Promotional Products Glossary

Promotional Products Decorating Terms

Branding

The application of a specific customer logo or design to a promotional product.

Blind Embossing

This is where a logo or design is stamped into the surface of a product such as a conference folder and not colour-filled.

Camera-ready

Artwork that has very clean, crisp lines that make it suitable for photographic reproduction. Generally supplied as vector based graphics in eps format.

Die Charge

The industry standard term for the cost or charge of producing a die stamp tool from approved artwork.

Die Cutting

This is the process in manufacturing where a sharp steel blades are used to cut special shapes from printed sheets.

Die Stamp

Steel plate engraved with desired artwork used to stamp (apply) gold or silver foil leaf to a product.

Die Sublimation

This is a heat transfer process of imprinting using heat-activated dyes that "sublimate" into the product; becoming part of the product, not an imprint sitting on top of the product.

Embossing and Debossing

Stamping an image on a material, e.g., paper, pu and leather, so the image of the design is either raised above or lowered below the surface of the material.

Embroidery

Stitching a design into fabric through the use of high-speed, computer-controlled sewing machines. Artwork must first be "digitised," which is the specialised process of converting two-dimensional artwork into stitches or thread. A particular format of art such as a jpeg, tif, eps, or bmp, cannot be converted into an embroidery tape. The digitizer must actually recreate the artwork using stitches. Then it programs the sewing machine to sew a specific design, in a specific color, with a specific type of stitch.

Engraving

Cutting an image into metal, wood or glass by one of three methods;  computerised engraving, hand tracing, or hand engraving.

Etching

Using a process in which an image is first covered with a protective coating that resists acid, then exposed, leaving bare metal and protected metal. The acid attacks only the exposed metal, leaving the image permanently etched onto the surface.

Full Colour or 4-colour Process

A system where a color image is separated into 4 different colour values by the use of filters and screens (usually done digitally). The result is a color separation of 4 images, that when transferred to printing plates and printed on a printing press with the colored inks cyan (blue), magenta (red), yellow and black, reproduces the original color image. These four colors can be combined to create millions of colors and is ideal for photographic images, tints and shades.

Pad Printing

A recessed surface is covered with ink. The plate is wiped clean, leaving ink in the recessed areas. A silicone pad is then pressed against the plate, pulling the ink out of the recesses, and pressing it directly onto the product.

Personalisation

Decorating an item with a person's name using one of several methods such as mechanical engraving, laser engraving, hot stamping, debossing, sublimation, or digital printing, to name a few.

Print Area or Imprint Area

The area on a product, with specific dimensions, in which the imprint of the desired logo or design is placed and can be printed effectively.

Screen Printing

The process by which an image is transferred to the printed surface by ink, which is pressed through a stenciled screen and treated with a light-sensitive emulsion. Film positives are put in contact with the screens and exposed to light, hardening the emulsion not covered by film and leaving a soft area on the screen for the squeegee to press ink through. (Also called silk screening).

 

Promotional Products Industry Terms

EPS File

EPS stands for "Encapsulated Postscript", which is a sophisticated file format for capturing precise image and text information. Because of the mathematical basis for building the format, EPS files are the most reliable method for communicating and preparing finished artwork, especially if they are Vectorised.

Font

The term used to describe a complete typeset from a particular typeface style. Examples of these include Helvetica, Times New Roman, Arial, Verdana etc.

Illustrator by Adobe

Adobe® Illustrator® is the industry standard illustration software package that creates graphically rich artwork for print or the Web. It provides powerful and flexible tools for creating PostScript® files.

Lead Time

The amount of time required to produce and deliver an order, once an order has been received and approved.

Pantone Matching System (PMS)

An industry standard color scale used to precisely match colors for printing. Each color has a specific unique coded number indicating instructions for mixing inks to achieve the desired colour.

Pre-Production Proofs

There are four main types of pre-production proof. Their use varies according to the quantity, artwork, product, lead time, and manufacturing and printing/decorating location.

1. PDF Proof – a layout of the item showing the print/decorating position and the print/decorating size to scale.
2. Cromalin Proof – generally used for printing on paper and sometimes referred to as a ‘wet proof’, a cromalin proof is a high quality photographic run-out of the print used as an accurate colour guide.
3. Photo Proof – digital photographs of a full proof.
4. Full Proof – a physical printed/decorated sample of the product itself.

Proofs are sent for approval by the customer before an order goes into full production. You will always be given at least one type of proof to approve before full production assuming your item is being printed/decorated.

Overruns / Underruns

The number of products that were printed in excess of the quantity specified / the production run of fewer products than the amount specified. Lesmar’s standard terms and the industry standard on most products is +/-5%, with the exception being on paper and plastic bags, which can be up to +/-10%.

Set-up Charge

This is an industry standard fee charged for the creation of screens, foil blocks, embroidery tapes, die stamps or laser tools which applies to most products.

Vectorised artwork

Means the lines, shapes and colours that make up a piece of artwork are stored within the file as mathematical formulae to ensure accurate reproduction as the artwork is enlarged or reduced to fit a particular print area.