Labeling Terms & Definitions: C

Posted on 06-26-2018

C

C1S

Abbreviation for coated one side paper.

CAD/CAM
Computer Assisted Design/Computer Assisted Makeup or Manufacturing.

CALENDER FINISHED
A term applied to any paper with a surface glazed by means of a calender stack.

CALIPER
The thickness of labels, usually measured in mils (one thousandth of an inch). A mil is sometimes called a “point.” A 10 mil tag might also be called a 10 point tag stock.

CARRIER
The release liner materials that carry or deliver pressure sensitive labels.

CAST COATED
A high-gloss enamel finish used on a face stock. This term is applied to a high gloss finish on a label.

CAST COATED PAPER
When the coating on paper is allowed to harden or set while in contact with a finished casting surface.

CAST FILM
Plastic sheeting manufactured by the casting process, as opposed to the extruding process.

CAST VINYL
Vinyl sheeting manufactured by coating a liquid vinyl acetate or similar ester onto a casting paper and curing in a heated oven.

CATALYST
A substance which has the capability of initiating or accelerating the speed of a reaction between two or more substances when introduced into their presence.

CAVITY
The engraving on a rotary or flexible die that die cuts a single shape of the label or tag.

CE MARKING
A mandatory conformance marking requirement for many products sold on the European Economic Area (EEA). With the CE marking on a product the manufacturer ensures that the product is in conformity with the essential requirements of the applicable EC directives. The letters “CE” stand for “Conformit Europenne” (“European Conformity”).

CELL
A very small engraved or etched depression in an anilox roll that carries the ink to the plate.

CELLULOSE
Fibrous substance of wood, cotton and other vegetable matter.

CENTIGRADE
A scale of temperature which features 0 and 100 degrees as the freezing and boiling points of water. Also called Celsius.

CHALKING
A form of coating deterioration characterized by the formation of a loose, chalk-like powder on the film surface.

CHARACTER
In bar coding, a single group of bars and spaces which represent an individual number, letter or punctuation mark.

CHARGE
Usually refers to the degree or type of electrical property carried by a substrate.

CHECK DIGIT
A digit included within a bar code whose value is based mathematically on other characters included in the symbol. It is used to perform a mathematical check to ensure the accuracy of the read.

CHECKING
The presence of hair line cracks in a varnish coating, a lacquer coating, a film or an adhesive coating.

CHEMICAL CURING
The setting or curing of an adhesive, coating or sealer brought about by the addition of a catalyst or accelerator.

CHEMICAL RESISTANCE
The resistance of a pressure sensitive label to the deteriorating effects resulting from exposure to chemicals under specified conditions.

CHOKE
An image whose edges have been pulled in slightly from those of the original. The image area remains essentially the same except for a narrow strip of reduction around its perimeter.

CHOKES AND SPREADS
Overlaps of overprinting images to prevent color fringes or white borders around image detail caused by press registration variation during printing.

CHROMATIC SCALE
The colors of the spectrum: red, orange, yellow, green, blue and violet.

CIRCUMFERENTIAL REGISTER
See running register.

CLARITY
Degree of clearness.

CLAY COATING
A term used to describe a paper with a clay coating on either one or both sides. Clay coating is added to paper to enhance smoothness, gloss and it enhances printability.

CLEAR AREA
An area that precedes the start character and follows the stop character of a bar code symbol. Also known as the quiet zone.

CLEAR COAT
A coating that protects the printing and the surface of a pressure sensitive label from abrasion, sunlight, chemicals, moisture, or a combination of these.

CLINICAL LABORATORY LABELS
Labels that are used to insure identity and integrity of vialed laboratory specimens through a variety of means. The labels can be used to identify date, collector, shipping container seal, and specimen ID, and may also provide double duty as a sealing document for the specimen. The labels can also be die cut in a sophisticated manner or be made from specialty face stocks which provide evidence of tampering.

COATED PAPER
General term applying to all papers which have been surface coated with pigments.

COATING
The emulsion, varnish, or lacquer applied to a label, often over a printed surface, to give it added protection from moisture or abrasion, or to give the finished surface receptivity to subsequent printing.

COATING WEIGHT
The weight of a coating per unit area, such as lb/1,000 square feet, lb/ream or grams/sq meter.

CODE 128
A full alphanumeric bar code capable of encoding all 128 ASCII characters.

CODE 39
A full alphanumeric bar code consisting of nine black and white bars for each character symbol.

CO-EXTRUSIONS
Film produced by more than one extruder through a common die. Films are often made of many layers.

COHESION
The internal strength of an adhesive mass; resistance to flow, and resistance to failure in the adhesive when labels are removed or are under stress. See cohesive strength. Also referred to as cohesive strength, internal bond, and shear.

COHESIVE FAILURE
The mode of failure wherein the adhesive splits, leaving some residue on the labeled surface and part on the label.

COHESIVE STRENGTH
A measure of the property of an adhesive which resists forces parallel to the surface, such as adhesive splitting.

COLD CRACKING
The breaking or shattering under stress of plastic coatings that have become brittle due to lowered temperatures.

COLD FLOW
The tendency of a pressure sensitive adhesive to act like a heavy, viscous liquid over long periods of time. Such phenomena as ‘oozing’ or ‘increases in adhesion’ are the results of this characteristic.

COLD TEMPERATURE ADHESIVE
An adhesive that will enable a pressure sensitive label to adhere or stick well when applied to a cold substrate, often in cold ambient temperatures.

COLD TEMPERATURE LABELS

Cold temperature labels are used for labeling items that need to be stored in cold storage. They use permanent freezer adhesives, which are typically designed to be applied at room temperature and then placed in a freezer. However there are adhesives specifically made to be placed on already frozen products.

COLLATING
Assembling in proper order.

COLOR CHANGE INKS
These inks are widely used in security printing applications. Some change color when in contact with certain chemicals. These are used for authentication of security print and other types of secure documents. Others bleed a different color when wet or when heated.

COLOR CORRECTION
Any method such as masking, dot-etching, re-etching, and/or electronic scanning used to correct for color errors in process inks.

COLOR FASTNESS
That property of a pressure sensitive label to retain its color in normal storage or to resist change in color when exposed to light, heat or other deleterious influences.

COLOR KEY
A series of colored films used to check individual colors and stripping. When overlaid in printing sequence it will produce a multicolored image. A color key is limited to yellow, orange, dark blue, magenta, cyan, black, white, gold, brown, green, red, beige and any combination thereof. It is a photographic positive of the separation negatives in generic color.

COLOR MATCHING
To duplicate the hue, value and intensity of a given color sample usually by blending appropriate elements.

COLOR PERMANENCE
See color fastness.

COLOR PROCESS
A reproduction of any subject where the colors are separated by any method utilizing at least the three primary process colors – yellow, magenta and cyan. Using halftone plates to produce intermediate colors and shades. Linework and screenwork can be utilized.

COLOR PROOF
A printed or simulated printed image of each process color (cyan, magenta, yellow and black) using inks, toners or dyes to give a simulated impression of the final printed reproduction. Color proofs are now most often generated by computer.

COLOR RETENTION
The property of a color to resist fading or other deterioration on exposure to light.

COLOR SEPARATION
The process of separating original artwork into individual spot colors or the process colors of yellow, magenta, cyan and black for the purpose of making printing plates.

COLOR SHIFT INKS
An ink that when applied to a label appears as two or more distinct colors when viewed from different angles.

COLOR STABILITY
See color fastness.

COLOR STATIONS
Each printing section of the press or set of rollers used to print each individual color.

COLORANT
The color portion of an ink; may be a pigment, dye, or a combination of the two.

COMPATIBILITY
The ability of ink, film, substrate and/or solvents to function together in an acceptable manner.

CONDENSED TYPE
Proportionally narrow or slender type faces.

CONFIRM
A 3M security laminate which creates a custom designed covert pattern on the label. This pattern is only visible when viewed with a retro reflective light source.

CONFORMABILITY
The ability of a label material to yield to the contours of a curved or rough surface, especially surfaces with compound curves or tapers.

CONTINUOUS CODE
A bar code or symbol where the space between characters (intercharacter gap) is part of the code.

CONTINUOUS LABEL
Pinfeed, and usually fan-folded labels manufactured from a continuous web of label stock, which is not cut into units prior to execution. Continuous labels are mostly used for data processing applications.

CONTROLLED RELEASE
A release level greater than that provided by an unmodified release coating.

CONVERTER
The type of manufacturer who produces things such as plain or printed rolls, sheets, bags or pouches from rolls of film, foil or paper, including pressure sensitive labels and tags.

COPIER LABEL
A label designed for overprinting by a plain paper photocopier.

CO-POLYMER
Two or more mixed monomers which, when polymerized, yield a complex product having properties different from either simple polymer alone.

COPY
Any furnished material (manuscript, pictures, artwork, etc.) to be used in the production of printing.

COPY PREPARATION
Directions for desired size and other details for illustrations, and the arrangement into proper position of various parts of the label being prepared for reproduction.

CORE
A paper, plastic or metal tube on which paper, film, or foil labels are wound for shipment.

CORE HOLDER
Device for affixing core to shaft; also called core chuck.

CORE PLUGS
Metal, wood or compressed paper plugs which are driven into the paper core of the finished roll to prevent crushing or other damage to the core.

CORNER RADIUS
The arc or curvature of the corners of a die-cut label. The die blades are shaped so that they can impart a rounded corner.

CORONA TREATING
An electrical discharge which is used to raise the critical surface tension of low or inert substrates thereby enhancing printability.

COUPON
Removable label either supplying information or having redeemable value. They may be either pressure sensitive or non-pressure sensitive.

COVERAGE
Ink or coating mileage; the surface area covered by a given quantity of ink or coating material. In flexography, the extent or degree to which a base material is covered, colored, or hidden by an ink or coating.

COVERT IMAGE
A hidden image printed on a label not visible to the naked eye. They are usually printed with invisible fluorescent inks that are detected when exposed to UV light.

CRACKING
See crazing.

CRAZING
The appearance of a network of small cracks in a varnish coat or a plastic facestock.

CREEP
The lateral movement of a pressure sensitive label on a surface due to low cohesive strength.

CROP MARKS
The marks made on the outer edges of artwork to designate the area to be trimmed, sheeted, or die cut. Crop marks indicate the relative positioning of the printing to the finished sheet or die cut shape.

CROP
To eliminate portions of the copy (indicated by cropmarks).

CROSS DIRECTION
The direction across the web. Papers are weaker and are affected more by changes in relative humidity in the cross direction that the grain direction.

CRUSH CUT
A cut made by a rotary blade in contact with an anvil or base roll.

CRUSH SCORE
See score.

CRUSHED CORE
Core that gives way and becomes out-of-round either from too much tension or a bump.

CRYOGENIC LABELS
Labels which are used in maximum harsh environment situations involving cryogenic freezing. Specialty adhesives and substrates are required to adhere in low temperatures.

CSA
Canadian Standards Association. Canadian association similar to Underwriters Laboratories.

CURE
To change the properties of adhesives, coatings or inks by chemical reaction.

CURE TIME
The time/temperature combination required to bring about the desired level of cure.

CURING TEMPERATURE
Temperature to which an adhesive, ink or coating is subjected to for curing.

CURL
The tendency of material by itself or in a laminate to bend or partly wrap around the axis of one of its directions. Curl is often caused by humidity or improper tension.

CUTS
The number of rolls slit from a master roll.

CYAN
A subtractive primary color which reflects blue and green light and absorbs red light.

CYLINDER
In flexography, most rollers in the printing press are called rolls with the exception of that upon which the printing plates are mounted, and the one which received the impression, and these are usually referred to as cylinders, I.e., plates, cylinder, impression cylinder.

CYREL
DuPont’s trademark for photopolymer plate material.

Ref:

https://coastlabel.com/glossary/#1464295607455-989...