OCR

abbreviation for optical character recognition. It is a method of scanning letters and turning them into electronic information.

OCR-A

an abbreviation commonly applied to the character set contained in ANSI Std. X3.17-1974.

OCR-B

an abbreviation commonly applied to the character set contained in ANSI Std. X3.49-1975.

offset

a defect in printing characterized by the partial transference of ink from a freshly printed surface to an adjacent surface, such as another sheet of paper.

offset paper

a type of paper designed for use on offset presses with general characteristics to resist distortion from stretching or shrinking, good pick strength, freedom from fuzz and a smooth surface which will take ink evenly.

offset printing

a process of indirect printing in which an impression of type or a design on a plate is printed on a rubber blanketedcylinder from which it is impressed. i.e.offset upon the surface to be decorated.

OGR

abbreviation for oil and grease resistant. Some special purpose litho grades which offer more oil and grease resistance than standard C1S litho papers. It will not, however, offer as much resistance as a film would. Generally this type of grade is used when there might be incidental spilling on the label. It reduces the amount of transparentizing that will occur when the label is exposed to oil or grease.

Omnidirectional

bar codes which can be read in any orientation relative to the scanner.

oozing

a squeezing out of the adhesive from under the backing substrate.

opacimeter

an instrument that measures the degree of opacity.

opacity

the ability of the paper to prevent show-through of type on the reverse side. The higher the opacity, the more costly it is to produce. Diano and Hugem instruments measure the percent reflectance of the paper sample backed by a black body compared to the reflectance of the paper when backed by a white body. Also the property of a substrate material that minimizes show-through from the back side or the next sheet. The ratio of the reflectance with a black backing to the reflectance with a white backing. Ink opacity is the property of an ink that prevents the substrate from showing through.

opp

oriented polypropylene

open time

the amount of time between applying the adhesive and completing the bond.

Optical Throw

the distance from the scanner face to the closest point at which symbol can be read; also, optical throw is the difference between range and depth of field.

Opticite(r) film

a Dow Chemical polystyrene face stock. See polystyrene.

Opticite(r) SQZ

Dow Opticite(r) specially manufactured for potential use in flexible packaging applications. It is a more economical alternate to vinyl in squeeze applications.

orientation

in bar codes, the alignment of the symbol's scan path. Two possible orientations are horizontal with vertical bars and spaces picket fence and vertical with horizontal bars and spaces ladder. In adhesives, the alignment of the crystalline structure in polymeric materials so as to produce a highly uniform structure. can be accomplished by cold drawing or stretching during fabrication.

orifice

the opening in the adhesive coating extruder die formed by the orifice bushing and mandrel.

outturn samples

paper samples which are sent to a customer as representative of the paper which will be shipped to him. They were taken from regular production. Some customers demand shipment of outturn samples of their material before it is shipped. The reason is that they want to test and approve it.

over-run

a quantity of product manufactured in excess of the amount ordered. All of Technicote products have tolerances published on over and under shipments. The amount of the tolerance varies depending on volume shipped and whether the product is stock or custom.

overhead

The fixed number of characters required for start, stop and checking in a given symbol. For example, a symbol requiring a start/stop and two check characters contains four characters of overhead. Thus, to encode three characters, seven characters are required.

overlaminating

application of a clear film to a label stock for the purpose of protection or to enhance the graphic quality.