Q: What is spot color?
A: Many refer to spot colors as solid colors printed where there is no dot pattern like seen in four-color process printing.

Q: What is four-color process? (return to top)
A: In printing, the subtractive primary colors of cyan(C), magenta (M), and yellow (Y) are combined with black (K) in four-color process printing. A dot pattern of CMYK is used to create full color graphics.

Q: What is four-color process? (return to top)
A: In printing, the subtractive primary colors of cyan(C), magenta (M), and yellow (Y) are combined with black (K) in four-color process printing. A dot pattern of CMYK is used to create full color graphics.

Q: What is spot color? (return to top)
A: Many refer to spot colors as solid colors printed where there is no dot pattern like seen in four-color process printing.

Q: What is hexachrome printing? (return to top)
A: Hexachrome printing is a six-color process, where orange and green are added to the subtractive colors of cyan (C), magenta (M), yellow (Y) and black (K). The additional colors increase the color gamut and allow for better color reproduction over the standard four-color process.

Q: What are UV inks and how do they differ from Soy/Vegetable based inks? (return to top)
A: UV inks consist mainly of acrylic monomers with an initiator package. After printing, the ink has to be cured by a high dose of UV-light. The advantage of UV-curable inks is that they "dry" as soon as they are cured, they can be printed on a wide range of uncoated substrates and make a very robust image. Soy ink is a kind of ink made from soybeans. As opposed to traditional petroleum-based ink, soy-based ink is more environmentally friendly, is available in brighter colors, makes it easier to recycle paper and is more economic in the long run. One major problem with soy ink is that it takes more time to dry than petroleum-based inks, due to its lack of evaporative solvents.

Q: How is foil stamping done? (return to top)
A: A heated die is used to stamp colored foil or gold leaf onto the substrate, making it adhere to the surface and leaving the design of the die on the paper. Foil stamping is also referred to as hot stamping (because of the use of heat), foil printing, dry stamping, and leaf stamping.

Q: What is the difference between embossing and debossing? (return to top)
A: Embossing is the process of creating a raised surface using a metal or plastic die, while debossing is the process of creating a lowered surface using a metal or plastic die.

Q: What is a die and how does die cutting work? (return to top)
A: The die is constructed out of a flat base, or substrate, which is usually made out of high-grade and high-density plywood. The steel rule itself is essentially an elongated razor blade made out of hardened steel. The final step in creating the die involves the addition of ejection rubber. Rubber pads are adhered to the substrate to help eject the material after it is cut.

Steel rule die cutting is a common process used to cut a range of sheet materials including paper, cardboard, rubber and plastic. Most standard cardboard boxes and packages are made using this relatively straightforward technique. In addition to cutting out shapes, steel rule dies are used to create creases, perforations and slits.

Q: What types of film lamination coatings are there and what are the differences between the various types? (return to top)
A: In the presentation packaging industry there are three common types of film lamination with various varieties and thicknesses within each type.

The three main types are polyester, polypropylene and nylon. The varieties are gloss, matte, satin and scuff free. Common attributes are shown below, all laminations change the color of the printed sheet:

• Gloss: Enhances color, adds durability. Fingerprints are noticeable when laminating over dark colors.
• Matte Polyester: Changes color more dramatically but has fewer tendencies to scuff. An example of color change is a deep, rich black will become a “milky” black.
• Matte Polypropylene: Color change is less dramatic but scuffing is an issue, especially with dark colors.
• Satin: This type of lamination falls between gloss and matte when it comes to sheen.
• Nylon: The most common nylon lamination comes in gloss and is used to reduce curling.
• Scuff Free: A very similar look and feel to matte polypropylene film with a special top coating that greatly reduces scratching and scuffing.

Common thicknesses are 1.3 and 1.7 mil.

Q: What types of press coatings exist and what are the differences? (return to top)
A: Varnish and Aqueous are the two most common press coatings for packaging products.

• VARNISH - Varnish is essentially ink without pigment. It requires its own printing unit on press. It can be wet-trapped (printed in-line at the same time other inks are laid down), or dry-trapped (run as an additional pass through the press after the initial ink coating has dried). The latter often provides a glossier finish. Varnish comes in gloss, dull, and satin (in-between dull and gloss), and can be tinted by adding pigment to the varnish. From an artistic standpoint, you can play a dull-varnished portion of the sheet against a portion without varnish or with a gloss varnish. This contrast can give emphasis to certain areas and/or give the impression of depth.
• AQUEOUS COATING - queous coating is more environmentally friendly than UV coating because it is water based. It has better hold-out than varnish (it does not seep into the press sheet) and does not crack or scuff easily. Aqueous does, however, cost twice as much as varnish.

Since it is applied by an aqueous coating tower at the delivery end of the press, one can only lay down a flood aqueous coating, not a localized "spot" aqueous coating. Aqueous comes in gloss, dull, and satin.

Q: What is UV coating and how is it applied? (return to top)
A: UV Coating is a clear liquid spread over the paper like ink and then cured instantly with ultraviolet light. It can be a gloss or dull coating, and can be used as a spot covering to accent a particular image on the sheet or as an overall (flood) coating. UV coating gives more protection and sheen than either varnish or aqueous coating. Since it is cured with light and not heat, no solvents enter the atmosphere. However, it is more difficult to recycle than the other coatings. UV coating is applied as a separate finishing operation as a flood coating or (applied by screen printing) as a spot coating. Keep in mind that this thick coating may crack when scored or folded.

Q: What is Litho Mounted Corrugated? (return to top)
(aka Litho Laminated Corrugated)
A: Process of mounting a printed lithography sheet to single-faced corrugated to produce a display-quality piece that is structural corrugated.

Q: What is Casemaking? (return to top)
A: Known alternately as "turned edge", a durable construction where the cover material is glued to binders board and the edges of the material are turned over the edges of the board. Produces an extremely durable finished product. For casemade ring binders, a liner is typically applied after the case made cover is finished. The liner refers to the material used to line the inside of the front and back covers that extends over the turned in portion of the cover material.

Q: What is CTP? (return to top)
A: CTP, or computer to plate, is the process of outputting an image directly from a desktop publishing application to a printing plate.

Q: What is an FTP site? (return to top)
A: A File Transfer Protocol (FTP) site is used for transferring data from one computer to another over the Internet. FTP sites are commonly used for exchanging files over various networks.

Q: What types of proofs exist and what are their differences? (return to top)
A: There are three main types of proofs to allow the designer to see if their piece will come out as intended in the final printing:

• Hard Proofs: These are printed proofs that include blueline, color dylux, matchprint, color laser and ink jet. A contract proof is a final proof, of whatever type, that the printer relies on to print the job.
• Soft Proofs: Most commonly a PDF that is viewed on a computer screen. This type of proof should not be used for color, as monitors will always be different than color from a printing press.
• Press Proof: The most expensive type of proof that uses a printing press with actual printing plates and inks that are specified for the job.

If proofs won’t do, ask your printer if they offer “press checks” or “press okays” which is where the designer goes to the printing company to watch the printing make ready until he or she can approve color on press.

Also, please remember that coatings (lamination, UV, etc.) will change color from the uncoated proof to the final product with coating.

Q: What is a CAD drawing? (return to top)
A: Computer-Aided Design (CAD) is the use of computer technology to aid in the design of a product. Packaging products designed using a CAD technique can save drawings electronically in various formats, typically .eps format for graphic design.

Q: How are packaging prototypes made? (return to top)
A: Hand made prototypes can still be sent to a plotter table and cut by hand but the more common process is to save CAD drawings and send them to a plotter/cutter table that cuts the product blank out automatically. From there the structural engineer will hand tape the products to resemble the finished, manufactured product. The buyer should be aware that a hand made prototype will not match the manufactured piece exactly because die cuts and scores will show variances from prototype to machined finished products.