Glossary of Terms

B

• Base
• Bases are available for hard, flat surfaces, grass, or sand. Your Pole Set will connect to these.

• Bleed
• When an image or printed color extends beyond the trimmed edge of a design, it is called a bleed. Adding bleed ensures that the print extends to the edges of the template. The material is usually trimmed to the desired size after printing.

• Bungee Cord
• Used to secure the print to the Pole Set.

C

• Chemical Screen Dye Print
• Can produce printing of up to 12 total colors per image, image is printed onto screens, one screen is used for each color, four color process images, additional spot colors can be added, Double or Triple point resolutions are available, superior through print.

• Clamping rails
• Plastic pieces that are used on the top and bottom of a banner. They snap shut on the edges of the print and allow it to be hung by the plastic hooks on the top rail.

• CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black)
• CMYK is the standard color model used in digital printing. The four colors are mixed to achieve the final printed design.  Because such printing uses inks of these four basic colors, it is often called four-color printing.

• Contour
• The Table Banner Mini option shape which allows your flag or banner to have a customizable curved shape.

• Cut Sides
• Finishing technique, where instead of hemming along the sides and edges, they are just cut. This technique can be used for Fabric, Vinyl and Photo Paper. Woven Polyester are cut with a hot knife to ensure no fraying.

D

• Digital Chemical Dye Print
• Printing resolution up to 1440 dpi, image is printed onto transfer paper, image is transferred onto the fabric, no subsequent finishing treatment is necessary, ideal for interior presentation and close viewing.

• Digital Pigment Dye Print
• Printing resolution up to 1440 dpi, extremely high quality images, minimal finishing, highest color fastness and brilliance.

• Double-Sided
• To achieve this layout for a flag or banner, two prints of an image get sewn together (pillow –case style) with a light-blocking inner liner. The finished product reads positively from both sides. We recommend this style if the image is very detailed and includes more text.

• DPI (dots per inch)
• A measure of the resolution of a printer is called DPI or dots per inch. It properly refers to the dots of ink or toner used by an image setter, laser printer, or other printing device to print your text and graphics. In general, the more dots, the better and sharper the image. DPI is printer resolution.

G

• Glossy
• Determined by the amount of incident light that is reflected, Glossy fabrics will have a high light reflection.

• Graphics Requirements
• Set of guidelines, that if followed, will allow for optimal printing of your graphic.

• Grommets
• A metal ring inserted through the flag, so it can be attached to the flagpole.

H

• Header Tape
• White fabric used for on the left hand side of traditional flags. The grommets are then placed through this.

• Hook and loop adhesive
• This is better known under the brand name Velcro. When pressing the one strip (which has tiny hooks on it) against the other strip (which has tiny loops of fabric), the two pieces will fasten for a temporary bind.

K

• Knitted Fabric
• Fabric that consists of consecutive loops, called stitches. As each row progresses, a new loop is pulled through an existing loop. Method used in most of our fabric options because they more resistant to fraying. That is especially important for outdoor flags.

L

• L Stakes
• Can be compared to the stakes used to secure a tent. They are used for the Cross Stand Water as well as the Base Plates.

M

• Matte
• Rough surface that does not allow for light reflection.

N

• Non-Glossy
• Determined by the amount of incident light that is reflected, Non-Glossy fabrics will have a low light reflection.

O

• Opaque
• Opaque materials are not transparent and do not allow light to pass through.

P

• Pantone Colors (PMS)
• A popular color matching system used by the printing industry to print spot colors. Most applications that support color printing allow you to specify colors by indicating the Pantone name or number. This assures that you get the closest color when the file is printed, even though the color may not look right when displayed on your monitor. Digital printing uses CMYK to print so PMS are color definitions are recommended if matching a specific color is a concern.

• Pole Set
• Certain products have their own corresponding Pole Set. The print(s) are attached to the Pole Set, which is then used to attach to the base for the final display product.

• Polyester
• Synthetic fabric which provides specific advantages over natural fabrics, such as improved wrinkle resistance, durability and high color retention.

• Polypropylene
• A thermoplastic polymer that is rugged and unusually resistant to many chemical solvents, bases and acids.

R

• Raster Art
• A raster image is a collection of dots called pixels. Each pixel is a tiny colored square. When an image is scanned, the image is converted to a collection of pixels called a raster image. Scanned graphics and web graphics (JPEG and GIF files) are the most common forms of raster images. The resolution of a raster image or scanned image is expressed in terms of the dots per inch or dpi. The output quality of a printing device is dependent upon the resolution (dpi) of a raster image. If you take a low resolution image (72-150dpi) and increase the size in a graphics program you will end up with pixelation or blockiness. The only thing that happened is that the tiny pixel squares got bigger and created jaggy edges on your image. Creating art at a higher resolution will increase the quality and decrease the jagged edges. Raster images do not scale up very well. The quality of an imprint produced from a raster image is dependent upon the resolution (dpi). Raster images can also be referred to as Bitmap images. With raster artwork, larger images mean much larger file sizes.

• RGB (Red, Green, Blue)
• The computer's native color space, which is the color system for capturing and displaying images. RGB was derived from our own perception of color because human eyes are sensitive to red, green and blue. For digital printing, the CMYK color space is used, not RGB. Combinations of cyan, magenta, yellow and black ink make up all the colors.

S

• Satin
• A fabric that tends to have a high luster due to the high number of floats on the fabric

• Silk
• Fabric that is woven out of the natural protein fiber from the cocoon of the larvae of the mulberry silk worm. The fabric has a shimmering appearance. Polydeco Silk is close to silk in this appearance.

• Single-Reverse
• This means that an image is printed on one side of a material, and shows through to the other side as a mirror image. Traditional flags are Single-Reverse. Overall it is a good choice for simple images, logos and text. Our Polyflag Standard material has 90% through print which results in a very color quality on both sides.

• Single-Sided
• Design is printed on one side of a material and reads correctly on one side with no bleed through to the opposite side. This can be done with opaque materials like Vinyl and Photo Paper.

• Snake Light
• This is a Universal light that can be used with the Roll Ups. The light can bend and twist, once secured to the pole, based on your preference.

• Stock Images
• Our online library of images and designs you can choose for you product, if no custom image is available.

T

• Telescopic Flagpole Flagpole Stabilizer
• The support pole system used to stabilize the Telescopic Flagpole when used with the Water Base, or the Cross Stand Large.

• Telescopic
• Referring to the Pole Sets, if they are telescopic, they have adjustable heights which can be changed based on banner size or preference.

• Thorn
• Used on base options to allow the Pole Set to rest on top of the base. This is required for most bases

• Tyvek
• The light-blocking inner liner for Double-Sided finishing.

V

• Vector Art
• Vector art is any digital artwork in which the shapes in the art are represented by mathematical equations within a computer. Geometric shapes like lines, waves, single points and curves are placed together by the artist to create an illustration while the computer keeps track of each item's location, curve and relative proportion to the other shapes. The biggest advantage of vector art is that it is infinitely scalable. Unlike raster art, which uses pixels to create digital illustrations, vector-based artwork can be enlarged over and over again without losing any of the picture's quality. You can create images as large as you want and still not have it affect the file size or quality of your digital illustration. With raster artwork, larger images mean much larger file sizes.

W

• Woven Fabric
• Fabric formed by weaving. Polydeco Silk is a woven polyester material we offer.