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Term
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Description
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Ambient Temperature
 | Normal fluctuating temperatures in an environment which are not closely controlled, e.g. in a typical warehouse, boxcar, office building, etc. |
Back Gum
| Used as a permanent seal for envelope seams. |
Bang-Tail | Perforated coupon attached to the body of a return envelope; must be torn off before the envelope is sealed. Used for remittance envelopes and other direct mail applications. May have one or two tear off coupons. |
Barcode | A pattern of bars and/or spaces, printed on a mail piece or container label and read by sorting machinery. Aids in mail sortation by representing postal codes or signifying a category of mail. |
Basis Weight | In the paper and printing industries, a standard technique for measuring and expressing the thickness and weight of paper; the weight of 500 standard size sheets. |
Batching | The gathering and organizing of incoming orders. |
Bleed | In printing, an image that extends off the page or envelope. Envelopes with bleed generally may be printed before they are folded, or after on offset presses. |
Blind Emboss | Raised design stamped in paper, without foil or ink. Can be done before the envelope is folded so that design is not debossed onto the back of the envelope. |
Bond | The adhesion of a pressure-sensitive adhesive tape to the surface to which it has been applied. |
Booklet | Large, open side envelope for catalogues, annual reports, brochures. This style is gaining popularity over the traditional catalogues (open end) envelopes because it can be used with automatic inserting machines. Construction, open side envelopes with two side seams. |
BRC | Business Reply Card |
BRE | Business Reply Envelope |
BRM | Business Reply Mail |
Bulk Mail | A category of mail that offers lower postage costs while requiring a minimum volume, and pre-sorting. |
Bundle | In the United States, a bundle is a large package (10 or 20 pounds) bulk mail that is placed on a pallet. In Canada, a bundle is equivalent to a U.S. package; that is, a handful of mail bound with rubber binders. |
Butt Cut Labels | Labels separated by a single cross-direction cut to the liner. No matrix area exists between labels. Butt cut labels are not suitable for automatic dispensing. |
Caliper
| Thickness of a sheet of paper, measured in units of 1/1000th inch (points or mils). |
Call Centre | A site that houses a telemarketing operation. |
Cast Coated | Coated paper dried under pressure against a polished cylinder produce a high-gloss finish to the paper. |
Close Register | When 2 or more colours come within 1/16" of each other. This adds complexity to the requirements and must be disclosed at time of quotation. |
Computer Service Bureaus | A company that will maintain lists for list owners. Services may include: updating the list, merge/purge, data overlays and preparing the list for mailing or rentals. |
Consolidated Mailing | Combining two or more mailings (such as a printer combining jobs from two or more clients, or two or more mailers combining their mailings) in the same shipment destined for the same location to reduce transportation costs. Also called pooled shipping. |
Cure | To change the properties of an adhesive by chemical reaction or heat alone or in combination with or without pressure. |
Data Overlays
| The matching of two or more lists that contain the same names or addresses but where one list adds additional data such as demographics or geographics to the other. |
Database | A file that is maintained on a computer comprised of pertinent information such as a company's prospects or customers. The file can serve multiple applications and be manipulated for various purposes. |
Delivery Codes | Postal codes such as ZIP Code, ZIP+4, delivery point barcode, and carrier route codes used to pre-sort mail for postage discounts. The term often includes county code, although county codes are not used for pre-sorting. |
Demographics | Social and economic information about human populations including age, sex, income, education, type of residence, ownership of cars, etc. |
Diagonal Seam | Seam style frequently used in commercial open-side envelopes and announcement, invitation and baronial envelopes. |
Die | Precision tool used to cut out envelope blanks, windows or other shapes. |
DPBC | Delivery Point Barcode. It represents the last two digits in an 11-digit barcode. The two digits are gleaned from the last two digits in the primary range of the address (house number). As of March 1993, the USPS requires the 11-digit barcode for all barcode discount mail. |
Drilling | Creating the holes for envelopes. Interoffice and bank teller envelopes are often drilled to ensure that all contents are removed by the recipient. |
Dry Offset | Similar to wet offset, but requires a coarser screen, normally 100 to 120 lines per inch. Uses a printing plate with a raised surface. Produces printing quality higher than flexography but lower than wet offset. |
Embossed Finish
| Paper with a raised or depressed surface resembling wood, cloth, leather or other pattern. |
Enhancement | Any additional information that can be appended to a list to increase its value to the mailer. |
Face
| The front or side of the envelope without seams. |
Fan Fold | Zigzag fold. The put-up of pressure-sensitive labels on a continuous backing in such a way as to form a flat pack as different from roll form. |
Films | Acetate, polyester, polyethylene vinyls and other polymeric. Face material manufacturing from synthetic high molecular weight polymers. |
Finish | The surface property of a film determined by its texture and gloss. A gloss finish, for example, can be shiny and highly reflective, while a matte finish is generally dull and reflects little light. |
Flaps Extended | Term used to describe the packing of envelopes with seal flaps open in a vertical position. |
Flexographic Printing (Flexography) | A form of rotary letterpress, using flexible rubber or photopolymer plates. Most common type of envelope printing. Fast drying process, suitable for screens with 65-105 lines. Average quality and clarity, but does not meet wet or dry offset. |
Fulfilment | All activities involved in the processing and servicing of mail, FAX and telephone orders.
-Subscription Fulfilment is a specialized service for periodical publishers. Services include: maintaining the subscriber list, generating invoices and renewals and recording payments.
-Literature Fulfilment refers to the sorting and qualifying of leads, sending the appropriate information, and, if outsourced, forwarding leads to the marketer for follow-up.
-Product Fulfilment is the storage and shipping of samples and merchandise |
Gloss
| A shiny finish on a smooth surface such as vinyl or paint. |
Grain | Direction in which most of the fibres lie on a finished sheet of paper. Paper folds more easily with the grain, it offers greater resistance to being torn across its grain, and demonstrates greater tensile strength in the direction of the grain. Also, a measurement of pressure-sensitive adhesive on a given area. |
Gravure Printing | A printing process that employs minute engraved wells. Deeply etched wells carry more ink than a raised surface; hence print darker value shallow wells are used to print values. A doctor blade wipes excess ink from the cylindrical printing surface. |
Haze
| A degree of cloudiness in a plastic material. |
Hot Melt | A pressure-sensitive adhesive applied to the liner or backing in a hot molten form, which cools to form a conventional pressure-sensitive adhesive. |
Hot Stamping | A decorating process in which the desired image is transferred to a substrate by a heated, positive copy die. Images are normally limited to one colour positive copy line. |
Ink Jet Printing
| A method of printing using liquid ink projected a drop at a time against a substrate to form full characters etc. |
Inside Tint | Printed design on the inside of the envelope, used for added security and/or for marketing interests. |
Jet Printing
| General term for printing presses set up for take from stock and print. Fast, high-quality turnaround, screens to 150 lines. Service in as little 3-5 working days. |
Kiss-Cut
| Kiss-cutting refers to a die cutting method where the die cuts through the laminated material and adhesive and stops before rupturing the liner. In this process the waste matrix is often removed. |
Kraft | A sulphate wood pulp paper made from unbleached bleached or coloured wood pulp by the sulphate process. Kraft papers have a coarser finish than woves and are noted for their strength. Most commonly used in the manufacture of catalogues and booklet envelopes. |
Labels
| Paper printed with a name and address that is affixed to a mailing piece and serves as the mailing address vehicle. Different types of labels include: peel-off or pressure-sensitive labels, gummed labels and paper (or Cheshire) labels. |
Laser Printing | Similar to a photocopy machine, the laser printer uses a laser beam, toner and fuser to "etch" the image onto a photoelectric drum. |
Letterpress | Similar to Flexographic printing. Uses screens of 65 to 85 lines. One of the least expensive printing processes. Good quality and clarity. |
Lettershop | A company that will assemble and insert the various printed elements of a direct mail piece, label, sort, tag and deliver the mailings to the post office for mailing. |
List Broker | A list specialist hired by a mailer to make the necessary arrangements to use other companies lists. Brokerage services usually include: research, list selections, recommendations and logistics so that the rented lists arrive at the proper time. |
List Cleaning | The process of updating a list in order to remove any undeliverable addresses. Other cleaning activities could include removing duplicates, bad debts, names on the DMA Mail Preference Service, prison ZIPs, etc. |
List Maintenance | The ongoing process of keeping a mailing list up-to-date by adding, editing and deleting data. |
List Manager | Whereas a list broker works for a mailer, the list manager works for the list owner. The primary function is to promote the list to mailers and list brokers for list rental. List managers can be either an internal employee of the list owner, or part of an outside list management company paid a commission by the list owner. Management services usually include: marketing of the list, coordinating and controlling rental activity and accounting. |
Lithograph | See Offset Printing. |
Lustre | Gloss of a finish. |
Machinable
| Term for mail pieces that meet automation-rate criteria. That is, mail pieces that can be transported and processed safely and successfully by OCR and barcode equipment. |
Mail Preference Service (DMA MPS) | The Direct Marketing Association (DMA) offers a service for individuals who want their names removed from mailings lists so they will stop receiving direct mail. |
Mailsort | Numbered postal sortation system that is carried out prior to delivery to the Post Office and is broken down to the postal town/region. |
Manila | Semi-bleached chemical sulphate paper. Light ecru colour commonly associated with manila stock or file jackets. |
Mass | Sometimes used as another name for the adhesive. |
Matrix | Ladder, skeleton, waste. The face and adhesive layers of a sensitive construction surrounding a die-cut label that have been removed after die cutting. |
Matte Finish | A dull finish. A de-glossed surface. |
Memory | The property of a material that attempts to return to its original dimensions after being distorted. |
Merge-Purge | The process of combining two or more lists into one while, at the same time, identifying and removing any duplicates. |
Metallized Film | A plastic or resinous film that has been coated on one side with a very thin layer of metal. |
Migration | The movement of one or more of the components of a pressure-sensitive adhesive to either a substrate or face material; the movement of one or more of the components of either or both the face material and the substrate into the adhesive and ink. |
Minimum Application Temperature | The lowest temperature at which an adhesive will function. |
Moisture Content | Percent moisture. The moisture present in a material, as determined by specified methods. |
Moisture Resistant | That property of a sheet, which resists uptake or passage of moisture. Usually achieved by adding sizing. |
Mottle | Non-uniform colouring, coating or printing of a face material. |
Natural Coloured
| Applied to papers whose colours result from the nature of the stock used when no bleach or colouring has been added. In the case of Kraft, its natural colour is a tan or light brown. |
Natural Rubber | Derived from the latex of rubber trees. It imparts tack and adhesion properties to pressure-sensitive adhesives. |
Net Names | The number of names remaining after a merge-purge eliminates all duplicates. |
Nixies | Pieces of mail returned as "undeliverable as addressed" |
OCR
| Optical Character Recognition. Technology used by an OCR machine, which can "read" the city-state-ZIP line from a mail piece. |
Offset Paper | General description of any paper primarily suited for offset printing. Can be coated or uncoated. Characterized by strength, lack of curl and freedom from foreign surface material. Finish can be vellum or smooth. |
Offset Printing | Also known as wet offset or lithography. Offers highest degree of precision, clarity and quality. Uses screens of 133 lines or more. Using a metal or paper plate, ink is first transferred to an offset drum and then passed to the paper. |
Opacity | Paper property that measures degree to which paper stops light from passing through. The more opacity a paper has, the less show-through it permits of the envelope contents. This is opposite of transparency. |
Opaque Ink | Ink that conceals all colour beneath it. |
Open End Envelope | The open end envelope has its opening on the shorter dimension and usually has a centre seam on the back; however there are several side seam models in use. |
Open Side Envelope | The open side envelope has its opening on the longer dimension and has either diagonal or twin side seams. |
Outside Single Side Seam | Single seam construction on open-end envelopes, where seam is glued on top or back panel. Can be right or left side. |
Outsourcing | Using an outside service rather than performing the work in-house. |
Over-laminating | Application of clear film to a graphic for the purpose of protection or to enhance the graphic quality. |
Package Inserts
| Any promotional offer included with the shipment of a customer's order. Offers may be from the same mailer shipping the product or other vendors who pay to be included. |
Palletization | Some large mailers prefer to load sacks or packages onto pallets to reduce labour and to pack trucks more efficiently for shipment. |
Peal & Seal | Pressure sensitive gum is applied to the seal flap and covered by release paper. |
Penetration | Bleed though. Change of appearance of the face material due to movement of one or more components from the adhesive or the substrate. |
Perforation | Series of small cuts made in labels and/or their release liner to facilitate tearing along a predetermined line. |
Personalization | Using/printing personal information, such as a first or last name, in a direct mail campaign. |
Pick | That quality of paper as it relates to the tendency of fibres or particles to be pulled away from the sheet surface when removed from tacky surfaces such as printing plates. |
Picking | The lifting of the paper surface during printing. It occurs when pulling force (tack) of ink is greater than surface strength of paper. |
Pigment | In printing inks, the fine solid particles used to give colour, or opacity. |
Poly Bag | An outside mailing envelope made of polyethylene instead of paper. |
Polyester | A strong film having good resistance to moisture, solvents, oils and many other chemicals. It is usually transparent. |
Polyethylene | An extruded, tough stretchy film having limited temperature resistance but good moisture barrier properties |
Polymer | A complex, relatively large, molecule produced by the reaction of a simpler compound with itself. Usually refers to synthesized organic resins, but may also refer to natural materials such as starch, sugar, cellulose, and natural rubber. |
Polypropylene | A polyolefin plastic similar in properties to polyethylene but with higher temperature capability and greater strength. |
Polythene | Trade name for polyethylene available in films or as custom moulded articles |
Porosity | The density of the adherent surface, the property of adhesive absorption by the adherent surface. |
Post Cure | The phenomenon peculiar to radiation curing. Whereas, exposure to ultraviolet radiation will continue to react chemically for a period of minutes to hours after exposure. |
Postage-Paid Reply Service | A service allowing mailers to use a Lettershop's postage-paid permit and have the business-reply mail sent there instead of opening their own account with the Postal Service. |
Postal Code | A general term for codes used to sort mail (including ZIP Code) using an alphanumeric code. |
Pre-Press Services | The various steps necessary, up to final printing, to transform original copy and art into the form required for printing. Services include:
-Colour Proofing. Proofs made from the separate plates in colour process work, showing the sequence of printing and the result after each additional colour has been applied.
-Digital Colour Proofing. An off-press colour proof produced from digital data without the need for separation films.
-Image Manipulation. Custom alterations of digital images.
-Imagesetter. A typesetting system that can process both text and images.
-Scanning. Desktop, High-End, Mid-Range Electronic process used to make colour and tone-corrected separations of images.
-Scanner. A device that interprets the reflected light from a physical image and digitises it so it can be stored on a computer. Using a scanner can eliminate the need for human contact with individual documents.
-Thermal Dye Sublimation. Proof-making process where pigments are vaporized and float to desired proofing stock. |
Psychographics | The qualities or characteristics of individuals, which indicate lifestyle, purchasing habits, attitudes and personal values. |
Ream
| 500 sheets of paper |
Regular Gum | Remoistenable adhesive activated by water. Applied to seal flap of envelopes. |
Rewinder | A machine which takes rolls from the winder, slits or rewinds into smaller rolls. |
Rewinding | The operation of winding the paper from the reel on to a core to produce rolls of the desired width, diameter and tension. |
Screen Printing
| A method of printing in which the ink is forced through the image area of a properly stretched fabric, by the use of a squeegee, or in some cases air pressure directly on to the substrate to be printed. |
Seeding | False or "dummy" names are added to a mailing list as a way to check delivery and to uncover any unauthorized list usage. |
Selective Binding | The process which allows an advertisement to be inserted into only certain select issues of a magazine, or allows selected pages to be inserted in to a catalogue. |
Self - Sealing | Latex gum is applied to the seal flap and the back of the envelope and sticks only to itself. It is made from rubber-based materials. |
Sheet-Fed Press | An offset printer that prints on paper which is fed one sheet at a time. Used primarily for short runs or higher-quality printing. |
Shrink Wrapping | A technique of packaging in which the strains in a plastic film are released by raising the temperature of the film thus causing it to shrink over the package. |
Silicone | A unique polymer system that can be a very effective release coating, or pressure-sensitive adhesive capable of functioning effectively at extreme temperatures. |
Software Compatible Envelopes | Envelopes designed with 1 or 2 windows for automated business communications. Commercial, catalogue and booklet are the stock compatibles available. Works with thousands of software applications. |
Sorting | The computerized process of reorganizing a list from one sequence to another. For example, a file can be sorted by last name, company name, ZIP code, high donors, multi-buyers, recent buyers, etc. |
Split Seal Gum | Gum pattern on seal flap when envelopes are to be used on automated inserting equipment. Gum is broken where flap covers envelope seams; prevents flap from sticking to the back panel during storage in humid conditions. |
Standard Paper Weights | -60gsm (16 lb). Used for overseas air mail envelopes.
-75gsm (20 lb). Used for commercial envelopes where strength and opacity is not a factor.
-90gsm (24 lb). Workhorse of envelope papers-used for most open side official and commercial envelopes.
-105gsm (28 lb). Used for most open and catalogue envelopes and large sized commercial envelopes.
-120gsm (32 lb). Used for heavy-duty envelopes and clasp envelopes.
-150gsm (40 lb). Used for large envelopes, expansions and heavy duty, or envelopes used for storage and frequent reference. |
String-And-Button | Mechanical closure with a string attached to the flap and a button on the body of the envelope. Used mostly in interoffice envelopes. |
Strip-And-Grip | Type of pressure sensitive adhesive applied to the flap and covered with a protective strip until the envelope is ready to be sealed. |
Substance Or Basis Weight | Weight measure in pounds, of a ream (500 sheets) of paper in its basic size. Different grades of paper are sold in different basic sizes. Therefore, basic weights of different grades of paper cannot be compared directly, a 24 lb. white wove is comparable to a 60 lb. offset, not to a 24 lb. offset. |
Thermal Transfer
| A thermal printing process utilizing a temperature sensitive ribbon. Through heat and pressure it is selectively transferred to a printable surface thus creating the desired image. The ink is transferred from the ribbon to the print surface thus the term thermal transfer. |
Thumb Cut | Found on envelopes manufactured without flaps, such as filing and film storage. Can be cut on one side, or double thumb cut, through face and back for easier removal of contents. |
Top | When referring to envelope specifications, the dimension of the envelope with the opening even if it is on the side relative to the address, corner card, etc. |
Twin Inside Side Seam | Type of seam configuration on open side envelopes where seams tuck beneath back panel. |
Twin Outside Side Seam | Type of seam configuration on open side envelopes where seams fold over back panel. |
Tyvek | Spunbonded olefin product manufactured by Dupont. Offers maximum protection and durability at a very lightweight. For example; 100 10x12", 105gsm (28 lb.) Tyvek envelopes weigh the same as 57 envelopes of the same size in 105gsm (28 lb.) Kraft. Tyvek is unaffected by moisture and inert to most chemicals. Acid, lint and sulphide free. Mailing with Tyvek often pays for itself with substantial postal savings. |
Walksort
| The Walksort service is an alternative to Mailsort, where you perform a greater level of sortation before sending your mailing for delivery. Due to the greater level of preparation, higher discounts can be achieved than with Mailsort allowing Walksort customers to sort their mailing down to the level of the individual UK postal walks of which there are approximately 80,000. |
Watermark | Translucent mark visible when sheet of paper is held up to the light. Available when paper is manufactured or a printed design may also be used. |
Web Press | A printing press that is fed by a large roll of paper instead of individual sheets. |
Window | Opening in the body of the envelope positioned to show mailing address, return address and/or special messages. Customized windows can be created in almost any size. Can be left open with no patch, and may have as little as a 1M minimum in manufacturing. |
Window Position | Location of the window on the envelope, as measured from the left and bottom edges of the envelope. Window edge should be no closer than 3/8" from the side end bottom (to allow space for gluing window material). Note: 5/8" from the bottom is now required for automation discounts of a standard commercial envelopes. |
ZIP+4 Code
| A nine-digit code introduced by the USPS in 1981. The first five digits are a standard ZIP Code. The last four digits identify a firm, PO box, bank of mailboxes, high-rise building, or one side of a city block. "ZIP+4" is sometimes casually used to refer only to the last four digits. |
