Paper 101 - Glossary of Terms

We've compiled a list of common paper-industry terms to help you navigate the paper ordering process. As always, if there is something you don't understand, please use our contact form and let us know. We are here and happy to help.

Acid-Free - paper that has a netural pH of 7.0 or more, and is free of elements such as acidic pulp, lignin and sulfur, 

Acid, Lignin and Chlorine Free - paper that is free of these substances, which degrade paper in a short period of time. 

Antique Vellum - also known as Vellum Opaque - not to be confused with translucent vellum, antique vellum refers to the fine-tooth finish on a sheet of paper; the sheet may appear smooth, but a magnified or closer inspection of the surface will reveal a fine and even rough or toothy finish.

Archival - paper that is free of harmful substances l (see Acid, Lignin and Chlorine Free above) and can be used for long-term projects. This paper is usually lightfast an will not degrade with proper handling and storage. 

Basis Weight - the weight in lbs. of 500 sheets of a grade of paper in its folio or parent sheet size. See our Paper Weight section for more details.

Belly Band - a strip of material that is used to wrap around an invitation ensemble to hold it together, and as an embellishment for your invitation suite. Can be made from any material such as ribbon, lace, twine, paper, or cardstock which can be printed, calligraphied or even plain, and often embellished with wax seals.

Bleed - the area that extends beyond the trim line of a printed document or design, usually .125 (1/8) inch, necessary when a printed design must extend to the very edge of the finished piece.

Blind Embossing - the art of pressing or depressing designs into paper without the use of inks.

Bond Paper - a light-weight paper that is thin and flexible paper most commonly used for commercial printing, copiers, and printing book pages.

Bone Folder - a tool made from bone or hard plastic used to crease, score, or burnish paper  (see Score below).

Book Weight - also known as Text Weight, is a light-weight paper that is a thin and flexible paper most commonly used for stationery, printing documents, and commercial printing and book pages.

Calendering - a process used in paper making that presses large sheets of paper through rollers to make it smoother. The harder paper is calendered, the smoother the finish.

Caliper - the thickness of a sheet of paper, usually measured with a tool called a micrometer.

Cardstock Paper - paper that is thicker and has a heavier basis weight than text, bond and index weight papers, and includes a variety of textures and finishes popular for higher-end printing and paper design applications.

CMYK - stands for the 4-color printing model colors of Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black vs. RGB, which stands for Red, Green, Blue and is the color model used for digital screens. 

Coated Paper-C1S, C2S - is paper that is finished with a special coating. Coatings can be applied to enhance digital printing or to apply a special finish to a paper such as pearlescent, gloss, or metallic finishes. Coatings might be applied to only one side of the paper, and is commonly designated with a C1S (coated one side) abbreviation, whereas coatings applied to both sides of the paper are designated as C2S (coated two sides).

Color Flooding - the process of laying down a full color background or large area of ink when printing.

Construction Paper - low-cost paper made with ground wood, resulting in a rougher, more porous, and less refined paper product, most popular for school-aged paper projects.

Cover Weight - a paper classification that is most commonly associated with cardstock. Not to be confused with index which is lighter weight paper. See our Paper Weight section for more details.

Cricut - a popular electronic die-cutting machine brand.

Crop Marks - printer's marks on a design that can may show the bleed lines and trim lines where the document will be cut down after printing.

Debossing - creating depressed patterns on paper using various methods such as with a blind letterpress (no ink is used) or a metal die.

Die - similar to a cookie cutter, a die is made from metal and comes in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. The die is used to cut paper into it's respective shape using a manual die-cutting machine or can be used to deboss paper.

Die-Cutting - a method of cutting paper into shapes with a manual die-cutting machine using plates and metal dies, or an electronic die-cutting machine that utilizes a blade or electronic laser beam. Personal electronic machines such as a Cricut, use a small stationary blade. Commercial electronic die-cutters utilize stationary blades, rotary blades or lasers.

Embossing - creating a raised or depressed pattern on paper using various methods such as dry embossing with a stencil or embossing machine, heat embossing with embossing powders and a heat gun, or paste embossing, 

Engraving - a older method of printing, engraving involves cutting "engraving" the design to be printed into a solid intaglio printing plate or other metal material, then filling the design with ink and transferring it to paper using a printing press (see Laser Engraving).

Euro Flap - the flap of an envelope that goes down to a slightly rounded point.

Finish - the surface texture of a sheet of paper that can range from smooth as silk to patterned finishes and everything in between.

Foam Squares or Tape - A square or continuous tape that is made of foam and used to add height to elements in paper crafting.

Foiling - applying metallic foil to a print or design using techniques that include toner-reactive foiling and hot foil stamping.

Guillotine Cutter - a machine with a heavy blade used to cut paper; available in many sizes from tabletop manual swing arm for home use to electronic stand-alone units for commercial use.

GSM - stands for "grams per square meter" and is a standard universal measurement of paper weight across all grades or types of paper. Unlike the pound measurement which varies based on the type of paper and does not translate across different types of paper.

Index Paper - a stiff, smooth and rigid sheet commonly used for index cards and office folders, and has a lighter basis weight than cardstock. 

Inkjet - a printer that uses liquid inks to print onto paper. This type of printing requires an uncoated (raw) paper surface or one that is specially treated for inkjet printing.

Laser Engraving - A design is engraved into paper using a laser.

Letterpress - the earliest form of printing invented, also known as "relief" printing, a letterpress creates an debossed print into a heavyweight paper, usually with ink, but can be a "blind" press with no ink. Letterpress is a popular choice for high-end invitations.

Lightfast - the degree to which paper resists fading and yellowing over time through the elimination of harmful substances in the paper-making proceess such as acid and lignin.

Lignin - an organic polymer best described as a natural plant glue that hardens to give trees and woody plants their rigidity.

Long Grain - Paper that is cut with the grain r.unning the length of a sheet of paper.

Matte - the finish of paper that has no shine or light reflection.

Metallic - the finish of paper that has a metallic-like shine or luster; includes pearlescent, mirror, and glitter finishes.

Micrometer - an instrument used to measure the thickness of paper (see Caliper).

Mirror - the finish of paper that provides a reflection resembling a mirror. Keep in mind that this is paper, not glass. However, the reflection of our mirrored cardstock is of the highest quality on the market today.

Mulberry Paper - a specialty paper made from the bark of mulberry trees.

Ombre - paper that has color gradation from light to dark or dark to light across the sheet, which can be of different colors or in the same color family.

Paper Grain - the direction that paper fibers run in a sheet of paper. They can be Long grain, running with the length of the sheet, or short grain, running with the width of the sheet. Paper is most flexible with the paper grain and most resistant against the grain.

Parchment Paper - a type of paper that can have varying degrees of translucency, mottled color, and usually an uneven surface; originally made of animal skin, we are happy to report modern manufacturing now uses cellulose fibers from trees and plants. This paper is popular for calligraphy, letters, documents, and certificates.

PDF - stands for Portable Document Formula, the document type created by Adobe and often used as the document type when printing.

Pearlescent - also referred to as shimmer or pearl paper; has a finish created by using a fine metallic coating on the surface of the paper so that it reflects light and resembles a pearl.

Pixel - the smallest unit of measurement in digital display.

Point (pt.) - a measurement of the thickness of a sheet of paper; 1 pt. equals .0254 mm or .01388 inches.

Post-Consumer Waste - refers to recycled materials used in the manufacture of paper that had been previously consumed for a prior purpose.

Pound (lb.) - a measurement of the "basis weight" of a specific grade of paper.

Proof - a pre-press image of a design or document to be printed to check for accuracy;  can be a digital proof to check for accuracy of printed information, or a physical printed "hard" copy that allows for both a check for accuracy of information as well as media and ink colors

Recycled - refers to materials used in the manufacture of paper that had been used in the manufacture of a previous product and may or may not include post-consumer waste.

Registration Marks - printers marks that look like a bullseye with cross hairs and print outside the final trim area of a design or document. They assist in aligning separate layers that may exist in the design, eliminate ghosting, and mark the vertical and horizontal centers of a print design or document.

RGB - stands for Red, Green, Blue, the color model for digital screens, vs. CMYK, which stands for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black and is the color model for 4-color printing.

Safe Zone - this is an area, usually .125 (1/8) inch inside the trim line where the print design should stay within to avoid being trimmed off.

Score - making a defined crease in cardstock paper, either manually with a scoring/folding tool such as a bone folder or mechanically with electronic or hydraulic equipment. The score line should be an impression they does not tear or cut into the paper fibers, but be deep enough to allow the paper to be folded into a neat and straight crease without cracking.

Scor-Tape - a double-sided adhesive tape that comes in different widths and has virtually no thickness.

Scrapbooking - the art of documenting a variety of subjects such as family life, special events, vacations, storytelling and more in a book format using paper, art media, photographs, and embellishments.

Short Grain - Paper where the grain is running with the shorter width of a sheet of paper.

Silhouette - a popular electronic die-cutting machine brand.

Solid-Core - the color of paper is the same throughout the sheet, color goes all the way through the sheet, so the middle, inside or "core", is the same solid color.

Text Weight - also known as Book Weight, is a light-weight paper that is a thin and flexible paper most commonly used for stationery, and printing documents, and for quilling and paper flowers in paper crafting.

Toner - a dry powder used in digital and laser printing that bonds to the top of paper using extreme heat.

Tooth - small peaks and valleys in a textured paper, that can vary in intensity, sometimes not easily visible to the naked eye.

Trim Line - this line indicates where a printed piece will be cut or "trimmed" after printing.

Translucent Vellum - a smooth and transparent (e through) sheet of paper resembling frosted glass; it can have varying degrees of translucency but is never crystal clear; traditionally made of calf skin, modern manufacturing only uses cellulose fibers from trees and plants. Translucent vellum paper and wraps have many applications, and is popular for wedding invitations.

Vellum Opaque  - not to be confused with translucent vellum, opaque or antique vellum refers to the fine-tooth finish on a sheet of paper; the sheet may appear smooth, but a magnified or closer inspection of the surface will reveal a fine and even rough or toothy finish. This finish can be most apparent in printing applications and not recommended when a smooth print finish is desired.

Washi-Tape - a decorative tape that is sticky on the backside.

Wood Veneer - veneer is very thin wood shaved directly from a tree trunk and is available in varying thicknesses. Our wood veneer is very thin and adhered to a cardstock back. It is made to be used like cardstock paper and works with almost any paper-crafting application. It is not intended for wood shop or wood working projects.