Adhesive, Latex – Adhesive made from rubber-based material used in the sealing of envelopes (AKA: Pressure sensitive, self-sealing).

Adhesive, Re-moistening – An adhesive activated by water or by organic solvent. Used on the seal flap of envelopes.

Adhesive, Back Gum – An adhesive used as a permanent seal between the bottom and side envelope seams that cannot be re-moistened for sealing.

Airmail – An envelope style printed with a red and blue border recognizable from both sides and the words "AIR MAIL" on the face.

Announcement – An envelope style with a medium length square flap (AKA: A-2, A-6 etc).

Bang Tail – A wallet style envelope incorporating a perforated flap extending from the throat ( AKA: Bank-By-Mail).

Bankers Flap – An envelope style with the opening on the long edge and a diamond-shape flap.

Baronial – An envelope style that has a large pointed seal flap. This style envelope is normally almost square in dimension. The most common use is for greeting cards or social stationery. The name Baronial is derived from "baron" which signifies a high social standing.

Basis Weight – The weight, in pounds, of a ream (500 sheets) of a paper cut to its standard basic size. Each major paper grade, like cover, bond, or offset, has its own basic sheet size, which determines its basis weight. Although the sheets in a given ream of paper may be larger or smaller than this example, basis weight refers to how much that ream would weigh if all the sheets were the related basic size.

Blank – The basic shape of an envelope before it is folded.

Blanket – Part of the litho process whereby the image is offset onto the blanket before printing.

Bleed – An image or printed color that extends off the trimmed edge of a page or any fold of an envelope. Bleeding one or more edges of a printed page generally increases both the amount of paper needed and the overall production cost of a printed job. Bleeds are created by trimming the page after printing.

Bond Paper – A grade of writing or printing paper, widely used for letterheads and business forms. Bond papers are used where economy, strength, durability, and permanence are essential requirements.

Bottom Flap – The lower flap on the back of an envelope that makes up part of the envelope body. See Illustration above.

Bottom Fold – The lower most fold or crease at the bottom end of an envelope. See Illustration above.

Burst – A means to gauge the strength of paper, using either PSI or KPA (pounds per square inch or kilo pascal) measurements.

Business Reply – An envelope style design preprinted with first class postage, indicia and return address for postage fees to be billed back to the originator.

Caliper – The thickness of a sheet of paper, measured by a micrometer gauge. Often expressed in points, each being 1/1000 inch, or in millimeters.

Catalog – All envelopes with an "open end" flap are called catalog envelopes, however, "open side" catalogs are becoming increasingly popular since the advent of automatic inserting machines.

Cellulose Fiber – The main component of the walls of all plant cells, cellulose gives plants their structural support and makes plant material fibrous. Both cotton and wood fibers contain mostly cellulose.

Center Seam – The permanent seam that is located in the approximate center of the envelope running from the bottom fold and seam up through the envelope terminating at the throat.

Coin Envelope – Small open end style envelope, used for holding coins, seeds or other small items.

Collection – An envelope style that has an open side, with two side seams under a large seal flap. The flap is nearly the same size as the envelope.

Commercial Style – These are the most common business style envelopes. They are the "open side" styles of diagonal or side seam constructions. Applies to a wide range of sizes of both regular and window envelopes.

Corner Card – The return address or other identification (i.e. logo) of the sender usually in the upper left hand corner of the envelope.

Currency – An envelope style with an open side, two side seams under, with an oval cut-out.

Cut-Out – The term applied to an envelope having a panel or panels cut out of the face or back and not having a covering over the panel.

Die – A tool usually made of hard metal (but may be of another suitable material) for shaping, cutting, or stamping out parts and blanks.

Die-cutting – The process of using a formed metal-edged die to precision cut or to cut shapes into a piece of paper. If a printing project requires a custom-made die the total cost of the job will increase.

Doctor Blade – A scraper mechanism which regulates the amount of ink on certain types of printing presses.

Dot Compensation – Adjusting the size of the dots in halftones or four-color images to allow for dot gain and to ensure that the image color and detail print as intended.

Dot Gain – The tendency for the dots in halftones and four-color images to print larger than they are on the film or plate. If the printer does not compensate for this, images may be distorted appearing darker or less vivid than intended.

Double Window – An envelope style with two see-through areas, or windows, that are typically used so that the return address and delivery address can show through the window. This saves having to address or apply labels to the envelopes.

DPI – Acronym for dots per inch. The number of dots that fit horizontally and vertically into a one inch measure. Generally, the more dots per inch the more detail is captured, and the sharper the resulting image.

Drug – A small envelope style with a diagonal seam and gummed flap.

Dual Purpose Mailer – An envelope style that has an open side, with two side seams under a large wallet flap with spot seals and perforation, used for both the outgoing and return envelope.

Dummy – A hand-cut folded sample of an envelope prior to production.

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