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GlossaryA| B| C| D| E| F| G| H| I| J| K| L| M| N| O| P| Q| R| S| T| U| V| W| X| Y| Z Abrasion Resistance: The resistance of a surface to rubbing or friction. A measure of durability as opposed to hardness. Acrylic: PLEXIGLAS® is the registered trademark for acrylic sheeting. Optically clear, rigid material, resistant to some chemicals, not solvents. More brittle than Lexan, Acrylic is available in a variety of translucent and opaque colors, as well as clear. Adhesive: A substance that provides or promotes adhesion. Commonly found on the back of vinyl. Adhesives are often activated by pressure and/or heat. Adhesive Anchors: Used on veneer brick surfaces and fasteners located close to corners, where the high pressures associated with expansion anchors could raise the risk of being pulled out. Adhesive anchors are bonded directly to the substrate by filling an oversized drilled hole, which contains the threaded fastener, with an epoxy adhesive. Anodizing: A process used to improve corrosion resistance of aluminum and aluminum-based alloys. The material is cleaned, then immersed in a bath of acids. The metal is the positive pole, or anode, in the acid bath. A current is applied and oxidation occurs. After the item rinsed, a second step or sealing treatment is applied. This is also when chromate is added, resulting in various colors. Awning Cord: Small-diameter cord used for tying down awning covers and for many utility purposes; most commonly a cotton braid with stretch resistant fiber core. Awnings: An awning is an architectural projection that provides weather protection, identity or decoration and is wholly supported by the building to which it is attached. An awning is comprised of a lightweight, rigid skeleton structure over which a rigid covering is attached. Backlit Awnings: A lighting system placed behind the material structure causing it to be illuminated. Backer panel: a sign panel used to hide mounting hardware. Banding: An artifact of color gradation in computer imaging, when graduated colors break into larger blocks of a single color, reducing the "smooth" look of a proper gradation. Banner: A sign made of a film or fabric, which has no enclosing framework. Banners are typically decorated with applied vinyl or are screen printed, and usually include grommets at its corners and some sides. Banners may be rolled-up for storage and are usually used for short-term, periodic, and/or indoor use. Bitmap (BMP): An image made up of dots, or pixels. Refers to a raster image, in which the image consists of rows or pixels rather than vector coordinates. Bleed: In printing, bleed refers to the portion of the printed image which extends beyond the area of the finished print. When the printed item is cut or die-cut, the bleed is cut away. This ensures that the printing will run all the way to the edge of every piece. Without bleeding, the regstration tolerances of cutting equipment could leave unprinted areas along the edge(s) of a piece. Branding: Branding elements are the graphics, logos, flags, murals, directories, and information monitors or any other elements that portray the image of the company, city or a building. They are an important component of first impressions, as they are the most recognizable symbols of identification. Breaking Strength: The measured load required to break a fabric or rope under tension; also called tensile strength. Brushed Finish: A satin finish, or a finish in between glossy and matte. Similar in appearance to fine scratches made by dragging a bristle brush across a surface. Commonly seen on stainless steel sinks. Cadmium Plating: An electro plating process which protects iron and steel. Salt spray tests indicate cadium is superior to zinc in corrosion resistance. Calibration: The act of adjusting the color of one device relative to another, such as a monitor to a printer, or a scanner to a film recorder. Or, it may be the process of adjusting the color of one device to some established standard. Calendered Vinyl: Referring to PVC (vinyl) film, calendered film is manufactured on a calender, which consists of a set of oil heated cylinders. On the calender, the sheet is formed when the cylinders distribute and press the PVC into a sheet (or film) of the required thickness. Calendered film is generally thicker (typically 4 mil) and less expensive than cast vinyl. However, it sometimes tends to shrink when subjected to heat. Canopy: A canopy is an architectural projection that provides weather protection, identity or decoration and is supported by the building to which it is attached and at the outer end by not less than one stanchion. A canopy is comprised of a rigid structure over which a rigid covering is attached. Canvas: Cotton, linen, or synthetic in heavy weights with an even firm weave, for sails and many industrial purposes. Awning stripe canvas has printed or woven strips. Digital prints can now be printed direct to banner with an extremely long life. Cast Vinyl: Referring to PVC (vinyl) film, cast film is manufactured by coating a PVC "solution" (organosol) onto a web of coated paper. After the solvents evaporate and the PVC cures into a film, the high gloss finish of the coated paper is "cast" on the surface of the film. Cast vinyl films are usually thinner (typically 2 mil) and more expensive than calendered vinyl. However, they retain their shape better and can be heat-formed around textured or protruding objects. Channel letters: a fabricated dimensional letter without a back. CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black): One of several color encoding system used by printers for combining primary colors to produce a full-color image. In CMYK, colors are expressed by the "subtractive primaries" (cyan, magenta, yellow) and black. Black is called "K" or keyline since black, keylined text appears on this layer. CNC Routering: (Computer Numerical Control) CNC routers can cut or machine a variety of materials. Any type of wood, solid surface material, plastics or acrylics, brass, aluminum and steel. Combine this with powerful 3D modeling / tool path software and the possibilities are limitless. Coated Fabric: Fabrics coated, covered, or treated with various substances to make them stronger and/or more resistant to weathering elements. Coating substances include rubber, resins, plastics, PVC, melamines, and oil finishes. Color Calibration: The process of determining and adjusting the properties of a display device or the colors in an image to ensure that the rendered image is accurate to the human eye. Color Correctness: the depth and accuracy of an image's color representation, typically influenced by the color depth and palette of an image. Color Depth: the amount of color information in an image, reflected in the # of color bits compression, lossless scheme of organizing information in a more compact form where all of the original information is retained, while gaining a moderate level of compaction. Color Separation: The pre-press process of separating a color image into its component spot colors and/or process colors - cyan, magenta, yellow & black (CMYK). Compression, lossy: scheme of organizing information in a more compact form where some information is lost to gain higher levels of compaction. Copy: Most commonly, the words or message on a label, decal, nameplate, or sign. May be expanded to include any graphics on the face. Coroplast: A polypropylene sheet or board created by joining a corrugated piece between two flat faces. Similar in appearance to corrugated cardboard. Corrugated plastic is inexpensive, lightweight, and will not fade or break down in outdoor use over short periods of time. Crazing: This describes the condition of scratch marks on the surface of fabrics. These can occur as a result of abrasion or folding. It's usually a topical condition and does not affect the fabric's performance except from an aesthetic point of view. Cut-Out Lettering: Lettering or graphic elements that are cut out of a vinyl roll stock. May be used for vehicle or signage application. Cut-out lettering can also include cut to shape letters out of plastic, metals or wood of any thickness. Decal: Text and/or graphics printed on a film substrate with an adhesive backing and then cut to a specified shape and size. Similar to a label; labels are printed on adhesive backed paper, where as decals are printed on an adhesive backed film. Decal is commonly used as a generic term for Labels, Nameplates, Overlays, Legend Plates, and Tags, as well as Decals. Delamination: This describes the separation of the individual plies in a laminate. Laminates are typically made of two or more plies that are fused together under combinations of heat, pressure, and adhesive. When a lamination comes apart, delamination has occurred. Die: A tool or devise used for cutting a desired shape from a given material. Die-Casting: The forming of parts by forcing molten metal into metal molds. Castings made with this process can be made to very exacting tolerance. Zinc and aluminum are most common. Die-Cut: To cut an item to a specific shape and size utilizing a steel rule die. Die cutting is commonly done when a large number of items are to be cut and the shape consists of something other than straight lines. Die-cut can also refer to the object that has been cut. Dibond: An aluminum composite material made of two lightweight sheets of aluminum with a thermoplastic core. The material is intended for such applications as signage, large-format digital prints, and screen printing. Dibond is available in 2mm, 3mm, and 4mm thicknesses. It comes prefinished in a wide variety of colors. Dibond has an exceptional good outdoor life. Dimensional: Letters with depth. Dithering: The technique of making adjacent pixels different colors to make them appear like a different color; utilized to add the appearance of greater color depth with a limited # of colors. Dot Pitch: Distance in millimeters between two holes in the shadow mask of a monitor. A smaller dp is better, e.g. 0.28 mm is better than 0.36. DPI, dots per inch: Sometimes termed pixels per inch, this depicts resolution and is a significant influence on the size of an image file; a higher dpi indicates higher resolution. Electro-Galvanized or Electro-Plated: This is similar to Hot Dip Galvanized except the application process is different and the final appearance is smoother and brighter. Instead of dipping the metal into a hot zinc solution, the metals are charged with positive ions and put into a negative ion solution on the metal in a more uniform manner. EPS (Encapsulated PostScript): A graphic file format developed by Aldus, Adobe, and Altsys to allow exchange of PostScript graphic files (image information) between application programs. Expansion Anchors: Used to fasten awnings to concrete surfaces. They develop their essential strength by pressing hard against the side of the drilled hole in which they are set. Export: The process of transporting data from one computer, program, type of file format, or device to another. Filename Extension: In DOS- and Windows-based software, the two or three letters that typically follow the period (or dot) in a file name. With graphics files the three letters denote the type of file or the software used to create the file. Examples are: (DXF) Dynamic Exchange Format; (AI) Adobe Illustrator; (BMP) Bitmap, (CDR) Corel Draw. Fire Proofed: A fabric or substance which has been treated so that it is absolutely impervious to flame, and will not, under any circumstances, support a flame. Erroneously used in reference to fire retardant goods. Fire Retardant Finish: A finish rendering a cloth which will repel flame, or which will prevent the spreading of flame, or which will not support a flame. Usually tested for length of time it takes for a flaming portion of the cloth to extinguish itself. First surface: the outside surface or front of a piece of glass. Foam-Core: Graphics art board consisting of a soft extruded polystyrene foam bonded between high quality paper. Foam-Core is used for lightweight or temporary signage. (as an alternative see Gatorfoam) Font: Refers to the style and width of a particular design of letters, numbers and symbols, such as Helvetica Bold or Times Roman. Until the development of the computer and scalable fonts, references to fonts also included the size, such as 10-point. Four Color Process Printing: The process of printing that uses dot patterns of Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black (CMYK). When these colors are overprinted, they combine to render a wide range of colors. When observed up close, the individual dots are visible. However, the color and shape of the image appear continuous when viewed from a distance. Gatorfoam: Lightweight, strong and rigid.structural panel consisting of rigid polystyrene foam core face on both sides by smooth, moisture resistant man-made wood fiber veneers. The foam and veneers are permanently bonded together in a sandwich construction. The face laminates have been specially developed to provide an excellent surface for painting, silk screening, laminating and photo mounting. For interior or exterior use. GIF File Format: Stands for Graphic Interchange Format, a raster oriented graphic file format developed by CompuServe to allow exchange of image files across multiple platforms. The most widely supported graphics format on the Web. All graphic Web viewers support the GIF format for inlined images. GIFs of diagrammatic images look better than JPEGs. GIF supports transparency and interlacing. Maximum colors = 256 Grommet: A reinforcing eyelet, typically made of metal, usually pressed into the corners of banners to prevent tearing when hanging by cords or other fasteners. Also occasionally used to reinforce mounting holes in nameplates, signs and tags. Halftone: The darkness or intensity of a color between light and dark. In printing, the process in which graduation of tone, or shading, is obtained by printing a pattern of minute dots. Hand Painting: A process whereby graphics are hand-painted directly on an substrate. Brushing or air-brushing is common. ICC (International Color Consortium): Established in 1993 by eight industry vendors for the purpose of creating, promoting and encouraging the standardization and evolution of an open, vendor-neutral, cross-platform color management system architecture and components. Image Albums. An effective way to organize and store your digital pictures. Illuminated Awning: A lighting system placed behind the awning material causing it to be illuminated. Import: The process of bringing data into a document from another computer, program, type of file format, or device. Image: In digital imaging, a visual representation of graphics data shown on the display surface of an output device or a single frame from a video. Interpolation: The addition of pixels between pairs of others. Usually made necessary when enlarging an image. Intecel: Expanded rigid PVC. Can be used as a wood substitute. Ideal for long term applications. Can be cut, drilled and screwed as easily as wood. Comes in a variety of thicknesses and sheet sizes. JPEG Compression: A file compression standard established by the Joint Photographic Experts Group that uses a combination of DCT and Huffman encoding to compress images. JPEG is a "lossy" compression algorithm, meaning that it slightly degrades image quality. Huge compression ratios are possible, for faster download speeds. Gives excellent results in most photographs and medical images. Supports full-color images (24-bit "true color" images). Kerning: The process of moving letters farther apart or closer together to make them appear more evenly spaced. Most computer software programs have an automatic kerning feature that greatly reduces or eliminates the need for manual kerning. Lacing: This is the most traditional technique of attaching a fabric cover to an awning frame. Grommets are placed along the edge of the fabric cover. The cover is tied to the frame by lacing thin rope through the grommets. Lamicoid: Phenolic Sheet. Commonly referred to as LAMICOID, a phenolic trade name no longer in use. Original front engravable sheet stock, dating back to 1908. A 3-ply sheet made from 2 phenolic cap sheets laminated to a contrasting colored phenolic core. Available in satin, matte, glossy finishes in a variety of colors. Laminate: A process by which different materials are layered and then bonded together using adhesives, pressure, and/or heat. Common laminates are pressure sensitive adhesive backings and clear films used to protect printed images from abrasion, chemicals, and/or fading. Laminated Fabric: A three-layer fabric, normally constructed of a plastic top and bottom layer, and an intermediate scrim layer. Many banner materials are constructed this way. Lateral Arm Awning: These awnings resemble typical traditional triangular structures except they rarely have end fabric panels. They also include a manual or electric cranking system that allows the awning to be folded up or retracted against the wall. Leading: Pronounced "led-ing", as in "lead pencil". Leading is the vertical space between lines of text. Like letter and word spacing, the right amount of leading makes text easier to read. Often expressed as a percentage of the vertical height of characters, it separates two baselines in text. For example, leading between two lines of 1" high characters, where baselines are 1.25" apart, is 125%. This means you have a 25% space between your lines. Lexan: Lexan is a polycarbonate. In comparison to other polycarbonates it provides the widest range of properties. It is recognized for its clarity, safety, security, energy savings and formability. It has been proven to be bullet-resistant. And is over 30 times more impact resistant than acrylic (plexiglass). It can be thermoformed, molded and cut to irregular shapes. LPI, lines per inch: Measurement of the frequency of "dots" represented in a halftone image. Mesh: Any fabric, knitted or woven, with an open texture, fine, or coarse. Mildewproof: It is unlikely that any fabric can be rendered permanently mildewproof under all conditions."Mildew Resistant" is a more proper term. This usually refers to a treatment on a cloth with various non-toxic chemical compounds that poison or discourage the growth of mold and fungi. Effectiveness is directly proportional to the type of fungicide and the quanity of fungicide contained in the finished cloth(to the point of maximum potency). The treatment may be durable or non-durable. Millwork: custom-made wood panels. Modulus: This is a measure that tries to explain how a fabric reacts when it tensioned and relaxed. It is used to expain things like snow and wind loads, elasticity, memory, stretch, and shrinkage. Monochrome: An image composed of a single color and black. Most monochrome images are black and white, although any color might be substituted for white. In computer graphics it is used to denote a system where two colors can be specified: the foreground color and the background. Monofilament: A single filament of man-made fiber used as yarn. MPEG: high-quality video compression/decompression scheme (CODEC) for encoding video and audio for computer playback. Negative: When working with film, the clear areas of a film negative will be printed and the black areas of a film negative will not be printed; similar to a photograph negative. The opposite of a film positive. Negative Space: The background of a nameplate, label, decal, overlay, legend plate, or sign; the area around and within the art and copy. Also known as white space. The opposite of positive space. Outgas: The characteristic of a solid or liquid to vaporize under heat and migrate to the surface of the material that it is in. Outgassing can occur in some plastics and paints if they are not thoroughly dried, resulting in adhesive failure to anything applied over them. Outgassing is also common in plastics that have been molded because to the process of molding often traps gasses and moisture. Overlaminate: A clear film that is laminated over the top of a printed piece to improve its appearance or for added protection from abrasion, chemicals, and/or fading. Over-Run: When large quantities of items are produced, very often, more pieces are made than an order calls for. These extra pieces (or over-runs) are made as replacement pieces for any rejected pieces found during final inspection. It is often less expensive to produce over-runs than it is to repeat equipment setups for the purpose of making a few replacement pieces after final inspection. Palette: data structure defining the colors utilized in a bitmap image; bitmap data is indexed to the palette table. Pantone Matching System (PMS): A standardized series of thousands of colors, each with specific color formulations and identification numbers. PMS colors are duplicated in swatch books and in computer-graphics programs to allow exact duplication of colors in printing and other processes. PCD: see Photo CD. PCX: A popular bitmapped graphics file format that handles black and white, 2-bit, 4-bit, 8-bit and 24-bit color. ZSoft format, used widely for paint and desktop publishing programs; popular for exchanging images; maximum 16.7 million colors. Photo CD: Kodak CD-based digital imaging format, where images are typically created from 35mm film negatives or slides; includes multiple resolutions of an image in an Image Pac, with all images 24 bpp encoded in YCC format; portability includes Philips CD-Interactive and 3DO Players, as well as PC, Mac & Unix viewers; maximum colors = 16.7 million. PICT: standard format for Macintosh, can contain both vector and bitmap information; maximum colors = 16.7 million. Pin-mounting: a method for attaching letters or signs to a surface with a dowel. Pixel (PICture ELement): The smallest element of a digitized image. Also, one of the tiny points of light that make up a picture on a computer screen. Pixels Per Inch, or PPI: Sometimes termed dots per inch, this represents resolution. Plexiglass: Acrylic plastic sheet. The acrylic sheet can be supplied in general purposes and in a number of special purpose grades. The material can hold many properties including color and opacity. It can be thermoformed, molded and cut to irregular shapes. PMS: A standardized series of thousands of colors, each with specific color formulations and identification numbers. PMS colors are duplicated in swatch books and in computer-graphics programs to allow exact duplication of colors in printing and other processes. Polyester: A synthetic fiber used for it's strength and resistance to ultraviolet deterioration. It does not have the stretch and elasticity of nylon and, as a result, will often last longer. Polymer: A synthetic material from which fibers are formed. Positive: The black areas of a film positive will be printed and the clear areas of a film positive will not be printed. The opposite of a film negative. PostScript: A page description language developed by Adobe Systems, Inc. to control precisely how and where shapes and type will appear on a page. Software and hardware may be described as being PostScript compatible. PPI: See Pixels Per Inch. Premask / Transfer Tape: Adhesive coated paper. Transfer tape is placed on weeded vinyl. The transfer tape is used to pull the decal off the liner and to transfer it to another surface. The transfer tape holds all of the pieces together in their pre-spaced locations until they are applied to a substrate. Pre-Spaced Decal: A layout of individual letters and/or printed graphics cut from an adhesive backed film on a single liner. All of the pieces (letters and/or graphics) are removed from the liner and applied at the same time using transfer tape. The transfer tape holds all of the pieces together in their pre-spaced locations. Pressure-Sensitive Graphics: Pressure-sensitive vinyl film is cut by hand or by computer to a desired design and then adhered to the surface. Primary Colors: colors in a particular color model from which other colors can be constructed. In the RGB color model, red, green, and blue are the primary colors because other colors can be produced by mixing them. PSD: Photoshop Document, the default format for Adobe Photoshop, .psd files maintain there layer structures as well as the files information. PVC: Polyvinyl Chloride. A polymer used for vinyl fabric. It is also being used in products like Intecel and Sintra. Intecel and Sintra are wood replacements. They do not need to be painted or finished in any way. These products will last years because they do not weather like wood products. Quicktime: a video compression/decompression scheme (CODEC) for encoding video and audio for computer playback; originally an Apple Macintosh file format, it is now commonly utilized on Windows and Unix systems. Raster: Raster images are made up of individual dots; each of which have a defined value that precisely identifies its specific color, size and place within the image. (Also known as bitmapped images.) Reflective Vinyl: A vinyl film with very small glass or glass-like materials encapsulated below its surface, creating the ability to reflect light. Signage created on reflective sheeting increases its visibility, especially in low light conditions. Different grades are available for various environments. Removable Vinyl: A vinyl film with removable pressure sensitive adhesive. For up to 2 years after application, the film can be removed from most surfaces leaving little or no adhesive residue and without the aid of chemicals, accessories, or heat. Rendering: The actual representation of an image on an output device (the image on the screen or printed on a page). Resize: To alter the resolution or the horizontal or vertical size of an image. Resolution: The number of dots per inch (dpi) in bitmap form - the higher the number, the more precise or crisp an image will appear. In computer video, the number of pixels shown on a screen - the higher the number, as measured pixels horizontally and vertically, the more precise the picture image. Retractable Awning: A cantilevered structure, entirely supported from a building, and constructed so that the awning cover and supporting frame retracts completely against the building. This relieves the awning from wind, rain and snow pressure and/loads normally associated with extended fixed frame awning or canopies. Reverse: The printing or imaging of a background rather than the copy on an item. The copy shows through as the color of the substrate. Similar to a negative when working with film. RGB (Short for Red, Green, and Blue): The primary colors used to simulate natural color on computer monitors and television sets. RIP (Raster Image Processing): A piece of hardware or software that converts object-oriented graphics and fonts into the bitmaps required for output on a printer. Sandblasting: a method for carving the surface of a material, particularly glass and stone. Sans Serif: Any font or typeface that lacks serifs. In most sans serif fonts, there is little differentiation between the width of strokes within the letter, Helvetica and Futura are common sans serif fonts. Scalable: An image, such as that stored as vector data, which can be scaled (increased or decreased in size) without causing the image to become misshapen. Scan: The process of digitizing a printed image (picture, negative, slide, etc.) Scotchguard: A fluoride-based, stain-repellent, rain-repellent finish. Special formulations are made for leather. Screen Printing: In the Screen Printing process, a squeegee is used to force ink through a selectively masked fabric screen that is used as a stencil. Screen Printing provides the most vivid, color-fast image of all printing types and offers good durability. Additional protection from UV, chemicals, and/or abrasion can be obtained with overlamination. Also known as silk screening. Scrim: Open-constructed fabric used as a base material in coated and laminated fabrics like banner material. Second Surface: Refers to an item made of a clear substrate where the image is reversed and produced on the backside (or second-surface) of the substrate for viewing from the front side. Serif: A small line or embellishment finishing off the strokes of letters in some fonts. Well-known serif fonts include Souvenir, Times Roman and Garmond. Sign: A rigid substrate processed and/or decorated to produce a durable item for conveying information in the form of text and graphics. The most common substrates are metals and plastics. Signs are typically used to communicate directions, instructions, warnings, and advertisements when the message must be viewed from a distance or while in motion. Although signs and nameplates are made from many of the same materials utilizing many of the same processes, signs are larger than nameplates relatively speaking, and are intended for viewing at a greater distance. Sign is commonly used as a generic term for Labels, Decals, Nameplates, Overlays, Legend Plates, and Tags, as well as Signs. Silk Screen: See Screen Printing. Sintra: Rigid foamed, closed cell polyvinyl chloride (PVC). Sintra has an extensive history in screen printing, displays, signage and photo mounting. It comes in a wide range of colors and thicknesses. Spot Colors: A color that is printed utilizing only one color of ink, as opposed to four-color process printing. Spray-Painting or Air Brushing: Hand painting made sophisticated as it can achieve color blending or shading plus sharper edges by spraying paints on the substrate. Squeegee: A tool to aid in the application of pre-spaced or printed vinyl decals. A hard plastic or nylon blade used to apply pressure to increase surface adhesion between a vinyl film and the surface it is being applied to. In screen-printing, a flexible blade, mounted in a wood or metal handle, that is used to force ink through a stencil mounted on a screen. Stainless Steel: As the name implies, this is a special steel alloy that is made more stainless than regular steel, due to higher concentrations of chromium and nickel. Substrate: The surface to which a self-adhesive material is applied. The base material onto which printing, engraving, etching, vinyl application or other processes are performed to produce nameplates, decals, overlays, legend plates, signs, and tags. Example: The substrate of a screen-printed vinyl decal is vinyl film. TIFF (Tagged Image File Format): A lossless (quality is not reduced upon saving) file format. Tiff is an industry standard for top quality photos. TGA: Targa format developed by Truevision; usually 15 or 24 bit full color images, compressed or uncompressed; maximum colors = 16.7 million. Thermal Transfer: This Digital Printing process uses heat and pressure to fuse colored resins to a material. Also known as thermal transfer printing. This is the best process for short-run and fast printing on films (thin plastics) offers good durability. Additional protection from UV, chemicals, and/or abrasion can be obtained with overlamination. Transfer Tape: Adhesive coated paper. Transfer tape is placed on weeded vinyl. The transfer tape is used to pull the decal off the liner and to transfer it to another surface. The transfer tape holds all of the pieces together in their pre-spaced locations until they are applied to a substrate. Trademark: Used by a business to distinguish itself and its products from the competition. A trademark may include a name, symbol, word or combination of those. Protected by the federal government and considered to have financial value, trademarks should only be reproduced with the company's (owner’s) permission. Transparency: The degree of visibility of a pixel against a fixed background. A totally transparent pixel is invisible. Trapping: Used to describe the practice of slightly overlapping adjacent printed colors. This overlap prevents an undesirable blank space from appearing between the two colors when registration between colors shifts due to equipment registration tolerances. Typeface: The design of a given set of letters, numbers and symbols, without reference to size or width. Typography: A specific and distinct style of lettering, also called type, typestyle or font UV Resistance: Ability to withstand decay due to the damaging effect of the ultraviolet rays of the sun. Ultraviolet Light (UV): An invisible part of the spectrum ranging from 185 to 450 nanometers. Ultraviolet light is the prime cause of pigment failure (or fading) in some inks, paints, and substrates, especially red. Vector: An image that is made up of points, lines and fills using mathematical formulas. This format is great for line art and graphics, but not useable for photos. Vinyl: A Polyvinylchloride (PVC) film that is backed with an adhesive that will create a strong bond to a surface when pressure is applied. Some vinyls are rated for an outdoor life of up to 7 years. Varying thickness and abilities are available from several different manufacturers. Weed: When producing pre-spaced vinyl letters and graphics, a sheet of vinyl is first kiss cut using a plotter. The next step, weeding, is the process of peeling away extraneous vinyl from the liner leaving only the sections representing the final image(s). WMF: A Windows metafile is a 16-bit metafile that can be used by Windows 3.x, Windows 95, 98 and Windows NT to display a picture. DIB record, can be compressed for 4 and 8-bit images; maximum colors = 16.7 million. |
Pylon SignsOutdoor Signs 101: High visibility + appealing graphics = new customers. 
ArchitecturalBeauty and distinction, built to last. 
Canopies & AwningsThe best signs generate the best sales. 
Fascia SignsFirst impressions are everything. 
LED & NeonCatch their eye in a dramatic way. 
Channel LettersEasy to read, day or night. 
Wayfinding SignsDirect and control. 
Cedar SignsThe natural beauty of wood. 
BannersInform a very large audience. 
Wayfinding SignsPoint the way - with style. 
Point-of-SaleSell more. 
Dimensional LettersElevate your sign to a new level. 
Window GraphicsPut your windows to work. 
Feature WallsCorporate identity defined. 
Digital WallpaperWhen a picture is worth a thousand words. 
BannersKeep your message fresh while building awareness. 
Full Color WrapsMarketing on wheels. 
Commercial GraphicsWhy is everyone doing it these days? Because it works. 
Digital PrintingReflective, magnetic, removable or ultra-permanent. You name it, we'll do it. 
3D RouteringA hand-crafted look, with computer precision. 
Custom FabricationChallenge us, you'll be surprised at what we can do. 
Promotional ProductsGive customers something to help keep you in mind. 
Gifts & AwardsThe immeasurable impact of saying, "Thanks." 
DesignYour one-stop tradeshow display source. 
Pop-up SystemsMany choices to fit your needs. 
Banner StandsLeave a lasting impression. 
RentalsTry before you buy. 
InstallationQuality installation you can trust. 
CSA-approved RepairsChoose carefully to prevent future problems. 
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