Fabric packaging glossary: bags, totes, covers
This glossary keeps growing with time. It deals with fabric packaging (bags, totes, covers, pouches) (look for ) and printing techniques. This glossary helps you familiarize yourself with the language of the trades and to further your knowledge in this vast domain of packaging and printing.
4
- 4-color printing
- This is a a 4-color printing process. This offset printing technique uses the 4 primary colors (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black) to reproduce all colors. These 4 colors, once mixed, allow to accurately reproduce your color documents.
A
- Accessory (clothing)
- This generic term covers all the elements that take part in making and finishing a garment, that complete and embellish it: buttons, braids, zippers, snaps, hooks... See our accessories for pouches and tote bags.
- Accessory (Fashion)
- This generic term covers the objects that personalize an outfit: scarves, belts, bags, wallets, shawls, ties...
- AI (Adobe Illustrator)
-
- see vector file - The «.ai» extension is tied to the Adobe Illustrator software which offers powerful vector tools. This type of file extension (graphics, paths, etc.) The vector images do not depend on resolution and do not lose in quality when enlarged or reduced. This is the required format for quality prints. Other vector extensions exist: «.eps» and «.pdf.»
- Art proof approval
-
Signed consent on a machine of a printed proof before serial printing. Also used to approve the blank shape mock-up before cutting.
- Artificial fiber
- Artificial fiber is made from cellulose obtained from cotton seeds or wood through the appropriate chemical treatment. Continuous (rayon, viscose) or discontinuous fibers (fibranne) are thus obtained.
B
- Bleaching
- Process of whitening textile fibers and eliminating all natural impurities at the time of textile finishing.
- Burlap (jute)
-
Burlap is a plant fiber obtained from the stem of a plant (corchorus.) The burlap fiber is silky, short (2.5 mm) and resistant.
C
- Calendering
- A finishing process where the fabric is passed between calender rollers at high temperatures. These rollers press the fabric to give it a glossy aspect. If the rolls are 3D, designs and special effects such as marbling or moire, embossing.
- Cellulose
- It is a fibrous material of plant origin such as cotton, linen, burlap and hemp… which can also be man-made from artificial fibers of plant origin such as viscose, acetate and triacetate.
- CMYK
-
CMYK names the three primary colours plus black of a four-colour process print. CMYK stands for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and K for Black. The French version is CMJN: Cyan, Magenta, Jaune, Noir. These four inks are enough to reproduce millions of shades.
- Collecting
- Collecting is the first step of the recycling circuit, because you can only recycle what has been collected. Almost all fabrics are recyclable, but not all of them can actually be collected: they may be destroyed, damaged, kept in use, contaminated, or too widely scattered geographically.
- Color chart
-
A colour chart is a set of colour samples used to choose a shade. The Pantone® chart is the best-known example. For fabrics, about ten colour charts are available; for cords and ribbons, there are nearly eight.
- Converting
- Converting is the set of operations that turn the material into a finished item: cutting, stripping, folding, gluing, fitting of accessories. It comes after printing. For a fabric pouch, it includes cutting the pieces, sewing, fitting the cordon or the ribbon, then finishing and checking. This is the stage where the product takes its final shape.
- Cotton
-
Plant fiber. This is the soft fibrous substance that surrounds the seeds of the cotton plant. Cotton retains humidity (8.5% of its weight in water.) Its heat-retaining capacity is average but it has a rather good thermal conductivity. Its main characteristic is its length which varies from 10 to 50 cm. The longest cotton fibers are the thinnest. Its fabric finish is soft.
- Cromalin®
-
A Cromalin is a fast photogravure proof obtained by photographic means. The process was developed by DuPont de Nemours. The Cromalin serves as a contract proof (BAT). Over time it has become a common name, used by extension for any proof used to validate a print before the run. This validation process is used less and less, with the rise of digital proofing.
- Cross direction
- The cross direction is perpendicular to the machine direction, that is, to the direction in which the fabric travels. On a fabric, the cross direction follows the weft threads, across the width. The width of a pouch is therefore defined against the cross direction of the fabric used. That is why the width of the roll limits the maximum width of the packaging: beyond it, two pieces would have to be joined.
- CTP (computer to plate)
- In offset printing, it is an imaging technology which transfers a digital image directly onto a printing plate or roll, bypassing the photographic film step. In screen printing, the equivalent is CTS, computer to screen.
- CTS computer to screen)
- In screen printing, CTS (computer to screen) is the direct imaging of a digital document to make the printing screen, without films. It is the equivalent of the CTP (computer to plate) of offset printing: the screen is imaged straight from the digital file, with no intermediate film. The design is projected onto the emulsion-coated screen, which hardens where the light touches. The gain is twofold: preparation is faster, and the positioning of the design is more precise than with films.
- Cutter
- Paper cutter having the name of its inventor in French (Massicot.)
D
- Deinking
- Deinking means separating the ink from the fibres. The process detaches ink particles from the paper through mechanical action and the use of soap to create bubbles. By attaching to the ink particles, these bubbles float up to the surface of the vats and are then collected. Given their properties, deinking 'sludge' can be used in agricultural and forestry spreading, in soil improvement, or find other applications (particle board, backfill...). Deinking is one of the stages of fabric recycling.
- Denim
-
A tight, washable and very strong cotton fabric made using a twill weave.
- Digital printing
- It is a direct reproduction process from digital data which uses neither printing plates (offset printing) nor screens (screen printing.) It is a quick quality printing process for very small or large quantities of different models with minimal make-ready times. Its lower set-up costs allow for small-quantity competitive prices.
- Display rack
- Sales stand accessible from all sides.
- DPI (dots per inch)
- DPI stands for Dot Per Inch in English and it's PPP (point par pouce) in French. It is the number of dots of an image within one square inch. The higher the number of dots, the better defined the image; this is calle.
- DTP / CAD
- Desktop publishing (DTP) covers the processing or creation of photographic or drawn work with the assistance of a computer. CAD (computer-aided design) is its equivalent for plans and drawings. It is in DTP that your logo is prepared for printing: set to the right dimensions, colours converted to CMYK, crop marks added. A well-prepared DTP file avoids adjustment back-and-forth.
- Dye
- The process of coloring textile fibers before weaving or directly coloring a fabric with the use of dyes.
E
- Ecru (unbleached)
- Ecru is the natural color of a fabric that has undergone no transformation (washing, bleaching, dyeing.)
- Embroidery
-
Decorative fabric art which adds flat or 3-D designs made of threads using needle- or crochet work.
- EPS (Encapsulated PostScript)
-
- see vector file – Document file format (graphic, trace, etc.) from Photoshop® or Illustrator® which can contain vector and bitmap elements. The EPS format keeps the vector characteristics of the graphics file. It allows for quality printing, much like the «.ai» and «.pdf» formats.
- EU ecolabel
-
The European Union Ecolabel designates products that are environmentally friendly throughout their life cycle within the European Union. It aims to encourage the purchase of ecological products.
- Executable document
- Original used for photoengraving reproduction before printing.
- Eyelet
-
The eyelet is used to reinforce the hole or to allow a cord, lace, ribbon, etc. to go through it. It may be made of metal or plastic and is often ring-shaped. It is placed in a hole through another material.
F
- Fabric
- A soft and strong surface made of a regular assembly of warp and weft threads. This assembly is done on a machine called a loom.
- Fabric finish
- This is the fabric finishing. It can make it smoother, waterproof, stain- or fire-resistant, shiny, etc.
- Fiber
- Fiber is a slender and elongated natural or synthetic filament. There are three types of fibers: natural, artificial and synthetic. Please note: artificial and synthetic fibers have specific resistant, rotproof and lightness characteristics: they are highly washable and do not wrinkle. Their feel today is close to that of natural materials.
- Film output
- The prepress step in which each colour of an artwork is exposed separately onto photographic film. The resulting separation films are then used to produce the printing plates. Also called imagesetting when referring to the process performed by an imagesetter.
- Finishing
- This term designates the chemical and mechanical treatments that are applied to a raw fabric in order to give it its final aspect.
- Fire resistance
-
Fire classification measures how a material behaves when exposed to fire. In France, this classification has five classes or performance levels: M0 non-combustible, M1 non-flammable, M2 hardly flammable, M3 moderately flammable, M4 easily flammable. The French classification is now being replaced by the European Euroclass system, set out in standard NF EN 13501-1.
- Fleece
- Thick cotton or polyester padding used for armchairs and to line comforters, curtains, etc.
- Flexographic printing
- This relief-printing technique uses a positive mirrored master of an image as a 3D relief in a photopolymer material. It enables to print sheet by sheet or in rolls. Flexogaphic printing allows for high-speed long run prints and large quantities.
- Flexography
- - see Flexographic printing – Relief printing method using photopolymer plates. This is a direct-transfer relief print; it is mainly used in the corrugated cardboard industry. Its main advantage is that this method allows to print on most materials. The inks used are water-based.
- Fogra®
-
It is the main German organization for graphic industry standards which, with EFI (Rip Best,) set up an installer proofing system certification procedure. This digital and contractual proof guarantees the final quality of a document’s press print. It meets the ISO 12647-2 international standard which corresponds to the 39 Fogra standard. This is the offset printing standard.
- Format
- The format is the width and the length of a sheet. For a pouch, we rather speak of width and height once the packaging is assembled. The format is chosen according to the product to be packed: just big enough for the object to fit without rattling around, not too big to avoid wasting fabric. A good format saves material over the whole run. Our dimensions are on request, within the limit of the width of the chosen fabric. Your made-to-measure pouch,at your dimensions, in the price request forms.
- Four-color process printing (CMYK printing)
- Printing process using the 3 primary colors + black, applied in separate layers and used for offset and screen printing.
- Front – Back
- The front is the visible side of the fabric; it is the side with the best aspect. The back is the hidden side of the fabric; it is the side opposite to the front.
G
- Gauze
-
Gauze is a light, transparent and openwork fabric made from threads of cotton, linen, wool, silk...
- Gore-tex®
-
It is a highly waterproof and breathable synthetic fabric.
- GOTS
-
The global standard for organic textiles (GOTS - Global Organic Textile Standard) dates from 2002. It was created at the Intercot conference, which brought together in Düsseldorf (Germany) representatives of organic cotton producers, the textile industry, consumers, and standardization and
certification bodies. Today it is a worldwide reference for textiles made from organic fibres.
- Grammage
- The grammage is th weight per surface area of paper or cardboard. It is measured as grams per square meter (ex.: 80g/m².) A 300 g sheet of paper weighs 300 g per m². The higher the weight, the more rigid the paper/cardboard.
- Gravure (rotogravure)
- – See Gravure Printing - This is a “hollow” direct printing process. Hollow previews composed of many small cavities, are engraved on a copper cylinder and filled with ink. Printing machines are rotary presses that print very quickly. This method is suitable for large runs due to high preparation costs and low unit costs.
- Gravure Printing
-
The principle of the gravure is the impression in hollow which uses a cylinder engraved in hollow with alveoli of greater or lesser depths. The intensity of the ink projected on the substrate will depend on this depth. It is a technique that gives a very high quality rendering but is reserved for very very large prints.
- Grouping
- Combining merchandise for shipping purposes.
H
- Hemp
-
Plant fiber. The fiber is extracted from the stem of the Cannabis sativa plant. This fiber is not very permeable to air and water and burns quickly without leaving any molten bead. It is mainly used today in rope making and weaving. In plumbing, it is the thread sealant that is wrapped around a joint.
- Hot foil stamping
-
- see hot stamping – Hot foil stamping consists in transferring a film covered with metal pigments (gold, silver or other) onto a product. This is the only process capable of restoring the metallic aspect of gold and silver.
- Hot stamping
-
- see foil stamping – Hot stamping is a printing method of relief printing using a specific tool – the gilding iron – where a, most-often, gold or silver metal foil is transferred to a compatible surface such as compact cardboard at high temperatures. Different colored foils may be used today. This stamping is suited for small surface areas to highlight a logo or particular image thanks to its high shine.
I
- ISO
-
International Organization for Standardization. A body created in 1947 that produces international standards for industrial and commercial fields, known as ISO standards. The best-known standards are ISO 9001, which deals with quality management, ISO 14000, which deals with environmental management, and ISO/IEC 27001, which deals with information security management.
J
- Jacquard
- Jacquard is a weaving technique that weaves complex designs with yarns of different colours. The design is not printed on the fabric: it is the fabric. Each yarn goes up or down according to the design, which gives crisp, durable patterns that do not fade with washing or use. The name comes from Joseph-Marie Jacquard, who automated this weaving in the early 19th century. In our fabric packaging production, jacquard is rarely used, unlike plain fabrics.
K
- Knockout (printing)
- A knockout is a part or a text reversed out of one or more ink layers. In practice, it is an area the ink will not touch. On a pouch printed with a solid colour, a logo left in knockout stays the colour of the fabric. The contrast comes from the fabric itself, not from an extra ink. It is an elegant, sober effect, often used on ecru cotton fabric packaging: a coloured background, the logo in the natural shade of the fabric. A knockout saves one printing colour while keeping a clean result.
L
- Landscape format
- The landscape format is a format whose largest dimension is the width. It suits objects that are wider than they are tall: a leather bag, flat boxes, products laid out lengthwise. It is also the format of wide visuals, such as a horizontal logo printed large on a bag. For printing, the orientation of the design across the fabric width changes the number of placements available, and therefore the yield. A simple rotation of the format (portrait format) can save material on a whole run.
- Landscape format
-
The landscape format is a format whose largest dimension is the width. It suits objects wider than tall: leather bags, flat boxes, products laid lengthwise. It is also the format of spread visuals, like a horizontal logo printed large on a bag. For printing, the orientation of the design on the fabric width changes the number of lays possible, and therefore the yield. A simple rotation of the format (portrait format) can save material over a whole run.
- Linen
-
Linen is a plant fiber extracted from the stem of the linum. It absorbs water and lets it evaporate quickly as well as being a good heat conductor. It is 15 to 20 cm long. Linen fiber is very fine, shiny and silky.The linen for packaging.
L
- lining
- This is the fabric used to perfectly line the inside of a bag.
M
- Machine direction
- For fabric, the machine direction follows the warp thread, along the length of the weave. This notion looks technical. It has a direct consequence on the pouch, though. A fabric cut in the right direction keeps its dimensions and its drape. Cut the wrong way, it may relax or twist in use. Compare this term with the cross direction.
- Make-ready
- Make-ready covers all the machine set-up operations that come before production starts.
- Mandrel
- A tube with an axial hole for a spindle. For paper products and fabric, the mandrel is most often made of cardboard.
- Manufacturing tolerance
- - see Waste – Manufacturing tolerance is an important concept to be aware of. To make custom and/or personalized packaging, a greater product quantity than the one ordered is always planned to account for the waste. If there is a lot of waste, less packaging will be produced and if the waste is low, there will be more product. This amount of produced packaging is thus the exact quantity that will be shipped and billed to the customer. The manufacturing tolerance in our industry is 10% more or less.
- Mechanization
- An automatic conditioning technique that more and more covers the grouping function of products.
- Microfiber
-
This is very thin and light synthetic textile fiber. Microfiber fabrics are exceptionally soft, supple, light and resistant.
- Migration
- Migration is the transfer of a substance between two media in contact, especially during the interaction between the container and its content. In packaging, the word has a precise meaning: a substance of the packaging can migrate into the product, or the other way round. A simple example: the smell of new fabric passing into the product. It is a serious matter for food, cosmetics and perfumes. Fabrics and inks in direct contact with these products must be chosen for their neutrality, with certified materials where the regulations require it. The best way to avoid migration is to pre-wrap the product concerned.
- Möbius loop
-
In most cases, a Möbius loop printed on packaging means that the packaging is recyclable. It can also state that the product contains recycled materials. In that case, the symbol comes with the word 'recycled'. Today, the Triman pictogram tends to replace it by adding the sorting information.
- Moiréing
- Moiré is the blurring of a reproduced image, created by unwanted geometric patterns. It is caused by a difference in the orientation of the screens or of their axes. The superimposed screens then start drawing waves or rosettes that do not exist in the original file. Moiré also appears when a screened gradient is printed on a fabric with a visible weave: the print screen and the weave get in each other's way.
- Muslin
-
It is a light and transparent fabric made from carded cotton threads.
N
- Natural fiber
- Plant fiber has two origins: plant or animal. Plant fiber is mainly made of cellulose and extracted from either seeds (cotton, kapok,) stems and roots (linen, hemp, jute,) leaves (abaca, sisal) or sap (rubber.) Animal fiber is mostly made of proteins and comes from certain mammals’hair (alpaca, angora, cashmere, wool, mohair, vicuna…) or silk made by silkworms.
- Non-woven (or unwoven)
-
Non-woven fabric is obtained by mechanical, chemical or thermal bonding of textile fibers deposited in a random manner. One of the most common fabrication modes is the compression of fibers with a bonding agent.
O
- Offset
- This is the most common procedure to print on flat cardboard. It is an indirect priting method that uses metal plates produced phtographically from negatives. These plates are inked and the images are transferred to a rubber cylinder (blanket) and then to the printing surface (paper.)
- Offset printing
- Offset printing is a priting technique in which the inked image is transferred (or «offset») from a metal plate to a rubber blanket and then to the printing surface. The plate has been previously treated to only receive ink in the printable part and there is a plate for each base color (cyan, magenta, yellow and black.)
- Organic cotton
- - see GOTS certification – Cotton that is grown without using any chemicals but with organic fertilizers. Its traceability, from crop to final fabric, is given by the GOTS certification.
- Organza
- It is a fabric that was originally silk, but is today made of synthetic fiber. It is very fine, transparent, shiny and crisp.
- Overprinting
- Consists in adding complementary text after printing. Example: personalization by subsequently printing the name and address of the distributor.
- Overs and unders
- Overs and unders are the quantity produced and delivered over or under the ordered quantity, within the manufacturing tolerance. As long as this difference stays within the percentage accepted by trade practice, the customer accepts it: the invoice follows the quantity actually delivered.
P
- Packaging
- A packaging is an object used to wrap or contain a product temporarily, during handling, transport, storage or presentation. Packaging protects the product and makes these operations easier. More generally, the word also covers the means and methods used to carry them out. Packaging, in the marketing sense is a packaging carries the company's marketing and communication strategy. It is printed and involves graphic design. In other words: any packaging protects, but good packaging communicates. A pouch printed in the brand's colours, with its matching cord, becomes a communication item in its own right. Customers keep it, reuse it, and the logo travels with it. That is the principle of fabric packaging: protective first, a messenger afterwards.
- Pantone®
-
Pantone® is an international system of standardized colours, reproducible from pre-set mixes and gathered in colour charts. It is a reference system for the composition of spot-colour printing inks on any substrate. Each shade carries a number, for example "Pantone 485" or "Pantone 7256c". This
reference is understood by every printer in the world, without ambiguity. It is the safest way to specify the colour of your logo
- PDF (Portable Document Format)
-
- see vector file – The PDF format, created by Adobe like the AI format, retains text and image document formatting. This format meets professional printing industry standards (high resolution, colorimetric information, crop marks, …) It allows for quality printing, much like ".ai" and ".eps" file formats.
- Plain weave
-
One of the three fundamental types of textile weaves alongside satin and twill weave, plain weave is the oldest and the simplest. Plain weave fabrics have no right or wrong side and all fibers may be woven in a plain weave.
- Plastics
-
Recyclable or recycled, plastics are classified according to the following nomenclature: 1 – PET or PETE, Polyethylene terephthalate; 2 = HDPE, High-density polyethylene; 3 = PVC, Polyvinyl chloride; 4 = LDPE, Low-density polyethylene; 5= PP, Polypropylene; 6 = PS; Polystyrene; 7 = other, other plastics.
For textile packaging, the best-known and most economical material is non-woven fabric made of polypropylene.
- Plotter
- A plotter is a computer-controlled machine. It draws or cuts the pattern pieces directly into the fabric, from the production file. The result is clean and identical from one piece to the next.
- Polyester
- Synthetic chemical fiber. Chemical fiber in which the fibreous substance is a long chain of composed synthetic polymer. The fibers are produced as filaments, short fibers and esters. This fiber has an excellent chemical and mechanical resistance and is resistant to shrinking and stretching.
- Portrait format
- The portrait format is a format whose largest dimension is the height. It is the most common format for pouches: a bottle, a perfume bottle, a pair of shoes are vertical objects. The pouch follows the line of the product, which gives a clean drape and a natural closure at the top. Stating the orientation of the format in your quote request avoids misunderstandings: width × height, in that order, remains the safest convention. Conversely, when the largest dimension is the width, the format is called landscape.
- Portrait format
-
The portrait format is a format whose largest dimension is the height. It is the most common format for pouches: a bottle, a perfume flask, a pair of shoes are vertical objects. The pouch follows the line of the product, which gives a clean drape and a natural closing at the top. Stating the orientation of the format in the price request avoids misunderstandings: width × height, in that order, remains the safest convention. Conversely, when the largest dimension is the width, the format is called landscape.
- Pose (printing)
- A pose is one or more copies printed at the same time on the same sheet or format. A pose is the unit of placement of the design. On a fabric width, the number of poses per row depends on the width of the design and on the fabric width. Three 20 cm poses on a 70 cm width, with the cutting margins, and the roll is full. The more poses per pass, the faster and cheaper the printing. It is a workshop calculation, part of the pricing of your custom pouches.
- PPP (points per inch)
- PPP (points par pouce) is the French equivalent of dots per square inch (DPI). The higher the figure, the sharper the image in print. An image meant for printing must be supplied at 300 ppp or 300 dpi minimum.
- PPWR
- PPWR stands for Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation, Regulation (EU) 2025/40 on packaging and packaging waste. It entered into force on 11 February 2025, applies since 12 August 2026, and replaces Directive 94/62/EC. It harmonises packaging rules across the European Union, including the future harmonised sorting label that will take over from national pictograms such as the Triman.
- Primary colors
- There are 3 primary colors (Cyan – Yellow – Magenta) that are at the extremities and the center of the solar spectrum. Much like white, they cannot be obtained by mixing other colors. However, black is obtained by mixing these 3 primary colors together.
- Print registration
- Precise setup for each printed shape to obtain an exact color alignment.
- Printing
- Process of impressing a drawing, image or text onto a support (paper, cardboard, fabric.) There are different printing methods but the main ones used in packaging are: offset, screen printing, digital, flexography and gravure printing.
R
- Raster (printing)
-
Number of dots per cm². Gray value expressed by relative surface area printed. Screen angles: angles at which the halftones of a separated color are made to output to a lithographic film. An incorrect angle screen may lead to moiré patterns.
- Rattail (type of cord)
-
This is a very tightly-woven and thighly-threaded thin cord.
- Recyclable
- To be recyclable, a packaging must be fit for re-use in a production circuit within a complete recycling chain.
- Recycling
- Recycling used fabric products (clothes, manufacturing offcuts, pouches, etc.) means bringing them back into the production cycle of the textile industry. At the end of the process, the raw material is regenerated and turned into new recycled fabrics cotton-based or recycled fabrics polyester-based.
- Reps
-
Weaving derived from canvas with fine longitudinal ribs across the front and back of the woven fabric.
- Resolution
- - see DPI – The resolution of a document or digital image file is expressed in DPI (Dots Per Inch.) A good resolution (300 DPI minimum) is required to obtain a good printing quality.
- RGB / RVB
- RGB stands for Red, Green and Blue in English; in French, RVB for Rouge, Vert, Bleu. It is a colour definition mode designed for screens. It is absolutely unsuitable for printing: the shades will not be respected. A graphic file in RGB mode must be converted to CMYK.
- Ribbon
-
This is a varyingly thin strip of fabric. We use satin or cotton ribbon for bags.
A ribbon is a more or less narrow strip of fabric. For pouches, we use satin or cotton ribbon. Most of the time, the ribbon acts as the tie that closes a classic pouch. On a flap pouch, it can be tied into a knot that adds a gift-like touch to the look. Our colour charts show satin, cotton, chevron and metallic ribbons, to match the fabric. .
- Roll (fabric)
-
Length of fabric wrapped around a tube.
S
- Satin
-
One of the three fundamental types of textile weaves alongside plain weave and twill weave. It is a resistant fabric with invisible weft threads. The front offers a smooth and shiny finish and the back is mat.
- Satin weave
- This is a particular weave without a visible weft because the crossing points between the warp and weft threads are hidden to provide a smooth, even and shiny aspect on the front and matte on the back.
- Screen for screen printing
- Printing form for silk-screening made with a polyester fabric of 80 to 200 mesh/cm , tightly stretched on a metal frame.
- Screen printing
- This printing method is based on a stencil technique. It uses a tight mesh screen, such as silk, stretched over a frame. This screen is coated in a photosensitive emulsion before being exposed to light. This hardens the emulsion in the exposed areas but leaves the unexposed parts soft. The ink will pass through the soft parts onto the support to be printed.
- Screen printing process
- Screen printing is based on the stencil principle. A screen is used, on which a very fine mesh fabric is stretched (originally silk). The screen is coated with a photosensitive emulsion, then partly covered with a mask before being exposed to light. The exposed areas harden and block the ink; the masked areas stay open, and the ink passes through them onto the substrate.
- Secondary colors
- Secondary colours result from mixing two primary colours. They are green, orange and violet. Green is obtained by mixing cyan and yellow, orange by mixing magenta and yellow, violet by mixing magenta and cyan. This notion of mixing matters for how a colour renders on substrate of another colour. Example: a blue printed on a red background will not look the same as on an ecru background.
- Silk
-
Animal fiber whose thread is obtained by reeling the cocoon made by the larva of the Bombyx Mori domestic silk moth. This thin, elastic and soft thread may range in length from 700 to 1200 meters: it is white and lustrous.
- Sleeve
- A sleeve is a fabric packaging with both ends left open. The product slides in through one of the two openings and may protrude from the other. It is the simplest packaging there is: a tube of fabric, cut to the right length. No cord, no bottom seam. The sleeve protects by wrapping. It suits elongated objects well: bottles, tubes, instruments, mechanical parts. It slips on and off in seconds, which makes it practical in the workshop or in logistics. In cotton or non-woven fabric, it is also an economical textile packaging to produce.
- Solid color
- A solid colour area is a printed surface in a single, even, homogeneous shade. It is printed without halftone screen, to obtain a uniform colour. It is the opposite of a gradient. For printing fabrics, screen printing excels at solids: the ink goes through the screen in a regular coat and covers the fabric well.
- Spinning
- It is the transformation of fiber to produce yarn.
- Synthetic fiber
- Synthetic fiber is entirely made from chemical components derived from oil. Some names: polyamide, polyester, acrylic, chlorofiber.
T
- Textile
- All fabrics obtained by weaving.
- To hem, A hem
- To hem a fabric is to turn an edge under – called a hem - and sew with stitches as invisible as possible from the front of the fabric. It keeps the fabric from fraying and must be invisible.
- To line
- To line means sewing a fabric (the lining) inside a pouch, to give it thickness or a high-end look for valuable items such as a famous champagne or designer shoes. Lining a pouch also brings extra protection for fragile objects.
- Triman (France)
-
For the French market, the "Triman" pictogram, together with sorting information, is mandatory on all products covered by a sorting instruction.
The French AGEC law (anti-waste for a circular economy law), in its implementing decree no. 2021-385 of 29 June 2021, sets out how the "Triman" logo and the "sorting instructions" must be used.
Since August 2026, the European PPWR regulation has introduced a harmonised sorting label for the whole European Union, which will take over from national pictograms from August 2028.
- Twill
-
One of the three fundamental types of textile weaves alongside satin and plain weave. It is characterized by a pattern of diagonal, parallel ribs on the front and a plain aspect on the back.
- Twill weave
- The weft-thread goes under a warp-thread, then above 3 others by offsetting by 1 thread each time, giving it its diagonal rib pattern on the front.
V
- Vector file
- A vector file guarantees printed image quality because it does not depend on resolution and doesn’t lose any of its properties when enlarged or reduced. Vector files have .ai - .eps - .pdf - .svg extensions. This type of file is required and indispensable for quality printing.
- Viscose
- Synthetic fiber made from cellulose, woven alone or with other synthetic fibers. This fiber is used to produce highly comfortable fabrics. Cellophane, rayon and fibranne are made from viscose.
- Voile
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A light, thin fabric made of cotton, viscose or silk.
W
- Warp and weft
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The warp threads are the lengthwise threads on the fabric loom. These threads are held stationary. The weft threads are woven in the width of the fabric, perpendicular to the warp threads. They are threaded over and under the warp threads. This results in what is called a weave.
- Warp thread – weft thread
- - see Warp and Weft -
- Waste
- Non-marketable manufacturing fraction required to set up the machines. Thus the notion of the manufacturing tolerance for the amount of manufactured packaging. If the waste is very low, the quantity of manufactured packagings can be superior to the ordered quantity and vice-versa if the waste is high.
- Weave
- Designates the type of weave, in other words the way the warp and weft threads are crossed. There are 3 basic weaving patterns: plain (canvas,) twill and satin.
- Weaving
- – see Weave -
- Wedging (materials)
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Wedging materials hold an object inside a packaging, to keep it in a given position and stop it from moving. Common wedging products include foam peanuts, bubble film, wood fibre, paper...
foam peanuts air bubble wrap wood fiber paper fiber 
- Weft (fabric)
- Threads which, with the warp threads, are used to weave fabric. These are the threads parallel to the width of a piece of fabric. See warp and weft.
- Width
- Width of a roll of paper, cardboard or fabric (bolt.) This word also designates the workable width of a machine (paper machine, corrugator, printer, cutting table.)
Y
- Yardage
- Quantity of fabric necessary to create something.
- Yarn
- Textile yarn is the result of spinning. The threads are worked, intertwined with the help of a loom to obtain a fabric. The yarn is a single-twisted (a single and unique yarn with no twist) or double-twiwted (interlacing of at least two threads together to obtain a single yarn.)