Decorating Terms

FAQ's | Terms: Printing, Artwork, Industry

Debossing: depressing an image into a material’s surface so that the image sits below the product surface

Embossing: impressing an image in relief to achieve a raised surface

Hot Stamp: setting a design on a relief die, which is then heated and pressed onto the printing surface

Laser or Foil Stamp: applying metallic or colored foil imprints to vinyl, leather or paper surfaces

Personalization: imprinting an item with a person's name using one of several methods such as mechanical engraving, laser engraving, hot stamping, debossing, sublimation, or screen printing, to name a few.

Die-casting: injecting molten metal into the cavity of a carved die (a mold)

Die-striking: producing emblems and other flat promotional products by striking a blank metal sheet with a hammer that holds the die

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.

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.

Colorfill: screen printing an image and then debossing it onto the vinyl’s surface.

.