Tabbing
During binding, the cutting or adhering of tabs on the edges of pages.

Tack
The pulling power or separation force (i.e., the stickiness) of the printer's ink causing picking or splitting of weak papers. Printing inks need to have internal cohesion to sit firmly on the surface of the paper. Too much tack will pull the paper apart.

Tag paper
A heavy, durable paper used to print tags for store product labels.

Tagged image file format (TIFF)
A file format for graphics suited for representing scanned images and other large bitmaps. TIFF is a neutral format designed for compatibility with all applications. TIFF was created specifically for storing grayscale images, and it is the standard format for scanned images such as photographs - now called TIFF/IT.

Tear strength
The ability of a paper to resist tearing when subjected to rigorous production demands of manufacturing, printing, binding and its conversion from flat sheets into envelopes, packaging materials, etc. Tear strength will differ with and against the grain.

Tear test
A test to determine the tearing resistance of paper.

Tensile strength
Tensile strength relates to the stress and strain to which paper is subjected in its many end-use applications. It is defined as the maximum force required to break a paper strip of a given width under prescribed laboratory conditions. Tensile strength is usually defined as pounds-per-inch width of the testing strip, or as kilograms per 15-millimeter width. Tensile strength is measured in both the grain and cross-grain direction; however, it is always greater in the grain direction. This is very important when running through high-speed web presses.

Text paper
Text papers are defined as fine, high-quality uncoated papers. Typically, they are made in various colors, with numerous textures and a variety of surface finishes, including antique, vellum, smooth, felt-marked and embossed. Text papers are made from high-grade bleached wood pulp, cotton fibers or alternative non-wood fiber. Often, they have matching cover stock in envelopes, most often used for annual reports, brochures or other prestige mailings where an envelope that matches or complements the enclosure is desirable. Recycled sheets include high-quality recycled waste paper and post-consumer waste pulp, in addition to bleached wood pulp, cotton fibers or alternative non-wood fiber.

Thermography
Letterpress printing in which a special, slow-drying ink - while still wet - is dusted with a retinous (matte, gloss or semigloss) powder. Then the sheets are baked fusing the powder with the ink, giving it a dimensional effect similar to engraving without the use of expensive dies. Any offset ink color - or even a clear resin - will work, and the image area can be any size.

Thickness
Also known as caliper, this is the thickness of a single sheet of paper, as measured in thousandths of an inch. Thickness defines the bulkiness of a sheet.

Thumb cut (envelopes)
Found on envelopes manufactured without flaps, such as filing and film storage. Can be cut on one side, or double thumb cut for easier extraction of contents.

Tint
Shading of an area in a form. A very light variation of a color, created by adding white to the shade.

Tint plate
Printing plate with customized surfaces to print solid colors or patterns, stipple line or dot arrangements in tints of inks. Tint blocks are also used to deepen colors in an illustration.

Tinting
An all-over color tint on the press sheet in the non-image area of the sheet, caused by ink pigment dissolving in the dampening solution.

Titanium dioxide
Chemical substance used as loading or coating material to increase the whiteness and brightness of a sheet and contribute to its opacity.

Tolerance
Permissible degree of variation from a pre-set standard.

Tooth
The surface characteristic of paper - a slightly rough finish - that allows it to take up ink readily.

Top
Designates the felt side of a sheet of paper. The top side of a sheet is the side not against the wire during manufacture. In paperboard, the top is the side that exhibits the best quality. When referring to envelope specifications, the dimension of the envelope with the opening even if it is on the side relative to the address, corner card, etc.

Totally chlorine free (TCF)
Includes both virgin and post-consumer fibers that are bleached without any chlorine containing compounds.

Touchplate
A fifth plate of ink used to bolster a single color in four-color process printing.

Toyo™
A color matching system.

Translucency
Ability to transmit light without being transparent.

Translucent papers
Papers that will allow information to be seen through them, but are not totally clear like acetate.

Transparency
Photographic positive mounted in a clear or transparent image.

Transparent ink
A printing ink that does not conceal the color beneath. Process inks are transparent so that they will blend to form other colors.

Trapping
Trapping can help compensate for registration problems by slightly expanding one color into another and eliminating the gaps and color shifts between colors. Noticeable lines of unrelated color that form around objects indicate that registration is off, a condition that can usually be adjusted on-press. Dry trapping is the process of printing wet ink on dry paper or over dry ink. Wet trapping prints wet ink over previously printed wet ink.

Trim
Excess of the paper allowed on a printed sheet for gripper and bleed.

Trim margin
The margin of the open side, away from the bind. Also called thumb, face or outside margin.

Trim marks
In printing, marks placed on the copy to indicate where, on the edge of the page, to cut or trim.

Trim size
The final size of the printed piece after it has been cut to specification.

Trimmer
Machine equipped with a guillotine blade that can cut paper to the desired size.

Trimming
Cutting sheets after the job has been printed to the specified size of the finished piece. After binding the printed pages, the top, bottom and outer edge of the booklet are often trimmed with a guillotine blade to even out the pages.

Tritone
A black-and-white image printed with three screens and three colors, such as a black and two greys, to heighten contrast between light and dark areas.

Tumble
Head-to-foot printing.

Turn-ten
Before running a job, a pressman should take at least ten sheets and run both sides to see how the ink lays on each side. This is known as the turn-ten rule. This step can help address any printing issues before running the entire job.

Twin-wire machine
A papermaking machine with two continuous forming wires, rather than one. This is one method that paper manufacturers use to create paper with less side-to-side variation.

Two-sheet detector
In printing presses, a device for stopping or tripping the press when more than one sheet attempts to feed into the grippers.

Two-sidedness
In paper, the property denoting difference in appearance and printability between its top (felt) and bottom (wire) sides.

Two-up
Printing the same page or group of pages from two sets of plates, thereby producing two impressions of the same matter at one time.

Two-up binding
Printing and binding in such a way that two books are bound as one, then cut apart into separate books.

Type face
A design of letters of the alphabet intended to be used in combination.

Tyvek™ (envelopes)
Spunbonded olefin product manufactured by Dupont. Offers maximum protection and durability at a very light weight. For example; 100 10" x 12", 28 lb. Tyvek envelopes weigh the same as 57 envelopes of the same size in 28 lb. kraft. Tyvek is unaffected by moisture and inert to most chemcials. Acid, lint and sulfide free; often used for floppy disk and microfiche carriers where protection from acid, lint and abrasion is needed.