Your guide to promotional product imprinting options.
Glossary of Imprint Terms
Imprinting: a general term used to convey embellishment on promotional products. Specific terms include silk screening or screen printing; pad printing; 4-color process and digital printing; offset or lithography printing; etching; engraving; colorfill; embroidery; debossing; embossing; hotstamping; foil or laser stamping; personalization; die casting or striking.
Screen printing: an image is transferred to the printed surface by ink, which is pressed through a stenciled screen and treated with a light-sensitive emulsion. Film positives are put in contact with the screens and exposed to light, hardening the emulsion not covered by film and leaving a soft area on the screen for the squeegee to press ink through. Also called silk screening.
Pad printing: a recessed surface is covered with ink and then the plate is wiped clean, leaving ink in the recessed areas. A silicone pad is then pressed against the plate, pulling the ink out of the recesses and pressing it directly onto the product.
4-color process printing: a system where a color image is separated into 4 different color values by the use of filters and screens (usually done digitally). The resulting color separated images are transferred to plates on a printing press. The printing press reproduces the original color image by printing with the 4 ink colors (CMYK) - cyan (blue), magenta (red), yellow and black. These four colors can be combined to create thousands of colors. Also called CMYK printing.
Digital printing: an artwork image printed in full color on a promotional product itself or on paper that is then adhered to the product.
Offset or lithography printing: a type of printing from a flat surface that has been treated so it repels the ink except where the printing is required.
Etching: using a process in which an image is first covered with a protective coating that resists acid, then exposed, leaving bare metal and protected metal. The acid attacks only the exposed metal, leaving the image etched onto the surface.
Engraving: cutting an image into metal, wood or glass by one of three methods: computerized engraving, hand tracing, or hand engraving.
Colorfill: screen printing an image and then debossing it onto a surface.
Embroidery: stitching a design onto fabric through the use of high-speed, computer-controlled sewing machines. Artwork must first be "digitized."
Digitizing: a specialized computer process of rendering two-dimensional artwork into "thread stitches" for creating an embroidery design in specific thread colors.
Debossing: pressing an image into the product to achieve a depression.
Embossing: impressing an image onto a product to achieve a raised surface.
Hot stamp: a design on a die is heated and pressed onto the printing surface.
Foil or Laser stamp: applying metallic or colored foil imprints to vinyl, leather or paper surfaces.
Personalization: imprinting an item with a person's name or initials using various methods such as embroidery, mechanical engraving, laser engraving, silk screening, hot stamping, and debossing.
Die-casting: injecting molten metal into the cavity of a carved die - also called a mold.
Die-striking: producing emblems and other flat promotional products by striking a blank metal sheet with a hammer that holds the die.
Pantone Matching System (PMS): a book of standardized color in a fan format used to identify, match and communicate colors in order to produce accurate color matches in printing. Each color has a coded number indicating instructions for mixing inks to achieve that color.
Camera-ready: artwork that is black and white and has very clean, crisp lines that make it easy to scan and suitable for photographic reproduction.
Production-ready: artwork that is in a suitable format for optimal printing. Vector art saved as a pdf or eps files are the most widely acceptable formats for imprinting promotional products.
Bleeds: because printers cannot print right to the edge of a paper or a fabric sheet, the printer must use a sheet larger than the required size, print beyond the edge (usually 1/8" bleed) and then cut it down to the required size.
Set up: the transformation of artwork into a mechanized process to imprint on products.
Template: the shape in the size of the imprint area that is used to format the ad copy.
Imprint area: the location on a product, with specific dimensions, in which the imprint is placed. Also called ad copy area.
Additional location: more than one imprint area available on certain items.
Typesetting: placement of ad copy text in the imprint area.
Proof: a preproduction image of the imprint to check for size, position, correctness, color and quality of the artwork.
Virtual proof: a preproduction image of the product with the artwork shown in the imprint area to check for size, position, correctness, color and quality of the artwork.
Pre-production sample: an imprinted product created for approval before an order goes into production.
Exact quantity charge: an option to produce and ship the exact number of imprinted items ordered when a process is subject to over/underuns.
Overrun and underrun: if, in the production process of promotional products, an overrun occurs, the additional items are shipped and typically billed up to 5% above the quantity ordered. For an underrun, the billed amount is reduced accordingly.
Less than minimum charge: an option of ordering fewer imprinted items than the minimum quantity in the first price column shown in product descriptions.