GLOSSARY
INFORMATION & RESOURCES
Our experienced creative team generates truly original, stand-out packaging designs that grab consumer attention, and help improve the retail price of our customers’ products and increase sales.
A-E
Acetate
A type of Film used for Window Patching. Acetate (or more correctly Cellulose Diacetate) combines unbeatable clarity with exceptional environmental credentials. Acetate is an excellent general purpose film that ticks all the right boxes. It is made from responsibly sourced and sustainable wood pulp, and is fully home-compostable.
Aeroplane Tuck End
Another name for an Opposite Tuck End carton.
Autolock Base
An alternative name for a Crashlock Base
Aperture
A shape cut out on the surface of a carton. These are often used in order to be able to view, or even touch, the contents within a carton. Sometimes they are uses in conjunction with a Window. They can also be used to create Hanging Holes to enable the carton to be effectively displayed on rails.
Biodegradable
Biodegradable waste is a type of waste, typically originating from plant or animal sources, which may be degraded by other living organisms. Waste that cannot be broken down by other living organisms are called non-biodegradable.
Blank
A folding carton that has been die-cut and creased but has yet to be folded and glued.
Bleed
In preparing artwork for print, any part of the artwork touching a profile edge should be extended by 2 mm outside the edge. This is referred to as “bleed”. For more information, see our Artwork & Preflight resources.
Blister Card
A card made from Cartonboard onto which has been applied a blister varnish. This varnish, which becomes sticky when heated, is used to adhere a clear plastic material which has previously been thermoformed to a suitable shape to contain the article to be packed. The article is therefore trapped inside the blister allowing full display.
Board Coating
In order to improve whiteness, smoothness and gloss of Cartonboard, one or more layers of coating is applied. Coated board is usually made up of a pigment, which could be china clay, calcium carbonate or titanium dioxide. Usually it is a combination of these.
Braille
Braille is a tactile writing system used by the blind and the visually impaired. It is traditionally written with embossed paper. We are able to add Braille to cartons that we manufacture as part of the Cutting & Creasing process.
CAD
Computer Aided Design refers to software that allows us to create and model packaging products electronically. Our software enables us to create bespoke packaging designs, and create 3D models of the packaging based on the dimensions we have input, allowing us a preview of the finished carton.
Caliper
A measurement term used to describe the thickness of Cartonboard. It is expressed in units of thousandths of an millimetre called Microns.
Carton
An abbreviation for Folding Carton.
Cartonboard
Carton board is a thick paper based material. it is usually defined in terms of thickness (in Microns) and weight (in Grammage). Carton board can be made as single- or multi-ply layers of fibrous cellulose material to form a rigid or semi-rigid construction. Carton board can be easily cut and formed, is lightweight, and because it is strong, is ideal for use in packaging. Carton board is normally of at least 300 microns thickness with a minimum weight of 200 gsm.
Clamshell Cards
A piece of Cartonboard packaging that is folded and glued to form an opening box. These are provided “nested” together. A typical example is used in the fast food industry.
CMYK
The CMYK process is a method of printing colour by using four inks —cyan, magenta, yellow, and black. A majority of the world’s printed material is produced using the CMYK process. However not all colours can be reproduced using CMYK and the use of spot, or special, colours is regularly used in printed packaging.
Consignment Stock
We are happy to provide a consignment stock services to our customers. We can provide both raw material or finished product services. In the case of raw materials we will hold an agreed tonnage of Cartonboard at our expense, on the basis that any customer wishing to take advantage of this will later use the stock for their packaging products within an agreed time scale. This service ensures that we always have stock available for re-prints of your packaging, without you bearing the the upfront cost of holding stock. We also offer finished product on a consignment stock basis whereby we take advantage of economies of scale by delivering all your product at the same time and only invoice you for what you have used each month. Again there will be an agreed time scale on the length of the holding.
Corner Glued Tray
A type of Tray where the corners have been pre-glued in order to reduce the time needed to erect the tray. Four corner glued trays will have an open top. However we are also able to supply Trays with six pre-glued corners which will produce a tray with an integral lid.
Crashlock Base
A type of closure where the extended Flaps on the base of a carton are glued together in such a way that when the carton is pressed in on opposing sides, it will erect and the base will automatically lock into place. This type of closure saves a significant amount of time when cartons are hand filled.
CTP
Computer to Plate technology enables us to send a digital designs straight from our Prepress department computers directly to the printing plate equipment. The printing plate is imaged using high speed lasers. One printing plate is produced for each colour to be printed.
Cutter Guide
A cutter guide is a document which visually represents the shape of a carton Blank. A cutter guide should be used as a template for artwork. We are able to supply cutter guides produced from our CAD system as a digital pdf file on request.
Cutting & Creasing
A process carried out during the manufacture of folding cartons and die-cut cards. The machinery is loaded with sheets of (printed) Cartonboard and a Die Board is used to both cut the shape of the carton or card from the Cartonboard. The machinery os also often able to remove the waste Cartonboard from the sheet at the same time in a process known as Stripping.
Debossing
A means of means of producing a depressed image on the surface of a carton performed during the Cutting & Creasing operation during carton manufacture. The reverse of embossing in known as Embosssing.
Die Board
A means of means of producing a depressed image on the surface of a carton performed during the Cutting & Creasing operation during carton manufacture. The reverse of embossing in known as Embosssing.
Divider
A piece of Cartonboard within a carton that divides it into two compartments, enabling a single carton to carry two or more products.
Dot Gain
In printing, all colours are made up of tiny dots. When the ink of one of those tiny printed dot ‘spreads’, it can make a colour appear darker. In our proofing process, we run tests for dot gain to ensure your colours are as close to perfect as possible.
DPI
DPI is and acronym for Dots Per Inch an refers to the resolution of an image. We request that images that form part of supplied artwork have a resolution of 300 dpi.
Dust Flaps
The unglued side Flaps that extend and turn down into the carton upon closure to keep dust and other foreign particles out.
Embossing
A means of producing a raised image on the surface of a carton performed during the Cutting & Creasing operation during carton manufacture. The reverse of embossing in known as Debossing.
Envelope Base
A type of closure where the four Flap on the carton base are cut so that they can be pressed inwards and locked together much like an envelope where the flap has been tucked in rather than sealed to the outside.
F-R
Flute
A corrugated board. Fluted materials are often used as inserts to protect delicate items. For more information, see our Materials page.
Foil Blocking
Foil blocking is the process of applying metallic or ‘foil’ effects to a surface of a carton. It uses a metal die – like a stamp – onto which the design is chemically etched or crafted by hand from supplied artwork. Foil is available in a range of colours and patterns or even with a holographic effect. For more information, see our Materials page.
Folding Boxboard
A type of Cartonboard. For more information, see our Materials page.
Folding Carton
A folding carton is a container made of Cartonboard and is cut, folded, glued for transport to end users either in a flat or collapsed form for erection a the packing point. Folding cartons are often printed and the may be further embellished by the use of coatings varnishes or metallic foils.
Glue
An adhesive substance used to which is applied to bond two surfaces together. The glue can be applied cold or by using a hot melt system. At Bridger Packaging we use PVA adhesives.
Glue Flap
A type of Flap on the end of a folding carton that is applied with a narrow seam of glue and adhered to the opposite end to form the a tubular carton.
Glueing
The act of applying the glue during the finishing process of a folding carton. Glue can be applied either by direct contact or by using high pressure non-contact injection nozzles.
Grain
The direction of the majority of fibres in Cartonboard. Grain is important in folding carton design as it has an impact on the strength of the carton.
Grammage
The weight of Cartonboard is expressed in grammes per square metre and is usually abbreviated to gsm.
Hanging Hole
A special type of Aperture on a carton, Blister Card or Skinpack card used to enable the carton to be hung on rails for display purposes. They are also known as euroslots. Cartons and cards can be supplied with or without these Apertures cleared.
Houghland Base
Another name for an Envelope Base.
Ink
A paste that contains pigments and dyes which is used on our printing presses to colour the Cartonboard or Microflute to achieve a desired image. The four colour process set CMYK are used to reproduce images and these are often supplemented by either Pantone inks or special colours.
Low Migration Ink
A special type of Ink designed for sensitive packaging applications such as food, pharmaceutical, personal care and tobacco. compounds contained in the printing inks must not have any effect on the appearance, flavour, odour, taste, or any negative effect on the safety of the product contained within the packaging.
Make Ready
All preparation and machine set-up times needed before printing, cutting & creasing, windowing, and the gluing of a folding carton. Typically make ready responsibilities include alignment and are necessary for producing high quality folding cartons.
Microflute
A lightweight, finely fluted paperboard that is both protective and printable – avoiding the need for protective inserts. For more information, see our Materials page.
Micron
An abbreviation of micrometre which is a unit of measurement equivalent to one thousandth of a millimetre. It is the usual measure for the thickness of Cartonboard. It is represented by the symbol “µ”.
Opposite Tuck End
A Style of Folding Carton. This carton has both Tuck Flaps on the same side or panel.
Paperboard
Another name for Cartonboard particularly in common use in the USA.
Parallel Tuck End
Another name for an Opposite Tuck End carton.
PDF is an abbreviation of Portable Document Format developed by Adobe Systems. It is an ISO open standard file format used to present documents in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems. Each PDF file encapsulates a complete description of a fixed-layout flat document, including the text, fonts, graphics, and other information needed to display it. Our entire Prepress workflow is based on PDF format.
Pick & Place Window
A type of window, usually pre-creased, that is placed inside a carton to allow viewing on three sides.
PLA
A type of Film used for Window Patching. PLA is an abbreviation of Polylactic Acetate. This material is completely Biodegradable and is made from renewable corn starch. Its popularity is increasing due to its environmental benefits although it is not as clear or glossy as other materials.
Polyester
A type of Film used for Window Patching. The most common polyester film used is PET (Polyethylene terephthalate) which is inherently tough and has excellent scratch resistance. Its ability to withstand great temperature differences means that this film is as comfortable in the freezer as it is in the oven.
Pre-flighting
Preflighting (or preflight checking) is the process used in the graphic arts, print and publishing industries to check certain document types to make sure they are suitable for output. The process of preflight checking a document can take place manually within certain software applications or automatically within a workflow, which dramatically reduces the risk of output problems after a file has been rasterised (RIPped), one of the major causes of print and production delays. Fore more information please see our Artwork and Pre-flight page.
Prepress
The combination of activities for preparing for the creation of a folding carton. The activities include constructional design of the carton, creation of the cutter guide, manufacture of the die. In addition this process also covers artwork preparation and receipt, Pre-flighting, and the production of printing plates and coating blankets.
Proof
A proof is a document sent to our customers which shows how the finished print will look. Proofs are important because they are used to confirm what is being printed, while helping to spot and correct any final errors before starting the printing process. At Bridger Packaging we use soft proofs unless requested otherwise. For more details please see our Digital Artwork & Proofing page.
PVA
A corrugated board. Fluted materials are often used as inserts to protect delicate items. For more information, see our Materials page.
PVC
A type of Film used for Window Patching. PVC is an abbreviation of Polyvinyl chloride. PVC has excellent rigidity, transparency and gloss. However its popularity in recent years has declined due to the presence of chlorine use in its manufacture.
Reverse Tuck End
A Style of Folding Carton. the Tuck Flaps are on opposing panels at each end; that is, the top Flap will tuck into the front of the carton and the bottom Flap into the back. This carton has a more economic layout compared with an alternative style known as an Opposite Tuck End carton.
Recycled Material
Reclaimed material from newspapers, Cartonboard offcuts, paper, and other recyclables which goes through re-pulping to become recycled Cartonboard.
Repro
An abbreviation for the term reproduction, which in the print industry, involves replication of artwork supplied to images on printing plates.
S-Z
Score
A partial cut in a carton Blank which can be folded without cracking or breaking the carton.
Shelf Ready Trays
A Cartonboard or Microflute Tray that can hold and display products on shop shelves. Some shelf ready trays can double as a transit outer, to save on total pack cost – ask one of our sales staff for more details.
Skinpack
This is a similar process to the use of clear blisters to secure product to a die cut card, except that the film is vacuum formed over the contents direct to the card rather than using a preformed blister.
Skillet
A tubular carton which has four Flaps at each end. Two of these are subsidiary flaps which fold in first and are covered, either fully or partially, by the remaining two Flaps which are glued to the those folded in first. These cartons can be filled by hand but normally the are machine erected, filled and glued automatically. The most common form are seen as breakfast cereal cartons.
Sleeve
A Style of Folding Carton which is in tubular form. The sleeve may be open ended at both ends or may have one, or more, flaps at either end to enclose the contents more securely. Example of this type of style include Tuck End Cartons, Envelope Base cartons, Crashlock Base cartons and Skillets.
Slit Lock
A simple means of locking the end of a carton. While there is improved security in the use of slit locks, the breaking of the lock when the carton is first opened may cause the carton to be re-usable.
Spectrophotometry
Spectrophotometry is a method to measure light intensity by measuring the wavelength of light. In the printing industry the most common application is the measurement of light absorption. A spectrophotometer will illuminate the sample for measurement with white light. The sample will absorb some of that light and reflect a portion back. The reflected light passes through a detector which splits the light into separate wavelength intervals, and outputs those values to the device itself or an attached computer. Readings produce a spectral reflectance curve which can be used to make sure a colour conforms to a given specification.
Standard Coated Kraft
A type of Cartonboard. For more information, see our Materials page.
Stripping
The removal process of the excess board created by Apertures, Hanging Holes, or the nesting of cartons during the die-cutting process. This process can be performed by hand or on the Cutting & Creasing machine.
Style
Folding Cartons come in a variety of forms each of which is classified into one of many styles. Examples include Sleeves, Trays and Wallets.
Tear Strip
A perforated band that is die-cut into a carton blank to aid in the opening of a package after it has been filled and sealed.
Thumb Hole
A semi-circular cut made in a Folding Carton to help aid in opening the package or allowing contents to be poured out.
Tray
A Style of Folding Carton. This form of packaging is usually seen on supermarket shelves and is very economic in the use of Cartonboard. A tray can be manufactured either by using glued corners or by extended tabs entering into slots. They are available with and with lids which may be integral or separate.
Tuck
A type of Flap used to seal one end of a carton. To improve security of the carton contents it may incorporate a Slit Lock.
Tuck End Carton
A Style of Folding Carton and the most popular form. A typical example would be the carton used to pack a tube of toothpaste. The carton can be filled by hand or machine erected and filled. Normally the Tuck Flaps will be on opposing panels at each end; that is, the top Flap will tuck into the front of the carton and the bottom Flap into the back. This is known as a Reverse Tuck End carton which has a more economic layout compared with an alternative style known as an Opposite Tuck End carton. The Opposite Tuck End carton has both Tuck Flaps on the same side or panel.
Virgin Fibre
Fibre made from organic materials such as wood chips which have never been used before to make pulp or cartonboard.
Wallet
A piece of Cartonboard that is creased and possibly also glued so it can hold a slimline product, such as labels.
White Lined Chipboard
A type of Cartonboard. For more information, see our Materials page.
Window
An aperture in a carton which is covered with a transparent film stuck to the inside of a carton allowing the contents to be seen without opening the carton. Materials are available where the film forms a combination of panels incorporating creases. See also Pick and Place Window.
Window Patching
A process by which Film, made from Polyester, Acetate, PVC or PLA, is applied to a carton, such as a sandwich tray, tissue carton or gift box. The carton is fed into a machine, glue is applied, the film is cut and fixed in