How this glossary is arranged
Alphabetical glossaries are useful when you already know the word. This one is grouped by where you encounter the term, because most people arrive here holding a quote or a proof and wondering what one line on it means.
Five groups: structure, materials, printing, finishing, and ordering. Terms that could sit in two places appear where a buyer is most likely to first meet them.
Definitions are written for someone buying packaging rather than someone making it, so they favour practical consequence over technical precision.
Structure terms
These appear on dielines, structural drawings and quotes for the physical shape of a carton.
| Term | What it means | Why it matters to you |
|---|---|---|
| Dieline | The flat drawing of a carton showing every cut and crease | Your artwork must be built onto it and never rescaled |
| Straight tuck end | A carton where both closing flaps tuck from the same side | Leaves the front panel uninterrupted for artwork |
| Reverse tuck end | Flaps tuck from opposite ends | Same cost; some hand-packing lines prefer it |
| Seal end | A carton glued shut after filling | Needs a sealing machine; used by automated co-packers |
| Auto-bottom | A pre-glued base that forms as the carton is opened | Faster to assemble and holds more weight than a tuck base |
| Snap-lock base | A base that locks flat as the carton is opened | Middle ground between tuck and auto-bottom |
| Dust flap | The small flaps either side of a tuck | Stop product escaping through the corners |
| Glue flap | The panel that bonds to form the carton seam | Placed on a back or side panel so the seam does not show |
| Euro slot | The inverted keyhole cut for a peg hook | The most widely accepted hanging tab shape |
| Rigid box | A set-up box of thick greyboard wrapped in paper | Ships assembled, not flat; different cost bracket |
How these are made and why flaps sit where they do is covered in our guide to packaging die lines.
Material terms
These appear when a supplier proposes a board or explains why a colour will not reproduce as expected.
| Term | What it means | Why it matters to you |
|---|---|---|
| SBS | Solid bleached sulphate: a white, coated folding boxboard | The default for full-colour cosmetic cartons |
| Kraft | Unbleached brown board with visible fibre | Mutes every printed colour; no true white without underprint |
| Greyback | Recycled board with a white face and grey reverse | Cheaper; the grey inside shows when the carton is open |
| Black-through | Board coloured black throughout the pulp | Cut edges stay black instead of showing a white line |
| Greyboard | Thick rigid board used as a rigid box core | Measured in millimetres rather than points |
| E-flute | Fine corrugated board | Used for display units, shippers and mailers |
| Point / pt | Board thickness in thousandths of an inch | 18pt is 0.018 in; the usual unit for folding cartons |
| GSM | Grams per square metre, a weight rather than a thickness | Common outside the US; not directly convertible to points |
| Grain direction | The alignment of fibres in the sheet | Board folds cleanly along it and cracks across it |
| Liner | The barrier coating inside a paperboard tube | Decides whether oil migrates into the board |
Which grade suits which product, and what each does to your print, is on the board and material options.
Printing terms
These appear on quotes, proofs and in conversations about why a colour did not come out as expected.
| Term | What it means | Why it matters to you |
|---|---|---|
| CMYK | Four-colour process: cyan, magenta, yellow, black | Recreates most colours but drifts slightly between runs |
| Spot colour | A pre-mixed ink, usually a named Pantone | Reproduces identically every run; costs an extra ink station |
| Pantone | A colour matching system with named references | Name the exact reference, since library and finish both matter |
| Offset litho | Plate-based printing, economical at volume | Plate cost per design; sharpest fine detail |
| Digital | Plateless printing | No setup per design; flat unit cost as volume rises |
| Flexo | Flexible plate printing | Efficient on kraft and labels; weaker on fine gradients |
| Make-ready | Setting up the press before a run | A one-time cost divided by your quantity |
| Ganging | Printing several designs together on one sheet | Shares the make-ready; a large saving on multi-SKU ranges |
| Opaque white | A white ink layer printed under other colours | Needed on kraft, metallised and holographic stock |
| Overprint | Printing one ink on top of another rather than knocking out | White set to overprint disappears entirely |
| Trapping | A slight overlap between adjoining colours | Hides tiny registration shifts; handled by the printer |
| Registration | The alignment of one plate to another | Poor registration shows as coloured fringing on type |
| Bleed | Artwork extending past the trim line | Without it, a white sliver appears on some units |
Which press suits which quantity and colour count is set out on the printing options page.
Finishing terms
Applied after printing. Each is a separate pass with its own cost and, usually, its own artwork layer.
| Term | What it means | Why it matters to you |
|---|---|---|
| Lamination | A thin plastic film bonded over the printed sheet | Durable; complicates paper recycling |
| Varnish | A coating applied as ink rather than as a film | Keeps the carton in one material stream |
| Soft-touch | A matte laminate with a velvety surface | The finish most associated with premium colour cosmetics |
| Spot UV | Gloss varnish applied to selected artwork only | High contrast against matte, far cheaper than foil |
| Hot foil stamping | Metal leaf pressed into the board with heat | Genuinely reflective; needs its own die and layer |
| Cold foil | Foil applied inline during printing | Can be printed over; better value on large areas at volume |
| Emboss / deboss | Raising or recessing a shape into the board | Needs no ink; holds more definition on thick board |
| Metallised board | Board with a reflective layer under the print | Not compatible with paper recycling |
| Holographic | A microscopically embossed metallised layer | A physical structure; no ink reproduces it |
| Window patch | Clear film applied behind a die-cut aperture | Adds a second material and a production pass |
What each does on different boards, with the cost and disposal trade-offs, is on the finish and coating options.
Ordering and delivery terms
These appear on quotes, order confirmations and delivery paperwork.
| Term | What it means | Why it matters to you |
|---|---|---|
| MOQ | Minimum order quantity | Often driven by process and finishing rather than a fixed rule |
| Setup cost | One-time charges: die, plates, make-ready, proofing | Divided by your quantity; absent on a reorder |
| Tooling | The physical die, and any foil or emboss dies | A one-time cost held for future reorders |
| Proof | A sample of the printed result for approval | The reference the production run is measured against |
| Structural sample | A plain cut-and-creased carton with no print | Confirms fit before any printing happens |
| Call-off | Producing in one run and delivering in stages | Holds the volume price without warehousing everything |
| Case count | Units packed per shipping case | Set it to suit your filling line or your retailer |
| Dimensional weight | Freight charged on volume rather than mass | Why bulky light items cost more to ship than expected |
| Lead time | Time from approval to goods leaving | Does not include transit, which is quoted separately |
| Variance | Delivered quantity differing slightly from ordered | Print runs are not exact; the tolerance is stated on the quote |
How these fit together is set out in the order process end to end.
Terms that get confused
Six pairs that cause real misunderstandings on quotes.
- Points and GSM measure different things — thickness and weight — and do not convert directly between board grades
- Lamination is a plastic film; varnish is a coating. They look similar and behave completely differently at disposal
- Foil is real metal leaf; metallic ink contains metallic particles. Foil reflects, ink shimmers
- A proof confirms colour; a structural sample confirms fit. Approving one does not approve the other
- Lead time is production only. Transit is separate and quoted separately
- Recycled content and recyclability are different claims, and a board can have one without the other
The last one causes the most trouble in cosmetics, where both are frequently claimed on pack without either being verified.
