M
Abbreviation for a quantity of 1,000.
MACHINE DIRECTION The
direction of any material parallel to its forward movement on the press.
MAGENTA A
subtractive primary color which reflects blue and red light and absorbs green
light.
MAGNETIC CYLINDER A
cylinder used in diecutting that is magnetized to accept and hold in place
flexible, steel dies. Also used for metal-backed printing plates.
MAGNETIC DIES A thin,
flexible, steel 'foil' bearing the actual die cutting blades that is held on to
a base cylinder magnetically. Quite common in EDP label production where
identical repeats are frequently used.
MAKE AND HOLD
Material that has been manufactured and is being held for customer
release.
MAKEREADY On
printing presses, all operations prior to running; such as mounting plates,
adjusting the in-feed, edge guide, putting ink in the fountain, adjusting the
impression, setting up the die cutting, color matching, etc. All preparatory
operations preceding production.
MAKING ORDER Any order
which cannot be filled from stock and is to be made according to purchaser's
specifications; custom order.
MANDREL A shaft
upon which cylinders, or other devices, are mounted or affixed. Also unwind or
rewind shaft on to which rolls of materials (or labels) are mounted.
MANILA
Describes the color of paper manufactured from rope stocks.
MARGINAL PUNCHING See
feed slots; pin feed
MASKING
Covering part of a surface to protect it from exposing, etching, etc.
MASTER ROLL A full
width roll that has finished the primary manufacturing process and is usually
untrimmed and unslit.
MATERIAL Usually
refers to unconverted stock, pressure sensitive or not.
MATERIAL SPLICE An area
where tape has been used to attach two rolls of material together to form one
continuous web.
MATRIX (WASTE SKELETON) The face material and adhesive surrounding a self
adhesive label usually removed after die-cutting.
MATTE FINISH A
low-gloss or no-gloss finish. A UV-curable clear coat may also be used to
produce a matte or textured finish.
MECHANICAL Term
for a camera-ready pasteup of artwork including type, photos, line art, etc.;
all on one piece of artboard.
MEMBRANE SWITCH
Self-contained sealed film lamination printed with conductive inks that
form trace paths for electrical currents. Primarily composed of pressure
sensitive polycarbonate and/or polyester films designed to replace traditional
glass-type switches.
MEMORY The
property of a material that attempts to return it to its original configuration
after being distorted.
METAL FOIL Thin,
flexible layer of metal, such as aluminum, used as face materials. Thinner
gages are often laminated to paper for strength.
METALIZED FILM A
plastic or resinous film that has been coated on one side with a very thin
layer of metal.
METALIZED PAPER A label
substrate consisting of a lacquered C1S paper on which a very thin film of
aluminum has been deposited.
METALIZING
Applying a thin coating of metal to a non-metallic surface. May be done
by chemical deposition or by exposing the surface to vaporized metal in a
vacuum chamber.
MEYER ROD A
method of coating utilizing a wire wrapped stainless steel rod which meters specific
amounts of coating as it is applied to a substrate.
MEZZOTINT An
irregular, random dot halftone.
MICR
Magnetic Ink Character Recognition. The process of machine reading characters by means of
magnetic sensing.
MICROMETER A
mechanical device for measuring thickness (usually in thousands of an inch).
MICRON A unit
of measure. One-millionth of a meter or about .00004" (25 microns =
0.001").
MIGRATION The
movement of one or more of the components of a pressure sensitive adhesive to
either the labeled surface or face material. Also the movement of one or more
of the components of either or both the face material and the labeled surface
into the adhesive and/or ink.
MIGRATION OF PLASTICIZER Loss of
plasticizer from an elastomeric plastic compound with subsequent absorption by
an adjacent medium of lower plasticizer concentration, often causes a loss of
adhesion.
MIL Unit of
thickness measurement used for thin materials. 1 mil=0.001 inch=100 gauge.
MILEAGE The
surface area covered by a given quantity of ink or coating; coverage
MILL ROLL Roll of
paper, film or foil as received by the converter from the mill.
MILLIPOISE 1/100th
of a poise. The unit of viscosity measurement.
MINIMUM APPLICATION
TEMPERATURE The lowest temperature at which a
pressure sensitive label (adhesive) can be applied to a product and still
retain its initial tack.
MISCIBLE Capable
of being mixed; mutually soluble.
MISREAD A
condition which occurs when the data output of a reader does not agree with the
encoded data presented.
MMSI A
million square inches of material.
MODULE The
narrowest unit of measure in a bar code. A module may be 'black' or 'white'.
Contiguous modules are used to form bars or spaces which are wider than one
unit.
MOIRE In
color process printing, an undesirable screen pattern formed by improper screen
angles of overprinting halftones.
MOISTURE CONTENT The
moisture present in a material as determined by specified methods.
MOISTURE RESISTANCE That
property of a material which resists uptake or passage of moisture.
MOISTUREPROOF The
property of a material which makes it substantially impervious to water vapor.
MOLD RELEASE AGENTS
Materials used in the manufacture of molded objects to facilitate their
removal from the mold. Mold release agents can cause serious adhesion problems
in some instances.
MONO WEB A brand
name for a printed pressure sensitive label web that is self wound. A release
coating is applied over the print so that the adhesive on the back will not
stick to the printed surface. The actual die cutting becomes a function of the
label application equipment. The process is covered by patent.
MONOMER A
primary chemical structure which reacts with itself, under the influence of
catalytic action, to create polymeric forms of much greater molecular weight.
MOTTLE A
spotty or uneven appearance of printing mainly in solid areas.
MOUNTING The
process of affixing plates on a cylinder or base in proper position to allow
register, color to color to die.
MOUNTING AND PROOFING Device
for accurately positioning plates on the plate cylinder and for obtaining
proofs of those plates.
MOUNTING PLATE Grid used
to mount plates accurately.
MSDS
Material Safety Data Sheet. A written or printed text concerning a
hazardous chemical with all pertinent information about the product as well as
precaution and protection information.
MSI A
thousand square inches of material.
MULTI-PROCESS A
combination of any of the printing processes and other decorating methods. An
application of lacquer utilizing another printing station other than the main
printing process shall not qualify as multi-process.
MVTR A
measure of the rate of water vapor transmission through any material.
MYLAR
DuPont's trademark for clear, tough polymeric polyester film.