

A transparent, acetate printing proof used to reproduce anticipated print colors on a transparent acetate sheet. Also called color overleaf proof.

Paper made in a neutral pH system, usually buffered with calcium carbonate. This increases the longevity of the paper.

Degree of acid found in a given paper substance measured by pH level. From 0 to 7 is classified acid as opposed to 7 to 14, which is classified alkaline.

Against the Grain

A right angle to which the fiber direction of a piece of paper lies. Folding with, not against, the grain is recommended.

Airdried Paper

Paper that is dried by circulating hot air around it with little or no tension or restraint on the paper. This gives the paper a hard cockle finish typical of bond papers.

Alcohol/Alcohol Substitutes

Liquids added to the fountain solution of a printing press to reduce the surface tension of water.

Aluminum Plate

A metal press plate used for moderate to long runs in offset lithography to carry the image.

Announcement Cards

Cards of paper with matching envelopes generally used for social stationery, announcements, weddings, greetings, etc.

Antique Finish

A paper finish, usually used in book and cover papers, that has a tactile surface. Usually used in natural white or creamwhite colors.

Extra space at the binding edge of a foldout, usually on a French fold, which allows folding and tipping without interfering with the copy

Acid free or neutral paper that includes a minimum of 2% calcium carbonate to increase the longevity of the paper.

Artificial Parchment

Paper produced with poorly formed formation.

A general term used to describe materials prepared and readied for print.

The tops of lower case letters such as: b, d, h and t.

Back Cylinder Pressure

Additional pressure applied through the impression cylinder assisting the image transfer to the press sheet.

The back of a bound book; also called the spine.

Printing the reverse side of a sheet already printed on one side.

(1) A strip of paper, printed or unprinted, that wraps around loose sheets (in lieu of binding with a cover) or assembled pieces. (2) The operation of putting a paper band around loose sheets or assembled pieces. (3) Metal straps wrapped around skids of cartons or materials wrapped in waterproof paper, to secure the contents to the skid for shipment.

Barium Sulfate

Substance used as a standard for white, in lieu of the availability of a practical 100 percent reflecting diffuser.

Baronial Envelope

An envelope generally used with announcements.

A first color used as a background on which other colors are printed.

Manufactured paper that will be further processed as laminated, Duplex Cover, Bristol Cover, or off machine embossed papers.

In typesetting, the invisible line on which letters and numbers set.

The standard sheet size of a given grade.

Basis Weight

The weight in pounds per ream of paper cut to its basic size in inches. A metric system is used outside of North America.

Blender type machine used to pulverize pulp and for mixing additives and color to the stock.

Beater Sized

Process of adding sizing material to the pulp in the beater.

A process of perforating, folding, trimming and eventually binding a printed piece.

(1) Attaching sheets into a single unit by adhesives, sewing, stitching, metal prongs, snaps, etc. The operations that comprise collating, perforating, and folding the elements of a form into the finished product. (2) That portion or edge of a book of forms which is bound.

Binding Edge

The edge where the binding will be done.

Black Printer

In fourcolor process printing, the black plate made to give definition to neutral tones and detail.

In offset lithography, the rubbercoated fabric clamped around the blanket cylinder, which transfers the image from plate to paper.

Blanket Contamination

Unwanted matter that becomes attached to the offset blanket and interferes with print quality.

Blanket Creep

Movement of the blanket surface that comes in contact with the printing plate or paper.

Blanket Cylinder

The printing press cylinder on which the blanket is mounted.

Blanket Pull

The tack between blanket and paper.

Chemical, usually chlorine, used to whiten pulp.

Chemical treatment to brighten, whiten, purify, refine, and balance pulp fiber.

(1) In printing, printed image that runs off the edges of a page. (2) The migration of ink into unwanted areas.

Blind Embossing

A printing technique in which a design is pushed forward without foil or ink.

The sticking of piled printed sheets caused by wet ink.

Blocking Out

Eliminating portions of negatives by opaquing the image.

Enlargement from the original size.

In printing, a type of photoprint used as a proof. It can be folded to show how the finished printed product will look.

Thicker, visually heavier type vs. thin visually light type. Darker type.

Strong, durable writing paper, consisting of wood, cotton, or both, most commonly used for letterheads, stationery, business forms, etc…

Bonding Strength

The strength of the paper fibers to resistance of picking or tearing during offset printing.

A general term used to define papers that are most suitable for book manufacture.

A printed piece bound together, containing a few pages.

A technical measurement of the light reflected back from a paper.

Bristol Board

A high quality heavy weight paper, sometimes made with cotton fiber prepared or glued together, usually with a caliper thickness of 0.006" and up.

Machine trim or undesirable paper that is returned to the beaters.

Broken Carton

An open carton of paper with some of its contents removed.

Sheet thickness. High bulk sheets have fewer sheets per inch than low bulk.

Bulking Dummy

Unprinted sheets of actual paper folded in the signature size and signature number of a given job, to determine bulk.

Bursting Strength

The point to which paper can withstand pressure without rupturing.

Butted Joint

Joining two webs of paper, placing them end-to-end and pasting a strip over and under to make a continuous sheet without overlapping.

When printing, the spots of ink pigments on printing plates or press rollers, due to the vehicle carrying the ink not being able to hold the pigment in suspension.

Calcium Carbonate, CaCO 3

Chemical used as a filler.

Calender Stacks

A vertical series of steel rolls at the end of the paper machine to increase the smoothness of the paper.

Calendering

To impart a smooth finish on paper by passing the web of paper between polished metal rolls to increase gloss and smoothness.

The thickness of a sheet paper, in thousandths of an inch (points or mils).

A book bound with a hard, cover.

For paper manufacturing, the primary component of the cell walls of wood fibers.

Cellulose fiber

The fiber remaining after bleaching and pulping of wood used in making paper.

Center spread

The facing pages in the center of a bound signature.

Chain lines

The lines on laid paper parallel with the grain; also referred to as "chain marks".

Improper drying of ink. Ink vehicle has been absorbed too rapidly into the paper leaving a dry, weak pigment layer which dusts easily.

A type fonts letter, number, symbol or a blank space in typesetting.

Character count

The number of characters in a line of text, page or group of text.

Chemical Ghosting

A light duplication of a printed image on the other side of the same sheet, created by chemical reaction by the ink during the drying stages; also referred to as "Gas ghosting".

Chemical Pulp

Wood fiber cooked using chemicals producing a pulp used to manufacture numerous printing papers and paperboard products. Papers manufactured with chemical pulp are called "free-sheet" papers.

An inexpensive thick one-ply cardboard, typically made from recycled paper stock.

Chlorine and its compounds were commonly used to bleach fibers. This has been mostly eliminated. Virgin fibers are generally ECF, meaning no elemental chlorine or TCF meaning the bleaching is done with hydrogen peroxide, oxygen or ozone. Recycled fibers are generally PCF, meaning they were put back into the paper without the use of any chlorine or its compounds.

Clear Formation

Describes paper fibers that are uniformly dispersed within a sheet of paper -a characteristic of quality paper.

Close Formation

Uniform density in a sheet of paper.

Cloudy Formation

Same as cloud effect; cloudy. Opposite of close formation. Indicates unevenness and lack of uniformity of fiber structure.

Cockle Finish

A rough, uneven, hard paper finish. Most frequently manufactured in bond papers.

A color on the bluish side.

In binding, gathering sections (signatures) in sequence for binding.

Printed bars of ink colors used to monitor a print image. These bars show the amount of ink to be applied by the press, the registration, and the densities across the press sheet.

A mockup of a proposed layout used for presentations.

Color Correction

Any method to improve color rendition.

Color Fastness

The ability of dyed paper to maintain in the presence of exposure to light, heat etc.

Color Guide

Instructions attached to artwork or disc with the location, percentage, and type of color required.

Color Process Printing

Printing done using cyan, magenta, yellow, and black inks, each requiring its own negative and plate. Also called process color or four-color process.

Color Proofs

Initial printed pieces pulled off the press for final approval.

Color Scanner (electronic scanner)

A scanner that makes the color separation required in full color processing printing.

Color Separation

The method used in breaking down the primary colors needed to prepare plates for printing color work.

Commercial Match

Paper manufactured to within acceptable tolerances of a sample provided to the mill.

Commodity Papers

A classification of low-quality bond and offset papers.

Composite Image

Multiple pictures images placed together to form a single, combined picture.

Comprehensive Layout

A simulation of a layout by a designer to show how the finished art work would appear.

Comprehensive Proof

Final proof presented in the format the printed piece will take.

Condensed Face or Condensed Type

A particular typeface that allows more print per line, as though the letters were squashed at their sides.

Conditioning

Allowing paper to adjust itself to the temperature and humidity of the printing plant prior to use.

Conservation

The preservation and responsible use of our natural resources to ensure they endure.

Continuous Tone

Tonal gradation without use of halftone dots.

Company that converts paper from its original form to usable products such as envelopes, label stock, announcements etc.

Correspondence Papers

Writing papers in attractive finishes, weights or colors.

Cotton Content Paper

Papers utilizing cotton linters. Today most cotton content papers are made for letterhead applications. Papers made with cotton range from 25% to 100% cotton content.

Cotton Linters

The cotton fibers that adhere to the cottonseed used to produce pulp for cotton fiber papers. As a byproduct of the cotton industry, EPA recognizes it as recovered fiber.

On a paper making machine the equipment that helps remove excess water from the moving web of paper prior to the wet press section of a paper machine.

Cover Paper

Durable, heavier weight papers, available in a variety of finishes and colors, used for the cover of pamphlets, annual reports, business cards, etc…

Specifically placed marks attached to artwork that show the area to be printed.

Resizing original photographs or illustrations to a different size.

Cross Direction

The opposite direction of the grain of the paper.

Cross Grain Fold

A fold at a right angle to the direction of the grain in the paper.

Cross Machine Direction

A line perpendicular to the direction the paper travels through the papermaking machine. Also referred to as Cross direction or Cross grain.

Undesirable distortion or waviness occurring to the paper due to the presence of excess moisture or humidity.

Papers cut 8 ½ x 11, 8 ½ x 14, or any other size 11 x 17 or smaller.

Cut to Register

Term used for watermarked letterhead papers to indicate the watermark will be cut to appear in a predetermined position on the finished sheet. Also referred to as a localized watermark.

Cutter Dust

Paper dust resulting from cutting or trimming the paper which can transfer to printing blankets causing problems during a press run.

Cyan (process blue)

One of the four-process colors.

Double-thick" describes a sheet of paper made by bonding two thicknesses of paper together resulting in an extra-stiff sheet.

Damp Streaks

Streaks caused by uneven pressing of drying during paper manufacturing.

In lithography, cloth covered, parchment paper or rubber rollers that distribute the dampening to the press plate.

Water, gum buffered acid, and various types of etches used to keep the non-image areas of the plate moist, and preventing them from accepting ink, in the lithographic printing process; also called fountain solution.

(1) A plain roll situated above the wet web of the paper to provide a smoothing action to the top surface of the paper as it passes under the roll. (2) A watermarking dandy roll is a roll of skeletal structure, sheathed in a wire cloth that has designs, letters or figures affixed to it. As the wet paper web passes under the turning watermark dandy the designs are impressed into the paper and a permanent watermark is left in the sheet.

Trade name for inks and papers containing fluorescent pigments.

The process in which the image is recessed into the paper.

On the wet end of the paper machine the straps or deckle rulers that prevent the fiber from overflowing the sides of the machine. The deckle determines how wide the paper on a particular machine will be.

Deckle Edge

Refers to the feathered edge on paper produced when fibers flow against the deckle or edge of the web. Deliberately produced for aesthetic purposes, a deckle edge is found especially on formal stationery and announcements. A deckle edge can be created by an air jet, or also by a stream of water.

A device on a web press or sheeter used to remove paper curl.

A paper decurling station on a sheeter or web press, used to remove paper curl.

A process which removes ink, toner, coatings and most fillers from recovered paper. The environmental priority is to make this process TCF, totally chlorine free.

The average amount of dirt in a specific size of paper area. Both virgin and recycled sheets have "dirt," although recycled paper has significantly higher dirt counts. The dirt should always be small enough not to interfere with the quality of the finished printed piece.

Delamination

A separation of the paper's surface.

Area of the originating press where the freshly printed sheets are piled as they leave the impression section.

Densitometer

Reflection instrument measuring the density of colored ink to determine its consistency throughout a press run.

Identifies the weight of paper compared to the volume; it is directly related to the paper's absorbency, stiffness, and opacity.

The parts of lower case letters that extend below the baseline.

A design, letters, or pattern cut in metal for stamping, embossing or for diecutting.

Die-Cutting

Male and female dies are used to cut out paper or board in desired shapes.

Pressure vessel in which wood chips are cooked to separate fibers from each other and to remove detrimental particles.

Dimensional Stability

Characteristic of paper to retain its dimensions in all directions under the stress of production and adverse changes in humidity.

Dirt in paper consists of any imbedded foreign matter or specks, which contrast in color to the remainder of the sheet.

Concave rather than flat pile of paper. Also refers to roll ends of paper that are not flat.

Distributor

Company which purchases paper from mill for resale to printers and end-users. Usually a distributor has protected or franchised product lines and territories. Inventory, warehousing, distribution and transportation of product are among the many services offered to paper buyers. Also called a merchant.

Tabbed sheets of index or other heavy stock, used to identify and separate specific sections of a book; used in loose-leaf and bound books.

Individual element of a halftone printing plate.

Dot Etching

Handwork on engravings and lithographic screened (halftone) negatives for correcting tonal values in either black-and-white or color work.

Dot Slurring

Smearing or elongation at the trailing edges of halftone dots.

When halftone dots print larger than they were supposed to print.

Dots, Halftone

The individual subdivisions of a printed surface created with a halftone screen.

Double Burning

Combining the images on two or more films onto a single film to create a single image.

Double Varnish

Two applications of press varnish.

Double-Black Halftone Printing

A means of extending the range of density available with printing ink by printing twice with black ink, using two specially prepared halftone negatives. Also called double-black duotone.

Double-Deckle Paper

A paper having parallel deckle edges.

Double-Dot Halftone

Two halftone negatives combined onto one printing plate, having greater tonal range than a conventional halftone negatives. One negative reproduces highlight and shadows, the other middle tones. This is not to be confused with duotone or double-black printing.

Double-Thick Cover Stock

A cover stock composed of two sheets of cover stock laminated together.

(1) In printing, a press problem that generally occurs when sheets make contact with the blanket twice, once just before the impression point and the second time at the impression point, resulting in a double image. At times, with certain papers, the feeder will feed two sheets instead of one, and when pressures are extreme or out of balance, the blanket may slip at the pressure point, resulting in a slur or double image. (2) In stamping, a double impression in which the second impression or "hit" does not register perfectly over the first one.

Doughnut Hickey

A printing defect consisting of a solid printed area surrounded by an unprinted area.

Duration of an unscheduled stoppage of machines or equipment (printing presses, papermaking machines, typesetting equipment, etc.), usually caused by malfunction.

Register trouble when the dot is enlarged toward the back (nongripper edge) of the sheet. See Slur.

A term used to describe an ink chemist's method of roughly determining coating or ink. The application (by a blade or a bar) of a thin film of coating or ink to a piece of paper.

Any substance used to hasten drying of ink on paper.

Wet paper passes through these large cylindrical steam heated rolls that dry paper webs. The dry-end of the paper machine.

Piercing of stacks of papers in a precision manner with round hollow drills at high speeds. Loose-leaf notebook paper is an example of drilled paper.

In printing, halftone with no screen dots in the highlights or background. Also, color not sensed by optical reading devices. Also, ink colors which will not image a photographic plate.

The color change which occurs when ink dries.

On the paper machine, it is the section where the dryers, cutters, slitters and reels are located.

Dryer (drying oven)

Oven on web offset press through which the web of printed paper passes after it leaves the final printing unit. The drying process, standard when heat-set inks are used, heats the web to about 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Either gas or electricity dries the vehicles and air blasts drive off the volatile gases.

Drying Time

The time it takes for an ink to become rub- or tack-free.

Page or set of pages assembled in the exact position, form and style desired for the finished piece of printed work. Used as a model or sample for the printer.

Two-color halftone reproduction from black-and-white original.

Laminated paper having a different color or finish on each side.

The accumulation of loose particles from the paper on the nonimage areas of the blanket. Particles are of very small size.

An ink colorant that is soluble in vehicle or solvent.

Dye Transfer

Similar in appearance to a color photograph but different in the important respect that it is produced from a transparency by printing continuous tones of color dyes.

A stable print specially sensitized on two-sided papers for proofing.

ECF Elemental Chlorine Free

Pulp bleached without the use of elemental chlorine. Generally this is virgin fiber bleached with chlorine dioxide.

E.C.H. Will Sheeter

Continuous automatic cut-size sheeter, ream wrapper, ream labeler, ream accumulator, case packer, lidder, bander and palletizer.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which publishes guidelines for minimum recycled product content for use by federal agencies for purchasing standards. Many state and local governments and businesses have voluntarily adopted these. The EPA is charged with most of the environmental responsibility for guidance, direction, monitoring and enforcement in the United States.

Electronic Color Scanner

High speed computer, which instantly calculates the necessary color correction by measuring the original copy.

Electronic Printing

In digital printing, any technology that reproduces pages without the use of traditional ink, water or chemistry.

Electrostatic Copying

Process using an intermediary plate or drum (like Xerography) or coated take-off sheet (like Electrofax ™ ) which is electrically charged to attract powder or liquid developer only to the image area.

Elliptical Dot

In halftone photography, elongated dots, which give improved gradation of tones particularly in middle tomes and vignettes - also called chain dots.

In composition, a unit of measurement exactly as wide and high as the point sizes being set. So named because the letter "M" in early fonts was usually cast on a square body.

Embossed Finish

A finish imparted to a web of paper through an embossing machine. The paper will take on a raised or depressed surface resembling wood, cloth, leather, or other pattern.

Impressing an image in relief to achieve a raised surface; either over printing or on a blank paper (called blind embossing).

In composition, one-half the width of an em.

Encapsulated PostScript (EPS)

In digital prepress, a file format used to transfer graphic images within compatible applications. A file containing structured PostScript code, comments and a screen display image.

End-Leaf Paper

Strong, fine quality papers, either plain or coated and sometimes colored or marbled used at both ends of a book. Also called sheets.

Printing by the intaglio process. Ink is applied to the paper under extreme pressure resulting in a printed surface being raised. Used for fine letterheads, wedding invitations, etc.

Fadeout Halftone

A general reduction in the overall contrast of a halftone, to allow type to be easily readable when printed over it.

Fake Duotone

A two-color reproduction, using single halftone negative, usually blank, and a halftone screen tint for the background, usually in color.

Continuous multiple ply form manufactured from a single wide web which is folded longitudinally.

In printing, distortion of paper on the press due to waviness in the paper caused by absorption of moisture at the edges of the paper, particularly across the grain.

Fast-Drying Ink

An ink that dries soon after printing.

Tendency of an ink image to spread with a fuzzy, "feather like" edge.

Feed Rollers

On a printing press, the rubber wheels that move the sheets of paper from the feed pile to the grippers.

The section of a printing press that separates the sheets and feeds them into position for printing.

Term expressing an individual’s impression of a paper’s finish and stiffness or suppleness.

Feet-Per-Minute

Abbreviated FPM, this term refers usually to the speed of a papermaking machine in terms of how many feet per minute the forming web of paper traverses the length of the machine.

Felt Finish

A finish applied to the paper at the wet end of the paper machine by using felts of a distinctive weave rather than standard or regular wove felts.

Top side of the paper, opposite from the wire side or underneath. The "right side of the paper".

Woven, endless belt made of wool, cotton or synthetic materials used to transport the paper web on the paper machine, during manufacture. Felts act as a conveyor while at the same time removing water from paper as it progresses through the paper machine.

Fiber Orientation

Refers to the alignment of the fibers in the sheet. The degree of alignment can be controlled in the paper making process.

The small strands of wood, cotton or other cellulose product that is used to make the paper. In the premium paper market all of the fiber is lignin free. Fiber before it is made into the finished product us referred to as pulp.

String-like elements that are loosened from the paper fibers during the beating process. They aid in the bonding processes when paper is being manufactured.

Fibrillation

Act of loosening the fibrillae during the mechanical process of beating the fibers in preparation for papermaking.

Minerals, such as clay and other white pigments, added to pulp to improve the opacity, smoothness, brightness, and printing capabilities of paper.

A condition in offset lithography where ink fills the area between the halftone dots or plugs up the type; also known as plugging or filling up.

Maximum width of paper that can be made on any given paper machine.

Fine Papers

Types of premium papers used for writing, printing, and cultural purposes.

The physical look and feel of the paper’s surface. These include smooth, felt, laid, linen and others.

Finishing Broke

Discarded paper resulting from any finishing operation.

First Color Down

The first color printed as the sheet passes through the press.

A strip of paper protruding from a roll or skid of paper. May be used to mark a splice in a roll of paper or used to mark off reams in a skid.

Flash Exposure

In halftone photography, the supplementary exposure given to strengthen the dots in the shadow areas of negatives.

Printing two or more colors without overlaying color dots (i.e. without color trap); individual color matching. This differs from process color, which is a blending of four colors to produce a broad range of colors.

Flatbed Press

A press on which plates are positioned along a flat metal bed against which the paper is pressed by the impression cylinder, as compared to a rotary press which prints from curved plates.

Flatbed Scanner

A device that scans images in a manner similar to a photocopy machine; the original art is positioned face down on a glass plate.

Flexography

Letterpress printing using a form of relief printing ; formally called aniline printing. Synthetic or rubber relief plates, special inks, presses procedures.

To reverse a negative or positive, to bring the underside out on top. A negative that must be flopped has emulsion on the wrong side.

The property of ink which causes it to level out when still a liquid; "short" inks have poor flow, and "long" inks have good flow.

Fluorescent Inks

Extremely brilliant inks containing fluorescent pigments.

Flush Cover

Cover of a book that has been trimmed to the same dimensions as the text papers.

Unprinted page that is part of a printed signature. It also can be a synonym for end-leaf.

An undesirable neutral density in the clear areas of a photographic film or paper, in which the image is either locally or entirely veiled by a deposit of silver. Fog may be due to flare, unsafe darkroom illumination, age, or processing conditions.

A tissue-like material in sheet or roll form covered on one side with a metallic coloring used for stamping.

Folding Endurance

A paper test which measures the number of double (back and forth) folds that can be made on a sheet of paper under tension, before it breaks.

A page that exceeds the dimensions of a single page. It is folded to page size and included in the book, sometimes bound in and sometimes tipped in (pasted).

Refers to sheet size 17x22 or larger. Also, page numbers.

The bottom of a page of printed information.

Refers to the uniformity or lack of it in the distribution of the fibers when manufacturing paper; can be observed by looking through the sheet; a good formation is uniform or "Close", while a poor formation is not.

Fountain Solution

In lithography, a solution of water, a natural or synthetic gum and other chemicals used to dampen the plate and keep non-printing areas from accepting ink.

The unit on a press that contains ink to be fed to the distributing system, and the part that feeds the fountain solution to the dampening system.

Four-Color Process

The four basic colors of ink (yellow, magenta, cyan, and black), which reproduce full-color photographs or art.

Fourdrinier

A paper machine developed by Louis Robert and financed by Henry and Sealy Fourdrinier that produces a continuous web of paper; also the term for the section of the paper machine, which is a continuous "wire" or belt screen, through which the first removal of water occurs. The point of formation.

Four-Sided Trim (trim 4)

After the job is printed and folded, a trim will be taken off all four sides to remove any reference or registration marks and give a clean edge to the pile of sheets.

For Position Only (FPO)

In digital imaging, typically a low-resolution image positioned in a document to be replaced later with a higher resolution version of the same image.

Paper made with pulp created in a kraft process that has removed the lignin. Freesheet paper has more longevity than groundwood which contains lignin.(Newspaper is made with groundwood)

French Fold

A sheet printed on one side and folded first vertically and then horizontally to produce a four-page folder.

The mixture of fiber and other materials that is blended in the water suspension, or slurry, from which paper or board is made; usually about 1% solid material with 99% or the balance being water.

FSC - Forest Stewardship Council

An independent, international, environmentally and socially oriented forest certification organization. It trains, accredits and monitors third-party certifiers around the world and works to establish international forest management standards.

Fuzz (fluff)

Loose fibers projecting from a paper's surface.

Gang Printing

Grouping related jobs using same paper and inks. Grouping more than one job on a single plate.

A four-page insert, having foldouts on either side of the center spread.

Graphic Arts Technical Foundation

Collating folded signatures in consecutive order.

Gray Component Replacement

Gear Streaks

In printing, parallel streaks appearing across the printed sheet at same interval as gear teeth on the cylinder.

Each succeeding stage in reproduction from original copy.

Genuine Watermark

Watermark made with a dandy roll.

Ghost Halftone

A light halftone that may be overprinted with solid copy.

Ghost images are unwanted images that reduce print value. Mechanical ghosting develops during the delivery of the printed sheet and is traceable to on-press conditions, ink starvation, form layout, and even to the blanket itself. Chemical ghosting, which occurs during the drying process of ink on paper, is especially bothersome because the condition cannot be detected until the job has been completed.

To cover the trimmed edges of a book with gold or other metallic leaf.

Brief or magnifying glass.

An ink containing an extra quantity of varnish, which gives a glossy appearance when dry.

Glued-On Cover

A cover fastened to the text with glue.

The process of applying glue to the spine of a book to be casebound, after sewing and smashing, and before trimming.

The classification given to paper due to its unique characteristics, which includes brightness, opacity, cotton content, etc…

Grain Direction

The direction of the fibers in paper.

Term used to designate that the grain of the paper is parallel to the longest measurement of a sheet of paper. The fibers are aligned parallel to the length of the sheet.

Grain Short

Opposite of grain long. Grain of the paper runs at the right angles to the longest dimension of the sheet. Fiber alignment in grain short paper parallels the sheet’s shortest dimension.

Grainy Printing

Printing characterized by unevenness, particularly of halftones.

The basis weight of paper stated in metric terms of grams per square meter and expressed as g/m 2 . Thus a sheet of paper 17 x 22 with a basis weight of 20 lbs. For 500 sheets would be expressed metrically as 75 g/m 2 . To convert from basis weight to grams per square meter (g/m 2 ), multiply basis weight by 1406.5 (a constant factor) and divide by the number of square inches in base sheet.

Graphic Designer

A person in the graphic arts who puts together art, text, and other visuals to produce professional printed results.

An intaglio printing process in which the image area is etched below the surface of the printing plate and is transferred directly to the paper by means of pressure.

Gray Balance

The dot values or densities of cyan, magenta, and yellow that produce a neutral gray.

The number of gray values that can be distinguished by a color separation filter-usually 2 8 or 256.

A strip of standard gray tones, ranging from white to black, placed at the side of original copy during photography to measure tonal range and contrast (gamma) obtained.

A row of clips that holds a sheet of paper as it speeds through the press.

Gripper Edge

Leading edge of a sheet of paper as it passes through the printing press.

Gripper Margin

Unprintable back edge of a sheet of paper on which grippers bear, usually ½ inch or less.

Paper made from pulp created in one of several processes that use virtually the whole tree. Sometimes chemical and heating process are used in the pulping. Groundwood paper retains the lignin from the trees, which causes the paper to yellow and deteriorate relatively quickly.

Gross Weight

The total weight of merchandise and shipping container.

The edge of a printed sheet at right angles to the gripper edge, which travels along a guide on the press or folder. This edge, like the gripper edge, should never be altered or mutilated between the printing and folding operations. It is the shorter edge of the sheet.

Guide Marks

A method of using crossline marks on the offset press plate to indicate trim, centering of the sheet, centering of the plate, etc.; these are sometimes called register marks .

Guide Roller

Sometimes called a cocking roller. Located on the roll stand between the roll of paper and the dancer roll . Can be cocked to compensate for certain paper roll conditions.

The side the press uses to guide the sheet to the exact side toward the operator; also known as operator or control side.

Device that is used to cut or trim stacks of paper to the desired size.

Gum Streaks

Streaks, particularly in halftones, produced by uneven gumming of plates which partially desensitizes the image.

In platemaking, the process of applying a thin coating of gum to the non-printing areas of a lithographic plate.

The blank space or inner margin on a press sheet from printing area to binding.

Hairline Register

Register within ± ½ row of dots.

In photography, a blurred effect, resembling a halo, usually occurring in the highlight areas or around bright objects.

Half Binding

A style of binding wherein the shelf-back and the corners are bound in a different material from that used on the sides.

Halftone Negative Artwork (screened negative)

The negative film produced when continuous-tone artwork is shot through a halftone screen.

Halftone Positive Artwork (screened positive)

A photographic positive containing a halftone image.

Halftone Screen

An engraved glass through which continuous tone copy is photographed and reduced to a series of dots for halftone printing.

The reprographic technique that simulates continuous tone imagery through the use of dots, varying either in size or in spacing, thus generating a gradient-like effect. "Halftone" can also be used to refer specifically to the image that is produced by this process.

Handmade Finish

Paper with a rough finish resembling handmade paper.

A halftone dot characterized by a sharp, clean cut edge.

Another term for casebound.

Hardcover (casebound, edition binding)

Nonflexible book binding made of thick, glazed board.

Paper that has been treated with a large amount of size to increase its resistance to moisture. Slack-sized is the opposite.

Wood from deciduous trees having short fibers.

The amount allowed for the top trim.

A small strip of silk or cotton used for decoration at the top of a book between the sheets and the cover. In hand binding, a real tape to which the signatures are sewn.

On a paper machine, the box that dispenses the appropriate amount of furnish (pulp) into the papermaking process.

The top of a page of text which can be a chapter heading, title line, etc…

Head-to-Head Imposition

An imposition which requires that pages be laid out with the top of a page (head) positioned across the top of the page (head) opposite it on the form.

Head-to-Tail Imposition

An imposition which requires that pages be laid out with the top of a page (head) positioned across the from the bottom (tail) of the page opposite on the form.

Heat-Set Inks

Inks used in high-speed web offset. They set rapidly under heat and are quickly chilled.

In offset, spots or imperfections in the printed image traceable to such things as dirt on the press, dried ink skin, paper particles, dust, etc…

A paper (normally book paper) specifically manufactured to retain a thickness not found in papers of the same basis weight. Frequently used to give thickness to a book with minimal amount of pages.

High Contrast

In photography, describes a reproduction in which the difference in darkness between neighboring areas is greater than in the original.

High Finish

A term referring to a paper that has a smooth, hard finish applied through calendering or other processes.

High Key Picture

A continuous tone photo made up of predominantly highlight (white) areas.

Highlight Halftone

The lightest or whitest parts in a photograph represented in a halftone reproduction by the smallest dots or the absence of all dots.

High-Speed Printer

Computer which prints in excess of 300 lines per minute.

The flexible joint where the covers of a hardbound book meet the spine, permitting the covers to open without breaking the spine of the book or breaking the signatures apart.

An impression from a stamping die.

A term referring to papers that retain much of the resinous ink components on the surface of the sheet rather than absorbing them into a fiber network. Papers with too much holdout cause problems with setoff.

In color, the main attribute of a color which distinguishes it from other colors. See Chroma.

Moisture condition of the air. Relative humidity is the percent of moisture relative to the actual amount which air at any given temperature can retain without precipitation.

Hydra Pulper

Vat with a special type of agitator used to hydrate and prepare pulp for papermaking.

A papermaking process that involves beating the pulp so as to increase its ability to hold water and produce a paper with the proper moisture content.

Hydrophilic

Describes paper with an affinity for water.

Hydrophobic

Describes paper that tends to be water repellent.

Hygroscopic

Describes paper that readily absorbs moisture.

Imitation Parchment

Paper made with irregular distribution of fibers.

In digital imaging, an imagesetter capable of outputting a film flat with 4, 8 or more pages in imposed position.

Impression Cylinder

In printing, the cylinder on a printing press against which the paper picks up the impression from the inked plate in direct printing, or the blanket in offset printing.

Pressure of type of blanket as it comes in contact with paper.

To print other information on a previously printed piece by running it through a press again.

An auxiliary printing unit, usually employing rubber letterpress plates; imprints copy on top side of web and permits imprint copy to be changed while press is running at full speed.

Mailing permit imprints that are preprinted on envelopes, mailing cartons, etc.

Ink Absorption

Extent of ink penetration into paper.

The degree with which paper will absorb ink.

Ink Dot Scum

On aluminum plates, a type of oxidation scum characterized by scattered pits that print sharp, dense dots.

A metal drum, either solid or cored; a part of an inking mechanism; used to break down the ink and transfer it to the form rollers.

Ink Fountain

In printing presses, the device which stores and supplies ink to the inking rollers.

Ink Holdout

An important printing paper quality - the ability to keep ink on top of the paper's surface. An inked image printed on paper with a high degree of ink holdout will dry by oxidation rather than absorption.

Ink Jet Printing

In digital printing, a plateless printing system that produces images directly on paper from digital data using streams of very fine drops of dyes which are controlled by digital signals to produce images on paper.

Ink Receptive

Having the property of being wet by greasy ink, in preference to water.

Ink Resistance

Resistance to the penetration of the ink vehicle; also called ink hold-out.

Inking Mechanism

On a printing press, the ink fountain and all the parts used to meter, transfer, break down, distribute, cool or heat, and supply the ink to the printing members. Also called inking system.

Denotes a production line of machinery, as required for the more or less complete manufacturing of a given product.

A printed piece prepared for insertion into a publication or another printed piece.

Type or design etched into a metal plate as opposed to raised letters as in letterpress.

The extreme strength, degree or amount of ink.

Interleaves (slip sheets)

Paper inserted between sheets as they come off the printing press to prevent transfer of wet ink from one to the other. Also, accessory sheets between parts in a form.

To align sheets of paper into a compact pile.

The flexible hinge where the cover of a casebound book meets the spine, permitting the cover to open without breaking the spine of the book or breaking apart the signatures; also called a hinge.

Proper name for the beater on the paper machine. In the Jordan, the pulp is pulverized, causing the pulp and water to mix in a uniform manner.

Junior Carton

A package of reamed sealed, cut size paper packed 8 to 10 reams per carton.

Fitting a line of type to both margins.

A method in composition of changing the spacing between type; brings the type closer together.

In color printing, the plate used as a guide for the register of other colors. It normally contains the most detail.

In artwork, an outline drawing of finished art to indicate the exact shape, position and size for such elements as halftones, line sketches, etc…

Kiss Impression

Printing performed with only slight pressure. The normal procedure for quality printing.

Kiss Pressure

The minimum pressure at which proper ink transfer is possible.

Partial cut through.

Kraft Process

A chemical pulping process that cooks down the tree to remove lignin, retaining the fibers for paper making. Free sheet papers are made in the kraft process.

Label Paper

Paper used for labeling applications. It may or may not have pressure sensitive adhesive backing added to the sheet.

Laid Dandy Roll

A dandy roll made for the purpose of imparting a laid finish to paper. It is composed of wires running parallel to the roll’s axis and attached to the frame by evenly spaced chain wires that encircle the circumference of the roll. The laid wires are affixed on top of the transverse chain wires, rather than being wove over and under them.

Term describes the finish imparted by a dandy roll which features wires parallel to its axis that impress the paper during manufacture to produce a permanent watermark. The wires which produce the laid effect are situated parallel on the dandy roll and are not interwoven with the traverse chain wires which encircle the dandy roll’s circumference, meaning the cross direction.

Paper that is developed by fusing one or more layers of paper together to the desired thickness and quality.

The slightly extended areas of printing surfaces in color plates, which make for easier registration of color.

Lap Register

A register achieved by overlaying a narrow strip of the second color over the first color, at the points of joining.

Last Color Down

The last color printed.

The drawing or sketch of a proposed printed piece. In platemaking, a sheet indicating the settings for a step-and-repeat machine.

Layout Sheet

The imposition form; it indicates the sequence and positioning of negatives on the flat, which corresponds to printed pages on the press sheet. Once the sheet is folded, pages will be in consecutive order.

In composition, rows of dashes or dots to guide the eye across the page. Used in tabular work, programs, tables of contents, etc…

The ability of an ink to flow.

Letterpress Printing

Also known as relief typographic printing, letterpress printing employs the use of type or designs cast or engraved in relief (raised) on a variety of surfaces which can include metal, rubber, and wood. Opposite of intaglio printing, in letterpress printing the ink is applied to the raised printing surface. Non-printing areas or spaces are recessed. Impressions are made in various ways. On a platen press the impressions are made by pressure against a flat area of type or plate. Flat-bed cylinder press printing uses the pressure of a cylinder rolling across a flat area of type or plate to create the impression. A rotary web press uses a plate that has been stereotyped (molded into a curved form) which presses against another cylinder carrying the paper.

The evenness of a paper determined by the fiber distribution.

Library Binding

A book bound in accordance with the standards of the American Library Association, having strong endpapers , muslin-reinforced end signatures, sewing with four-cord thread, cotton flannel backlining, and covers of Caxton buckram cloth, with round corners.

Maximum number of sheets handled by operator of guillotine cutting machine or by paper handler loading paper for printing.

Lightfastness

The degree to which a paper or printed piece will resist a change in color when exposed to light.

The "glue" that binds the cells of the tree and creates its structure. This product is removed in the kraft process. Approximately one third of the tree is lignin.

Likesidedness

Noticeably similar side-to-side color and finish of a sheet of paper.

Any copy suitable for reproduction without using a halftone screen.

Line Drawing

A drawing containing no grays or middle tones. In general, any drawing that can be reproduced without the use of halftone techniques.

Line Negative

A negative made from line copy.

Linear Paper

A watermarked sheet with lines to guide the user.

Linen Finish Paper

A paper embossed to have a surface resembling linen cloth.

The material which is pasted down on the backbone (spine) of a book to be casebound, after it has been sewn, glued off, and then rounded. It reinforces the glue and helps hold signatures together.

Small fuzzy particles in paper.

The allowance for overlap of one-half of the open side edge of a folded section, needed for sewn and saddlestitch binding, for feeding the sections; also called lap.

Lithographic Image

An ink-receptive image on the lithographic press plate; the design or drawing on stone or a metal plate.

Lithographic Papers

See offset papers

Lithography

A generic term for any printing process in which the image area and the nonimage area exist on the same plane (plate) and are separated by chemical repulsion.

Localized Watermark

Achieved by arranging the design on the dandy roll to leave a watermark at a predetermined place on the sheet.

A mark or symbol created for an individual, company, or product that translates the impression of the body it is representing into a graphic image.

Paper made with the machine direction in the longest sheet dimension.

An ink that has good flow on ink rollers of a press. If the ink is too long, it breaks up into filaments on the press, and causes flying as on a newspaper press.

Degree of permanence.

To fold a sheet lengthwise in the direction of the grain.

A popular style of binding, in which the spine binding material is not glued to the binding edge of the sheets.

Loose Register

Color that fits "loosely"; positioning (register) is not critical.

Refers to papers somewhat thinner than the usual papers of the same weight, having a smooth surface, and which is a "thin" sheet.

Low-Key Picture

A continuous tone photo made up of predominantly shadow areas of the same tone.

Symbol in the paper industry designating 1,000. Usually used to designate 1,000 sheets or two reams of fine paper.

Machine Direction

Establishes the grain direction, which is always parallel with the travel of the paper over the wire.

Machine Dried

Process of drying paper on the paper machine as opposed to air drying the paper after removal from the machine.

Machine Finish

Finish that is obtained while the paper is on the paper machine. Expressed as M.F. Different finishes are obtained by the number of times paper is passed through the rollers, either dry or wet.

Hue of a subtractive primary and a 4-color process ink. It reflects or transmits blue and red light and absorbs green light.

Magenta Screen

A dyed contact screen, used for making halftones.

In printing presses, all work done prior to running; adjusting the feeder, grippers, side guide, putting ink in the fountain, etc. Also, in letterpress, the building up of the press form, so that the heavy and light areas print with the correct impression.

Making Order

A paper that is not available off the supplier’s shelf, but they will produce it when ordered. Making orders for special sizes, colors and weights of paper are subject to small minimums.

The unprinted area around the edges of a page. The margins as designated in book specifications refer to the remaining margins after the book has been trimmed.

In color separation photography, an intermediate photographic negative or positive used in color correction. In offset lithography, opaque material used to protect open or selected areas of a printing plate during exposure.

Mechanical Pulp

In papermaking, groundwood pulp produced by mechanically grinding logs or wood chips. It is used mainly for newsprint and as an ingredient of base stock for lower grade publication papers.

Metallic Inks

Ink containing metal substances, used to produce special printed output.

The tonal range between highlights and shadows of a photograph or reproduction.

Paper which is brand-named by the manufacturer as opposed to the merchant house, which is known as a "private brand".

Mixed Office Waste

Wastepaper generated from offices, such as letters, memos, invoices, etc. which are collected and sorted for paper qualities. This is the major source of post consumer fiber used in recycled papers.

Geometric pattern caused when two screened images are superimposed at certain angles. Occurs when making a halftone from a halftone image.

Moisture Content

Refers to the amount of moisture found in a sheet of paper. Average amount ranges from 5 to 8%. This figure varies from sheet to sheet since paper will emit or absorb moisture according to the condition of the surrounding atmosphere. Moisture loss is realized in the form of shrinkage, which begins at the edges of the paper and moves across the grain causing the sheet to tighten and curl.

Printed in one color only.

In Artwork, several photographs combined to form a composite illustration.

Mottled Finish

Finish, which exhibits high and low spots, or glossy and dull areas on the printed sheet.

Mullen Tester

Device that measures the bursting strength of paper. Sometimes referred to as the pop test or pop tester.

In photography, film containing an image in which the values of the original are reversed so that the dark areas in the subject appear light on the film and vice versa.

Offset papers manufactured with a pH of 6.0 to 8.0 on a scale of .0 to 14.0. Neutral pH factors are built into paper as a minimum value, to increase stability and improve permanence for use in printing of archival records.

Nominal Weight

Refers to the basis weight of the paper. Unless otherwise stipulated by the mill and customer, a tolerance of plus or minus 5% is allowed when calculating the nominal weight.

Non-Impact Printers

Forms an image without impact.

In binding, a booklet bound on the short dimension.

Pertaining to equipment not under direct control of the central processing unit.

Off-Press Proofs

Proofs made by photomechanical or digital means in less time and at lower cost than press proofs.

See set-off. In printing, the process of using an intermediate blanket cylinder to transfer an image from the image carrier to the substrate. Short for offset lithography.

Offset Lithography (photolithography, offset)

The most common form of lithographic printing in which the image area and the nonimage area exist on the same plane (plate), separated by chemical repulsion. To print, the ink is "offset" (transferred) from the plate onto a rubber blanket and then to the paper.

Offset Paper

Coated or uncoated paper specifically for offset printing.

Offset Press (sheet fed)

Indirect rotary press with plate cylinder, blanket cylinder and an impression cylinder.

Offset Printing

Process of printing utilizing a lithographic plate on which the images or designs are ink receptive while the remainder of the plate is water receptive. Ink is transferred from the plate to a rubber blanket on the printing press and this rubber blanket transfers the image to paper. It is sometimes referred to as offset lithography or photo-offset.

One-Up, Two-Up, etc

Printing one (two, three, etc.) impressions of a job at a time.

A lightweight, cockle finish paper used for making copies of correspondence.

Pertaining to equipment under direct control of the central processing unit of a computer.

The amount of "show through" in a sheet from one side to the other. The higher the opacity the less likely that the printing on one side will be visible from the other side.

The more opaque a sheet of paper is, the less transparent it is. High opacity in printing papers is a good characteristic as print from the other side of a printed leaf has less "show-through".

An ink that conceals all color beneath it.

Open End Envelope

An envelope that opens on the short dimension.

Optical Brightness

Optical brighteners or fluorescent dyes are extensively used to make high, bright blue-white papers. They absorb invisible ultraviolet light and convert to visible light, falling into the blue to violet portion of the spectrum, which is then reflected back to our eyes.

Optical Whitener

A dye that is added to the fiber stock or applied to the paper surface at the size press to enhance its brightness.

Orange Peel

A granular surface on coated or printed paper that looks like orange peel.

Out-of-Register

(1) Descriptive of pages on both sides of the sheet which do not back up accurately. (2) Two or more colors are not in the proper position when printed; register does not "match."

Out-of-Round Rolls

Paper rolls that are not suitable for the web offset press because they are not perfectly round and will cause uneven feeding tension.

Out-of-Square

Refers to paper that has been trimmed improperly thus causing the corners to be less or more than 90 degrees. This leads to difficulty during the printing process and often results in misregister of the printed piece. Also called off-square.

Outline Halftone (silhouette halftone)

A halftone image which is outlined by removing the dots that surround it.

Overhang Cover

A cover larger in size than the pages it encloses.

Describes printing when too much ink has been used, resulting in heavy print that tends to blur toward the back of the press sheet.

Overpacking

Packing the plate or blanket to a level that is excessively above the level of the cylinder bearer.

Overpressure

Too much pressure, causing ink to tend to plug letters, especially halftone dots.

Overprinting

Double printing; printing over an area that already has been printed.

Quantity of paper that is manufactured beyond the quantity specified. In printing, copies printed in excess of the specified quantity.

A chemical reaction which hardens the ink vehicle and makes the film of ink reasonably rub-proof . The process of combining with oxygen.

In printing presses, the paper or other material used to underlay a press blanket or plate, to bring the surface to the desired height; the method of adjusting squeeze pressure.

Packing Gauge

a device for determining the relationship between the height of the plate or blanket, and the cylinder bearers.

Padding Glue

A flexible glue used in padding loose sheets.

The number of flexes a book page can withstand before loosening from the binding.

Page Makeup

In stripping, assembly of all elements to make up a page. In digital imaging, the electronic assembly of page elements to compose a complete page with all elements in place on a video display terminal and on film or plate.

Page Proofs

Initial impression of a page pulled for checking purposes before the entire job is run.

Pages-Per-Inch (ppi)

In book production, the number of pages contained in a one-inch stack of paper.

In computerized typesetting, the process of performing page makeup automatically.

The collection of colors or shades available to a graphic system or program.

A wooden platform with stringers wide enough to allow a fork lift to drive into it and lift; used to pack cartons for shipment, if specified by the customer. Pallets are usually not reusable.

Pantone Matching System

Paper machine.

Machine on which paper is manufactured, dried, wound on rolls and slit to appropriate lengths.

Paper Surface Efficiency

Measure of the printability of a sheet of paper which is dependent upon the amount of ink the paper absorbs, the smoothness of its surface, and the evenness of its caliper.

A paper-covered book; also called paperback or soft cover.

A paper used for greeting cards, stationery, etc…which is distinctive from regular stock in that special watermarks and embossing may be used.

Paraded Watermark

(See watermark).

Parallel Fold

Any series of folds in sequence, made in parallel fashion.

Paste Drier

In inkmaking, a type of dryer, usually a combination of drying compounds.

Pasted grades are those grades of paper or paperboard made up of layers pasted together. The process is machine operation used to combine sheets of the same or different papers into a single thickness.

PCF - Process Chlorine Free

Our 100% post consumer recycled papers are manufactured from sustainable raw materials and are processed using chlorine-free practices.

Quick-Set Inks

Those inks that set-up faster and dry faster, usually from top to bottom. These inks are used when sheets have to be sent back through the press faster than normal drying time will allow.

Printing with four half-tone images at different screen angles using four different colors. Usually the four colors would have a color slant or cast towards a selected tone or color; for example a sepia-tone or overall brown slant or cast.

Quarter Tone

In printing, a printing dot that has a percentage that is close to the 25% printing dot size.

Today it is usually referred to as cotton fiber paper. It is made from cotton cuttings and linters.

Pulp made by disintegrating new or old cotton or linen rags and cleaning and bleaching fibers.

Random Watermark

Five hundred sheets of printing paper.

Ream Marked

Pile of paper is ream marked by the insertion of small slips of paper or "ream markers" at intervals of every 500 sheets.

Ream Marker

Piece of rectangular shaped paper used to mark off the reams in a stack of paper.

Ream Weight

Weight of a given ream of paper.

Ream Wrapped

Paper which has been separated into reams and individually packaged or wrapped.

Scrap paper collected for remanufacturing into recycled paper. EPA’s definition for recovered is the most widely accepted and does not include scrap paper created in the initial papermaking process, but does include scrap created in a mill after the paper comes off the paper machine. Printing waste and envelope trip are also recovered fiber.

Recycleable

This means the product can be recycled. This applies to most paper even if it is coated, waxed or other wise treated.

Paper made at least in part from recovered fibers. There is no universally acceptable definition so requirements vary by specific circumstances. EPA requires post consumer content in recycled papers purchased by federal agencies. But the FTC does not require post-consumer content in papers labeled recycled. Most US governments and companies use the EPA standards, but there is no requirement. In Canada most companies use the terra-choice definition for recycle which does require minimum levels of post-consumer fiber.

In printing inks, varnishes, solvents, oily or greasy compounds used to reduce the consistency for printing. In photography, chemicals used to reduce the density of negative or positive images or the size of halftone dots (dot etching).

The mechanical treatment of pulp fibers to develop their papermaking properties.

Reflection Copy

In photography, illustrative copy that is viewed and must be photographed by light reflected from its surface. Examples are photographs, drawings, etc…

In printing, register is the placement of two or more images on the same paper in such a manner as to make them in perfect alignment with each other. When a printing job is in exact register succeeding forms or colors can be printed in the correct position relative to the images already printed on the sheet.

Register Mark

Mark placed on a form to assist in proper positioning of after-printing operations. Two short lines at right angles are called an angle mark. Also, bulls-eye marks placed on camera-ready copy to assist in registration of subsequent operations.

Registration

Alignment of one element of a form in relation to another. Also, alignment of printed images upon the same sheet of paper.

Relative Humidity (RH)

The amount of water vapor present in the atmosphere expressed as a percentage of the maximum that could be present at the same temperature.

Repeatability

The ability to keep photo film and the images thereon in proper register. Repeatability is usually measured in micrometers.

A term referring to printing again from standing negatives.

Chemicals that slow setting time of printing inks.

When the background is completely printed, and the design area is left unprinted.

Equipment which slits and rewinds paper webs into smaller rolls.

Right Side of Paper

The felt side of a sheet, also the side on which the watermark, if any, may be read.

Right-Angle Fold

Term used for two or more folds that are at 90 degree angles to each other.

Right-Read Image

Image similar to the original or intended final copy.

Stiffness, resistance to bending.

Web of paper. Paper wound around a core or shaft to form a continuous roll or web of paper.

Roller Stripping

In lithography, a term denoting that the ink does not adhere to the metal ink rollers on a press.

A size added to paper to make it water resistant.

Rotary Press

Printing press in which the plate is wrapped around a cylinder. There are two types, direct and indirect. Direct presses print with a plate cylinder and an impression cylinder. Indirect rotary presses (sheet-fed offset presses) combine a plate cylinder, a blanket cylinder and an impression cylinder.

Rotogravure

Intaglio process. The image is below the surface of the plate. (Letterhead image is raised the offset image is flat)

1) Ink on printed sheets, after sufficient drying, which smears or comes off on the fingers when handled. (2) Ink that comes off the cover during shipment and transfers to other covers or to the shipping carton or mailer; also called Scuffing.

In printing, an ink that has reached maximum dryness and does not mar with normal abrasion.

Rule Weight

Thickness of lines; hairline rule; medium rule (½ point); heavy rule (1 point).

Runnability

Paper’s performance on a press and its ability to withstand the stresses of a running press unaltered. Not the same as printability.

Saddle Stitch

Binding process for pamphlets or booklets, which works by stapling through the middle fold of the sheets (saddle wire).

Saddle Wire Binding

To fasten a booklet by wiring the middle fold of the printed sheets of paper.

Absence of the short cross line at the ends of the stroke of a Roman letter.

Optical scanner, also electric device used in making color separation.

Point-by-Point electronic scanning of color separations under computer control.

Schopper's Tester

An instrument for testing the folding endurance of paper.

Score/Scoring

The process and the resulting line or crease mechanically impressed in the paper to facilitate folding while guarding against cracking of paper and board. Scoring is essential when heavyweight papers are to be folded.

The ruling used to determine the dots per unit area in developing tonal values in the printed piece. Screens from which letterpress halftones of photographs are made range from 60 lines-per-inch for printing on newsprint to 300 lines for printing on coated paper and premium uncoated paper. Offset halftones for printing on most surfaces range from 133 lines to 200 lines.

Screen Angles

In color reproduction, angles at which the halftone screens are placed with relation to one another, to avoid undesirable moire patterns. A set of angles often used is: black 45°, magenta 75°, yellow 90°, cyan 105°.

Screen Process Printing

This printing process uses a screen of fine-mesh silk (thus the common name silk screen printing) taughtly stretched across a frame. A squeegee drawn across the screen forces ink through the open image areas which are cut-out by hand using lacquered tissue prior to its adherence to the silk. Special photographic negatives are adhered to the screen when faithful reproduction of intricate designs are sought.

Screen Range

The density difference between the highlight and shadow areas of copy that a halftone screen can reproduce without a flash exposure.

Screen Ruling

The number of lines or dots per inch on a halftone screen.

Screened Print

A print made from continuous-tone copy that was screened during exposure.

A halftone film having a uniform dot size over its area, and rated by its approximate printing dot size value, such as 20 percent, 50 percent, etc.; also called screen tint.

See rub-off, The disrupted appearance of an ink film as a result of abrasion to either the wet or dry ink film.

A term referring to the press plate picking up ink in the nonprinting areas for a variety of reasons, basically due to spots or areas not remaining desensitized.

Term often applied to cut size sheets which are packaged "ream sealed", 500 sheets to the package.

Process of allowing paper to adjust to atmospheric conditions of the plant in which it will be used.

Secondary Fiber

A term used for wastepaper, also referred to as paper stock.

A cover that matches the inside text pages.

Semi-Concealed Cover

A cover for mechanical binding that is a single piece scored and slotted or punched for combining with the mechanical binding device, formatting a closed backbone on bound units.

Sensitivity Guide

A narrow, calibrated continuous tone gray scale with each tone scale numbered.

Short cross line at the ends of the stroke of a Roman letter.

In platemaking, the distance from the front edge of the press plate to the image area, to allow for clamping to the cylinder and also for the gripper margin.

The undesirable transfer of ink from freshly printed sheets of paper to another. (Also called off-set).

Set-Up Sheet

A sheet drawn in Plate Prep on the Craftsman table from computer specifications; used as a master for the layout and positioning of pages on the job for which it was drawn.

A popular style of bookbinding; in which the signatures are gathered in sequence and then sewn individually in 8s, 16s, or 32s. The sewing threads are visible at the center of each signature.

Sewn-On Tapes

Strips of reinforcing cloth sewn to the spine of the book sections and extending slightly past the edge of the spine; used to strengthen the binding of a casebound book.

The darkest parts in a photograph, represented in a halftone by the largest dots.

To decrease in color strength, as when halftone dots become smaller; opposite of dot spread or dot gain.

A photographic term for perfectly defined detail in an original, negative and reproduction.

To cut a slight trim from bound books or paper, printed or blank.

Term which may be applied to a single sheet, a grade of paper, or a description of paper, i.e. coated, uncoated, offset, letterpress, etc.

Sheet Delamination

Directly related to poor surface strength in that if the sheet has poor surface strength, delamination will occur in the printing process. Sheet delamination could also create a problem of a blanket smash. If the delamination is large enough and thick enough, as the press continues to run, it will create a depression in the blanket, so that when the delamination buildup is removed from the blanket the depression will remain, rendering the blanket unusable. These defects pertain to both sheet-fed and web-fed equipment.

In paper manufacture, rotary unit over which the web of paper passes to be cut into sheets. In printing, rotary knife at the delivery end of web press that slices press lengths.

Any printing press requiring paper in a sheet form as opposed to printing in rolls.

The process of cutting a roll or web of paper into sheets.

To print one side of a sheet of paper with one plate, then turn the sheet over and print the other side with another plate using same gripper and opposite side guide.

(1) A slip case for holding bound volumes of a set. (2) The copper (or nickel) duplicate of type or engravings produced in the plating tanks on impressions in wax or other molding mediums.

Sheridan Saddle Stitcher-Trimmer

A machine used to gather, cover, stitch, and trim saddle stitch books.

Undercooked wood particles that are removed from the pulp before manufacture of paper begins. Sometimes shives will appear as imperfections in the finished sheets.

Short-Grained Paper

Paper in which the predominant fiber orientation is parallel to the shortest sheet dimension.

Show-Through

In printing, the undesirable condition in which the printing on the reverse side of a sheet can be seen through the sheet under normal lighting conditions.

Decrease in the dimensions of a sheet of paper or loss incurred in weight between the amount of pulp used and paper produced.

On sheet-fed presses, a guide on the feed board to position the sheet sideways as it feeds into the front guides before entering the impression cylinder.

A method of binding in which the folded signatures or cut sheets are stitched with wire along and through the side, close to the gutter margin. Pages cannot be fully opened to a flat position; also called side wire.

Section of book obtained by folding a single sheet of printed paper in 8, 12, 16 or 32 pages.

Halftones from which the screen around any part of the image has been removed.

Silk-Screen

Print from a stencil image maker where the ink is applied by squeegee through a silk screen.

Silk-Screen Printing

Another name for screen process printing

Size or Sizing

Additive substances applied to the paper either internally through the beater or as a coating that improves printing qualities and resistance to liquids. Commonly used sizes are starch and latex.

Part of the paper machine, near the end, where sizing agents are added.

Container holding sizing material during the tub sizing process.

(1)A reusable platform support, made of wood, on which sheets of paper are delivered, and on which printed sheets or folded sections are stacked. Also used to ship materials, usually in cartons which have been strapped (banded) to the skid. (2)A quantity of paper, usually about 3000 lbs., skid-packed.

A paper that is slightly sized and therefore will be somewhat water resistant.

Slip-Sheeting

Placing pieces of paper between folded sections prior to trimming four sides, to separate completed books.

A sharp disk which cuts a paper into pre-determined widths.

Cutting printed sheets into two or more sections by means of cutting wheels on a folder.

Slur-Gauge (The GATF Slur Gauge)

A combination dot gain and slur indicator supplied in positive or negative form. It is a quality control device that shows at a glance dot gain or dot loss. It also demonstrates whether the gain or the loss occurs in contacting, platemaking, proofing or on the press.

The smearing or elongation of halftone dots or type and line images at their trailing edges.

Watery suspension of pigments, etc…which is used in coating or papermaking.

Smashed or Weak Blanket

An area of a blanket that is no longer firm and resilient, and that gives a light impression in the center of a well printed area. Usually caused by physical damage of the blanket at impression.

Smashing (nipping, compressing)

The binding operation following sewing in which the folded and sewn sheets are compressed to tighten the fold free of air to make the front and back of the sheets the same thickness.

A press condition in which the impression is slurred and unclear, because too much ink was used or sheets were handled or rubbed before the ink was dry.

Smooth Finish

A finish on paper that has been made smooth by passing through various rollers.

Smoothing Press

Prior to reaching the driers, the paper web is smoothed, if necessary, by two rolls working together.

The flatness of a sheet of paper, which generally determines the crispness of the image printed upon it.

Smyth Sewing

A method of fastening side-by-side signatures so that each is linked with thread to its neighbor, as well as saddlesewn through its own centerfold. Smyth-sewn books open flat. The stitching is on the back of the fold.

A camera term describing halation or fringe around the edge of a dot which is excessive and almost equals the area of the dot itself.

A term that describes the consistency of lithographic inks.

Another term for paperback or paperbound books.

Wood from coniferous trees having long fibers.

An area completely covered with ink, or the use of 100% of a given color. In composition, type set without space ( leading ) between the lines.

Intervals between lines of type.

Spec'd (specified)

Spec'd copy gives details of items such as paper, bindery techniques, type, etc., which have been determined for a given job.

Specialty Papers or Boards

Paper or board that is manufactured, or subsequently converted, for a specific use. These grades usually cannot be used for anything other than their intended special purpose.

The designer or printing production worker who determines the types of paper to be used under various circumstances.

Spectrophotometer

Sophisticated instrument that measures color across a visible spectrum and produces data describing the color of a given sample in terms of the three parameters in color space.

The complete range of colors in the rainbow, from short wavelengths (blue) to long wavelengths (red).

Backbone of a book.

Spiral Binding

Wires in a spiral form inserted through specially punched holes along the binding edge.

An overlapping joint used to join the ends of webs together.

Tab or marker giving the location of a splice.

Split Fountain

A technique for simultaneously printing two colors from the same ink fountain.

Smallest visible point that can be displayed or printed. The smallest diameter of light that a scanner can detect, or an image-setter or printer can image. Dot should not be confused with spot.

Spot Varnish

Press varnish applied to a portion of the sheet, as opposed to an overall application of the varnish.

Spotting Out

Fine opaquing such as in removing pinholes or other small transparent defects in a negative; also called Opaquing.

Spray Powder

A powder used at press to prevent setoff (offset) of wet ink; also called anti-offset spray.

Square Halftone (square-finish halftone)

A halftone whose four sides are straight and perpendicular to one another.

Square Sheet

A sheet which is equally strong and tear resistant with and against the grain.

A term used to describe paper that has been seasoned so that the moisture content is the same as the air surrounding it.

Device attached to delivery conveyor to collate, compress and bundle signatures.

Pressing a design onto a book cover using metal foil, colored foil, or ink, applied with metal dies.

Standards (paper)

Terms used to indicate the manufactured specifications of a paper. Includes color, basis weight, sheet dimensions, and grain direction.

Material used as a sizing agent for paper. Usually made from corn.

Static Electricity

An electrical charge frequently found in paper which is too dry or which has been affected by local atmospheric conditions.

Static Neutralizer

In printing presses , an attachment designed to remove the static electricity from the paper to avoid ink setoff and trouble with feeding the paper.

Steel Engraving

An engraved plate used in relief printing.

Step-and-Repeat

Technique of affixing multiple images on a film or plate to extremely close tolerances.

In multiple imposition on a lithographic press plate, the procedure of repeating the exposure of a flat by stepping it along the gripper edge; side-by-side exposure.

In multiple imposition on a lithographic press plate, the procedure of repeating the exposure of a flat by stepping it back from the gripper edge of the plate; up-and-down exposure.

An ink with too much body.

Property of paper and paperboard to resist bending.

Stitched Book

A popular method of sewing the signatures of a book together by stitching all the sheets at one time, either through the center of the inserted sheets or side-stitched from front to back. A very strong style of binding but not flexible as compared with sewing.

Use of wire fastenings as a permanent fastening for continuous forms.

Stochastic Screening

A digital screening process that converts images into very small dots (14-40 microns) of equal size and variable spacing. Second order screened images have variable size dots and variable spacing. Also called Frequency Modulated (FM) screening.

General term with many meanings. (1) Paper or board that is on hand in inventory. (2) Paper or board that has been designated for a particular use and only awaits the printing or converting process. (3) Pulp which has been processed to a state where dilution is the only step necessary for it to be made into paper or board. (4) At any stage in manufacture wet pulp is referred to as stock. (5) Wastepaper.

Stock Sizes

Standard sizes of paper or board.

Stock Weights

Weights of papers stocked by mills and merchants.

Stocking Items

Papers manufactured in popular sizes, weights, colors, etc. on a regular basis to maintain adequately stocked inventories in mill warehouses.

Stocking Merchant

Paper distributor that stocks in his own warehouse facilities enough paper to immediately fill anticipated orders in the market. This eliminates the delay of ordering from the paper manufacturer, taking delivery, and delivering to the customer.

Stopping Out

An application of opaque to photographic negatives; also the application of special lacquer to protect areas in positives in dot etching; staging of halftone plates during relief etching; protecting certain areas of deep-etched plates so that no ink will be deposited on the protected areas.

Stream Feeder

A type of press feeder that keeps several sheets of paper, overlapping each other, moving toward the grippers.

Describes the "give" of a sheet of paper when it is subjected to tensile pressure.

Stretch Resistance

Stretch properties are essential for paper to fold well and to resist stress in use. Stretch resistance is measured on tensile testing instruments.

Penetration of printing ink into a sheet of paper.

Strike-Through

Penetration of printing ink through a sheet of paper.

String and Button Envelope

An envelope made with two reinforced paper buttons, one on the flap and the other on the back of the envelope. To close, a string which is locked under the flap button is wound alternately around the two buttons.

Substance Weight

Same as basis weight .

A rubber suction cup on machine feeding devices.

Suction Box

Device that removes water from the paper machine by a suction action located beneath the wire at the wet end.

Suction Feed

A term applied to suction grippers which feed paper.

Alkaline process of cooking pulp also known as the kraft process. Wood chips are cooked to a high brightness without fiber degradation in a substance of sodium sulfate and sodium sulfide.

Acid process of cooking pulp. Wood chips are cooked in a solution of bisulphite.

Super Calender

Off machine calender rolls that heat and iron paper to provide a high gloss finish.

Super Calendering

Alternating rolls of highly polished steel and compressed cotton in a stack. During the process the paper is subjected to the heated steel rolls and "ironed" by the compressed cotton rolls. It imparts a high, gloss finish to the paper. Super calender stacks are not an inherent part of the paper machine whereas the calender rolls are.

Surface Plate

One of the two basic types of lithographic press plates; a colloid image is formed on the light-sensitized metal plate by the action of actinic light passing through photographic negatives.

Surface Sized

Term applied to paper that has been sized by applying a sizing agent when the web of paper is partially dry. Purpose is to increase resistance to ink penetration.

Surface Texture

The relative roughness, smoothness or unevenness of the paper surface.

An additional printing over the design areas of previously printed matter to produce such overprints as "Sale," "$1.98" "Sample," etc. Also called overprint.

Same as sample book. A grouping of papers, usually in bound form, that displays the weights, colors, finishes and other particulars of a collection of papers to aid in the selection of grades.

Abbreviation indicating that the paper has been guillotine trimmed on all four sides. Literal translation: trimmed four sides.

During binding, the cutting or adhering of tabs on the edges of pages.

The pulling power or separation force of ink causing picking or splitting of weak papers.

Tagged Image File Format (TIFF)

A file format for graphics suited for representing scanned images and other large bitmaps. TIFF is a neutral format designed for compatibility with all applications. TIFF was created specifically for storing grayscale images, and it is the standard format for scanned images such as photographs-now called TIFF/IT.

A test to determine the tearing resistance of paper.

TCF - Totally Chlorine Free

Includes both virgin and post-consumer fibers that are bleached without any chlorine containing compounds.

Tearing Strength

The ability of a paper to resist tearing when subjected to rigorous production demands of manufacturing, printing, binding and its conversion from flat sheets into envelopes, packaging materials, etc.

Tensile Strength

Tensile strength relates to the stress and strain to which paper is subjected in its many end use applications. It is defined as the maximum force required to break a paper strip of a given width under prescribed laboratory conditions. Tensile strength is usually defined as pounds-per-inch width of the testing strip, or as kilograms per 15-millimeter width. Tensile strength is measured in both the grain and cross-grain directions, however, it is always greater in the grain direction.

A general term applied to various grades of printing paper designed for deluxe printed booklets, programs, announcements and advertising.

Thermography

Letterpress printing in which a special ink, while still wet, is dusted with a resinous powder. Then the sheets are baked fusing the powder with the ink, giving it a raised effect.

Thermomechanical Pulp

Made by steaming wood chips prior to and during refining, producing a higher yield and stronger pulp than regular groundwood.

Measurement in thousandths of an inch.

Shading of an area in a form.

Printing plate with customized surfaces to print solid colors or patterns, stipple line or dot arrangements in tints of inks. Tint blocks are also used to deepen colors in an illustration.

An all-over color tint on the press sheet in the nonimage area of the sheet, caused by ink pigment dissolving in the dampening solution.

Titanium Dioxide

Chemical substance used as loading or coating material to increase the whiteness and brightness of a sheet and contribute to its opacity.

Permissible degree of variation from a pre-set standard.

Characteristic of paper. A slightly rough paper which permits acceptance of ink readily.

Designates the felt side of a sheet of paper. The top side of a sheet is the side not against the wire during manufacture. (2) In paperboard, the top is the side that exhibits the best quality.

Tub sizing of paper which has previously been beater sized.

Translucency

Allowing light, but not detailed shapes, to pass through; semitransparent.

Translucent Papers

Papers that will allow information to be seen through them but not totally clear like acetate.

Transparency

Photographic positive mounted in a clear or transparent image.

Transparent Ink

A printing ink which does not conceal the color beneath. Process inks are transparent so that they will blend to form other colors.

The ability to print a wet ink film over previously printed ink. Dry trapping is printing wet ink on dry paper or over dry ink. Wet trapping is printing wet ink over previously printed wet ink.

Excess of the paper allowed a printed sheet for gripper and bleed.

Trim Margin

The margin of the open side, away from the bind; also called thumb, face or outside margin.

In printing, marks placed on the copy to indicate the edge of the page where to cut or trim.

The final size of a printed piece after trimming.

Trimmed Size

The final size of a printed piece after all bleeds and folds have been cut off.

Machine equipped with a guillotine blade that can cut paper to the desired size.

Tub-Sized (surface-sized)

Sizing added to the surface of paper by passing a web through a tub or bath of sizing, removing the excess, and drying.

Head to foot printing.

Twin-Wire Machine

A paper machine with two wires instead of one producing paper with less two-sidedness.

Two-Sheet Detector

In printing presses, a device for stopping or tripping the press when more than one sheet attempts to feed into the grippers.

Two-Sidedness

In paper, the property denoting difference in appearance and printability between its top (felt) and bottom (wire) sides.

Printing the same page or group of pages from two sets of plates, thereby producing two impressions of the same matter at one time.

Two-Up Binding

Printing and binding in such a way that two books are bound as one, then cut apart into separate books.

A design of letters of the alphabet intended to be used in combination.

Paper not treated to bleaching; it has a light brown hue.

Paper that has not been coated.

Undercolor Removal

To improve trapping and reduce ink costs in the process color web printing, color separation films are reduced in color in areas where all three colors overprint and the black film is increased an equivalent amount in these areas.

Term refers to an order produced or delivered that is less than the quantity specified by the customer. Allowances are permitted in trade practices for under-runs.

Undertrimmed

Trimmed to a size smaller than the specified trim size.

Being uniform in the structure of the paper, the color and finish.

Refers to the combination of inking, plate and impression operations to print each color. A 4-color press has 4 printing units each with its own inking, plate and impression functions.

Ultra Violet radiation method of drying process color inks on high-speed multicolor offset presses.

The drying of UV inks by a light reaction, rather than by heat and/or oxidation.

In printing, solventless inks that are cured by UV radiation. They are used extensively in screen printing, narrow web letterpress and flexographic printing.

Thin, protective coating applied to a printed sheet of paper for protection or improved appearance.

The liquid part of an ink that gives it flow, enabling it to be applied to a surface.

Term usually applied to a paper finish that exhibits a toothy surface which is very similar to eggshell or antique finishes. A vellum finish is relatively absorbent to provide good ink penetration.

Vellum Paper

Very strong, good quality cream colored or natural paper made to impersonate calfskin parchment. Also, the term is often applied to the finish of paper rather than a grade of paper. Stationery is often referred to as vellum. Also, translucent paper used by architects and artists are often referred to as Velum.

Halftone whose background gradually fades away to blend with the surface of the paper.

Paper made from the fibers in their first use, usually from wood pulp.

Virkotyping

Another name for thermography or raised printing.

Broad term that encompasses the properties of tack and flow as applied to inks.

Deterioration of part of image area on plate during printing.

Color of ink falling in the red-orange-yellow family.

Operation between ink/color changes. Time required between ink color changes.

Water Ball Roller

A roller which runs in the fountain solution pan.

Water Fountain

The metal trough on a lithographic press which holds the dampening solution.

Water in Ink

A press condition of too much water, which breaks down ink.

Water Resistance

Quality of a sheet of paper to resist penetration by water from one surface to the other.

Waterless Plate

In platemaking, printing on a press using special waterless plates and no dampening system.

A term referring to the impression of a design, pattern or symbol in a sheet while it is being formed on the paper machine wire. It appears in the finished sheet as either a lighter or darker area than the rest of the paper. Two types of watermarks are available. A shaded watermark is produced by a dandy roll located at or near the suction box on the Fourdrinier. The desired design is pressed into the wire covering the surface of the dandy roll similar to an intaglio engraving. As the wet pulp moves along the web the dandy roll presses down and creates an accumulation of fibers, thus the watermark is seen as being darker than the rest of the sheet.   The second type of watermark, called a wire mark, is accomplished by impressing a dandy roll with a raised surface pattern into the moving paper web in a similar manner to the shaded mark. This creates an area with less fiber making it lighter and more translucent.   Watermarks come in a variety of placement styles. Random, the least expensive to create, is a watermark that appears repetitively throughout the sheet in no particular order. A localized watermark is one that appears in a predetermined position on each sheet. Paraded watermarks appear in a line, either vertically or horizontally on each sheet. A staggered watermark pattern consists of several watermarks on each sheet in a predetermined fashion. (See dandy roll)

Characteristic of a pile of sheets when the outer edges retain more moisture from the air than the center does or when the center retains more moisture then the outer edges do. It is a form of paper curl.

A warping, "wave like" effect in paper which is the result of the edges of the sheet having picked up moisture and expanded to a larger size.

Roll of paper used in web or rotary presses and most often folded, pasted and converted in one continuous form. Also a ribbon of paper as it unwinds from a roll and threads through the press.

Break in a roll of paper while it is on the machine during manufacturing or while on the printing press during production.

Web Offset Paper

Paper that is made to be printed in a continuous manner from a roll. It can be coated or uncoated and must be strong enough to withstand the rigors of web offset printing at high speeds.

An offset press that uses web paper as opposed to sheet fed paper.

Web Tension

Amount of pull applied in direction of the travel of a web of paper by the action of a web-fed press.

Weight Tolerance

Acceptable degree of variation in a paper's shipped weight, usually within 5 percent of the paper's nominal weight.

Well-Closed Formation

Bonding of fibers in a sheet that provides an overall uniformity. Opposite of wild.

Hard sized.

Water or dampness on the edge of the roll can weld or bond the paper together, which will then break on the infeed, a problem easily determined by the press crew.

Wet Rub Test

A test of the moisture resistance of paper.

Wet Strength

The strength retained by a sheet when completely wetted with water; generally, tensile strength.

The beginning of a paper machine that involves a slurry of fibers, fillers, and other additives and is most likely the most critical process area for successful production of the high quality and consistent end product.

Wet-End Finish

Category of finishes such as antique, eggshell, vellum applied to the wet paper web by machine rolls and the presses at the wet end of the papermaking machine.

Wet-Strength

Wet strength is measured most accurately as the percentage ratio of wet-tensile strength to dry-tensile strength. Example: a paper containing 30% wet strength actually possesses 30% of its original dry-tensile strength.

Wet-Strength Papers

Once wet, ordinary papers lose most of their original dry-strength properties. Wet strength papers possess properties that resist disintegration and rupture when saturated with water. Papers are classified wet strength when they retain 15% or more of their dry-tensile strength. Superior quality wet strength papers may retain as much as 50% or more dry strength following immersing in water. Wet strength papers range in weight from tissue to paperboard.

Wetting Agent

A material capable of lowering the surface tension of water and water solutions and increasing their wetting powers.

Whiteness of pulp and paper is generally indicated by its brightness.

Water that has been used in the papermaking process that is milky in color.

(See Distributor)

Unit at the end of the paper machine that takes the paper web from the reel, trims it, winds it into rolls and slits it to make smaller rolls if desired.

At the wet end of the paper machine, a copper, bronze or synthetic screen that receives the suspension of water and fiber from the head-box. The wire moves the suspension along to the dry end of the machine. The wire terminates at the couch roll at which point the paper web is 90% water and can be transferred to the wet felt. In business forms, to stitch or fasten sheets to form a book or fastened set; may be side or saddle wired.

Wire Binding

A continuous double series of wire loops running through punched slots along the binding side of a booklet.

On the bottom or wire side of the paper, these are impressed traces of the machine wire.

Opposite of felt side, this is the side of the paper that was against the wire during manufacture. A watermark will read backward from this side of the sheet.

With the Grain

Parallel to the direction in which the paper fibers lie.

Woodfree Pulp

Chemical pulp.

Work and Turn

To print one side of a sheet of paper then turn the sheet over from left to right and print the second side. The same gripper and plate are used for both sides.

Work and Tumble

To print one side of a sheet of paper, then turn it over from gripper to back using the same side guide and plate to print the second side.

Finish characterized by the impressions of a felt dandy roll covered in woven wire and without laid lines.

A dandy roll without a watermarked design.

(1) Creases in paper occurring during printing or folding. (2) In inks, the uneven surface formed during drying.

Writing Paper

A general term applied to papers used for writing purposes.

Wrong-Read Image

A mirror image such as that appearing on the blanket in offset printing.

Copying process that uses a selenium surface and electrostatic forces to form an image.

Yankee Dryer

A device that dries paper as it comes off the wet end of the papermaking machine by pressing one side against a cylinder that steam-heats it and imparts a glazed finish at the same time.

Hue off a subtractive primary and a 4-color process ink. It reflects red and green light and absorbs blue light.

Describes a transformation inherent to all vegetable fibers which is caused by aging. Paper made of vegetable fibers will turn various degrees of yellow as its environment couples with aging to produce this phenomenon. Yellowing is very evident in groundwood papers and only a few hours in direct sunlight is enough to yellow newspaper.

Zig-Zag Folding

Folding used with continuous forms with alternating position (head and foot). Commonly used to convert roll paper to easily managed flat-back.

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Pulp & Paper Glossary

Browse below the most comprehensive collection of technical and commercial terms used in the pulp, paper, printing, publishing, and related industries. PaperIndex Glossary has definitions of more than 1,600 terms including some obscure and many popular & frequently-used terms.

An ISO 'A' series paper size - 841x1189 mm or 33.11x46.81 inches or 2384x3370 points (widthxheight)

An ISO 'A' series paper size - 594x841 mm or 23.39x33.11 inches or 1684x2384 points (widthxheight)

An ISO 'A' series paper size - 420x594 mm or 16.54x23.39 inches or 1190x1684 points (widthxheight)

An ISO 'A' series paper size - 297x420 mm or 11.69x16.54 inches or 842x1190 points (widthxheight)

A common ISO 'A' series size of about 8-¼ by 11-¾ inches or 210x297 mm or 595x842 points. Used as the standard cut-paper size outside of the United States. The US equivalent is a letter size (8.5 x 11 inch) paper.

An ISO 'A' series paper size - 148x210 mm or 5.83x8.27 inches or 420x595 points (widthxheight)

An ISO 'A' series paper size - 105x148 mm or 4.13x5.83 inches or 298x420 points (widthxheight)

An ISO 'A' series paper size - 74x105mm or 2.91x4.13 inches or 209x298 points (widthxheight)

A plant commonly known as manila hemp.

Abrasion Resistance

A measure of paper's durability when subject to abrasive action.

Abrasive Paper

A type of paper that is coated on one or both sides with abrasive powder such as emery. Quick Links: Buy Abrasive Papers Abrasive Paper Suppliers Sell Abrasive Papers

Abrasiveness

A property of paper causing it to scratch the surface it contacts.

Absolute Moisture

The absolute moisture of the air is the maximum amount of water vapor, the air can contain before the excess water is released as dew. Absolute moisture is measured in grams per cubic meter.

Absorbable Organic Halogen (AOX)

The amount of chlorine chemically bound to soluble organic matter in the effluent.

The ability of a paper or board to take up and retain liquids such as water or ink.

Absorbent Core

The principal fluid-holding component of disposable hygiene products. Absorbent cores usually contain a combination of fluff pulps and super-absorbent polymers.

Absorbent Papers

A grade of paper that takes up and retains liquids such as duplicator, blotting, filter papers, and toweling.

Accelerated Aging Test

A technique to estimate the permanence of paper by exposing it to simulated conditions of heat, moisture, and/ or chemicals.

Fibrous raw material accepted after cleaning and/or screening for further processing in papermaking.

Accordion Fold

A type of paper fold in which each fold runs in the opposite direction to the previous fold creating a pleated or accordion affect. Accordion folds are used on products such as catalogs, brochures, and maps.

Acetate Pulp

A high alpha cellulose pulp made especially to be dissolved in acetic acid, acetic anhydride, and sulfuric acid for making acetate rayon and acetate fibers.

Materials that are white, gray, and black with no color or hue.

Acidfree Paper

A type of paper, which does not contain any acidic substance that may affect acid sensitive material. Such papers are used for archival purposes.

Acid Migration

Transfer of acid from an acidic material to a less acidic or neutral-pH material. Acid can also migrate from adhesives, boards, protective tissues, paper covers, etc.

A type of paper that has clay as the predominant filler and an acidic rosin-aluminum mixture as the internal sizing agent.

Acid Proof Paper

A type of paper that is not affected by acid physically or chemically.

Rosin size containing a large proportion of emulsified, free, or uncombined rosin.

Acidic Sizing

Internal sizing carried out in acidic pH range (0-7). Examples of acidic sizing are rosin and alum sizing.

Degree of acid found in a given paper measured by the pH factor. Paper can become acidic from the ingredients used in its manufacture, from the environment or both.

Actinic Rays

Light exposure that affects chemical changes in paper.

Activated Sludge Treatment

A biological method of cleaning up waste waters in three stages.

Active Alkali (AA)

Caustic soda (NaOH) and sodium sulfide (Na2S) expressed as Na2O in Kraft pulping liquor.

Actual Weight

Accurate weight of a given quantity of paper, which is different from the same paper's nominal weight.

Adding Machine Paper

Paper in roll form for use on adding and tabulating machines. Quick Links: Buy Adding Machine Rolls Adding Machine Roll Suppliers Sell Adding Machine Rolls  

Additive Colors

In photographic reproduction, the primary colors of red, green, and blue which are mixed to form all other colors.

Fillers, dyes, sizing, and other chemicals added to pulp or coatings to impart the paper greater smoothness, color, opacity or other desirable attributes.

Refers to a process in which an air stream is blown onto paper sheets to separate the sheets as they are fed to the printing press.

Aerated Lagoon

A biological wastewater treatment method in which air (oxygen) fed into an aeration basin to reduce the BOD, COD, and AOX content of the effluent.

A single sheet of paper folded and gummed on three sides. Bears international preprinted air postage and the word “aerogramme" Intended for airmail correspondence to other countries.

American Forest & Paper Association, established in 1993, merged the activities of the American Paper Institute (API), National Forest Products Assn. (NFPA), and American Forest Council (AFC).

Against the Grain (Cross Direction)

Cutting, folding, or feeding paper at right angles to the grain or machine direction of the paper.

Irreversible deterioration on of paper properties over time. Sunlight and heat accelerate the loss of strength and brightness.

Equipment used to keep content of a tank or chest in motion and well mixed.

Air Blade Coating

Coating subjected to a thin jet of air. Air jet removes excess coating and smoothes surface of freshly coated paper. (Same as air knife coating)

Air Brush Coater

A coater, which uses the pressurized air to atomize the coating mixture and spray it on the paper.

Refers to any pulp and paper sample that has its moisture content in equilibrium with the surrounding atmospheric conditions. Conventionally, air-dry pulps are assumed to contain 10% moisture.

Method of drying the paper web on the paper machine by blowing air along the direction of the web.

Air Filter Paper

A type of paper used for filtration of air to remove suspended particles. (For example car air filter, vacuum bag etc.)

Air Knife Coater

A device that applies an excess coating to the paper surface and then removes the surplus by impinging a flat jet of air upon the fluid coating, leaving a smooth film on the paper. Quick Links: Buy Coating Machinery Coating Machine Suppliers Sell Coating Machinery

Air Knife Coating

A method of coating using an air-knife which acts on the principle of a doctor blade and uses a thin, flat jet of air for removing the excess coating from a wet, freshly coated sheet of paper.

Airmail Paper

It is lightweight, high opacity, good quality writing / printing paper for airmail. Generally produced in white, off white or a pale blue for stationery purposes, usually below 40 g/m2 for reasons of postage costs.

Air Permeability

Also referred to as "porosity”. The ease with which pressurized air can flow through a sheet of paper. Typically measured by the Gurley or Sheffield porosity tests, which measure the volumetric flow of air through the paper thickness.

Air Pollution

The contamination of air around the plant due to the emission of gases, vapors, and particulate material in the atmosphere.

A compressed air tool that dispenses a fine midst of paint or ink; used in illustration and photo retouching.

Air-Dried Pulp

Pulp is described technically as air-dried when its moisture content is in equilibrium with the ambient atmosphere. Commercially, pulp is usually described as air-dried when the moisture content of the pulp is 10%.

Albion Press

A hand operated printing press made of iron.

Album Paper

A paper with an antique finish used for pages of photo albums.

Albumen Plate

Offset printing plate coated with light-sensitive albumen. It has a photosensitive coating.

Albumin Paper

A coated paper used in photography. The coating consists of albumin (egg whites) and ammonium chloride.

Micro-organic plant life that forms in paper mill water supplies.

Alkali Blue

Also called reflex blue. A pigment used in carbon black inks and varnishes to improve luster.

Alkali Proof

Paper that resists discoloration through contact with alkaline substances, such as soap. Glassine and waxed papers are used for such purposes.

Alkali Resistance

A tendency of paper not to be stained or discolored or to undergo a color change when brought in contact with alkaline products such as soap and adhesives.

Alkaline Paper

Paper manufactured under operating conditions with a pH greater than 7.0. Such papers have calcium carbonate as the filler and a synthetic material, compatible with the alkaline process, as a sizing agent. This process increases the longevity, bulk brightness, opacity, and printing characteristics of the paper without added cost.

Alkaline Papermaking

Paper manufactured under alkaline conditions, using additives, basic fillers like calcium carbonate and neutral size. The anti-aging properties in alkaline paper make it a choice for documents where permanence is required.

Alkaline Pulping

Pulping by alkaline solutions of sodium hydroxide, with or without sodium sulfide. Without sodium sulfide, it is called Soda process and with sodium sulfide, it is known as Kraft or Sulfate process.

Alkenyl Succinic Anhydride (ASA)

ASA is a sizing agent that increases paper's resistance to water penetration.

A high alpha cellulose chemical pulp. It is also known as dissolving pulp.

Alternative Fiber

Alternative pulps to wood pulps used in papermaking.

A papermaking chemical used for precipitating rosin size onto pulp fibers to impart water-resistant properties to the paper. It is also known as paper maker’s alum or hydrated Aluminum Sulfate {Al2(SO4)3}.. It is responsible for introducing acid into the paper.

Aluminum Paper

Packaging paper made by mixing aluminum powder into the furnish or by coating or laminating the sheet with aluminum powder

Aluminum Foil Lamination

The combination of thin Aluminum foil with a paper backing used as a positive moisture barrier. Normal combination is Kraft backing with Aluminum foil laminated to the Kraft by means of asphalt, adhesive, or polyethylene.

Anaerobic Treatment

An effluent treatment system that uses microbes in the absence of oxygen to break down organic matter into methane, carbon dioxide, and hydrogen sulfide.

Oil based solvent (quick drying) used in the preparation process of dyes and inks.

Animal Size

Glue and gelatin extracted from animal hides and used as a papermaking size.

Animal Sized

A technique of paper making which hardens the surface by passing the paper through a bath of animal glue or gelatin.

Announcements

Folded cards or envelopes that are generally used as stationery for social announcements.

Annual Renewable

Annually harvested crops such as hemp, esparto, bamboo, and cotton for use in papermaking.

Annual Vegetable Fiber Or Agricultural Residue Fiber

A source of fiber for pulp and papermaking such as wheat or rice straw or other fibrous by-products of agriculture.

Anti Rust Paper

Paper containing added substances, which give it the property of protecting the surfaces of ferrous metals against rusting.

Anti Tarnish Paper

Paper capable of protecting bright metallic surfaces against tarnishing.

Anti-Foam or Defoamer

Chemical additives used at wet-end to reduce or eliminate foam in white water.

Antiquarian

The largest available handmade paper (53 x 31 inches).

Antique Paper

A printing paper with a rough finish but good printing surface, used in book printing for its high volume characteristics. Antique papers having good bulk and opacity with rough or matte surface.

Antique Finish

A bulky paper with a rough surface used for book and cover stock.

Antique Glazed

A paper, which has a high finish on one side and an antique finish on the other.

Apparent Density

Weight per unit volume of a sheet of paper obtained by dividing the basis weight by the caliper (thickness). Typical values of apparent density range from 0.75 (in loosely formed or less dense papers) to 1.20 for highly bonded sheets.

Approach Flow System

The stock flow system from fan pump to headbox slice.

Sheet of oiled cloth, leather, or rubber, which bridges the gap between the breast box and the moving wire on a Fourdrinier machine.

Archival Paper

A paper with long-standing qualities, acid free, lignin and sulfur-free, usually with good color retention. Most commonly used for historic documents. The archival paper must be long lasting without causing deterioration to itself or other materials it may come into contact with.

Art-Lined Envelope

A colored or patterned envelope that is lined with an extra fine paper.

Paper, normally wood-free, suitable for 4-colour printing, evenly coated with a fine clay compound, which creates a hard smooth surface on one or both sides Quick Links: Buy Art Paper Art Paper Merchants Sell Art Paper

Artificial Parchment

Woodfree paper produced by fine and extended grinding of chemical pulps and mixture of special additives. It is used for wrapping meat.

Artist's Paper

A high-grade paper for drawing, made with a close weave.

The mineral residue left after burning a sample of paper to determine the percentage of filler it contains.

Ash Content

Ratio of mass of residue after combustion to mass of sample (pulp/paper) before combustion

Auto chrome Papertdef

Coated papers that are regarded as exceptional for multi-colored printing jobs.

The light blue color used in the nomenclature of "laid" and "wove" papers.

Azure Laid Papertdefi

A laid paper usually blue in color having a good writing surface.

An ISO 'B' series paper size - 1000x1414 mm or 39.37x55.67 inches or 2835x4008 points (widthxheight)

An ISO 'B' series paper size - 707x1000 mm or 27.83x39.37 inches or 2004x2835 points (widthxheight)

An ISO 'B' series paper size - 500x707 mm or 19.69x27.83 inches or 1417x2004 points (widthxheight)

An ISO 'B' series paper size - 353x500 mm or 13.90x19.69 inches or 1001x1417 points (widthxheight)

An ISO 'B' series paper size - 250x353 mm or 9.84x13.90 inches or 709x1001 points (widthxheight)

An ISO 'B' series paper size - 176x250 mm or 6.93x9.84 inches or 499x709 points (widthxheight)

An ISO 'B' series paper size - 125x176 mm or 4.92x6.93 inches or 354x499 points (widthxheight)

An ISO 'B' series paper size - 88x125 mm or 3.46x4.92 inches or 249x354 points (widthxheight)

An ISO 'B' series paper size - 62x88 mm or 2.44x3.46 inches or 176x249 points (widthxheight)

An ISO 'B' series paper size - 44x62 mm or 1.73x2.44 inches or 125x176 points (widthxheight)

An ISO 'B' series paper size - 31x44 mm or 1.22x1.73 inches or 88x125 points (widthxheight)

Marks left in a sheet of handmade paper, which has been dried over ropes.

Back Lining

The fixing of a material, either paper or cloth, to the back of a book before it is bound.

Back-To-Back

Print applied to both sides of a sheet of paper.

Printing the reverse side of a sheet already printed on one side.

Backlining Paper

Smooth finish, hard-sized paper varying in thickness from .009 to .011 of an inch.

The water, which passes through the forming fabric during paper formation. It contains dissolved or suspended matter such as fines, filler, etc.

The matter left over after extracting sugar from sugarcane.

Bagasse Pulp

Pulp obtained by chemical means from bagasse, the residue after extracting the juice from sugar cane. Quick Links: Bagasse Pulp Suppliers

A term given to the procedure of drying coatings on paper surface.

Solid, compressed stack of pulp or paper sheets

Baling Plant

Part of a pulp mill where pulp sheets are converted into bales.

A grass yielding fibers used for papermaking.

Bamboo Pulp

Pulp obtained by chemical means from the stems of bamboo, a type of grass common to Asiatic countries.

Banding (Strapping)

Steel, plastic, fiber or other bands used to secure or protect rolls, sheets, loads, etc.

Bank Note Paper

An age-resistant paper, suitable for 4-colour printing, with watermark and falsification safeguards such as embedded metal strip. Often containing cotton fibers.

A thin, uncoated paper used for making carbon copies.

Bark Steam Boiler

A boiler that burns mainly bark and other biofuels to produce steam.

A main source of energy for pulp mills. The tree stem is debarked before chipping, the bark is recovered and burnt at a steam power plant.

A device with two sets of thin metal doors (horizontal and vertical) placed before a light source to control the direction of light.

Barograph Paper

A thin paper coated on one side with a white wax, so that the needle of the barograph leaves a red line on a white ground.

Barrier Coat

A coating that is applied onto the non-printing side of paper to increase the opacity of the paper.

Baryta Paper

A coated stock (barium sulfate compound) used for text impressions on typesetting machines.

Board intended for coating, laminating, etc.

Paper intended for further processing, e.g. Coating or lamination.

Paper that will be further processed as in coating or laminating.

Specific, standard sheet size from which the basis weight of a given grade is determined.

Basis Weight

Weight per 500 sheets of paper (one ream) of different paper grades weighed by their designated basic sheet size.

Bast Fibers

The long strong fibers from the inner bark of woody plants such as kozo, mitsumata, and gampi, also the outer layer of plants such as flax, hemp, and jute. The fiber is stripped and beaten in order to separate the fibers to make paper. The longer the fiber, the stronger the paper.

Batch Cooking

The method of cooking sulphate pulp in several batch digesters.

A method of treating fabric or paper with wax before dyeing, so the treated area does not pick up color.

Bleached Chemi-Thermo Mechanical Pulping.

Beatability

The ease with which pulp can be beaten to achieve the desired properties

Large, longitudinally partitioned vat used to mix and mechanically work pulp with other ingredients such as additives and color to make paper.

Beater Additive

Starch, gum, or resin added to the papermaking stock in the beater to improve the utilitarian quality of the paper.

Beater Colored

A method of dyeing paper stock by adding coloring to the pulp in the beater.

Beater Roll

Cylinder or drum set with knives set against a bedplate to cut up rags in a beater trough.

Mechanical treatment of fibers to increase surface area, flexibility and promote bonding when dried.

Bending Chip

Paperboards using a recovered paper furnish to make folding cartons.

Bending Stiffness

Bending stiffness represents the capability of paper/board to resist the forces responsible for bending action. It also indicates the capability of paper to support its own weight while clamped in cantilever form.

Beta Radiography

Beta radiography is a technique using beta rays to measure thickness, moisture, density, and basis weight etc of paper.

An abbreviation for boldface, used to determine where boldface copy is to be used.

Bible Paper

A thin and strong paper (opaque) with high filler content, used for bibles and books. It is used in deluxe productions such as bibles, dictionaries and high-quality publicity productions.

Materials, which cause coating pigments to bond. The most frequently used binder is starch, but synthetic binders are also used to give improved performance.

Binder Migration

A coated paper defect where specks give a grainy or textured appearance to the coated surface.

Binder's Board

A heavy paperboard with a cloth covering that is used for hardback binding of books.

A chemical such as fungicide or a bactericide used in papermaking.

Biodegradable

Organic materials such as food and paper that are broken down by microorganisms into simple compounds such as carbon dioxide, water, or minerals.

Energy generated from renewable biomass e.g. Plants and plant components

Renewable fuels for example from wood and bark.

Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD)

A measure of the amount of oxygen needed by aquatic organisms to break down degradable organic matter present in effluent. The higher the amount of decomposable material, the higher the BOD value.

Biological Waste Water Treatment

A method of cleaning up wastewater using living microorganisms such as bacteria.

Sludge formed in the aeration basin during biological waste water treatment or other biological treatment process

Bisulfate Pulp

Pulp made by the bisulfate cooking process using bisulfate cooking liquor.

Bisulphite Pulp, Sulphite Pulp

Chemical pulp produced by cooking chips in a solution of sulphur dioxide and ammonium-, calcium-, sodium- or magnesium-sulphite

Black Liquor

A mixture of spent cooking chemicals and dissolved wood material remaining after pulping. Black liquor is concentrated by evaporation, and burnt in the recovery boiler to regenerate the cooking chemicals and also produce energy for the mill.

Black Photo Paper

A black paper used to protect photosensitive materials.

Black Printer

Refers to the film portion of the color separation process that prints black; increases the contrast of neutral tones.

Defect associated with calendered paper where local areas of paper are apparently darker or greyer color due to the paper being too damp when passed through the calender.

Blade Coated Paper

Paper coated by a process in which the freshly applied coating film is smoothed and the excess removed by a thin, flexible metal blade.

Blade Coating

A widely used coating method in which excess coating color is scraped off by a blade

Caused by a foreign piece of material caught under the coating blade, resulting in a scratch or streak that causes the paper surface to appear less opaque under a low angle light. Also known as a blade scratch or blade streak.

Precipitated or artificial barium solution.

Blank Book Paper

Bond, writing, news manila writing. Grade depends upon the purpose for which the blank book will be used.

A surface material (rubber) covering the printing cylinder that transfers the ink from the plate to the paper.

Blanket-To-Blanket

A printing method in which a sheet of paper is passed through two blanket cylinders and is printed on both sides.

Heavyweight paperboard that range from 15 points to 48 points in thickness. Can be coated, uncoated, or colored.

A chlorine solution used to whiten pulp in papermaking.

Bleach Plant

Area of a pulp mill where pulp is bleached.

Bleached Pulp

Pulp that has been bleached by means of chemical additives to make it suitable for white paper production.

Removal or reduction of color in pulp to improve its brightness.

Ink that extends beyond the edges of a piece of paper is said to bleed off the sheet. In a printing project, usually a bleed will cost more to produce than a piece that does not bleed.

Blind Emboss

A design impression that is made without using inks or metal foils.

Blind Folio

A page that is counted in the overall counting of pages, but the number is not printed on the page.

Blind Image

A problem that arises in the lithography process when an image loses its ink receptivity and fails to print.

A defect on a paper surface often shaped like a human blister.

Blister Pack

This term describes a packaging system, which is a combination of board and plastics. The product is sealed to the board by a transparent plastics film. This system is often used for small products of difficult shapes and sizes.

The process of separation of the paper’s coating from its surface, which appears in the form of eruptions. Usually caused by high drying temperatures, high paper moisture, or low internal bond strength.

Illustrations or line art etched onto zinc or copper plates and used in letterpress printing.

Block Resistance

The resistance of coated papers to blocking. Refer Blocking.

The adhesion of one coated sheet to another, causing paper tears or particles of the coating to shed away from the paper surface.

Blotting Board

A high absorbency paperboard.

Blotting Paper

Bulky, absorbent, filler-free paper, which is mostly produced from pure cotton in the form of bleached linters and from chemical pulp. The advent of the ball-point pen has greatly reduced its demand.

Blow-Through Drying Process

A system using dry steam or hot air that blows through the wire. The blow-through drying process enabled tissue products to be dried in much less time.

A German eco-label. To achieve this, paper has to contain 100% post-consumer waste.

The line of demarcation between paper and board is indeterminate. However, generally a thick, stiff paper or card usually made in several layers (or plies) with a substance normally varying from 150 to 500 g/m2, for certain grades even higher; widely used for packaging (e.g. folding cartons) and graphic applications. Quick Links: Buy Paperboard Paperboard Manufacturers Sell Paperboard

Base stock, or coating raw stock for plain or decorated papers.

Product made from wastepaper or other inferior materials in an imitation of higher-quality grades.

The edges of folded sheets of paper, which are trimmed off in the final stages of production.

A grade of durable writing, printing and typing paper made form bleached chemical wood pulps and cotton fibers. It is most commonly used for letterheads, stationery, business forms, etc. Quick Links: Buy Bond Paper Bond Paper Suppliers Sell Bond Paper

Bond Strength

The strength of paper or board to withstand layer-to-layer separation. Paper with good bonding strength will not pick during the printing process.

Bone Dry (B.D.)

This term refers to the moisture-free conditions of pulp paper. It also refers to air containing no vapor.

A term given the unfinished stage of bookmaking when the pages are folded, gathered, and stitched-in but not yet, cover bound.

Classification of paper that includes various grades and many finishes, among the grades being uncoated book paper and coated book paper used by printing establishments, publishers, etc. Made as wove or laid and can have finishes of antique, eggshell, machine, supercalendered, coated, dull, matte, or glossy.

Bottle Labeling Paper

A special body paper coated with an adhesive mixture. Must resist blocking under humid conditions.

Bound Galleys

The bound galley is used for promotional purposes and is frequently sent to book reviewers prior to printing the book.

Paperboard used in the manufacture of boxes. May be made of wood pulp or wastepaper. May be plain, lined or clay coated. Quick Links: Buy Boxboard Boxboard Suppliers Sell Boxboard

Box Cover Paper

A wide variety of white, colored, coated, uncoated, flint glazed or embossed lightweight paper used expressly for covering paper boxes.

Box Enamel Paper

A glossy coated paper used to cover paper boxes.

A coated paper used on the inside of boxes, which are used for food.

Plain or coated papers usually colored and embossed.

Braille Paper

A smooth and high strength paper suitable for the production of raised dots needed to manufacture reading material for the blind.

Total rupture of a web of paper during the manufacturing of printing process, which results in a tear from edge to edge.

Reduces rags to smaller pieces for beating in a Hollander.

Breaking Length

A measurement of tensile strength of paper corrected for its basis weight. This represents the theoretical length of a uniform width of paper that, when suspended by one end, would break by its own weight.

Breast Roll

Roll number one over which a Fourdrinier wire passes.

Brightening

Addition of optical brighteners to the stock to make the pulp appear whiter

Paper, paperboard, and pulp are measured through a lab test to determine the degree of reflectivity as measured by blue light to determine its brightness level. Paper brightness affects the legibility and contrast of printing. Printers, publishers, sellers refer to brightness which may be approximately by various photometers such as Photovolt, Elrepho, GE Brightness, Hunter Lab. Quick Links: Buy Brightness Testers Brightness Tester Suppliers Sell Brightness Testers

A stiff, heavy paper with a caliper of 0.006” and more. Examples include bogus, folding, index, printing and wedding bristol, bristol covers, postcard and coated postcard.

Brittleness

A property of paper that causes it to break when subjected to binding, converting, finishing, folding, and handling. Factors, which contribute to brittleness are composition, moisture, drying and aging.

A term given to the fold whereby paper is folded with the short side running with the grain.

A type of heavily embossed paper.

A pamphlet that is bound in booklet form.

Paper or board discarded during manufacture or converting of paper; usually repulped.

Broken Carton

A quantity of paper less than a full carton.

Broken Edges

Damaged edges of paper.

Broken Ream

Less than a full ream (500 sheets) of paper.

A printing method whereby special ink is applied to sheets and then a powder is applied producing a metallic effect.

The pulp obtained from the cooking process.

Brush Coated Paper

Paper that has been coated by off-machine brushes.

Brush Coating

A method of coating a web of paper in which the applied coating is distributed and smoothed by means of brushes.

Brush Finish

A high polish given to paper. It is obtained by running the dried or partially dried coated paper over a revolving drum provided with six or more rapidly revolving cylinder brushes, which contact the coated surface of the sheet.

Brush Glazing

Glazing of coated paper with the aid of brushes.

Brush Marks

Brush marks on the surface of brush coated paper due to improper application of the coating.

An area of paper rolls where the paper is overly compressed and creates a buckle when it is wrapped.

Buckle Folder

A portion of the binding machinery with rollers that fold the paper.

A coarse sized cloth used in the bookbinding process.

The acid neutralization in paper by adding an alkaline substance (usually calcium carbonate or magnesium carbonate) into the paper pulp. The buffer acts as a protection from the acid in the paper or from pollution in the environment.

A term used to define the number of pages per inch of a book relative to its basis weight. It is reciprocal of paper density. In the paper trade bulk is a more commonly used measure than density to indicating the "compactness" of paper. Also known as specific volume.

Bulk Product

A mass-produced product sold in large volumes without individual specifications, usually in compliance with a standard, e.g. Newsprint.

Bulking Board

Non-calendered board, lighter in weight per point of thickness.

Bulking Thickness

The thickness of a pack of sheets divided by the number of sheets in the pack.

Bulky Mechanical

A mechanical paper made to a specific caliper as opposed to a fixed grammage. This type of paper is used mainly for mass market paperback books.

The loss of color during drying.

Burnt Paper

Paper, which is discolored and brittle, but otherwise, is intact.

An irregular separation or rupture through the paper or package

Burst Factor

The resistance of paper to rupture when pressure is applied to a side by a specified instrument.

Burst Index

The quotient of the bursting strength of a paper and its grammage in the conditioned state as defined in the standard method of test.

Burst Resistance

The resistance to bursting of a sheet of paper, paperboard of package when subject to impact or pressure normal to the surface.

Bursting Strength

The strength of paper in pounds per square inch, as measured by Mullen tester. This is also referred to as burst and pop strength. Quick Links: Buy Burst Strength Testers Burst Tester Manufacturers Sell Burst Strength Testers

Business Communications Paper

Paper for use in stationery, business forms, checks, copier papers, duplicating papers.

Business Form

Paper prepared to facilitate the entry of written information in a pre-determined format. Usually contains repetitive information to save preparation and reference time.

Coated on one side of the paper.

Coated on two sides of the paper.

Cable Paper

A strong paper used to wrap electrical cables.

Cadmium Yellow

A pigment made from cadmium sulfide and cadmium selenide.

Calcium Carbonate

A type of loading agent used in papermaking as filler or coating pigment to impart opacity to paper.

Calendar Board

A high-strength paperboard used for calendars and displays.

Calender Finished

Paper and paperboard that has been passed through a calendar to improve surface characteristics by application of pressure, friction, and moisture.

Calendar Rolls

A series of polished cast iron rolls at the end of a paper machine where the paper is passed between the rolls to increase its smoothness and gloss.

A on or off the paper machine device for smoothening, glazing, caliper reduction, and caliper leveling of the surface of the paper to improve the finish and reduce the printing roughness of the paper.

Calender Barring or Marks

Irregularly shaped bands across the paper web caused by damaged calender rolls.

Calender Blackening

Glazed translucent spots on paper surface caused by excessive calender roll heat, pressure, poor or excessive and uneven moisture level.

Calender Crushed

Paper that has been crushed in the calendering process.

Calender Dyed

Paper or paperboard that has been colored or stained at the calender stack.

Calender Finish

Finish imparted to paper by the calendering process.

Calender Marks

Marks left on the paper during the calendaring process. Calender blackening and barring are the two most common examples.

Calender Sizing

Sizing chemicals applied to paper sheet during the calendering process.

Calender Stack

A series of horizontal cast iron rolls at the end of a paper machine where the paper is passed between the rolls to increase its smoothness and gloss.

Calender Vellum Finish

Extra smooth vellum on paper surface imparted by calender rolls.

Calendered Paper

Paper that has been smoothed and polished between a set calender rolls. The effect produced by the calendering process is the result of friction combined with temperature and pressure.

Calendering

Operation carried out by means of calenders for improving the paper finish by increasing gloss and smoothness.

The thickness of a sheet of paper, expressed as thousands of an inch (points or mils), or in microns. Uniform caliper is needed for good printing and for runnability in converting processes.

Canadian Standard Freeness (CSF)

The rate at which water drains from a pad of pulp, measured under standard test conditions.

Canvas Board

A paperboard (used for painting) with a surface of simulated canvas.

In paper industry, the capacity of a machine or mill is usually stated in terms of tons per day or tons per year.

Capacity Utilization Rate

Indicates the efficiency (%) at which a mill or machine is operates.

Carbon Black

A pigment made up of elemental carbon and ash.

Carbon Paper

A grade of tissue paper coated with the mix of oils, dye (pigment), and wax. Paper coated with carbon, which release inks under pressure or impact for making duplicate copies with pen, typewriter, and business machines.

Carbonizing Paper

Lightweight, uncoated paper made from unbleached chemical and/or mechanical pulps. Its surface is coated with a carbon solvent or wax.

Carbonless Paper

Paper specially treated to provide copies without the use of interleaved carbon. Quick Links: Buy Carbonless Paper Carbonless Paper Suppliers Sell Carbonless Paper

A heavy grammage paper also known as Cover. Used as covers of catalogs, brochures, books or business cards.

A thick, stiff paper produced by pasting multiple layers of paper together.

A quantity of paper shipped from a paper mill in one freight car.

A container usually of relatively thin carton or folding board manufactured by carton manufacturers. It is delivered to users in either flat or collapsed form.

A rough-finish paper used for wrapping.

The stiff covers of a hardbound book.

Case Binding

Books bound using hard board (case) covers.

A byproduct of milk used as an adhesive in making coated papers.

Large corrugated boxes made of board, which are used as containers for packages. Cases are mainly used for transit and storage purposes.

The process of placing a book in its case covers.

Cast Coated Paper

Coated paper that is pressure dried using a polished roller, which imparts enamel like gloss finish.

Paper made by pouring pulp into a specially constructed mold.

Causticizing

Process in green liquor from sulphate (Kraft) pulping is converted to white liquor, thus allowing the cooking chemicals to be re-used.

The main constituent of the cell walls of all plants. All plants contain tissue that, when properly processed, will yield cellulose.

Cellulose Fibers

The fibrous raw material that results from breaking down the wood or plant materials through pulping or bleaching processes. It's the primary ingredient for making paper.

Cellulose Wadding

Soft crepe paper used in bundles or pads.

Chain Lines

Lines that appear on laid paper as a result of the wires (forming fabrics) of the papermaking machine. Also known as chain marks.

Chain Marks

Also called chain lines. Watermarks in paper that resemble impressions of a chain, running parallel to the grain of paper. These lines are normally found in laid papers.

Chalking describes the quality of print on paper when the absorption of the paper is so great that it breaks up the ink image creating loose pigment dust.

Chart Paper

A smooth paper for chart and map printing, usually printed by offset litho.

Chemical Cellulose (Dissolving Pulp)

A highly-purified chemical pulp for conversion into chemical derivatives of cellulose and used mainly in the manufacture of viscose staple fiber, solvent spin fiber, and filament.

Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD)

The amount of oxygen consumed in chemical oxidation of matter present in effluent. COD indicates the content of slowly degradable organic matter in the effluent.

Chemical Pulp

Pulp obtained by cooking wood chips in a chemical solution. Sulphite and sulphate (Kraft) are the two main processes. Quick Links: Buy Chemical Pulp Chemical Pulp Producers Sell Chemical Pulp

Chemical Recovery

Collection, recovery, and regeneration of cooking chemicals so that they can be used again in the pulping process.

Chemi-Thermomechanical Pulp (CTMP)

Pulp produced by treating wood chips with chemicals (e.g. sodium sulphite) before mechanical defibration.

A storage tank for pulp, furnish, water, or other materials used in papermaking.

A mineral (kaolin) used in papermaking as a filler and coating pigment. It consists of hydrated silicate of alumina.

An inexpensive and thick one-ply cardboard usually produced from waste paper. It is used for packaging purposes as well as a backing board for notepads etc.

Chipper-Canter

A machine used at sawmills to produce wood chips.

A process in which horizontally or gravity-fed disc chippers convert the debarked logs into chips for pulping.

Wood chips produced by a chipper to produce pulp, fiberboard, and particleboard.

A Japanese term for mulberry bark. Chiri is commonly used to refer to any paper with inclusions of mulberry bark in it.

Chlorine and its compounds are used in the pulp production process to create whiter, stronger paper. Pulp that is not bleached results in brown paper.

Blocks inserted at the end of core to support a roll of paper on the roll stand.

Commission Internationale de l'Eclairage

CIE Color Value

A set of three color values (CIE or Hunter) used to designate color of paper, especially of white and near-white paper.

CIE Whiteness

Paper whiteness measured as per the CIE standards.

A small-size cylindrical web defect of pulp or tissue pulling out of the web.

Cigarette Paper

A lightweight paper used in making cigarette. It is unsized and normally has a filler content of about 30%.

Coated Kraft Back Boards, CKB

Board consisting of either bleached chemical pulp or a mineral-coated top layer or both used for packaging food and non-food products.

Clamp Marks

Marks in sheets of paper caused by the clamps, which hold paper in position on a guillotine cutting machine.

Clarification

Separation of solid components from a solution.

A basin where sludge is removed from the treated effluent by settling process. There are two main types of clarifiers flotation and sedimentary.

A classifier sorts and separates pulp fibers according to their length.

A mineral used as filler in papermaking and as a coating pigment.

Clay Coated Boxboard

A strong and easily-folded boxboard with clay coating used for making folding boxes.

Clear Cutting

A method of forest regeneration in which all trees in a given area are felled.

Clear-edge Carbon

Carbon paper with a narrow strip along the edges to provide a clean margin for gluing and handling.

Close Formation

Close formation refers to the uniform density in a sheet of paper.

Closed-Cycle Mill

A concept in which all liquid effluents from a pulp mill are recovered, practically eliminating water pollution by the mill.

Closure Mechanism

Methods of creating a box shape or sealing a box.

Cloth Finish

Surface finish produced by pressing the linen cloth against the paper during the manufacturing process.

Cloth-Lined Paper

Paper combined with cloth, on one or both sides.

Cloud Finish

An effect obtained when the white pulp is dropped on a web of colored paper.

Cloudy Formation

Cloudy formation is opposite of close formation and indicates unevenness and lack of uniformity of fiber structure in a sheet of paper.

Carboxymethylcellulose

A water-soluble cellulose polymer used as a thickening agent in foods and detergents.

Coarse Screen

Halftone screens used in newsprint.

Coat Weight

The grammage of a coating layer, expressed in g/m2.

Paper and paperboards that have been coated with materials such as clay or pigment and an adhesive.

Coated Fine Paper

Coated paper made from chemical pulp. Also referred to as coated free sheet.

Coated Offset

A paper coated on both sides with high resistance to picking. It's suitable for offset printing.

Coated Paper

Paper that has been coated with pigment and binder with a coat weight of 7.5 g/m2 or higher. Coated papers have a higher opacity and better ink holdout than uncoated papers. Quick Links: Buy Coated Paper Coated Paper Manufacturers Coated Paper Distributors

Coated Seconds

Paper or paperboard inferior to desired quality, but still suitable for other usage. Coated seconds are usually sold at lower prices.

Coaters are used to apply coatings to paper after the paper sheet has been formed and dried.

Coating Color Kitchen

Department in a paper mill where coating color is prepared and mixed.

Coating Lump

A piece of dried coating redeposited onto the web of paper.

Coating Mottle

Variation in gloss of a coated calender sheet. A good-coated sheet has relatively uniform gloss after calendering.

Coating Pick

The process of lifting or removal of coating particles from the base sheet during calendering or printing.

Coating Piling

Piling caused by loose particles separating from a coated sheet of paper.

Coating Pits

Coating pits refer to the microscopic holes in the coating air bubbles.

Coating Skip

Irregularly shaped areas on a sheet of paper where the coating layer is absent.

Coating Splash

Spots of excess coating on a coated sheet of paper.

A rippling effect in paper caused by drying at a lower tension. It can be created as a desired effect or can be an unwanted result of improper drying.

Cockle (Crinkle)

Formation of ripples on a sheet of paper caused by uneven moisture or tension during the drying process.

Cold Pressed

Textured surface produced by pressing the paper through unheated rollers.

Cold Spot Carbonizing Ink

Material coated on the back of forms selectively. It's an ink, which can be applied cold to normal printing equipment.

Cold-Set Inks

Inks that are in solid state but melt in the hot press and solidify when they come in contact with paper.

To gather sheets or signatures together in their correct order.

Collected Household Paper

Waste paper collected from households.

Collotype Paper

A printing paper, which is durable enough to withstand excess moisture from the collotype printing process.

Color Fastness

Capacity of dyed paper to retain its original color or to resist fading under influence of heat and light.

Impressed mark on paper caused by a defect, which appears on calender rolls.

Color Match

Color quality when there is no significant difference in color hue between two samples when viewed under standard illumination.

Color Progression

The order in which different color inks are laid down on the paper.

Color Separation

Process of separating each of the three primary colors by optically filtering the image.

Color Strength

A term referring to the relative amount of pigmentation in an ink.

Colorimetry

Using Colorimeter, a given solid color may be quantified by analyzing physical color data.

Combination Board

Cylinder-made, multi-layered paperboard with layers from different pulps.

Combined Deinking

Deinking process combining flotation and washing processes.

Commercial Match

Manufacturing a paper to meet the specifications of a sample of paper provided to the manufacturer.

Commercial Register

Color registration measured within plus or minus one row of dots.

Commodity Papers

A generic term used to classify average quality paper grades (such as bond and offset) produced in high volume on big paper machines.

Communication Papers

A term used to describe paper grades (such as bond, writing and xerographic) used by printers and publishers in production of books, magazines, newspapers, etc.

Compressibility

Compressibility describes a paper's capacity to be squeezed (upon flat surfaces) and returned to its prior state. It is an important property of paper when stacks of paper are placed under compression. It is also known as Cushion.

Computer Output Paper

A grade of writing paper with strength and good printing surface. It's also known as "form bond”.

Conditioned Paper

Paper which has been treated in the mill by exposure to hot, moist air to increase the moisture content of the paper for achieving achieve an optimum flatness and stability.

Conditioning

Allowing paper adjust to the surrounding atmosphere until its moisture content is equal to atmospheric moisture content. This process provides for optimum performance on printing presses.

Trees, which are usually evergreen and classified as softwood, such as pines and firs.

Consistency

Dry solids content (%) of pulp present in a pulp slurry

Construction Paper

A grade paper manufactured in a wide range of colors. This high grammage paper is most often used in elementary schools for cutouts and other artwork.

Contact Print

A print made from contact of a sensitive surface to a negative or positive photograph.

Containerboard

Corrugated board used to make boxes and other containers for shipping materials.

Contaminant

Any material that reduces the quality of paper for recycling or makes it unrecyclable. Contaminants include metal, stickies, foil, glass, plastic, food, hazardous waste, and synthetic fabrics.

Continuous Cooking

A method in Kraft pulping in which raw material is continuously fed into a continuous digester at one end and the pulp and black liquor are removed from the other end of the digester.

Contraries are unwanted pieces of materials present in a sheet of paper.

Conversion Coating

Off-machine coating is sometimes referred to as conversion coating.

A company that converts paper from its original form to usable products such as adding machine rolls, coated papers, and envelopes etc.

The converting process changes the big rolls of papers into useable paper products. Through rewinding, cutting, creping, embossing, printing, coating and other process, the sheet is transformed into napkins, facial tissue, packaging, etc.

Converting Paper

Paper converted from its original state into a new product such as adding machine rolls, coated papers, envelopes, notebooks etc.

A process of treating raw material with chemicals under pressure and heat to produce pulp from which the paper is made.

Cooking Liquor

A chemical solution used to cook wood chips during the pulping process.

Copier/Laser Paper

A grade of low grammage, good quality, and dimensionally stable paper used in photocopying.

Copying Paper

Copying paper is an uncoated woodfree or a mechanical grade white or colored paper usually available in A4 and A3 size.

Volume measurement of pulpwood indicating a pile measuring 4 ft. x 4 ft. x 8 ft., equaling 128 ft.

The tube, usually of paperboard, on which the paper is wound.

A record of specifications included by the manufacturer in each shipment of paper.

Core Damage (Core burn out)

Mechanical damage to the ends of a core, which has resulted from the core chucks tearing into the core ends.

Core Damage (Crushed Core)

A compressed core that is no longer round.

Thick disc placed inside a core to prevent core from being crushed during handling.

Core Slippage

Displacement of the core from its intended position relative to the rolled paper.

Core waste is the paper left on a roll after most of the paper has been used.

Board manufactured from recovered papers to produce paper cores.

Wood located in the centre of the trunk and often darker in color than the surrounding wood

Corner Marks

Marks on a final printed sheet that indicates the trim lines or register.

Corner Stub

Used primarily on continuous forms to assist in manual carbon extraction when the form has been burst.

Correspondence Envelope

A flat case, rectangular in shape and made from one sheet of paper. The sheet is folded to provide a plain front and back consisting of four overlapping flaps.

Correspondence Papers

Refers to writing papers with attractive finish.

Corrugated Board

Corrugated board is manufactured by gluing two flat layers of paper (liner) with a rippled layer of corrugating medium (fluting) in the middle.

Corrugated Board – Double Wall

The structure formed by three flat facings and two intermediate corrugated medium.

Corrugated Board – Single Face

The structure formed by one corrugated member glued to one flat facing.

Corrugated Board – Single Wall

The structure formed by one corrugated inner member glued between two flat facings. It's also known as Double Face.

Corrugated Cardboard

Layers of paper glued together with a ruffled or grooved inner liner. This is the material, which makes corrugated cardboard boxes.

Corrugated Fiberboard

Consists of one or more sheets of fluted paper stuck to a flat sheet(s) of paper.

Corrugating Medium

Paperboard made from chemical and semi-chemical pulp, or waste paper, that is converted to a corrugated board by passing it through corrugating cylinders.

Corrugator (Corrugating Machine)

A machine that is fed the webs of corrugating medium and linerboard and flutes the medium and pastes the liner to make corrugated products.

Cotton is the purest form of cellulose produced in nature and it requires the least amount of processing before it can be used. Cotton fibers are strong and flexible and suitable for producing fine papers.

Cotton Content Paper

Papers utilizing cotton fabrics and cotton linters as a raw material.

Cotton Linters

Short cotton fibers remaining on cotton seed after the ginning process. Cotton linters are used as raw material to produce pulp for papers.

Couch Marks

Defects or shadows appearing in a regular pattern on paper. Couch marks are caused by the irregular removal of water on the wet-end of the paper machine.

A vacuum roll under the forming fabric. Holes in the couch roll suck out water from the stock and a felt usually picks the wet sheet off the fabric .

A person who transfers the newly-formed sheets of paper from hand moulds to felt blankets.

Cover Paper

A term applied to a grade of paper used for covers of brochures and catalogues etc.

A fissure in the paper caused by break in the coating surface during the converting processes such as printing.

The noise produced from a sheet of paper when it is shaken.

Crash Finish

Paper embossed at the mill to resemble coarse linen.

Crash Perforation

Perforation cut through plies of a collated set of business forms. It's normally done on a collator.

Crayon Paper

Paper used for crayons or watercolor. Crayon paper is a heavy board with a glazed surface on one side and rough finish on the other.

An impression or crease in corrugated or solid fiberboard is used to locate and facilitate folding.

Crepe Paper

A high elasticity paper produced by crowding the web sheet over a roll with a doctor blade.

Creasing the bindery edges of ledger sheets to help them open more freely.

Rubbing off the dye from the surface of a paper.

Trimming original photographs to smaller size.

A T-shaped wooden tool used to remove paper from ropes in a drying loft.

Cross Direction (CD)

Direction at right angle to the flow on a paper machine. It's also known as the direction across the grain. Paper is weaker and more sensitive to changes in relative humidity in the cross direction than the grain or machine direction.

Cross Grain Fold

A fold at a right angle to the direction of the grain (or the machine direction) in the paper.

Cross Perforations

In continuous forms, perforations cutting at right angles to the web direction.

Crushed Roll

Defective roll as a result of stacking rolls on end in an excessively high pile, which causes the lower ends of the lower rolls to fail in the axial direction.

Crystallography

This is a science of analyzing crystalline structure of materials. In the paper industry, it usually refers to the study of cellulose. A high crystalline structure means less swelling of the fibers.

Chemi-Thermo Mechanical Pulping is a pressurized refining process, which is preceded by the addition of sulphite. Bleached CTMP pulp is known as BCTMP.

Plastic-coated board for paper cup production, suitable for cold or hot beverages.

Deformation of a sheet of paper into the form of a cylinder. It is usually caused by nonuniform distribution of strains and stresses throughout the paper sheet as a result of uneven internal moisture and conditioning.

Rupture of sheet in a defined region, not extending to tear the sheet into two pieces.

A term used in web press printing to describe the point at which a sheet of paper is cut from the roll.

Fine paper cut to specific end-use dimensions on a guillotine or rotary type paper trimmer. Usually it refers to business or writing papers that have been cut to dimensions of 8-1/2 x 11 and 8-1/2 x 14 or 11 x 17 inches.

A machine (a cross cutter or square cutter) that cuts rolls of paper into sheets for further trimming to finished basic size.

Cutter Broke

Waste and trimmed paper edges from the cutting operation. This broke is reused as pulp for manufacturing paper.

Cutter Dust

Cutter dust to small particles of fiber and paper dust that result from the cutting operation. The dust adheres to the edges of paper and can work itself into the pile of paper and onto the paper surface to cause trouble during its printing.

Cut-to-register

A term used for watermark papers to indicate that the paper has been cut to allow the watermark to appear in a predetermined position on the finished sheet.

One of the subtractive primary colors, the hue of which is used for cyan process ink, one of the four-color process inks. Cyan reflects blue and green light and absorbs red light.

A term usually applied to different types of rolls or drums on a paper machine such as dryers.

Cylinder Board

Paperboard made on a cylinder machine.

Cylinder Dried

Describes the paper, which is dried by passing it against the heated iron rolls.

Cylinder Gap

The gap in the cylinders of a press where the grippers or blanket clamps is housed. In printing, space between the ends of a plate wrapped around the press cylinders.

Cylinder Machine

The type of paper machine that makes paper by partially immersing rotating cylinders in vats of pulp stock. Paper is formed as the cylinder turns and water drains from it.

Cylindrical Casting

Stereotyped cast into a curved mat to produce a casting suitable for use on a rotary press.

Colors used in printing to reproduce color photos. The colors are Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black (or Key Color).

A dampening system for printing presses, which utilizes more alcohol (25%), and less water and reduces the amount of paper that is spoiled.

Damask Paper

Writing paper with a finish resembling linen.

Damp Streaks

Streaks caused by uneven pressing or drying.

In lithography, cloth-covered parchment paper or rubber rollers that distribute the dampening to the press plate.

An essential part of the printing process in which a cloth covered rubber rollers distributes the dampening solution to the plate.

Damping Roller

The roller on a printing machine, which applies the moisture directly to the printing plate.

Dancer Rolls

A weighted roller that rides on the web between the roll of paper and the meeting unit to take up slack and keep the web at uniform tension. It is also know as rider roller.

Dandy roll is a cylinder covered with a woven wire cloth and mounted on a paper machine. It is used to improve formation and to apply watermarks.

A plant known as the 'Nepal paper plant' used as a source of fiber for papermaking.

A process in which most or all of the bark is removed from the logs before feeding the logs into the chipper, or into the grinder.

Debarking Drum

Large rotating cylinder in which pulpwood logs are tumbled against one another to remove the bark.

A process in which an image is recessed into the paper.

Decalcomania Paper

A transfer paper designed to permit transfer of printed surface to objects such as china, glass, etc. Also known as a decal.

Tree species that annually sheds its leaves during the Fall season. Hardwoods such as maple, chestnut, birch, and poplar are the examples of deciduous trees.

1) A wooden frame that defines the edges of the sheet in handmade papermaking. 2) A strap or board on the wet-end of a paper machine that determines the width of the paper web.

Deckle Edge

The rough or feathered edge of paper. Fuzzy edges of handmade papers are simulated in mould-made and machine-made papers by a jet of water. Handmade papers have four deckle edges, while mould-made and machine-made papers have two.

Deckle Fill

Also known as machine fill. The maximum width of paper machine taken up for making paper. For economic reasons, it should approach as far as possible -- to the maximum trimmed width of the machine.

Deckle Frame

A wooden frame that rests on the top of a mold during the papermaking process. It acts as a barrier to keep the pulp with in the mold.

Deckle Slip

Strip of wood fixed to the underside of the deckle to stop the pulp from creeping.

Deckle Stain

Paper that is colored or tinted along the deckle edge.

Irregularities in finished paper that reduce the appearance or cause weaknesses in the sheet.

Defibration

Separation of wood fibers by mechanical or chemical means.

A defoamer is a chemical added to a liquid to reduce or eliminate the foaming tendency of the liquid.

Defoliation

Premature loss of leaves due to airborne pollution or other factors interfering with vital processes in trees.

Deinkability

The suitability of recovered paper for deinking process.

De-Inked Paper Stock

Recycled paper from which the ink has been removed by chemical and mechanical means to produce clean fibers.

De-Inked Pulp

A waste paper pulp prepared by a combination of mechanical disintegration and chemical treatment to remove ink from recycled paper.

A process in which most of the ink, filler, and contaminants are removed from recovered paper.

Deinking Loss

Loss of useful material from the pulp during the deinking process. The loss could range between 10-40%.

Delamination

Parting of layers of a sheet of paper through the plane of the sheet.

Delignification

Removal of lignin from wood fibers (cellulose and hemi-cellulose). Lignin binds wood fibers together. Delignification primarily takes place during the pulping process.

A term for a standard sized printing paper measuring 17.5 x 22.5 in.

Equipment used to analyze the porosity of paper.

Densitometer

A photoelectric instrument used to measure the density of colored ink or print density.

Density or specific gravity of paper is it weight per unit volume, obtained by dividing the basis weight by caliper. Paper density (in g/cm2) expresses how compact the paper is.

Mass of airborne pollutants deposited on a unit area of land or water in a given time (in grams per square meter per year).

Deresination

A method of reducing the resin (pitch) content of wood prior to cooking either by storage or using bleaching chemicals.

A term that describes that portion of lower case letters which extends below the main body of the letter, as in "p".

Desensitize

Coating surface of a carbonless paper with desensitizing ink to inhibit image transfer.

Machine for removing dust and dirt from rags or esparto grass (also known as a willow).

A light-sensitive coal tar product used as a coating on presensitized plates as well as overlay proofs.

An engraved stamp used for impressing an image or design.

Die Cuttability

Suitability of paper or paperboard for die cutting into blanks of a given shape.

Die Cutting

A method of using sharp steel ruled stamps or rollers to cut various shapes i.e. labels, boxes, image shapes. Male and female dies are used to cut paper or board in desired shapes.

Die Stamping

An intaglio process for printing from images engraved into copper or steel plates.

Die Wiping Paper

A type of paper used to clean surface of printing plates in the intaglio process.

A cut made with a special punching blade instead of with a conventional rotary knife.

Die-Cut Paper

Paper cut with a special punching blade rather than a conventional rotary blade.

Dielectric Papers

A type of paper, which is free of any metallic elements that might conduct electricity.

Dielectric Strength

The degree to which paper resists penetration of an electric charge.

A common size in publication (about 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" in size).

A cylindrical pressure vessel used to treat wood chips with chemicals under elevated pressure and temperature to produce pulp for papermaking. Digesters can be stationary or revolving, horizontal or upright, cylindrical or spherical.

Digester House

A section in a pulp mill, which houses digesters.

Digital Printing

A printing process that allows printing directly from electronic images without the need for film or color separations.

Digital Printing Machine

Printing machine that prints direct from a computer data file onto paper, using the same image transfer techniques as are used in copiers and printers.

Digital Printing Paper

Paper or board specially designed to be used in digital printing machines.

Digital Proof

Color separation data is digitally stored and then exposed to color photographic paper creating a picture of the final product before it is actually printed.

Dimensional Stability

The degree to which a paper will maintain its size and shape when subjected to changes in moisture content and relative humidity.

An international standard that guarantees the paper for permanence with a life expectancy of at least 100 years.

A carcinogenic contaminant generated when chlorine is used in bleaching wood pulp.

Deinked Pulp - a pulp produced from deinked wastepaper.

A fine paper made specifically for the printing of diplomas, certificates, and documents. Its main properties are durability and permanence.

Diploma Parchment

Paper made from cotton fibers. It resembles animal parchment and is surface sized with high quality animal glue.

Direct Cooking

Pulping process in which heating is achieved by blowing steam into the cooking liquor.

Directory Papers

A lightweight and uncoated groundwood paper used for printing telephone directories and catalogues.

Foreign material, which has a color in contrast to that of the paper. An instrument, The Papric Counter, is used in laboratories to identify dirt specks.

Disc Refiner

A machine, which uses rotating discs or plates for refining pulp during the stock preparation process.

A pile or stack of paper lying concave rather than flat.

Disperging is used in the treatment of recycled fibers. It reduces impurities in recycled paper to such a small size that they are no longer detrimental to paper quality.

The separation of a substance into the smallest possible particles using another substance (the medium). Used in papermaking to homogenize pulp properties and remove impurities.

Display Board

Paperboard used for display advertising.

Display Type

Any type that stands out from the rest of the type on a page, which attracts attention of the reader.

Dissolving Pulp

A high-purity chemical pulp of special quality. It has a high alpha-cellulose content (usually 90% or more). Dissolving pulp is used for producing acetate and viscose fibers.

Distribution Rollers

In the printing process, the rubber coated rollers responsible for the distribution of ink from the fountain to the ink drum.

Distributor

A company, which purchases paper from a paper mill for resale to end-users.

A blade-like device, which scrapes off excess liquid or fibers off a roller to help maintain a smooth surface.

Doctor Blade

1. In papermaking, a device that cleans the surface of paper machine rolls.2. A term in gravure printing which refers to the knife-edge that runs along the printing cylinder. Its function is to wipe the excess ink away from the non-printing areas.

Document Paper

Document paper has a high ageing resistance. It is usually made from chemical pulp and may also contain rags.

A small fold that occurs on the corner of the paper during the papermaking or converting process.

A printing problem where dots print larger than desired, creating darker tones, or color imbalances.

Dot Matrix Printing

Impact printing where each character is made up of a pattern of dots synchronized by computer control. During printing the print head strikes against a ribbon to print on the paper surface.

Dots Per Inch (DPI)

A reference for the resolution of a printed or screened image. Higher numbers mean higher resolution or more dots composing an image.

Double Calendered

A type of paper passed through two calenders.

Trade term for size 17" x 28" available in business papers.

Double Coated

A sheet that has been coated twice on the same side. Not to be confused with a paper sheet coated on both sides.

Double Deckle

Machine-made papers having a deckle edge on two edges of the sheet.

Double Fold

Resistance of paper to repeated folding/unfolding. Folding endurance is important for currency, blue print, record papers, ledger, map etc where resistance against repeated folding/unfolding is required.

Double Imprint Unit

Two sets of printing cylinders that permit imprint to be altered as press continues to run at full speed.

Double Sizing

The process of applying size a second time after first sizing has been dried.

Double Wall Corrugated Board

A type of corrugated board, which has two layers of fluting and three facings.

The unintentional printing of two images slightly out of register.

When a paper machine is stopped for repairs, it is referred as 'down'. Downtime can occur due to mechanical failure, change of grades in production etc.

Volume of wood removed from the forest in a given time.

Removal of water at the paper machine wet-end while the paper sheet is consolidating.

Drainage Foils

Drainage foils are tapered foils placed under the wire at a slight angle so that when the wire runs over them at high speeds, suction is created and the water from the wet stock is separated efficiently.

A method used by ink makers to determine the color, quality, and tone of ink. The method involves an application of a thin film of ink using a spatula or blade to measure the ink's color shade and characteristics.

Drawing Paper

A good quality, dull-finished paper strong enough to take erasures. They have a low opacity and wash-fast.

A term that describes additives to ink which speed up the drying process.

The actual drilling of holes into paper for ring or comb binding.

In printing, halftone with no screen dots in the highlights or background.

Drumhead Manila

A type of rope papers. Usually available in 24" x 36" size.

Dry Coating

A coating method in which a binder is applied to the paper surface followed by dry coating pigment.

Dry Creping

Creping of a paper web when it's dry.

Dry Cylinder Machine

In a dry cylinder machine, pulp is poured onto the surface of the cylinder and the water drains away through the cover on the cylinder.

Paper and paperboard get a dry finish when calendered without the use of water.

A method of printing from a relief plate without the use of any fountain solution.

Dry solids is defined as the mass of dried sample as a percentage of the mass of original sample.

Dry Strength

Mechanical strength of a dry sheet of paper indicated by its mechanical properties such as tensile strength, tearing resistance, and folding endurance.

The part of a paper making machine where the paper passes through steam-heated drying cylinders. The dry end can also consist of calenders, cutters, slitter, and reels.

A series of large cylindrical steam-heated rolls that dry the paper web.

Drying Loft

A large airy room in which sheets of handmade paper are hung or laid to dry.

Dual Distributor, Dual House, or Dual Merchant

A paper distribution firm, which deals in fine and industrial papers.

Ductor Roller

The roller between the inking and the dampening rollers.

Dull Coated

Paper is said to be dull coated when it registers a gloss test reading of less than 55%. Characteristically, dull coated or finished paper has a smooth surface and is low in gloss. Dull coated paper is also known as dull finish paper.

Dull Finish

Paper is said to be dull coated or matte finish when it registers a gloss test reading of less than 55%. Dull coated papers have a smooth surface a low gloss. Dull coated paper is also known as dull finish paper.

A page or a set of pages assembled in the exact position, form and style desired for the finished piece of printed work. Used as a model or sample for the printer.

A two-color halftone reproduction generated from a one-color photo.

Duplex Board

Duplex board used for packaging purposes consists of two layers, mostly made from waste paper pulp.

Duplex Coating

The process of coating both sides of a paper sheet at the same time.

Duplex Cutting

The process of converting a web of paper into sheets on a cutting machine so that two different lengths of sheet can be cut at the same time.

Duplex Paper

Paper which has a different color or finish on each side.

Duplex Paper/Board

Paper or paperboard consisting of two layers of different furnishes composition.

When paper is printed on both sides of the sheet.

Duplicating Stencil Paper

A thin, strong, lightweight paper made from long-fibred stock, suitably impregnated or coated such as with oil. This paper is used for preparation of Stencil.

A machine for making copies with the aid of a specially prepared duplicating master.

The degree to which paper retains its original qualities.

Small particles of paper, fibers, or coating materials may arise at calendering, slitting, and sheet trimming.

Any deckle edged paper, originally produced in the Netherlands.

Dye Based Ink

Any ink that acquires its color by the use of aniline pigments or dyes.

Elemental Chlorine Free - papermaking pulp bleached without the use of elemental chlorine. ECF bleaching process uses chlorine dioxide in combination with oxygen, hydrogen peroxide, and sodium hydroxide.

Paper made with ECF wood pulps.

A label granted to products that pollute the environment less than similar products used for the same purpose.

Edge Chains

Extra chain lines running on the outer edge of short sides of the mould for extra strength.

Edge Crush Test

A test to evaluate the compression strength of containerboard used to manufacture corrugated shipping boxes.

Edge Protectors

A heavy board used to protect the ends of rolls during shipment and storing.

English Finish - A finish between machine-finished and supercalendered papers.

The liquid waste of industrial processing. Effluents of the papermaking process usually include a small amount of suspend solids and dissolved chemicals.

Effluent Treatment

Effluent treatment usually consists of two processes: 1) Primary treatment process removes suspended solids from effluent. 2) Secondary treatment process reduces the biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and toxicity of effluent.

Eggshell Finish

A relatively rough finish of paper surface that resembles an eggshell achieved by bypassing the calendering process. A special felt is used to mark the surface before the paper is dried.

Elastic Strength

The ability of paper or paperboard to resist stress acting in the plane of the sample.

Electronic Proof

A process of generating a prepress proof in which paper is electronically exposed to the color separation negatives. The paper is passed through the electrically charged pigmented toners resulting in the finished proof.

Electrostatic Copy Paper

A smooth-finished and medium-weight bond paper made from chemical pulps. This paper is generally treated with a zinc-oxide coating material.

Electrostatic Precipitator

Equipment used to clean up flue and process gases. Removes 99.5-99.8% of dust particles emitted from recovery boilers, lime kilns and bark-fired boilers

Elliptical Dot

Halftone screens in which the dots are actually elongated to produce improved middle tones.

Elmendorf Tear Test

A test to determine a paper’s resistance to tearing.

Embossed Finish

Paper with a raised or depressed surface resembling cloth, leather, wood, or other patterns.

A method of paper finishing whereby a pattern is pressed into the paper. Produced on a special embossing machine after the paper has dried to create finishes such as linen.

Discharge of polluting substances to air, land, or water.

Emulsification

The mixing of two distinct solutions that do not mix such as a fountain solution, which is water-based and ink which is oil based.

Emulsion Coating

Coating of paper with an emulsion containing plastic or resin.

A term that describes a glossy coating on paper. Also, a general term for clay coating on papers.

End-Leaf Paper

A strong and fine quality paper used for binding a book's contents to its cover. It can be either plain or coated and sometimes colored or marbled,

Attaching the final sheet of a signature of a book to the binding.

Engine Sizing

Addition of chemicals to papermaking stock to impart water resistance to paper. It is sometimes known as internal sizing.

English Opacity Book

Paper used in books and catalogs when a lightweight paper of high opacity is required. Usually made from chemical wood pulp and fillers, it ensures maximum opacity.

Printing by the intaglio process. Ink is applied to the paper under extreme pressure resulting in a printing surface being raised. Uses include fine letterheads and wedding invitations.

Envelope Lining Paper

Tissue paper that decorates and lines envelopes of fine stationery papers.

Envelope Paper

Envelop papers are opaque, writable, and printable and must have a high folding strength. Envelope paper can be made from chemical or mechanical pulps. They can be machine glazed or calendered, white or colored.

Enzyme Bleaching

A bleaching technique in which cooked and oxygen-delignified chemical pulp is treated with enzymes prior to final bleaching. Enzyme bleaching allows pulp to be bleached without chlorine chemicals.

Environmental Protection Agency.

Equilibrium Moisture Content

The moisture content of paper that has reached a balance with the surrounding atmosphere. Under the equilibrium condition, paper can neither absorb nor release moisture.

Equivalent Weights

A system of comparing papers of different sizes and basis weights. It uses a mathematical equation to compare paper weights with different sizes and basis weights.

Erasability

A quality of paper that assures a clean erasure. Erasability is achieved by excessive pulp refining resulting in firmly bonded fibers and a hard surface.

A North African grass, which makes a soft, ink receptive paper sheet. It is also found in Spain.

The process of producing an image on a plate by the use of acid.

Evaporation Plant

Unit used at pulp mills to concentrate spent liquor to make it suitable for burning and subsequent chemicals recovery.

Expansivity

The degree to which paper changes its dimensions for a given change in relative humidity.

That stage of the photographic process where the image is produced on the light sensitive coating.

Extended Cooking

Method of cooking pulp to a low lignin-content. Extended cooking reduces the bleaching chemicals demand.

A white pigment added to a colored pigment to reduce its intensity and improve its working qualities.

A method of laminating paper and paperboard.

Extrusion Coating

A method of coating a web of paper with resins, plastics, or similar hot-melt compounds.

A term in the binding process referring to folding and gathering.

Fabric Press

Fabric press uses absorbent felt to absorb moisture from the sheet in combination with nips that squeeze the water out. The felt must be squeezed dry again before it picks up a new section of sheet.

Facsimile Master

Material consisting of solid or fluid carbon combined with master paper for heat or transfer posting machines.

Paper folding that looks like an accordion or fan, the folds being alternating and parallel.

Momentary separation of the press sheets by hand riffling so that fresh air is allowed to sweep over the surface of each sheet.

Color that is not affected by light, acids, alkalis or other external stimulus.

Folding Boxboard - a multi-layer coated board with an outer layer of Kraft pulp and the middle layer of mechanical pulp. It is used primarily for consumer cartons for packaging of dry and moist foods, cigarettes and other consumer products. Also used in the graphic industry for catalogue covers, postcards and folders, etc.

Feather Edge

Edging similar to a deckle edge, a thin rough edge on carbon paper.

The tendency of ink to spread along the paper fibers so that the image produced does not have sharp, clean edges.

Featherweight

A term indicating extreme lightness in proportion to bulk. Also used to identify lightweight book papers and thin opaque writing papers; airmail papers.

Featherweight Book Paper

Paper for novels, where good bulk is required for a precise number of pages.

Feed Rollers

Rubber wheels that hold the sheet of paper in position and move it from the feed pile to the grippers.

The section of a press, which separates the sheets and feeds them into position for printing.

A term expressing an individual's impression of a paper's finish.

A woven and endless conveyor belt that receives papers from the Fourdrinier wire and delivers it to the drier. It is traditionally made of wool but frequently of a combination of two or more of the fibers like wool, cotton, and synthetic fibers.

Felt and Wire Sides

Refers to the top and bottom surfaces, respectively, of paper made on conventional Fourdrinier paper machines.

Felt Finish

Surface characteristics of paper achieved by using woven wool or synthetic felts with distinctive patterns to create a similar texture in the finish sheets.

A mark or pattern on paper or paperboard produced by press or drier felt. The mark may be wanted or unwanted and special effects can be introduced in this way.

The top side of the paper, usually recommended for best printing results. The top side of felt is preferred for printing because it contains more filler.

A material woven from either cotton or wool with a raised surface, which supports the wet sheet of paper during pressing.

Fermentation

An old method of preparing rags for the beater. In this method, piles of wet rags were allowed to heat up and rot before they were used for papermaking.

Festoon Drying

Drying of paper by festooning it on poles.

The slender, thread-like cellulose structures that form a sheet of paper. Fibers used in papermaking come primarily from wood and recovered paper. Cotton is also used to make certain products.

Unwanted loss of fibers in pulp and paper processing.

Fiber Orientation

Refers to the alignment of fibers in a paper sheet.

A type of board made from defibrated wood chips on wet-lap forming machine. Fiberboard is used as a building board.

The machines and process systems involved in converting wood chips into pulp. A typical fiberline steps can include cooking, washing, screening, knot separation, refining, and bleaching.

Fibrillation

A structural change occurring in the walls of chemical pulp fibers during beating. Fibrillation refers to loosening the fibrillae during the mechanical process of beating the fibers in preparation for papermaking.

The maximum width of paper that can be made on a given paper machine.

Filled Bristol

A board made on a cylinder machine. The middle layer of filled bristols is of different fiber than the outside layers.

Non-oxidizing clays or minerals added to the pulp to improve paper properties such as opacity and smoothness. Addition of fillers reduces the cost too as fillers are less expensive than fibers.

Filler Content

Ratio of material originating from filler and coating chemicals to original mass of pulp.

The practice of adding minerals to the pulp furnish in the beater that increases printability and other desirable characteristics of the paper. Also known as loading.

A fault in printing where the ink fills in the fine line or halftone dot areas.

Used to make the printing plates with. Output from an image setter or taken with a camera.

Any thinly coated paper stock. Also known as wash coat.

Film Coating

A light film pigmented coating is applied to the paper at the size press of the paper machine to improve the smoothness of uncoated book grades.

Filter Paper

Unsized paper made from chemical pulp. Filtration rate and selectivity are the important requirements for a good performance of filter papers.

Fine Merchant, Fine Paper Distributor

A paper distribution company sells and distributions fine printing papers only.

Paper usually produced from bleached chemical pulp for printing and writing purposes. Fine papers usually contain less than 10% mechanical pulp.

Small fragments of fibers produced generally produced during the refining process.

Finish refers to the surface characteristics of paper. A high finish refers to a smooth surface. A low finish refers to a relatively rough and toothy surface.

Processes that occur after the papermaking operations and prior to the shipment of paper from the mill. These processes include supercalendering, slitting, rewinding, trimming, sorting, etc.,

Finishing Broke

Discarded paper resulting from finishing operation such as trimming etc.

Round, transparent spots on the surface of coated paper or paperboard.

A paper strip protruding from a roll or skid of paper. May be used to mark a splice in a roll of paper.

Flame Resistant Paper

Flame resistant papers are non-flammable and to a certain extent incombustible too.

The closing members of a fiberboard box.

The assemblage of negatives and positives, which are used as a composite image to create the printing plate.

A completed box, which has not been erected. This is a conventional method of delivering boxes to end users.

Paper delivered by a paper mill in flat sheets, usually larger than 17" x 22" in size.

Flexographic Printing

A printing process using a rubber or plastic plate with a raised image area. The plate is mounted to a rotary cylinder. When the cylinder is inked, it prints the image onto paper through light pressure.

Flexography

Letterpress printing using relief plates on direct presses. This process of printing uses rubber plates and special aniline inks.

Flint Paper

A high-glaze and brightly-colored paper coated on one side.

Floating Load

Paper loaded into a freight car in a manner that allows it the freedom to shift slightly without getting damaged in transit.

Flocculation

Refers to formation of flocks or fiber bundles.

Flocked Paper

Decorative paper with a velvet-like smooth and unglazed surface.

Absorbent paperboard, which when impressed and dried becomes a matrix for preparing stereotypes.

In printing, when the ink flows onto a printing plate because the ink fountain has been set improperly.

Flotation Deinking

Deinking process for recycled papers in which air is blown into a fiber suspension. Ink particles adhere to the air bubbles and rise to the surface, where they are removed.

In reference to printing ink, the ability of an ink to spread over the press rollers.

Flue Gas Scrubber

An equipment for removing impurities from flue gases by dissolving them in aqueous solution.

Fluff consists mainly of individual fibers, particles of fillers, particles of sizing agents.

Kraft or CTMP pulp with a cotton-like appearance. It is used for absorbent materials such as nappies and feminine hygiene products.

Ink with a low viscosity. Also called liquid ink.

Fluorescence

A property of fluorescent dyes, which enhances paper's brightness in normal lighting.

Fluorescent Dye

A dyestuff, which improves the brightness of paper. Also known as Optical Bleaching Agent (OBA).

Fluorescent Paper

Paper with a high reflectance, resulting from colored, light-emitting dyes that reflect white light.

Flush Cover

A bound book or booklet having the cover trimmed to the same size as the text.

The rippled middle layer in corrugated board, produced generally from recycled fiber.

Flying Pastor

A device used to splice rolls of paper during the converting or printing process without having to stop the equipment.

Small spots on the finished paper that are a result of foaming during the formation or coating process.

Fodder Pulp

Protein produced from pulp mill spent liquors and sometimes used as animal feeds.

Paper coated with either aluminum or bronze powder finish, or leaf finish.

Tapered strips of plastic fitted under the moving wire of a Fourdrinier machine to scrape off excess water for a quicker drainage of water.

A term used to describe how sheets are folded; single fold, double fold, centerfold, and gatefold.

A short line printed on business forms indicating where they may be folded.

A device at delivery end of a press or collator to fold continuous forms.

Folding Boxboard

A multi-layer coated board with an outer layer of Kraft pulp and the middle layer of mechanical pulp. It is used primarily for consumer cartons for packaging of dry and moist foods, cigarettes and other consumer products. Also used in the graphic industry for catalogue covers, postcards and folders, etc.

Folding Bristol

Bristol board with good folding ability and printability.

Folding Endurance

A test used to measure the number of times a strip of paper or board can be bent, creased, and folded before rupture. Folding strength is important in many printing applications such as books, maps, pamphlets, and manuals.

A ream or sheet in its full size. When used in connection with books, means the sheet has been folded once, producing four pages.

Form Rollers

The rollers that come into direct contact with the plate of a printing press.

The uniformity of the distribution of fibers in a sheet of paper, which influences the appearance, strength, and mottle of the paper. Formation is judged by transmitting light through the sheet and looking at its structure and degree of uniformity. Paper with good formation prints with less mottling and has more uniform opacity.

Fountain Solution (Dampening Solution)

In lithography, water based chemical solution used to dampen the place and keep non-image areas from accepting ink. Traditionally contained gum arabic, acid, and defoamer.

Four Color Process

The usual process of printing full color photos.

Fourdrinier

A machine that receives the pulp slurry in the papermaking process for removing water from the slurry and transferring the web to the press section of the paper machine. The machine takes its name after the Fourdrinier brothers who financed its early development. The machine was developed by Louis Robert.

Fourdrinier Wire

Continuously traveling and endless metal or plastic mesh belt on which the paper is formed.

The pulp from which the water drains easily.

Paper made from chemical pulp and contains no or minimal amount of mechanical pulp. It is generally of a higher quality, a high density, and is less absorbent.

The rate at which water drains from the slurry of pulp on the forming section of a paper machine.

Friction Glazed

A high-finish paper produced by passing the web through chilled iron rolls, one large and one small, revolving at different peripheral speeds. The rolling friction between the two rolls produces a highly glazed surface.

A halo that appears around halftone dots.

Fugitive Colors

Colors that lose tone and permanency when exposed to light.

Fugitive Inks

Inks which are not permanent, which fade or change color when exposed to light.

Full Body Imprint

Form with no limit on the area to be imprinted.

Full Coated Carbon

Carbon paper coated completely on one surface.

Fully Bleached Pulp

Pulp that has been bleached to the highest brightness attainable (usually > 90 ISO)

A mixture of fibers, water, chemicals, and pigments. The furnish used to make paper has about 1% solid material and 99% water.

A term for the fibers that project from the surface of uncoated papers.

Galley Proof

A proof of text copy before it is pasted into position for printing.

A bast fiber from the gampi tree used in Japanese papermaking to yield a smooth, strong sheet.

The bundling of two or more different printing projects on the same sheet of paper.

Assembling sheets of paper and signatures into their proper sequence; collating.

Nitrogenous constituent of skin, bones, and hooves of animals, used as a size to strengthen the surface of the paper.

Genuine Watermark

Watermark made on the paper machine, with a dandy roll.

Glazed Imitation Parchment - a strong glazed paper made from bleached cellulose pulp.

A strong, transparent paper produced by dampening and supercalendering. It is very smooth and glossy on both sides and has resistance to the passage of oils and grease. It is used as envelope windows and as protective wrapping for foods, candies, tobacco products etc.

Gloss or polish on a sheet of paper.

A type of paper with a glossy surface, applied either during manufacture or later by calendering or plating etc.

Glazed Imitation Parchment

A strong, glazed paper made from bleached cellulose pulp.

The property of a surface, which causes it to reflect light specularly. Gloss expresses the amount of directed light that is reflected in a certain direction. Gloss of paper is measured by Gardner Gloss Meter, which measures the reflected light at an angle of 75°.

Gloss Finish

The shiny and highly reflective surface quality of paper achieved by calendering.

Quick-drying oil-based inks with low penetration qualities, used on coated stock.

Gloss Mottle

Mottle that is characterized by variation in gloss over the paper surface.

Gold Announcements

A gold colored writing paper used for mail advertisements.

Goldenrod Paper

A specially coated masking paper used by strippers to assemble and position negatives for exposing onto printing plates.

Classification of papers to differentiated from each other on the basis of their furnish content, appearance, or their end use.

Refers to the alignment of fibers in the direction of their flow on the paper machine. Long grain describes fibers running parallel to the longest side of a sheet. Short grain running parallel to the short side. Folding and scoring work best when done in the paper's grain direction. Grain also affects tear strength, stiffness, and dimensional stability.

Grain Direction

Direction in which the fibers of machine-made paper lie due to the motion of the machine. When machine-made paper is moistened, the fibers swell more across their width than along their length, so the paper tends to expand at right angles.

A term used to indicate that the grain of the paper is parallel to the longest measurement of a sheet of paper.

Grain Short

Grain short is perpendicular to grain long.

Grained Paper

A paper embossed to resemble various textures, such as leather etc.

Grainless Plates

Offset plates that do not require graining.

In metric system, weight (in grams) per square meter of paper or paperboard.

Graphic Paper

A grade of fine paper with a pigmented surface layer, which increases the uniformity of the printing surface and provides improved printing properties. It’s used mainly for the reproduction of illustrations.

An intaglio or recessed printing process. The recessed areas are like wells that form the image as paper passes through.

Gravure Paper

Containing mostly mechanical pulp, highly-calendered paper with a high ash content.

Gravure Printing

Grease Resistant Paper

A paper having good-to-high resistance to penetration by grease or fats. Grease resistance is either achieved by grinding of the pulp and pore-free web formation or by special additives.

Greaseproof Ink, Coating

Ink or coating that is resistant to the action of fats oils and greases.

Greaseproof Papers

Papers resistant to the penetration of grease; made from heavily beaten chemical pulp or by treating the paper with sulphuric acid.

Green Liquor

The intermediate liquor generated in the Kraft recovery system. Green liquor contains the regenerated sodium sulphide.

Green Paper

Paper, which has not been conditioned.

Grey Balance

The values for yellow, magenta, and cyan that produce a neutral Grey with no dominant hue when printed at a normal density.

Board made of recovered fibers and used for cartons and boxes in various packaging applications.

A machine used to prepare mechanical wood pulp. It consists of a revolving grindstone against which the debarked logs are pressed to disintegrate.

A series of metal fingers that hold each sheet of paper as it passes through the various stages of the printing process.

Gripper Edge

The leading edge of paper as it passes through a printing press.

Gripper Margin

Unprintable back edge of a sheet of paper.

Pulp produced mechanically by grinding logs on a stone. Low cost papers such as newsprint are made by the mechanical pulping process.

Groundwood Mill

An installation for producing mechanical pulp.

Groundwood Paper

A grade of paper made from a furnish containing a large percentage of groundwood pulp.

Groundwood Pulp

Mechanical pulp produced by grinding wood against a grindstone.

Grams per Square Meter. The standard measurement of the weight of paper.

A device that is used to cut or trim stacks of paper to the desired size. There are three types of guillotine machines - manually operated, electrically powered, and automatic spacing cutters.

Gummed Paper

All papers that include an adhesive on one side of the sheet.

The application of gum arabic to the non printing areas of a plate.

The blank space or margin between the type page and the binding of a book.

A filler for paper with good retention for color and brightness. Unlike other fillers, it does not reduce the efficiency of internal sizing.

Hairline Register

Printing registration that lies within the range of plus or minus one half row of dots. It is the thinnest of the standard printers' rules.

Partially broken or beaten fibers for papermaking.

The process of converting continuous tone photographs into dots. A screening process done on a camera at the film stage of the preprinting process.

Halftone Blotting Paper

A type of paper that has been smoothed to give it a suitable printing surface on the top side.

Halftone Paper

A high finish paper that is ideal for halftone printing.

Handling Damage

Any physical damage to paper, which occurs during storage or shipping of paper.

Handmade Finish

Paper with a rough finish similar to handmade papers.

Handmade Paper

A sheet of paper, made individually by hand, using a mould and deckle. It is defined as a layer of entwined fibers, held together by the natural internal bonding properties of cellulose fibers.

Hard Mixed Paper

A type of recovered paper that includes Kraft paper, corrugated cardboard, and office papers.

A term used to describe chemical pulp with a high lignin content.

Hard-sized Paper

Paper that has been treated with a large amount of internal size to increase its resistance to moisture.

Wood from a deciduous broad-leaved tree such as birch, oak. Hardwoods have short fibers. These fibers are used in papermaking to obtain good formation, smoothness, opacity and a good print surface.

Hardwood Chemical Pulp

Chemical pulp made from hardwood.

High Consistency - pulp suspension with a consistency between 18-40%.

Head Margin

That space which lies between the top of the printed copy and the trimmed edge.

Located at the wet-end of a paper machine, the headbox delivers a uniform jet of paper slurry.

Paper discs applied to the ends of rolls for protection.

Heartwood, Corewood

Wood located in the centre of the trunk and often darker in color than the surrounding wood.

Heat Transfer Paper

The paper used in thermal transfer printing (Sublimation printing).

Heatset Offset

Heatset printing where the inks have been printed by web offset lithography.

Hectographic Paper

Also known as duplicating paper.

Hemicellulose

One of the three main constituents of wood, along with cellulose and lignin. Hemicellulose is alkali-soluble, non-cellulosic polysaccharide portion of a wood cell wall.

Hemp is related to the banana plant. Its leaf fiber is used in paper making.

Hexenuronic Acid

Acid formed during chemical pulping that reacts with several bleaching chemicals and increases their consumption.

A term used to describe the effect that occurs when a spec of dust or debris (dried ink) adheres to the printing plate and creates a spot or imperfection in the printing.

Hi-Fi Paper

A high finish machine-calendered newsprint paper.

High Alpha Cellulose

A pure form of wood pulp, which has about the same longevity as cotton or other plant fibers.

High Bulk Paper

Paper stock that is comparatively thick in relation to its basis weight.

High Finish Paper

Machine-calendered newsprint.

High Key Halftone

A halftone that is made utilizing only the highlight tones down through the middle tones.

Hinged Ledger

Ledger paper characterized by a flexible section incorporated into the sheet. This is accomplished by removing some of the fiber on the paper machine, generally by suction.

A wooden paddle used to keep the fiber in suspension in the vat, later replaced by a mechanical paddle in the base of the vat.

The ability of paper or board to resist surface liquid penetration.

That space on the spine of a case bound book between the block of the book and the case binding.

A hood covering the paper machine drying section and designed for moist air removal.

Hot Ground Wood Pulp

Mechanical pulp produced by steam pretreated grinding logs.

An adhesive used in the binding process, which requires heat for application.

Hot Pressed Paper

Smooth, glazed surface produced by pressing the paper through hot rollers after the formation of the sheet.

Hot Screening

Pulp cleaning at elevated temperature using pressure screens.

House Sheet

A term that refers to a paper that a printer keeps on hand in his shop.

The quality of color, which may be characterized by its position in the whole visible spectrum.

High Weight Coated - a printing paper grade. It's a coated paper produced from mechanical and chemical pulp for magazines, catalogs, and advertising materials.

Hydra Pulper

A vat with a special type of agitator used to rehydrate sheets of dry pulp, pulp up recycled papers, and mix and blend paper stock with water to create the desired slush of pulp stock.

Any process of altering cellulose fibers to increase their ability to absorb water. In papermaking, the process of beating the pulp which increases its ability to hold water.

Hydration Refining

Mechanical treatment of papermaking pulp in a beater or refiner to achieve fiber flexibility and fibrillation.

Hydrogen Peroxide Bleaching

A bleaching method in which the pulp is bleached in alkaline environment with hydrogen peroxide.

Hygienic Tissue

Toilet tissue, facial wipes, paper towels and similar tissue products that disintegrate in water.

Hygroexpansivity

The expansion or contraction of paper due to a change in moisture content, usually caused by a change in the relative humidity.

A device that measures the relative humidity of air.

Hygroscopic

Ability to absorb water vapor from the surrounding atmosphere.

Hymnal Paper

A strong, low-finish, lightweight opaque book paper for printing hymnals.

IGT Print Tester (IGT Pick Tester)

A test instrument that measures the resistance of paper to picking or delamination.

That portion of the printing plate that carries the ink and prints on paper.

Imagesetter

A high resolution device to output printer's film from a disk. Also a cool yuppy.

The correct sequential arrangement of pages that are to be printed, along with all the margins in proper alignment, before producing the plates for printing.

Impregnation

The absorption of an impregnating agent into paper.

Impressed Watermark

A semi-genuine watermark made in the press section using engraved rolls while the web is still wet. It is sometimes known as a "rubber mark”.

In printing, the pressure of the blanket or plate contacting the paper.

Impression Cylinder

The backing cylinder of a web printing press. It supports the printing of a paper when the image is being pressed down on the paper from a printing plate or an offset blanket.

Imprint Unit

An accessory on web presses used to imprint one side of the web with rubber plates.

Index Board

Woodfree and mechanical board for office and administration purposes.

Index Bristols

Manufactured from chemical wood pulp, index bristols are characterized by strength, ruggedness, and erasability.

Paperboard used for recording data in library type of filing systems.

The light buff or beige color found in printing papers.

Markings pre-printed on mailing envelopes to replace the stamp.

Indirect Printing

In printing, ink transfer from image carrier to blanket to paper. Offset presses are indirect printing processes.

Industrial Papers

A broad term referring to papers manufactured for industrial uses such as packaging, cardboards, tissue, insulating, and wrapping papers.

Synonym for mottled or granite appearance found in some papers.

Ink Absorption

Extent of ink penetration into paper.

Ink Coverage

The degree of completeness of coverage of a printed surface with the intended ink film.

Ink Fountain

The device, which stores and meters ink to the inking rollers.

Ink Holdout

A paper's ability to hold printing or writing inks on its surface instead of absorbing the inks.

Ink Rub Off

The degree to which ink can be removed from the printed surface by rubbing.

Ink Setting

The inertial resistance to flow that occurs to ink as soon as it is printed.

The body or cohesiveness of ink. The measure of tack is the force required to split an ink film.

Ink Water Balance

In lithographic printing, the optimal feed of ink and fountain solution to obtain target print density without adversely affecting the white areas.

Inkjet Printing

Printing process of an image or text by small ink particles projected onto the paper surface.

A device used to measure the tack of ink.

A piece of printed material that is inserted into another piece of printed material such as a magazines.

Insulating Paper

A grade of paper, which is strong, pore-free, and is sometimes impregnated with synthetic resins. Insulating paper is made from chemical pulp. Insulating paper must not contain either fillers, conductive contaminants, salts or acids.

Insulation Board

A bulky, flexible paperboard used in buildings.

Insulation Paper

Cable paper used for insulating electrical conductors.

A method of printing in which special ink is doctored into recessed cells that are engraved or Etched into the printing plate. The ink is transferred to paper while pressed into the plate surface in the printing nip.

Integral Proof

A proof made by exposing each of the four-color separations to an emulsion layer of primary colors. These emulsion sheets are stacked in register with a white sheet of paper in the background.

Integrated Mill

A mill manufacturing complex that produces paper from pulp manufactured at its site.

Interleaving

The insertion of sheets of one kind of paper between sheets of another kind of paper or material.

Internal Bond Strength

The measure of the forces with which fibers are bonded to each other within a sheet of paper. Paper with high internal bonding strength resists picking during the printing process.

Internal Sizing

Internal sizing increases the resistance of the finished paper to the penetration and spreading of aqueous liquids such as inks. Also known as "engine sizing”.

International Paper Size

Also known as ISO sizes. ISO standards are based on a rectangle whose sides have a ratio of one to the square root of 2 (1.414).

Iridescent Paper

A coated stock finished in mother-of-pearl.

A set of environmental standards developed by ISO.

A set of quality standards developed by ISO.

International standard for permanent paper.

ISO Brightness

The brightness of paper and paperboard measured at a wavelength of 457 nanometers under standard conditions.

Standard metric paper sizes as recommended by ISO.

Ivory Finish

Finish obtained by calendering through rolls on which beeswax has been applied.

The paper cover sometimes called the "dust cover" of a hardbound book.

The edge on a web of paper formed by a stream of water or air in the papermaking process.

Defective or discontinued papers made in small quantities for special orders and sometimes sold at low prices.

The process of evenly stacking sheets of paper directly on top of one another, either by hand or mechanically.

A refining machine invented by J Jordan consists of a conical rotor and housing between which the fiber slurry is passed. Its effect is to shorten the fibers and improve sheet formation.

A large roll of paper coming off the paper machine before cutting.

A strong, long-fibered pulp made from hemp, used in combination with Kraft pulps for the manufacture of jute tag. The fibers are strong and do not fibrillate or bleach easily.

Paperboard made on cylinder machines with outer plies made from Kraft paper or Kraft waste. The inner ply is usually made from mixed waste papers. It contains no jute fiber.

Kaolin (China Clay)

A mineral (kaolin) used in papermaking as both filler and coating pigment. It consists essentially of hydrated silicate of alumina.

Kappa Number

A measure of the amount of lignin remaining in pulp after cooking.

The narrowing of space between two letters so that they become closer and take up less space on the page.

An index or bristol finished to resemble kid leather.

Kiln Drying

Drying of green wood in kilns to required end use or trading moisture contents.

Kiss Impression

Printing performed with only slight pressure. Refers to a delicate printed impression, just heavy enough to be seen.

Knife Coating

A coating applied to a web of paper by a doctor blade or knife, which spreads the coating evenly across the web.

Small lumps of twisted fibers in the pulp.

An equipment with vibrating screens for removing knots or lumps from the pulp.

Knotter Pulp

Pulp made from the rejects from chemical pulp screening.

The most common fiber used in Japanese papermaking, it comes from the mulberry tree and produces strong, absorbent sheets of paper.

The German and Swedish word for "strong". Used in reference to sulphate pulp because of its relative strength.

Kraft Fluting

Fluted paper made from strong Kraft pulp.

Kraft Liner

Kraft liner is used as an outer ply in corrugated board.

Kraft Paper

High-strength paper made almost entirely of unbleached Kraft pulp.

Kraft Process

The predominant method used for converting a wood chip into wood pulp. Kraft pulping process produces a strong pulp needed for high-speed paper machines, presses and converting equipment.

Kraft Pulp (Sulphate Pulp)

Pulp produced by a process where the active cooking agent is a mixture of sodium hydroxide and sodium sulphide. The Kraft process is the world's predominant chemical pulping process because of the strength of pulp it produces.

Kraft Sack Paper, Sack Paper

A high-strength paper used for the production of bags and sacks made from sulphate (Kraft) pulp.

A slip of paper or other material to be affixed to a container or article.

Label Paper

One-sided machine-coated or cast-coated paper for making labels.

Laboratory Conditioning

The exposure or seasoning of paper to accurately controlled and specified atmospheric conditions in the test laboratory, so that its moisture content is in equilibrium with the surrounding atmosphere.

A solution in an organic solvent of a natural or synthetic resin. Application of lacquer gives papers a greater gloss and stiffness.

The finish imparted by a dandy roll that impresses the paper during manufacture to produce a permanent watermark. The wires, which produce the laid effect, are situated parallel on the dandy roll.

Laid Finish

A parallel lined paper that has a look of handmade papers.

Close light lines in laid paper formed by the laid wires of the laid mould or dandy roll.

Paper with a prominent pattern of ribbed lines in the finished sheet.

Material used to bond together two or more layers of paper or paperboard.

Laminated Paper

Paper formed by bonding a layer of paper to an another layer, which may be a sheet of paper, metal or plastic.

Laser Engraving

A paper cutting technique whereby laser technology is utilized to cut away certain unmasked areas of the paper.

Laser Paper

Paper that has been engineered for optimal performance in xerographic or laser-based imaging devices.

Laser Printing

Xerographic printing where a modulated laser ray is projected on to a photoconductive cylinder or belt by a rotating mirror. The laser serves to produce the electrostatic latent image, which is developed with toners.

A water dispersion of high polymers from natural or synthetic rubber. Used in paper manufacturing for coating, adhesive, and as a barrier.

The dots or dashes used in type to guide the eye from one set of type to the next.

Leaf Stamping

A metal die, either (flat, or embossed).

Individual sheets of paper.

Ledger Paper

A grade of business paper generally used in accounting for keeping records. It is similar to bond paper in its erasure and writing characteristics.

Letterpress Printing

A printing process in which ink is applied to paper, paperboard, or film from raised portions of printing plates or type.

Lightfastness

The rate at which a pigment or colored paper fades in sunlight.

Light-Sheet Interaction

When light falls on any material, a part of it is reflected, another part is absorbed and the rest is transmitted through the body of the material. In case of paper, only the reflected and transmitted fractions are of importance.

Light-Weight Coated Paper

Paper produced from mechanical and chemical pulp and coated to provide a high-quality printing surface. LWC papers are used for magazines, catalogues and advertising materials.

Lightweight Coating

Coating applied at a coat weight of 7-10 g/m2 on one or both sides of the paper.

Lightweight Paper

Paper manufactured in weights below the minimum basis weight considered as standard for that grade.

One of the three main constituents of wood, along with cellulose and hemi-cellulose. Lignin acts as the cementing agent in wood, binding the cellulose fibers together and lignin is largely responsible for the strength and rigidity of plants.

An important section of a Kraft mill’s chemical recovery system. Lime sludge (calcium carbonate) is burnt in the lime kiln to produce lime.

Lime Sludge

Sludge of calcium carbonate (CaCo3) formed during the preparation of white liquor in the chemical pulping process.

Black and white illustration, with no continuous tones (or greys).

Linear Laid Paper

A watermarked sheet with lines to guide the user.

Cuttings and threads of linen cloth used for the manufacture of high-quality rag content paper.

Linen Finish

A paper surface design made by embossing the paper with a linen cloth pattern.

Packaging board used as a surface layer on corrugated board.

The grade of paperboard used for the exterior facings of corrugated board. Used in the manufacture of corrugated and solid fiber shipping containers, linerboard is made predominantly on a Fourdrinier machine. It is used by the packaging industry as a facing material for containers.

The material removed from paper due to linting.

Linters are the short fibers left on the cotton seed after the longer fibers have been removed. The fibers are cleaned and processed into pulp sheets.

Liquid Packaging Board, Milk stock

Plastic-coated board used for the packaging liquids, such as milk and juice.

Lithocoated Paper

A paper that is coated with a special water-resistant material, which is able to withstand the lithographic printing process.

Localized Watermark

Achieved by placement of design on the dandy roll to leave a watermark at the same position on each sheet after cutting.

Loft Dried Papers

A form of air drying where paper is festooned on poles to dry without tension.

Long Fiber Pulp

A general term given to pulp produced from softwoods such as pine.

Long Life Paper

Paper made in accordance with ISO standards (ISO 9706) to achieve the characteristics of permanence.

A lengthwise fold in the direction of the grain.

Look-through

The appearance of Paper when held up against the transmitted light. It reveals whether the paper formation is even and uniform.

Paper with by low light reflectance. Low-finish papers have low or no glaze or gloss.

Liquid Packaging Board - plastic-coated board used for the packaging liquids, such as milk and juice.

Light-Weight Coated Paper - paper produced from mechanical and chemical pulp and coated to provide a higher quality printing surface. LWC papers are used for magazines, catalogues and advertising materials.

A symbol normally used to designate 1,000 sheets or two reams of paper.

The weight of 1000 sheets of a given size of paper.

Bruising or fibrillation of fibers during the beating or refining process.

Machine Calender

A stack of highly-polished cast-iron rolls at the dry end of the paper machine.

Machine Clothing

Fabrics of various types employed on a paper machine to carry the paper web forward. Forming fabrics, press felts, and dryer fabrics are examples of paper machine clothing.

Machine Coated

Paper that has been coated either on one or both sides during the papermaking process.

Machine Creping

Creping of paper on Yankee paper machine. The paper is removed from the Yankee roll by a doctor blade.

Machine Deckle

The width of paper web as it leaves the wet-end of the paper machine.

Machine Direction

The direction in which a majority of fibers tend to orient themselves. More specifically, machine direction is the direction of travel of the forming fabric on paper machine. Machine direction is also known as grain direction.

Machine Dried

The process of drying the paper web on a paper machine rather than drying it in the air after its removal from the machine.

Machine Fill

The maximum possible width of paper machine taken up for making paper. For economic reasons, it should approach as far as possible -- to the maximum trimmed width of the machine. Machine fill is also known as deckle fill.

Machine Finish

Paper finish that is obtained while the paper is on the paper machine as opposed to the finish achieved by some post-machine process.

Machine Finished

Mechanical treatment of paper on the paper machine to improve the surface properties of the paper.

Machine Glazed

Paper made on a Yankee machine that has a glossy finish on one side and a rough finish on the other.

Machine Stack

Machine stack is an assembly of rolls for calendering of paper on the paper machine.

Machine Wire

A filtration device cum conveyor belt that separates water from the furnish and carries the paper web from the forming zone to pressing zone of the paper machine.

Machine-Made

Paper produced on a completely automatic paper machine, which forms, presses, and dries the paper sheet.

Magazine Paper

Light weight coated (LWC) or supercalendered paper for printing magazines. The selection of the magazine printing paper is mainly dependent on the print run and the demands on the print quality.

Magnetic Black

Black pigments containing black iron oxides, used for magnetic ink character recognition.

Paper that is used in the set-up process of the printing press before the printing run actually starts.

Making Order

Making order is the quantity of paper specially ordered from a mill by the customer. Paper is custom-made to meet the buyer's specifications. A minimum order quantity is required for placing this type of order.

Managed Forests

This term appears to be used interchangeably with sustainable forests.

Manifold Form

Refers to business forms with several parts interleaved with carbon paper.

Manifold Paper

A low caliper bond paper with glazed or unglazed finish used for making carbon copies.

A color or finish similar to that achieved by making paper from manila hemp stock, also known as 'abaca' plant.

High-strength papers and paperboard used for making tags, high-strength cartons, etc.

Paper made from cotton fiber or chemical wood pulps or a mixture of both. Map papers are required to have high wet-strength, high opacity, good finish, and printability along with high folding endurance.

Marble Paper

A type of paper that has a surface pattern resembling to marble. Marble paper is used as end leaves in books.

A process in which strongly stained fibers are added to the stock to give the paper a marbled appearance.

Mark Reading

Optical machine reading of vertical bars, which have been manually introduced.

Marked Stand

A forest area marked for cutting.

Marked Standing Reserve

Estimated volume of wood marked for cutting but not yet felled.

Market Pulp

Pulp produced for sale on the open market to paper mills, as opposed to that produced for own consumption in an integrated or affiliated mill.

In forestry, marking refers to the tree that is to be cut down.

The blocking out of a portion of the printing plate during the exposure process.

Masking Paper

An orange-colored, coated paper (opaque) for use in stripping negatives from which a plate will be exposed.

Matt Finish

A dull-finish paper and paperboard.

A type of paper with low gloss or luster. This type of paper goes through minimum or no calendering.

Medium Density Fiberboard (MDF)

MDF is used in the furniture industry is made from mechanical pulp after the refining process.

Mechanical Paper

The paper that contains mechanical pulp, thermomechanical pulp (TMP), or chemithermomechanical pulp (CTMP) and sometimes chemical pulp.

Medium-Weight Coated Paper (MWC)

Medium-weight coated paper - A type of paper used for magazines, catalogues and advertising materials produced from mechanical and chemical pulp.

Merchant's Brand

A brand name owned by a paper merchant or converter. It is also referred to as private brand.

Merchant's Stock Order

Paper bought by a merchant for his inventory rather than for immediate sale to an end-user.

Metallic Papers

A type of paper, which has a special coating that, allows indelible marks to be made on paper's surface with a metal point or stylus.

Machine Finished - A type of paper, which is calendered on the paper machine to impart it smoothness and gloss.

Machine Glazed - A type of paper that has a glossy finish on one side produced by a Yankee dryer.

MG Or Yankee Machine

MG or Yankee machine has a single highly-polished steam-heated drying cylinder. Paper web adheres to the cylinder as it dries and receives a smooth surface on the cylinder side of the paper

MG Paper (Mono Glazed Paper)

A type of paper that has a glossy finish on one side produced by a Yankee dryer.

A highly-sized paper that has been coated with ground particles of mica. Base stock is made from chemical wood pulp.

A high-quality bond paper with good surface properties and dimensional stability.

Micro-Creping

A method of improving the paper extensibility by pressing a wet mesh against the paper web.

A device for measuring the thickness or caliper of paper.

A measurement of thickness equal to one thousandths of an inch (1 mil = 0.001 inch.)

Milk stock (LPB or Liquid Packaging Board)

A plastic-coated paperboard used for the packaging liquids, such as milk and juice.

A heavyweight board, which is hard, flat, and nonwrapping. Mill board is used in book binding and box making and it is made on a wet machine using fiber refuse, wastepaper, screenings, and mechanical wood pulp.

Mill Bristol

Printing bristols made on a cylinder machine.

A term used by paper merchants to indicate that the requested shipment of paper, shipping directly from the mill to the customer, has been counted by the mill only, and that the merchant has not recounted it.

A term used to distinguish between the cut edge made by the machine slitter or cutters as opposed to the cut edge made by the trimmer. Cut made by a trimmer is smoother and more accurate.

Mill Direct

It refers to paper that is sold and delivered directly to the end-user from the mill. The sale does not involve paper merchant or distributor.

Refers to the slightly rough edge of untrimmed papers.

A line of papers (brands) that is owned by the mill and not the merchant.

Mill Net Price

Mill Net Price = (Transaction Price) - (Delivery Cost).

Mis-register

The appearance of a printed image out of its correct position

A bast fiber used in Japanese papermaking that yields a soft, absorbent, and lustrous quality. The fibers are fine and relatively short.

Mixed Paper

A term used in paper recycling. It refers to a mix of various grades of papers such as cartons, old mail, magazines, office papers, etc.

An abbreviation for Magnetic/ Optical Character Recognition. MOCR refers to papers designed to perform in both OCR and MICR applications.

In printing, an undesirable halftone pattern produced by the incorrect angles of overprinting halftone screens.

Moisture Content

This is the amount of moisture contained by paper, expressed as a percentage of its total weight. Average amount ranges from 4-7%. Uniform moisture is a necessity in all grades of paper. The amount of moisture in a sheet of paper affects basis weight, printability, physical strength, and runnability.

Moistureproof

The ability of paper and paperboard to resist the penetration of water vapor.

A cotton fabric used on the dampening rollers of a printing press.

Refers spotty or uneven ink absorption.

Mottled Finish

A paper appearance, which is characterized by glossy and dull spots on a printed sheet.

Mottled Paper

Made by adding some amounts of heavily-dyed fibers to the stock of colored paper. It is referred to as granite paper.

A tool for handmade papermaking. It is a flat screen that filters fibers through it to form the sheet.

Mould-made Paper

A sheet of paper that looks like a handmade paper but is actually made on a slowly-rotating cylinder mould.

Mullen Tester

A instrument for testing the bursting strength of paper.

A paper or paperboard made up of two or more layers.

Multiply Board Machine

A machine on which a number of plies of paper can be combined to produce a thick cardboard.

Municipal Solid Waste

Municipal solid wastes are the waste product collected as garbage. It usually consists of 30% paper.

Medium Weight Coated - A type of paper used for magazines, catalogues and advertising materials produced from mechanical and chemical pulp.

Narrow Roll

Small width rolls, which require off-machine rewinding.

Natural Colors

Colors containing little or no coloring chemicals.

Natural Durability

Natural resistance of wood to attack by decay fungi, insects, and marine borers.

Natural Papers

Papers that have a color similar to that of wood.

Northern Bleached Hardwood Kraft - A variety of market pulp, produced mainly from birch Trees.

Northern Bleached Softwood Kraft - A variety of market pulp, mainly produced from spruce trees in Scandinavia, Canada, USA, and Russia. NBSK is the industry's benchmark grade of pulp for pricing and inventory data.

Non Condensable Gas. Odorous discharges from mill processes that in previously were vented to the atmosphere. Today, NCGs are collected and disposed of to meet environmental regulations and to stop the nuisance role these gases play with surrounding communities.

A type of paper coated with carbonless materials for creating duplicate copies.

The weight after the deduction of tare weight or waste weight.

Newspaper, Newsprint

Unsized and uncoated paper manufactured mainly from mechanical and increasingly waste paper pulps. Newsprint is a machine-finished or calendered printing paper (grammage: 40-52g/m2).

Paperboards used as the fluted component for manufacturing multi-ply combined board or wrapping.

A point where two rolls come in contact with each other.

No.1 Manila

A type of paper, which is pale and straw-colored and is made from chemical wood pulps.

Nominal Weight

The basis weight of the paper at which the paper is billed.

Non-Coated Paper

Paper treated in a size-press or pigmented paper where the coat weight is less than 10g.

Non-impact Printing

Describes a segment of printers, such as ink-jet, laser, thermal or electrostatic, that creates images without needing to strike the page.

Non-Integrated Mill

Paper mills that do not produce its own pulp and buy the pulp from open market for meeting their papermaking needs.

Non-Wood Pulp

Pulp made from materials other than wood, for example grasses, straws, bagasse, etc.

Nonwovens Fabric

A cloth-like material made from natural and synthetic fibers.

Nordic Swan

An eco-label applied to papers produced by Scandinavian pulp and paper mills that have low sulphur emissions.

Novel Paper

A high-bulk paper with a rough finish.

Nitrogen Oxide. A major component of gaseous emissions from a boiler or lime kiln.

Neutral Sulphite Semi Chemical Pulp - A semi-chemical pulp produced by cooking woodchips in a neutral sulphite solution.

A term used to describe printed books, catalogs etc., that are bound on their shorter side; also referred to as album bound.

Old corrugated containers.

OCR stands for "Optical Character Recognition", a technology to digitize and "read" printed text and characters.

A high-quality woodfree paper suitable for optical scanning. OCR paper should have good surface properties and dimensional stability .

Oven Dry (also known as bone dry) - Weight of a paper specimen when dried to constant weight in an oven at the temperature of 105 +/-2 oC.

Papers that are not of standard sizes, weights, finishes, or colors.

Non-standard paper size.

Paper sheets remaining after standard size sheets have been cut.

Office Paper

A type of uncoated printing and writing paper produced from bleached chemical pulp with little or no mechanical pulp.

Off-machine Coating

Coating of paper on a separate coating machine. The coating is not applied on the paper machine and the coating machine can be in the same or in a different location.

Off-machine Creping

A method in which paper is creped in a separate operation rather than on the Yankee machine.

An indirect printing method in which the printed material does not receive the ink directly from the printing plate but from an intermediary cylinder called a blanket, which receives the ink from the plate and transfers it to the paper. It is the most commonly used printing method.

Offset Blanket

A covering for a cylinder on a printing machine for accepting the ink and transferring it to the printing surface.

Offset Gravure

An offset process involving multiple transfers between the gravure plate, the plate cylinder, and a solid rubber plate.

Offset Paper

A type of uncoated book paper, which is manufactured specifically for use on offset printing presses. Offset papers should be pick resistant.

Offset Press

Printing press using an offset method where the image is transferred from the plate cylinder onto paper via a blanket.

Old magazines.

One-time Carbon

A light-weight paper coated only on one side with carbon. This type of paper is used in business forms.

A thin, light-weight paper used for typing with carbon paper.

Refers to processes such as calendering or coating that are carried out on a paper machine.

On-machine Coating

Coating of paper on a paper machine and not as a separate operation. In this case, the coating equipment is an integral part of the paper machine.

Old newspapers.

An instrument that is used to measure paper's opacity.

The ability of a sheet of paper to prevent light transmission through it. High opacity is essential for a paper intended for duplex printing (printing on both sides of paper), or for intensive color printing on one side of the sheet. Opacity increases with increase in grammage of sheet. Addition of fillers, dyestuff, or pigment also increases opacity of paper. However, beating, pressing or calendering of paper decreases it opacity.

A paper property that prevents the transmission of light through the paper sheet.

Ink that completely covers any ink under itself.

Operating Efficiency

The ratio of saleable tones manufactured to the maximum possible capacity of the paper machine.

Operating Rate

The ratio of actual days of machine operation to the days available.

Opposite Dimension

Dimension of a sheet of paper at right angles to the machine or grain direction.

Optical Brightener

Fluorescent dyes added to paper to enhance the brightness. Fluorescent dyes absorb ultraviolet light and re-emit it in the visual spectrum.

Optical Characteristics

Characteristics of the appearance of paper or paperboard. The important optical characteristics are brightness, opacity, and gloss.

Optical Density

The intensity of color or the printed image.

Optical Scanner

An Input device that converts characters to machine codes.

Orthochromatic

A light sensitive surface that is sensitive to all colors except red.

Oriented Strand Board - directionally formed particleboard of cross-bonded plies. OSB is a substitute for plywood used in buildings.

One-time Carbonizing - Carbon paper that produces one copy only as in case of receipts.

Old telephone directories.

Out Turn Sheet

A sheet of paper that serves as a reference for the mill or client.

Outdoor Poster Board

A strong paperboard that can resist weather conditions and is waterproof. It is primarily used for outdoor displays and posters.

Out-of-square

Paper that has been trimmed improperly causing its corners to be more or less than 90 degrees, which leads to difficulties in the printing process and results in misregister of the printed piece.

A lower quality paper used on the bottom and top sides of a ream to protect the better quality paper inside.

Material that must be removed from paper before the paper is recycled or repulped.

Weight of a paper specimen when dried to constant weight in an oven at the temperature of 105 +/-2oC.

Overhang Cover

A cover of a book that extends over the trimmed signatures it contains.

Overprinting

Printing done on an area that has already been printed.

Quantity of sheets printed over the ordered number of copies.

Paper manufactured wider than the final size to permit trimming to the desired size.

Oxygen Bleaching

A method of reducing the lignin content of pulp by using oxygen gas in an alkaline environment. The pulp is subsequently bleached in 4 to 5 stages.

Ozone Bleaching

A method of reducing the lignin content of pulp by using ozone. Ozone allows bleaching the pulp to a high brightness without the use of chlorine chemicals.

A solid fiberboard or corrugated sheet used for extra protection or for separating articles when packed for shipment.

Page Makeup

The assemblage of all the necessary elements required to complete a page.

Pages Per Inch (PPI)

Number of papers sheets in a inch-thick stack of paper. This term used frequently in book production.

A platform used to facilitate the movement of paper in storage or transit, which can be moved by a lift truck. Pallets are made up of wood, paperboard, or plastic.

Panchromatic

Films and other photographic materials those are sensitive to all colors.

A panel is a ‘face’ or ‘side’ of a box.

A web of cellulose fibers, bound together by interweaving and by the use of bonding agents. Paper is used for writing, printing, wrapping, packaging, decorating, wiping etc.

A paper laminated with metal foil.

Paper Grade

Papers manufactured to fit within a group of papers. Paper is classified into different grades according to the end use, the pulp type, and the treatment of the paper. Each grade of paper uses essentially the same type of fiber, colors, additives etc.

Paper Merchant

A company, which purchases paper from a paper mill for resale to end-users. Merchants usually warehouse the products and then sell it to end-users.

Paper Micrometer

An instrument used for measuring the thickness of paper.

Paper Stock

A slurry of pulp fibers, water, additives, chemicals, and dyes that is pumped onto the papermaking machine to form paper.

A generic term that refers to high-grammage and high-caliper papers. It is intended to be a rigid, durable form of paper, often used in packaging. Some examples include cereal boxes, shoe boxes, folding cartons, setup boxes for jewelry, milk and juice cartons, etc.

A high-grade soft paper used greeting cards and stationery.

An ancient writing material made from the stem of the papyrus plant. The word ‘paper’ is derived from papyrus.

A type of paper that resembles animal skin. It is used for documents, such as awards, that require writing by hand. Parchment paper has a high resistance to the penetration of grease.

Parchmentization

A method of treating a paper sheet with sulphuric acid to make it greaseproof

Parent Roll

A roll from the paper machine, which is later slit into smaller rolls.

Parent Sheet

A sheet of paper, which is larger than the cut stock of the same paper.

Paris White

A pure form of calcium carbonate.

Particulates

Airborne impurities present in gaseous emissions such as lime, soot, calcium carbonate etc.

Paste Drier

Compounds used for enhancing drying of printing inks.

An ink with a high level of viscosity.

A general term for cardboard formed by pasting layers of pulp board together.

A unit that pastes sheets of paper to produce pasted paper grades.

Patent Coated

Paperboard lined on one or both sides with white or colored fibers to improve the surface. Such board is manufactured on a multi-cylinder machine.

Pattern Carbon

Carbon paper that has its coating applied in a special way. Pattern coating is applied by a process similar to printing than coating.

Pattern Paper

A type of high-strength paper used by designers and tailors for making patterns.

Pebbling is a process, which imparts a grainy surface to finished paper. Pebbling is done after when the paper has been manufactured.

Peeling or scuffing is the surface scaling on the sheet of paper.

Perfect Binding

A binding method used to put together a large number of pages into a book form by a flexible adhesive. For example, most phone books are perfect bound.

Perfecting Press

Perfecting press or a perfector is a printing press that prints on the both sides a sheet of paper in a single pass.

Perforating

A process done during or after printing to punch small holes in the paper.

Permanence refers to paper's ability to maintain physical properties with time, such as brightness, strength, color, and folding endurance. Prolonged exposure to humidity, light, and adverse temperatures affect the permanence of paper.

Permanent Paper

A paper that can resist large chemical and physical changes over time. This type of paper is made from bleached chemical pulps and is generally acid-free, neutral, or alkaline sized. It may contain calcium carbonate as a filler.

Permeability

The ability of paper to allow passage of a gas, liquid or vapor through it.

Pernicious Contraries

Foreign material in waste paper that is difficult to detect and which might cause damage to the papermaking equipment.

Peroxide Bleaching

A method of bleaching pulp with hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) to remove lignin. Peroxide bleaching avoids or reduces the chlorine dioxide demand.

A measure of acidity, neutrality, or alkalinity of materials such as paper and printing inks. On a scale of 0 to 14, a pH of 7 is neutral. Acids a have pH value below 7 while alkalis a have pH value above 7 (up to 14).

pH Neutral Paper

Paper made from a pulp having a pH of 6.5 to 7.

Phenolic Resin Impregnated Paper

Paper saturated with phenolic resin and used as a binder for cores and sand moulds.

Photographic Paper

A dimensionally stable, chemically-neutral paper with wet-strength properties which is used as a base paper for photographic papers.

Photosetting

The process of composing text matter directly onto a photographic film or other light sensitive material.

Phthalocyanine

A pigment used for manufacturing the cyan ink.

Printing Industry of America.

A person who examines the finished paper for defects in it.

The release of fibers, fines or coating flakes from the paper surface during papermaking or printing. Picking occurs during printing when ink tack is greater than the surface strength of paper.

Picking Resistance

Ability of a paper surface to resist picking by tacky inks during the printing process.

The roll, which lifts the paper web off the wire before the pressing section.

Mineral and inorganic compounds used to coat paper to enhance its surface properties.

Pigmentizing

Coating of paper with pigments to reduce surface porosity and increase opacity.

The build-up of material from paper on the calendar roll or printing blanket.

Paper Industry Management Association.

A device that controls flow of paper into a machine by engraving pins.

Any small holes through paper or coating extending mainly through the stock; they are of pinpoint size.

Pitch Holes

Pitch holes are caused by pitch plugging the forming fabric at the wet-end of paper machine.

Planned Cut

The volume of wood that can be felled in one year.

Plasterboard

A type of board, which has a layer of gypsum in center and the outer layers made up of board. Plasterboard is used in the building industry.

Plastic Comb

A method of binding books where the holes are drilled close to the spine and a comb-like plastic device is inserted to hold the pages together.

Plastic Laminated Paper

Paper are laminated with plastic and used as a cover paper due to its strength.

Plasticizer

An additive that adds flexibility, softness, and adhesion to printing inks.

Any material used to make a printed impression for making multiple copies of the image. It is also known as printing press.

Plate Cylinder

The cylinder on a printing press on which the printing plate is fixed.

Plate Finish

An extremely smooth finish achieved by calendaring the paper web.

Plate Glazing

A process of producing a smooth surface on handmade paper sheets by placing them between polished plates of zinc or copper.

Plate Paper

A type of paper used for copperplate printing.

Plate Wiping Paper

A type of paper used as a wiping cloth by engravers.

An equipment of cold iron rolls that imparts a high finish to paper.

A single layer of paper. On multi-cylinder board machines, several plies of paper are pasted together to form the paperboard.

Point (Mil)

A measurement unit equal to one thousandth of an inch (0.001"). Point is used as measurement unit to express the thickness of paper.

The Mullen test, which measures the bursting strength of paper. The term became popular because paper makes a popping sound when tested for bursting strength on Mullen tester.

A structural property of paper, which refers to resistance of paper to air permeation. In printing, high porosity is needed in offset papers to decrease the ink consumption.

Generally uncoated paper, which is used for the production of postcards.

Post-consumer Waste

Recovered paper, which has gone through the consumer lifecycle before being recycled. Examples include computer printouts, tabulating cards, old newspapers, office waste, and milk cartons.

Poster Paper

A type of paper made from mechanical pulp with a high filler content. Poster paper is made weather resistant by sizing. It is used for outdoor advertising.

A series of beaters used in washing and pulp preparation when esparto is used as a raw material.

Preconditioned Paper

Paper manufactured to the specifications of relative humidity.

Pre-consumer Waste

Unprinted offcuts from printers and converters that are then formed into recycled pulp. Examples include envelope clippings and printing press waste.

All printing operations prior to presswork. Pre-press processes include design and layout, typesetting, graphics arts photography, image assembly, and plate making.

Linerboard that is printed and rewound prior to the manufacture of combined board. Linerboard is used to make high quality corrugated boxes.

A set of rolls on a paper machine through which the paper passes to facilitate the removal of water from the web.

Press Proof

Press sheets taken from the production run to check the image, tone, and color before final printing.

The quantity of prints for a given job.

Press Section

The section of a paper machine just after the Fourdrinier table. It squeezes the wet paper web under high pressure to remove water.

Pressboard is manufactured on a wet machine to make a uniformly thick and dense paperboard. It should have excellent ply adhesion property.

Presse Pâté

A machine identical in design to the wet-end of a Fourdrinier paper machine. It is used to turn pulp into sheets before its transportation to another mill for making into the final paper.

Pressing Papers

Rag and rope based papers and paperboards used for pressing woolen cloth.

The design impressed onto the web of paper by means of a rubber collar carrying the design.

Pressroom Conditioning

Conditioning of paper in pressrooms to 45% RH in order to have the pressroom RH in equilibrium with the paper RH to minimize curl and associated defects.

Pressure-Sensitive Paper

A type of paper that is coated on one or both sides with adhesive. This adhesive is activated by pressure and forms a bond with the receiving surface. It is used to manufacture labels and tapes.

Pressurized Groundwood Pulp (PGW)

A type of mechanical pulp produced by treating logs with steam before defibration against a grindstone.

Primary Colors

The four primary colors are cyan (blue), magenta (red), yellow, and black.

Primary Fiber (Virgin Fiber)

Papermaking wood fibers that have never been used before to make paper.

Print Gloss

The property of a printed surface to reflect light specularly which impart the surface shiny appearance.

Print Mottle

A type of print defect. A random uneven appearance in the print density, colors, or gloss of a printed sheet of paper.

Print Quality

The degree to which a print's quality approaches the standard or the desired results.

Printability

Ease with which paper can be printed to standards with the least amount of wastage.

Printing Ink

Inks containing pigments and/or dyes to produce images.

Printing Paper

Papers specially designed for printing, for example, newsprint and magazine papers The desired qualities are uniform and fast ink trapping and drying as well as the dimensional stability of paper.

Process Flowchart

A layout showing process equipment and materials flow.

Process Printing

Printing from two or more half tones to produce intermediate colors and shades.

Progressive Proofs

Proofs made from the separate plates of a multi-plate-printing project.

A pre-production print to check the accuracy of lay-out, content, tone, and color.

Pulp is a chemically or mechanically produced raw material used in the production paper and paperboard.

Pulp board is used for index cards. It is also known as printer's board.

A unit for defibrating pulp and paper machine broke. Pulpers have a cylindrical vat in which a rotor separates the fibers and suspends them in water.

A process of transforming wood chips or non-woods into pulp for papermaking.

Wood suitable for producing papermaking pulp. Pulpwood is usually not of sufficient standard for saw-milling.

Puncture Resistance

Resistance of paper or paperboard to perforation.

Pressurized Groundwood Pulp.

Pyroxylin Paper

Paper coated with pyroxylin lacquer to make it water resistant and glossy.

Quality Control

The process of testing representative paper samples to check for consistency or quality.

Rag Content

Rag content in paper describes the amount of cotton fibers relative to the total amount of material used in the pulp.

Papers with a complete or partial content of cotton fibers. Rag paper is used for ledgers and other products where permanence of records in important.

Papermaking pulp made from cotton fibers or cotton linters.

Ragged Left

The term given to right-justified type that is uneven on the left.

Ragged Right

The term given to left-justified type that is uneven on the right.

The principal raw material used in the papermaking process in yesteryears.

Railroad Board

A thick and coated paper used for signs.

Railroad Manila

A type of writing paper containing a substantial amount of mechanical fibers.

Rated Capacity

The amount of paper or paperboard that a given machine has been designed to produce.

Crackling sound produced by shaking a sheet of paper indicating its stiffness and density.

Weight of raw stock before coating.

A stack of paper containing either 480 or 500 sheets according to paper grade.

Ream Marked

A pile of paper marked by the insertion of small slips of rectangular-shaped paper or "ream markers" at intervals of every 500 or 480 sheets.

Area of paper in a ream, as calculated by width x length x number of sheets in the ream.

Ream Weight

Weight of 500 sheets of paper.

Ream Wrapped

Paper that has been separated into reams and individually packaged for shipment.

Ream Wrappers

A type of coarse paper used to wrap a ream of paper.

Recovered Paper

Used paper and board collected for re-use as raw material in paper and paperboard manufacture.

Recovery Boiler

A unit in Kraft pulping mills where the black liquor is burnt, after concentrating it in an evaporation process. Black liquor burnt in recovery boilers is used to recover inorganic chemicals and to produce energy.

Recovery Rate

Volume of paper recovered as a percentage of volume of paper consumed in an area or a country.

The odd numbered pages of a book.

Recycled Content

Amount of recycled fibers relative to virgin fibers in paper.

Recycled Content Paper

Paper having some percentage of recycled fibers in it.

Recycled Pulp

Pulp produced from deinking recycled newspapers and old magazines.

A pigment used in paste and liquid red inks.

Any substance that softens and reduces the tack of ink.

A roll at the end of the paper machine on which paper is wound. The reel is then cut into rolls of smaller size.

Reel Sample

A sample taken from a reel of paper for testing.

A machine used to grind pulp between two discs to facilitate fibrillation.

Refiner Mechanical Pulp (RMP)

Mechanical pulp produced by passing untreated wood chips between the plates of a refiner.

Refiner Sawdust Pulp

A type of mechanical pulp produced from sawmill dust.

Refining is a process that increases the surface area of cellulose fibers to improve the fiber bonding.

Reflectivity

Ability of paper or paperboard to reflect light from its surface. It is a measure of gloss.

Placement of two or more images on a sheet of paper to align them with each other.

Register Paper

A type of paper made for easy removal from sticky surfaces.

Reinforcement

A method of strengthening paper with an insert of synthetic fiber or metal.

Reinforcement Pulp

Softwood chemical pulp added for giving paper a greater strength. The reinforcement also improves runnability of paper on the paper machine and printing presses.

Material removed and discarded during the cleaning or screening of pulp and papermaking stock.

Relative Density

Mass of per unit volume of a substance.

Relative Humidity

The percentage of moisture in the air relative to the moisture it can hold without saturation.

Release Paper

Backing paper for self-adhesives. Release paper is used to prevent the sticking of glue to other surfaces.

Renewable Resource

A naturally occurring raw material or form of energy with the capacity to replenish itself through the ecological cycles.

Reproduction Paper

A one-side coated paper suitable for fine screen and color printing.

Useful material left over or arising during production or use and which is recovered.

Percentage of the amount of filler in the finished paper web relative to what was added into the furnish

An equipment used to slit a large width roll into a smaller width rolls of various sizes to meet specific customer orders.

Thin bars of wood, which support the wire cover of a mould.

A misnomer used to describe Oriental papers. The name might have been derived from the rice size once used in Japanese papermaking.

Right Side of Paper

The side on which the watermark is read correctly.

Ring Crush Test

A test, which measures the stiffness of paper.

Roll Coating

A process in which the coating is applied by a roll. A reverse roll contacting the freshly coated surface subsequently smoothens the coating.

Roofing Paper

A type of paperboard impregnated with tar, bitumen, and/ or natural asphalt.

A byproduct of turpentine distillation from the gum of resinous woods. It is used for internal sizing for paper to make it water resistant.

A soap solution of rosin and caustic soda. It is added to paper or paperboard to make them water resistant.

Rotary Cutter

The machine that converts paper rolls into untrimmed sheets.

Rotogravure Paper

A highly smooth and uncoated groundwood paper used in rotogravure printing of magazines and catalogues.

Rotogravure Printing

A printing process where the images are engraved in the form of cells on the surface of a metal cylinder.

Rough Paper

A textured paper surface obtained by placing the wet paper sheets against textured blankets.

Rough Shake

A sheet of paper in which the fibers are randomly distributed, as in handmade papers.

Round Cornering

Rounding of corners of paper forms and books by a machine.

A state of printed ink under the maximum dryness. In this state the ink does not smudge.

Runnability

A paper property necessary for a trouble-free run through a paper machine or printing press.

Running Head

A title at the top of a page that appears on all pages or chapter of a book.

Kraft paper with high strength properties, used to make paper sacks.

Saddle Stitch

A method of binding booklets or other printed materials by stapling the pages on the folded spine.

Safety Paper

A paper that shows sign of erasure so that it cannot be altered or tampered with. Used mainly for bank checks and other legal documents such as bonds etc.

A wild shrub in Philippines, which is similar to mulberry. It is used in papermaking as a fibrous raw material.

Sample Room

A location where samples of all grades produced or distributed are both for reference.

A technique for obtaining representative samples of paper or pulp.

Sales Association of the Paper Industry

Outer layers of a stem composed of living cells for carrying water up the tree.

Satin Finish

A smooth, embossed, and satin-like glossy paper.

Savealls recover fibers from waste water fro reuse in papermaking.

Saturated Base Kraft

Solid Bleached Sulphate Board

Board made from unbleached semi-chemical pulp and used as a middle layer for corrugated boards

A type of uncoated paper that has been highly calendered to obtain a smoother surface and higher gloss. Supercalendered paper is used for magazines, catalogues, and direct marketing materials.

Foreign material that is deposited on the paper web after its formation.

Schopper's Tester

An instrument for measuring the folding endurance of paper.

The process of creating a crease in the paper with mechanical means to allow it to fold more easily. Scoring is needed when heavyweight papers are to be folded across the grain.

Screen Angles

A technique used in 4 color printing which sets halftone screens at various angles to avoid moiré patterns.

Screen Ruling

Number of lines or dots per inch on a halftone screen.

Separation of undesired materials such knots, shives, and bark pieces etc into fractions according to their form and size.

Rejects such as bark pieces, shives, and knots from the screening of pulp.

A device used to clean gases of particles and dissolved substances such as SO2 gas.

Scuff Resistance

Resistance to scuffing of paper or paperboard. It is measured in terms of number of cycles required to produce a specified degree of scuffing on a specified area with an abrasive object moving at a specified speed.

Unwanted ink marks in the non-image area.

Printing in the Non-image areas of print, due to a faulty plate.

The process of allowing paper to adjust to atmospheric conditions.

Secondary Fiber

Any type of fiber obtained from recycled paper and paperboard.

Secondary Pulp

A lower-quality pulp made from recycled paper.

Refers to damaged or imperfect sheets of paper.

Security Paper

A high quality woodfree paper with a genuine multistage water mark to deter counterfeiting and forging.

A cover made out of the same paper stock as the internal sheets.

Semi-alkaline Pulp (SAP)

SAP is a sulphite pulp cooked at slightly alkaline pH (normally, sulphite pulp is cooked at acid pH). It is superior in strength to sulphite pulp and is used mainly in the manufacture of printing papers.

Semi-bleached Pulp

A type of pulp that is bleached to a brightness level somewhere between that of unbleached and fully-bleached pulp.

Semi-chemical Pulp

Pulp produced in a two-stage process. First, the wood is partially digested with chemicals and then the fibers are mechanically separated in a disc refiner. Semi-chemical pulp is used in papers which require fiber stiffness such as papers used in packaging applications.

Transferring or smearing of ink from freshly-printed sheets of paper to another surface.

To decrease the dot size of the halftone, this in turn, decreases the color strength.

For surfaces with low gloss, the gloss measurement is done at 85 o. The result is usually reported as 'Sheen'.

A rectangular piece of paper or board.

A roll of paper intended to be trimmed into sheets.

The ratio of surface area to the weight of a paper or a paperboard.

A converting machine that cuts the paper web into sheets.

Sheet-Fed Offset Printing

Offset printing where individual pieces of paper are fed into the press.

The operation of cutting paper rolls into individual sheets.

The printing of two images on two sides of a sheet of paper by turning the sheet over after the first side is printed by using the same gripper and side guides.

Shipping Roll

A finished roll that is slit and ready to shipping to a customer.

Tiny bundles of undercooked fibers in stock that have not been separated completely during pulping. Commonly found in papers from mechanical pulps.

Short Fiber

Applies to paper or pulp containing a high proportion of short wood fibers usually from hardwood trees.

Short Fiber Pulp

Pulp produced from hardwoods such as birch and eucalyptus.

Short Grain Paper

Paper in which the machine direction is the shortest sheet dimension.

Ink that is smooth and creamy but does not flow freely.

Short Run Books

A book project less than 10,000 is a short run. Ultra short book runs are less than 1000.

Show Through

A problem in printing when the printed matter on one side of a sheet can be seen from the other side. This happens due to inadequate opacity of paper.

Decrease in the dimensions of a sheet of paper.

The guides on the sides of a sheet-fed press that position the sheet sideways.

A paper mill term for a roll of paper when the paper ordered does not utilize the full width of the paper machine.

A roll differing in width from the rest of the rolls made at time on a slitter.

Side Stitch

To staple sheets on the side closest to the spine.

A type of boxboard made on a cylinder machine, which has been vat-lined with white fibers.

A section of a book obtained by folding a single sheet of printed paper in 8, 12, 16, or 32 pages.

Silhouette Halftone

Halftones from which the screen around any part of the image has been removed.

Silicone Treated Paper

A type of high-strength, glazed-finished paper treated on one side with silicones to produce release qualities. It is used as a backing material for pressure sensitive papers.

Silvichemicals

Refers to the chemical byproducts of the wood-pulping process and other chemicals derived from wood.

A term applied to paper or paperboard made on a single vat cylinder machine.

Single-face Corrugated Board

Corrugated fiberboard made of two layers, one of fluted paper and another of facing.

A substance, which reduces the rate at which paper absorbs water or ink. It is added to the pulp or applied to the surface of the paper when the paper is dry. Examples include rosin, glue, gelatin, starch, modified cellulose, etc.

Size or Sizing

The process by which a sizing chemical is added to paper to provide it the resistance against absorption of water.

A section of the paper machine, located between two drier sections, where sizing agents are added.

A container that holds the sizing chemicals during the tub sizing process.

A wooden, reusable platform on which paper is stored or shipped.

Slack Edges

Edges of a paper web with a caliper (thickness) less than the center of the paper sheet.

Slack Sized

Paper that is only slightly sized.

An opening in a paper machine headbox through which pulp is poured onto the Fourdrinier wire.

A lump of bacteria that can get imbedded in the paper web at the wet-end of the paper machine.

Slime Hole or Spots

A hole in paper with brownish translucent material around the edges. It is caused by micro-organism present in the stock system. Although the slime is sterilized during the drying process, it may leave spots in the paper.

Slipped Roll

Unevenly wound rolls are known as slipped rolls.

A sharp circular blade on rewinders that cuts paper rolls in the machine direction into smaller width rolls

A cut made in fiberboard sheets, usually to form flaps to facilitate folding.

Waste created during the biological process in effluent treatment.

Sludge Handling

The process of dewatering and compaction of sludge separated from the treated effluent.

A watery suspension of fibers, fillers, coating pigments, and other solid material used in papermaking, or coating.

A process of dispersion of fibrous raw materials in water by agitation.

Smoothing Press

Press rolls used to smoothen the paper web before it reaches the driers.

A property of paper that describes the flatness and evenness of a sheet's surface. Smoothness is achieved by calendering or supercalendering. A higher calendering might give reduced brightness and poor opacity. Smoother paper gives a better print reproduction.

Smudge Factor

Susceptibility of an image to abrasion or rubbing.

Soda Pulping

A pulping process in which the wood chips are given alkaline treatment with to produce pulp by digesting the fibers under pressure with a solution of caustic soda (NaOH).

A type of chemical pulp in which wood chips are digested in a hot alkaline solution of caustic soda (NaOH).

A method of preparing large sheets of paper for packing.

Soft Mixed Paper

Refers to magazines and newspapers or papers with shorter fibers. Paperboard packaging may also be present in soft mixed papers.

A badly or improperly wound roll.

A spot along the length of a paper roll, which is soft, compared to the adjacent area on the roll.

Coniferous trees such as pine, hemlock, and spruce, which have longer fibers than hardwood.

Solid Bleached Sulfate Board (SBS)

Paperboard made from fully bleached virgin Kraft pulp. SBS is used for packaging dry and moist food products, cigarette, and luxury goods etc.

Solid Board

A type of paperboard that is made with the same material throughout its structure.

Solid Chipboard

A type of board made on a cylinder machine entirely from recycled paper with no liner or coating.

Solid Fiberboard

Board with a gsm of over 600 with an outer ply of Kraft pulp. It is used for packaging goods.

Solid-lined Manila Board

A type of manila-colored paperboard made from wood pulp or recycled paper on a cylinder machine. Sometimes a combination of virgin pulp and recycled paper is also used.

Sorted Office Paper

A mix of papers collected for recycling. It can includes writing and copy papers, computer paper, notepads, advertising booklets, letterhead and envelopes.

Specialty Pulp

A grade of chemical pulp used for purposes other than ordinary papermaking, for example in textile production.

Specialty Paper

Coated and uncoated paper produced to meet the unique needs of customers with diverse and specialized usage. Specialty paper examples include sanitary papers, labels, sack papers, wrapping papers, metallized base paper, coated bag paper, etc.

Specific Volume, Bulk

Reciprocal of paper density, also known as specific volume.

Someone suggests the grade of paper or board to be selected for a particular use.

A small defect due to presence of foreign substance in the paper.

Spectrophotometer

An instrument that measures the relative intensity of color or difference in color.

Spent Liquor

Used cooking liquor separated from the pulp after the pulping process. It contains lignin and other substances extracted from the wood.

The backbone of a book.

Spinning Papers

Paper suitable for being spun into yarn or string. This type of papers have a high tensile strength in the machine direction.

Spiral Binding

A binding whereby a wire or plastic is spiraled through holes punched along the binding side.

A joint made in a web of paper with glue or adhesive tape when the web breaks during the winding or rewinding operation.

A tag or marker indicating the location of a splice.

Split Coating

Process of simultaneously coating one side of a sheet with two different colors.

A continuous roll of paper or cardboard rolled around a mandrel.

A film image that is larger than the original image to accommodate ink trapping. Reference trapping

Square Sheet

A sheet that has equal strength and tear resistance both the directions - machine and cross.

The quality of paper to maintain its original size when subjected to atmospheric changes.

A white, odorless carbohydrate obtained from corn, tapioca, and potatoes that is used as a surface or internal additive to provide strength.

Starch Coated

Coated papers in which starch is used as an adhesive for the pigment.

Starred Rolls

Rolls that have damaged ends due to mishandling.

Static Electricity

The electrical charge which sometimes collect on paper, which has been improperly dried or has sustained excessive pressure in calendering.

Static Neutralizer

A device on printing presses that minimizes the static build up on paper as it passes through the press.

Steam Calendering or Finishing

A method of treating paper with steam before calendering to improve its density and surface smoothness.

Stencil-duplicating Paper

An oil-absorbent paper, which has a toothy surface.

Water insoluble contaminants in recycled fiber such as adhesives, binders, thermal plastics, etc.

Resistance of paper to bending. Stiffness is a critical property for paper during the printing, converting, and filling processes.

Stippling is a converting process that applies an embossed surface to the paper.

Stock is a suspension of water, fibers, and papermaking chemicals.

A centrifugal pump used to pump water and fiber suspensions.

Stocking Merchant

A paper distributor or merchant who hold enough paper in warehouse to fill orders in the market.

Stone Groundwood Pulp

A mechanical pulping process in which wood logs are ground against a rotating grindstone. Stone groundwood pulps have low strength properties but good optical properties

Pulp made from the straws as a raw material (e.g. rice straw).

A type of board made from partially cooked straw or bagasse or a combination of these.

The ability of paper or board to withstand mechanical stresses. Strength of paper is measured by tests for tensile, burst, tear, and folding strength.

Elongation of paper under tension. The elongation is expressed as a percentage of the original length when stressed at a given load.

Strike Through

The penetration of ink through paper.

Positioning of positives and negatives on the flat before proceeding to platemaking.

Structural Box

A self-supporting box.

Refers to a small diameter roll. Also used for a roll with only a small amount of paper remaining it.

A condition where two layers of paper stick together because of a tacky material coming in between the layers.

Paper stock or pulp ready for manufacture into paper.

Stuff Chest

A large supply tank with an agitator in which the stock is stored before getting pumped to the vat or machine.

A flexible bamboo screen used in Japanese papermaking.

Substance Weight

Same as basis weight. It is mainly used with bond and business paper grades. Substance weight is also expressed as "sub”.

Material such as paper or plastic, generally in sheet or web form.

Suction Box

A device on a paper machine that removes water from the paper web using vacuum. Suction boxes are located below the wire at the wet-end.

Suction Couch Roll

A revolving and perforated bronze roll passing over a suction box to extract water from the paper web.

Sulfate Process

An alkaline pulp manufacturing process, which uses caustic soda and sodium sulfite solution to cook wood chips under pressure. The sulphate process is also known as Kraft process.

Sulfate Pulp

An alkaline pulp manufactured by cooking wood chips with caustic soda and sodium sulfite solution at an elevated pressure. The sulphate pulp is also known as Kraft pulp.

Sulfite Pulp

Paper pulp made from wood chips cooked under pressure in a solution of calcium bisulfite and sulfurous acid.

Sulphate Board

A strong linerboard. Also known as Kraft board.

Sulphur Dioxide

A gas formed during the combustion of sulphur-containing fuels such as black liquor and oil.

Supercalender

An auxiliary equipment that gives paper a smooth finish and gloss by passing it through a series of alternate metal and compressed cotton rolls, revolving at a high speed.

Supercalendered Paper

A type of uncoated paper that has been highly calendered to obtain a smooth surface and high gloss than the machine-finished paper. It is used for printed advertising material, catalogues, and magazines.

Surface Bonding

Refers to resistance of surface fibers to separating or picking.

Surface Defect

A visible defect or foreign material on the surface of paper.

Surface Sized

A type of paper that has been sized when the web of paper was partially dry to increase its resistance to ink penetration.

Surface Strength

The ability of the paper surface to resist picking during the printing process. Surface strength can be measured by the wax pick test.

Surface Treatment

Treating the surface of paper or board with sizing chemicals, coating, or color.

Suspended Solids (SS)

Substances suspended in water consisting of bark, fibers, fillers, coating color, and residues from paper mill that can be separated with a filter.

Synthetic Papers

Papers made from synthetic fibers such as polyamide and polyester etc. The fibers are held together by binders.

Trimmed four sides. A paper sheet that has been trimmed on all its four sides.

Tablet Papers

A type of paper used to manufacture the tablets designed for writing.

Tabloid Fold

First parallel fold.

The adhesive quality of inks.

Through-Air Drying.

A dense, strong paper stock. It is used for items such as baggage and store item tags.

Mineral used in papermaking as a filler and coating pigment.

A by-product obtained during the evaporation of sulfate black liquor.

Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry.

Tare Weight

The weight of the container and/or wrapper deducted from the gross weight to determine the net weight of the contents.

Total Chlorine Free

Tear Factor

Tear factor is calculated as tear strength per unit grammage (g/m2).

Tear Strength

The resistance of a sheet of paper to tearing, as measured by the force required to tear a strip under standard conditions. Tear strength is an important performance factor to a printer or converter.

Tearing Resistance

Force needed to tear a paper specimen under specified conditions.

Tearing Wire

A thick wire fixed to a mould producing a thinner line of paper to facilitate tearing into two sheets.

Technical Papers

A grade of medium-grammage papers used for industrial and advertising purpose.

Telescoped Roll

A misaligned paper roll with one end concave, the other convex caused by the slippage of inner layers of the web.

Tensile Strength

The force, parallel with the plane of the paper, required to produce failure in a specimen under specified conditions of loading. Tensile strength is measured in both the grain and cross-grain directions.

Test Linerboard

Used as an outer layer of a corrugated board. It is made partly from chemical pulp and partly from the recycled paper pulp.

A high-quality printing paper available in multiple colors and finishes. It is used for annual reports, announcements, booklets, etc.

The A Series

The A series is a general term for printed matter including stationary and publications.

Thermal Paper

A type of paper with a heat-sensitive coating on which an image can be produced by the application of heat. It is used on telefax machines, thermoplotters, and thermoprinters.

Thermography

A printing process in which a slow drying ink is applied to paper and while the ink is still wet, it is lightly dusted with a resinous powder. The paper then passes through a heat chamber where the powder melts and fuses with the ink to produce a raised surface.

Thermomechanical Pulp (TMP)

A grade of mechanical pulp made by presteaming wood chips, producing a higher yield and stronger pulp than the regular groundwood.

Thickness (Caliper)

The distance between the two surfaces of a sheet of paper. It is measured in microns, or thousandths of a millimeters. Thickness of paper is affected by its moisture content. Thickness determines the stiffness of paper, an important quality for its smooth running on high speed copiers and printers.

A paper having a grammage of 40 g/m2 or less

Through Drier

A slower drier that dries the ink throughout without forming a hard crust.

Through-Air Drying

A method of drying the tissue paper running over a perforated drum through which the hot air is blown.

Ticket Bristol

A type of bristol used for ticket purposes. It is usually made from mechanical pulp and/or recycled paper pulp.

A very light or delicate variation of a color.

Tissue Overlay

A thin and translucent paper placed over art work for protection.

Tissue Paper

A general term for a variety of high-quality, creped hygiene papers including towels, wipes, toilet, facial, napkin, and special sanitary papers. Tissue papers should be soft, strong when wet, and lint-free.

Titanium Dioxide

A mineral added to papermaking furnish and/or coating of paper to improve the opacity and brightness of the paper.

The permissible degree of variation from a pre-set standard.

A rough-finish paper, which absorbs the inks readily.

The felt side of a sheet of paper. The top side of a sheet is the side not against the wire during manufacture and is smoother than the wire side.

Surface or tub sizing of paper, which has already been internally sized.

Topliner is the outermost layer of paperboard.

Pulp bleached without the use of chlorine compounds such as chlorine gas or chlorine dioxide.

Total Reduced Sulphur (TRS)

Unpleasant smelling sulphur compounds released into the air from Kraft mills.

Tough Check

A high-strength bristol made on a cylinder machine.

Translucent Papers

Papers that allow the information to be seen through them.

Transparent Ink

A type of ink that permits the previous printing to be seen through. Process inks are transparent.

Trapping Of Inks

A printing ink property that makes it possible to superimpose one color on another.

The maximum width of paper that can be made on a particular paper machine excluding the edges that are normally cut off.

Marks placed on the sheet to indicate where to trim the page.

A machine equipped with a guillotine blade that can cut paper to the desired size.

Paper or paperboard left over from sheet cutting operations.

A paper that has been surface-treated or impregnated with a sizing material in a tub-size press.

Twin-Wire Machine

Paper or paperboard machine on which the web is formed and partially dewatered between two vertical wires. This assures a lower two-sidedness resulting in a higher quality printing on both sides.

Two-Sidedness

The difference in feel, appearance, and printability between the two (top and wire) sides of paper.

Unbleached Pulp

The pulp, which has been cooked but has not been bleached.

Uncalendered

Papers that have not gone through the calendaring process.

Uncoated Fine Paper

Uncoated Groundwood

A type of paper that is used as printing papers for catalogues, directories, periodicals, advertising circulars, etc.

Uncoated Paper

The paper, which has not been coated with any of the various coating substances.

Uncoated Weight

Weight of the base stock before the coating pigment is added.

Uncoated Woodfree Paper

A type of uncoated printing and writing paper made from bleached chemical pulp. It is used for photocopying, stationery, and printing, etc.

Unglazed (UG)

Uncalendered paper

Unryu means 'cloud dragon' paper in Japanese.

The paper, which has not been, sized either internally or on the surface.

A term given to books bound on the longer dimension.

Utilization Rate

The amount of recycled paper used to make a certain amount of paper.

A glossy coating applied to the printed paper surface and dried on press with ultraviolet (UV) light. UV coating is used for printing the covers of paperback novels.

A type of ink that dries quickly on exposure to ultraviolet (UV) light while still on press. UV drying improves turnaround time because it eliminates waiting time for the first side to dry before printing the second side.

A primary component of the ink vehicle.

Varnish Label Paper

Label papers, which have been varnished (or lacquered) after printing. Varnishing aims to protect the printing and increases the paper's gloss, as well as improves its barrier properties.

Vegetable Parchment

Vegetable parchment, also called as parchment paper, is a highly pure packaging material that is impermeable to water and grease. It is made by passing paper through a bath of sulphuric acid. It has a high dry and wet strength and it is used for packaging frozen, moist or greasy food products.

The liquid part of an ink that gives it flow enabling it to be applied to a surface.

Vellum Finish

A slightly rough or "toothy" surface on a sheet of paper, which facilitates a faster absorbance of printing ink.

Velour Paper

A type of paper that is coated with an adhesive and then flock-dusted.

A photographic print made from a negative.

Virgin Fiber

Wood fibers that have been derived from trees and have not been previously processed into paper. Also known as primary fiber.

An instrument used to measure the viscosity of fluids.

Viscose Pulp

A type of dissolving pulp for manufacturing viscose.

The resistance of a fluid to flow.

Vulcanized Fiber

Cotton-fibered paper treated with zinc chloride. Vulcanized fibers are used in the electrical industry.

A single or multi-ply, fiber sheet made from chemical pulp. It is used in thermal and acoustical and in packaging applications.

Wall Base Paper

A collective term for papers intended for wallpaper production.

Washer Room

A pulp mill department where the pulp is washed free of cooking chemicals.

Washi refers to any Japanese paper, traditionally made or otherwise.

Washing Deinking

A deinking method in which solid particles are separated on the basis of their size.

The process of cleaning ink from all of the printing elements of a press such as rollers, plate, ink fountain etc.

Waste Paper

Waste paper refers to recycled paper such as newspapers, magazines, and office papers.

Wastepaper Stock

Pulp derived from recycled paper.

Water Color Paper

A type of drawing paper with a rough or structured surface.

Water Finish

Water finish resembles the machine glazed finish. It is obtained by moistening the web with a spray of water as it passes through the calender stacks.

Water Resistance

The resistance of paper to absorption of water. Water resistance can be achieved by internal sizing with rosin.

Water Vapor Permeability

The rate at which the water vapor passes through a sheet of paper.

A type of paper with little or no sizing which make it the most absorbent paper.

Waterlined Paper

A type of writing paper in which watermark lines run through the sheet.

Watermarks are designs or patterns impressed into paper by the raised pattern of the dandy roll on the paper machine. It appears in the finished sheet either as a lighter or darker area than the rest of the paper. Watermarks can be used to identify a company, reinforce a brand or can be added to paper as a security measure.

The waviness of a paper skid's periphery. The wavy edges are caused by a increase in moisture content of the edges as compared to the center of the sheet.

Sulphite or sulphate papers impregnated or surface coated with wax after paper is made.

A test to determine the surface strength of paper or board. Wax pick test uses a series of hard resins and which are pulled from the surface of the test paper. The highest numbered wax in the series, which does not disturb the surface of the paper, indicates the numerical rating of pick resistance. This test measures the surface bonding strength of paper.

Waxed Paper

A type of woodfree paper that has been impregnated with paraffin or wax. Waxed paper is used for packaging bread and sweets etc.

Coating of paper or paperboard with paraffin or wax.

The continuous sheet of paper made on a paper machine.

A tear in paper web during its manufacture on a paper machine, conversion a converting machine or during its run on a printing press.

Web Cleaner

A vacuum cleaner placed ahead of the first printing unit to remove foreign particles from the paper web.

Web Glazing

Imparting gloss to the paper surface by calendering it between a set of calender rolls.

Web Offset Paper

A type of paper that is printed in a continuous manner from a roll. It is strong enough to withstand the rigors of printing at high speeds.

A printing press that prints rolls of paper as a continuous piece as opposed to sheets of paper.

Web Tension

The amount of pull applied in the direction of the travel of a paper web by the action of a web-fed press.

Wedding Paper

A type of paper, which is soft and thick and holds up well under embossing.

A type of finer quality, vellum-finished printing papers.

Light exposure that affects chemical.

First section of the paper machine up to the dryers. At the wet end, the stock enters the machine and the bulk of the water is removed by dewatering, suction, and pressing.

Wet Machine

A type of paper machine consisting of a wire-covered cylinders rotating in a vat of pulp stock.

Resistance of wet paper to scuffing and linting.

Wet Strength

Mechanical strength of paper when re-wetted with water.

Wet Strength Papers

Ordinary papers lose most of their dry strength properties when saturated with water. Wet strength papers resist disintegration and rupture when saturated with water. Wet strength papers should retain 15% or more of their dry-tensile strength.

Wet Tensile Strength

Ability of a wet paper sheet to resist tension applied in its plane.

White Lined Chipboard (WLC)

A type of board made from recovered fibers. It is often mineral coated and used for consumer cartons for dry food and non-food products.

White Liquor

The cooking liquor used in production of sulphate pulp. It contains sodium hydroxide and sodium sulphide.

White Office Paper

A mix of paper collected for recycling. It includes computer printout, white copy paper and writing paper, and white envelopes without plastic windows.

White Paper

A type of paper whose natural color has been corrected by the addition of blue, yellow, and red dyes. Sometimes the term refers to printing and writing papers.

White Water

The milky water extracted from the furnish at the wet-end of the paper machine. It is reused in the paper making process because of its richness in fines and chemicals.

White Water System

A flow system for white water, which includes pipes, storage tanks, cleaning equipment, water from forming section and return feed.

An aesthetic quality, defining the look of the paper.

The tendency of printing ink, to feather or move on the surface of a paper sheet or through to the other side of the paper.

A machine for cutting the paper web in the machine direction into narrower rolls. Winders are also known as slitter-winder.

A flat belt of metal or plastic mesh used to dewater the paper furnish on the wet-end of paper machine. Also known as forming fabric.

Clean-edged holes without any contamination or foreign material. Caused by forming fabric or wire.

The impression left on the paper by the forming fabric on the paper machine.

The side of paper, which is formed in contact with the wire on the Fourdrinier paper machine. Wire side is not as smooth as the felt or top side of the paper.

With the Grain

A direction parallel to the grain of paper.

An arrangement in which companies exchange wood raw material to minimize transport cost.

The coin-sized piece of wood, which is cooked in the digester.

Wood Extractives

Metabolic substance in wood that can be removed by solution in hot or cold water, ethers or other solvents that do not react chemically with wood.

Wood Preservative

Products that protect wood from pests.

Wood Procurement

Purchase, harvesting, and transport of wood to the mill for further processing to convert it into paper.

Mechanical or chemical pulp made from hardwood or softwood.

The debarking and chipping section of a pulp mill.

The area in a mill where logs are stored, debarked, and chipped.

Woodcontaining

A paper containing a certain proportion of mechanical pulp.

Paper made from chemical pulp and free from wood-based impurities, such as lignin, which are present in mechanical pulp.

Woodfree Paper

Paper made from chemical wood pulps. Also referred to as "free sheet”.

The paper finish obtained by the impressions of a felt dandy roll.

A dandy roll covered with a wire cloth to achieve a wove finish.

A type of paper with a smooth and even surface made on a mould with a fine wire mesh.

Paper or paperboard, which are used to protect a roll form damage.

Writing Paper

A type of uncoated paper that is suitable for writing with inks on both sides. Writing papers are always sized and can be woodfree or woodcontaining.

Xerographic Paper

A generic term for papers suitable for use in the xerographic process.

A part of a tree between the bark and the pith from where the papermaking fiber is obtained.

Yankee Dryer

A steam-heated paper dryer consisting of a large revolving drum. Yankee dryer is a single large dryer at the end of the paper machine. They are used for making thin sheets such as toilet tissue and machine glazed papers.

Yellowing (Reversion)

Discoloration of a sheet of paper due to exposure to light and / or heat. Papers made from mechanical pulp are particularly susceptible to yellowing.

The amount of raw material entering a pulp and papermaking operation to the equivalent product output.

Zero Discharge

Zero discharge means that no effluents are discharged from the pulp and paper mill. Such mills are also known as totally effluent free (TEF).

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