Glossary Of Terms

- to help you understand the technical jargon!

Blank	The initial piece of board from which we make your box, often supplied to us from the board mill cut to size.
Bleed	Sounds painful but it is simply the area outside the cut area of the paper that is printed. Usually just a few millimetres.
Caliper	The thickness of the board – usually expressed in microns (1000 micron = 1mm). Rigid boxes are usually between 1000 -2000 microns thick; folding cartons are usually 450-800 microns
Carton	A container made from 1 piece of board, glued or stitched up one edge and packed flat. Smaller cartons are generally made from solidboard e.g. point of sale items, larger cartons from corrugated board e.g. transit packs though there is some overlap depending on use.
Chipboard	Board made from recycled paper, often brown or grey in colour. We make most of our rigid cartons from chipboard.
Corrugated Board	Board made from 2 flat sheets of liner board with a corrugated fluting between (single-wall) or three sheets of liner with 2 layers of fluting (double-wall).
Deboss	The opposite of “emboss”! A sunken area or image pressed into the surface of a board, usually on a presentation or gift box.
Die-cut	The process of cutting out a shape using a steel cutting tool (the die or forme), rather like a pastry cutter. Used for a huge variety of inserts for gift boxes and most styles of folding carton.
Die	A steel cutting tool
Dimensions	Box dimensions are usually Length x Width x Height, the height of a folding carton always being the measurement between the open ends. Box dimensions are always internal (unless specifically stated otherwise).
Emboss	A raised area pressed out of the board, most often on a folding solidboard carton.
Foil Blocking	The process of transferring hot foil onto board. This is the simplest and most economical method of printing, particularly for short runs.
Folding Boxboard	High quality board used for food and cosmetic packaging because of its smoother finish and strength.
Forme	A steel cutting tool (or die) or a general term for a printing block for foil block printing.
Flute	The wavey corrugated part of corrugated board. The most popular are e-flute (1.5mm approx), B flute (3mm approx) & C flute (5mm approx).
Hinged lid	Lid attached to a box on one side.
Insert	Material inside a box, cut to size to support and/or cushion an item. Most often made from board or foam.
Laminate	The process of sticking one product to another – e.g. printed material laminated to board. Also used to refer to a thin layer of clear plastic stuck to (usually) printed material to give higher gloss finish or extra protection.
Lift-Off Lid	The most popular style of rigid gift box, with a lid either full- or partial depth that lifts off completely
Lining	Paper that is used to cover the inside of a box
Pantone Colours	A library of standard colours which can be reproduced accurately.
Platform	Card insert designed to raise the floor of the base of a presentation box or with cut-out to hold items in place.
Reverse out	Print that is cut out of the background print revealing a different colour or the board/paper colour behind.
Rigid box	General term to describe a box & lid supplied assembled and unable to be flat-packed.
Satin	Satin is used extensively in the base of gift and presentation boxes as well as covering platforms. Polystyrene beads and board fitments can be used under satin to hold items in place.
Set-up box	An American term for a rigid box
Scoring	Creasing board to produce a fold.
Shoulder box	Style of gift/presentation box where the base incorporates an inner tray that creates a lip for the lid to rest on.
Sleeve	Tubular form of card that slides over a box for added protection. Useful for printing on rather than printing on the box itself.
Slipcase	Protective case with one side left open, often used for books, DVD’s etc
Textured Papers	Papers that have an embossed pattern rather than a smooth finish, often used for gift boxes. Most popular includes buckram, chamois and linen.
Wrap	Paper that is stuck onto the outside of a box