background

The area surrounding a printed symbol, including the spaces and quiet zones.

baking

the process of drying a liquid adhesive to solidify it.

ball-up

a specific term used to describe the tendency of an adhesive to stick to itself. When an adhesive is rolled between the fingers, it can become a small ball.

band label

a label that fully wraps around the surface to which it is applied. An example would be sock band labels. Usually there is a slight overlap and the adhesive sticks to itself.

bar

The darker element of a printed bar code symbol.

bar code

An array of parallel rectangular bars and spaces that together represent a single data element or

bar code character

A single group of bars and spaces which represent an individual number, letter, punctuation mark or other symbol.

bar code density

The number of characters which can be represented in a linear unit of measure. Bar code density is often expressed in characters per inch CPI.

bar code label

A label which carries a bar code and is suitable to be affixed to an article.

bar code reader

A device used to read a bar code symbol.

bar code symbol

see symbol.

bar height

see bar length.

bar length

The bar dimension perpendicular to the bar width. Also called height.

bar width

The thickness of a bar measured from the edge closest to the symbol start character to the trailing edge of the same bar.

bar width reduction

Reduction of the nominal bar width dimension on film masters or printing plates to compensate for printing gain.

barrier coat

a type of coating that is a primer. It is a coating applied to the face stock on the side opposite the printing surface to provide increased opacity to the face stock. It can also be used to reduce adhesive migration through the face stock and to improve anchorage of the adhesive to the face stock.

base line

a reference line used to specify the desired vertical position of characters printed on the same line.

basis weight

basis weight indicates how heavy paper is for a standard size. There are a number of different basis weight systems. Most pressure sensitive label face stocks use a book basis weight. For example, 500 sheets 25 x 38 of a 60# paper will weight 60#. Also the weight in pounds of a ream of paper cut to a given size. There are a number of different basis weight systems. The most common are book 25 x 38 * 500, bond 17 x 22 * 500 and kraft 24 x 36 * 500. Most face stocks are on book basis. Bonds and other products for the forms industry is on a bond basis. Release liners and some industrial products are on a kraft basis. Some care is important when quoting to make sure that you are asking for the correct weight. 20# on a bond basis is about equivalent to a 50# on a book basis.

BCD

Binary Coded Decimal; see Decimal, Binary Coded.

bi-directional

a bar code symbol capable of being read successfully independent of scanning direction.

bi-directional read

see Bi-directional.

binary

the number system that uses only 1's and 0's.

binder

an adhesive substance used to create adhesion between the adhesive components or between and adhesive and the surface to which it is coated.

bit

An abbreviation for binary digit. A single element 0 or 1 in a binary number.

bleaching

the chemical process that makes paper lighter in color or higher in brightness.

bleed

printing that goes all the way to the edge of the finished label. There are no blank edges.

bleeding

the migration of plasticizers from the adhesive film into the facestock or substrate to which it has been applied.

blister

a surface irregularity in an adhesive or coating film consisting of a small gas or liquid pocket between the film and the base surface. Blisters can be caused by insufficient adhesive coating, inadequate curing, entrapped air, or improper cleaning of the surface.

blocking

adhesion between the sheets or plies of rolls of pressure sensitive labels usually due to adhesive cold flow, improper drying of inks or improper drying and curing of coatings. Blocking can also occur with heat or water sensitive papers. If heat sensitive papers are subjected to excessive heat, the adhesive will activate. One layer will stick to the next. If water sensitive adhesives have too much moisture applied prematurely, they also can block. There are recommendations for storage and processing of both products to reduce blocking.

bloom

a side effect in heat sensitive papers which causes a powder used in production to leach to the surface. During coating, they are dried chemically with a powder. We remove excessive powder before the product ships, but the powder tends to come out or bloom during aging. When the dust blooms, the powder transfers to the printing surface which can make clean printing difficult.

bond basis weight

this measures how heavy 500 sheets 17 x 22 would be. A common weight is 20#. A 20# paper on this system will weigh the same as a 50# paper figured on the book basis weight system.

bond paper

a type of paper frequently used for stationery and business forms.

bonding strength

the resistance of a coated or uncoated paper to picking or lifting of its surface fibers during printing.

bone glue

another name for animal glue. It was extracted from bones by cooking with steam under pressure. Strong gum was originally an animal glue or bone glue, but now adhesion properties are enhanced chemically. See also animal glue and strong gum.

book basis weight

this measures how heavy 500 sheets 25 x 38 would be.

BOPP

acronym for biaxually oriented polypropylene.

BPI

Bits per inch. The linear density of encoded information number of characters encoded per linear inch of the bar code symbol.

breaker

equipment used for breaking up conventional water sensitive glues to promote flatness. The equipment makes small cracks in the adhesive to allow it to expand and contract without causing excessive curl. It would be similar to the effect caused by bending paper across the sharp edge of a desk while under tension.

breaking

the process accomplished on the breaker. See breaker.

bright laminated foil

this is a pressure sensitive face stock that is paper laminated foil with a very shiny appearance. It is available in both silver and gold colors. See also paper laminated foil.

brightness

White papers vary in degree of visual brightness. Measurement is on a numerical scale in which higher numbers indicate a brighter sheet of paper. This should not be confused with the color of the paper. White colors can vary from cream white to a blue white color. Usually blue white color is associated with brightness, but that is not always the case. The Martin Sweets Reflection Diano Meter is one piece of equipment used to measure brightness of paper.

brittleness

the property of a material which causes it to break or fail when deformed by bending. This is an important property for form companies that manufacture fan folded product. If the perforations at the fan fold were too brittle, the perforation would break. There is a relationship between moisture content of paper and the degree of brittleness. The dryer the paper, the more brittle it will be. To some extent form manufacturers vary the mechanical size of the perforation to try and achieve equal performance of finished product when brittleness varies.

broke

a paper making term that refers to paper trimmings or damaged paper from the machine or finishing rooms. It is returned to the beaters for reprocessing into salable paper.

Brookfield Viscosimeter

an instrument for measuring the viscosity of formulated adhesives under standard temperature conditions.

bulk

the thickness of a paper or relative thickness according to the substance weight of the paper. A bulky sheet refers to one lacking compactness which will result in a lighter weight for the same thickness. See also apparent density.

bursting strength

indicates the amount of pressure needed to burst a given area of the paper. It is a measure of strength of the paper. Measured numerically, higher numbers indicate stronger paper. The Perkins Mullen tester is used for testing. Sometimes the test is referred to as the Mullen test.

butt cut label

a knife cut label in which the knife cut is made through the face stock, across the full width of the label. Most uses are for hand application of the labels.