3
3M Certified Installer — An installer who has met 3M’s requirements for professional graphic installation, including a minimum number of years in business, onsite inspections, and passing proficiency tests at 3M’s headquarters. It’s one of the strongest signals of quality in the wrap and graphics industry.
A
Acrylic — A durable synthetic plastic, often called plexiglass, used for interior and exterior signage.
Adhesive — The material that bonds a graphic or vinyl to a surface. Different projects call for different adhesive strength and removability.
Air Egress Vinyl — Vinyl engineered with tiny air channels in the adhesive, letting trapped air escape during application for a smoother, bubble-free finish.
Aqueous Ink — Water-based printing ink, often used for indoor applications.
Artwork — The logos, graphics, and images used to build out a sign, wrap, or display.
Aspect Ratio — The width-to-height ratio of an image, important for making sure artwork scales correctly across different sizes and surfaces.
B
Banding — Visible streaks or bands in what should be a smooth color gradient, usually caused by low-resolution artwork or printer calibration issues.
Banner — A sign made of flexible material like vinyl, typically without a rigid frame, used for temporary or semi-permanent advertising.
Banner Mesh — A lightweight, wind-permeable banner material, ideal for large outdoor installations where solid vinyl would catch too much wind.
Banner Vinyl — Durable, scrim-reinforced vinyl built to hold up outdoors, available in spot color or full color printing.
Bleed — The portion of a printed graphic that extends past the finished edges of a sign or vehicle, trimmed away during production to ensure full edge-to-edge coverage.
Border — A line or band that defines the outer edge of a sign or a design element within it.
Bus Art Vinyl — A flexible, repositionable vinyl designed specifically for transit and bus wraps, removable for up to a year.
C
Canvas — A tightly woven, durable fabric used in fine art printing and some banner applications.
Changeable Adhesive — Adhesive that can be removed without heat or chemicals and leaves minimal residue behind.
CMYK — The four ink colors, cyan, magenta, yellow, and black, that combine to create the full range of colors in most printing.
Color Contrast — The visual difference between two colors placed next to each other, a key factor in how readable and eye-catching a design is.
Compound Curves — A surface with curves running in multiple directions at once, like a car’s fender. Wrapping these correctly is one of the harder skills in the industry.
Conformable — A property of certain vinyl films that lets them stretch and mold around curves and rivets without lifting or cracking.
Contrast — The difference between the lightest and darkest areas of a design, or between an object and its background.
Copy — The written message on a sign or graphic.
Copy Area — The specific area of a sign face where the copy is placed.
Curing — The drying or hardening process for ink or adhesive, done using heat or UV light.
D
Decal — Printed graphics or lettering designed to be transferred and applied to another surface.
Design — The full set of specifications for how a sign, wrap, or banner will look and function.
Die-Cutting — Cutting material into a specific shape using a steel die, common when producing multiples of the same shape.
DPI (Dots Per Inch) — A measure of print resolution. Higher DPI means sharper detail.
Drop Shadow — A design effect that adds a shadow behind text or an image to create depth.
E
Eco-Solvent Ink — A lower-toxicity, solvent-based ink option that produces fewer harmful emissions during printing.
Embellishment — Any decorative element added to a sign face purely for visual effect.
Environmental Graphics — Graphics used to shape the feel of a physical space, wall colors, large-scale banners, murals, anything that sets the tone of a room or building.
Event Signage — Signage built specifically for an event, used to set the mood, direct guests, and reinforce a brand throughout the space.
Eyelet — A small reinforced ring set into a hole in a banner or sign, keeping the material from fraying and giving rope or cord a durable point to thread through. Also called a grommet.
F
Facade — The exterior, street-facing wall of a building, often the focus of storefront and window graphics.
Fire Retardant — A treatment applied to a material to slow the spread of fire. It doesn’t make a material fireproof, but it buys valuable time.
First Surface — The outermost layer of a printed graphic, the side facing the viewer.
Flag — A lightweight sign, usually rectangular or triangular, attached to a pole and typically used for temporary display.
Flammability — How easily a material supports and spreads fire.
Fleet Graphics — Coordinated graphics applied across multiple vehicles owned by one company, a strong way to build consistent brand recognition wherever the fleet goes.
Floor Graphics — Non-skid, full-color graphics built for durability underfoot, popular for promotions and retail displays.
Font — A set of letters and numbers sharing the same design style.
Four Color Process — A printing method that layers cyan, magenta, yellow, and black to reproduce a full spectrum of color.
Full Vehicle Wrap — A wrap covering the entire vehicle, turning it into a mobile billboard and maximizing visibility for the investment.
G
Gloss — A finish that reflects a high percentage of light, giving a shiny, vibrant look.
Gradient — A smooth transition from one color to another, or from color to no color.
Grommet — A small reinforced ring set into a hole in a banner or sign, keeping the material from fraying and giving rope or cord a durable point to thread through. Also called an eyelet.
H
Halftone — A printing technique that recreates a photo-quality image using a pattern of small dots.
Hue — A color’s position on the color wheel, its underlying red, yellow, blue, or green quality.
I
Ink — The pigmented liquid used in printing, either water-based or solvent-based depending on the application.
Ink Receptive — Describes a material that readily absorbs and bonds with ink.
Italic — A font style with a distinct slant, often used for emphasis.
J
JPEG — A common compressed image file format, small in size but with a slight tradeoff in sharpness.
K
Kerning — Adjusting the space between individual letters to improve how a word reads visually.
L
Laminate — Two or more material layers fused together, often used to add durability or a specific finish to a printed graphic.
Lamination — The process of bonding those layers together using heat, pressure, or adhesive.
Landscape Format — A layout where the width is greater than the height.
Latex Ink — A water-based ink built for large-format outdoor printing, known for durability and lower emissions.
Layout — The overall arrangement of graphics and text on a sign face.
Letter Spacing — The space between individual letters and words.
Line Spacing — The space between lines or blocks of text.
Logo — A distinctive symbol or name that identifies a business, product, or service.
M
Margin — The space between the design elements and the edge of the sign face.
Matte — A flat, non-shiny finish.
Mesh — Any material with a loose, open weave, commonly used for wind-permeable banners and building wraps.
Mock-Up — A preview of the final design, used to review layout, color, and legibility before production.
Mural — A wall surface decorated with paint, tile, or printed graphics.
N
Negative Space — The empty, unused area of a design, also called white space.
O
Opaque — A material that doesn’t let light pass through at all.
P
Panel — Any visible surface of a sign that carries copy or artwork.
Pantone Matching System (PMS) — A standardized color system used across the printing industry to keep colors consistent from design to final print.
Partial Vehicle Wrap — A wrap covering a portion of a vehicle, typically a quarter to three-quarters, working with the vehicle’s existing paint color.
PDAA (Professional Decal Application Alliance) — An independent certifying body made up of over 100 companies across the country, all held to strict standards for vinyl graphic installation. PDAA membership requires passing proficiency tests on a range of surfaces.
Pennant — A triangular flag.
Permit — Official government approval required before certain signs can be installed, depending on size, type, and location.
Point-of-Purchase (POP) Display — In-store signage or displays designed to catch a shopper’s eye and drive impulse purchases.
Polyester — A durable synthetic fiber resistant to UV wear, commonly used in banners and fabric printing.
Portrait Format — A layout where the height is greater than the width.
Positive Space — The copy and artwork on a sign face, the opposite of negative space.
Poster — A sign typically printed on paper or a similar substrate, intended for indoor display.
PPI (Pixels Per Inch) — A measure of image resolution based on pixel density.
Pressure Activated Adhesive — An adhesive that stays repositionable until firm pressure locks it in place.
Pressure Sensitive Adhesive — An adhesive that bonds instantly on contact and can’t be repositioned once applied.
Primary Colors — The base colors from which all others are mixed. In print, that’s cyan, magenta, and yellow.
Prototype — A full-sized sample built with final materials, used to test and approve a design before a full production run.
PVC — Polyvinyl chloride, a versatile plastic used throughout the sign and print industry.
R
Readability — How easily a viewer can interpret the information on a sign, shaped by letter size, contrast, and layout.
Reflective Sheeting — Film embedded with tiny reflective beads that bounce light back to its source, like a car’s headlights.
Removable Adhesive — An adhesive designed to come off cleanly, sometimes with the help of heat, leaving minimal residue.
Rendering — An artistic preview of a design concept before it goes into production.
Repositionable Adhesive — An adhesive that can be lifted and reapplied without needing heat or special tools.
Resolution — The level of detail in a digital image, measured in dots or pixels per inch. Higher resolution means a sharper final print.
S
Sans Serif — A typeface without small line details at the ends of letters, generally clean and modern in style.
Screen Printing — A printing method that pushes ink through a fine mesh screen to apply detailed graphics to a substrate.
Seam — The line formed where two pieces of material meet and join.
Serif — A typeface with small decorative strokes at the ends of letters, often used for a more traditional look.
Shade — A color made darker by adding black.
Shadow — A design effect that mimics a cast shadow behind an object for depth.
Silhouette — The overall shape or outline of a sign or design element.
Silk Screen — Another term for screen printing, transferring ink through a cut screen onto a substrate.
Simple Curves — A surface that curves in one direction only, less complex to wrap than a compound curve.
Solvent Ink — Ink that uses a chemical carrier, offering strong durability for outdoor use.
Squeegee — A tool used to apply firm, even pressure when installing vinyl, helping it bond smoothly to a surface.
Streamer — A long, narrow banner typically used in interior or window displays.
Substrate — The surface a graphic is applied to, whether that’s plastic, metal, vinyl, fabric, or glass.
Symmetry — A design where elements are balanced evenly, often mirrored from one side to the other.
T
Tack — How sticky an adhesive is under given conditions.
TIFF — An uncompressed image file format commonly used for scanned or high-quality graphics.
Tiling — Splitting a large image into printable sections that overlap slightly, used when a design exceeds a printer’s maximum width.
Tint — A color made lighter by adding white.
Tone — The effect created when one color is blended with another.
Tracking — Adjusting the spacing across a full line or block of letters, distinct from kerning, which adjusts spacing between two specific letters.
Transfer Tape — A medium-tack tape used to lift a cut vinyl image off its backing and apply it cleanly to a new surface.
Translucent — A material that lets some light pass through without being fully see-through.
Transparent — A material that lets light and images pass through clearly.
Tunneling — Bubbling or lifting that happens when a laminate separates from its substrate, usually from a curing or application issue.
U
UASG — 3M’s certifying body for graphic installers, working independently to make sure installation techniques meet 3M’s standards.
UV Ink — Ink that cures instantly under UV light, forming a durable, solid finish.
UV Resistance — A material’s ability to hold up against sun damage over time.
V
Vinyl — A flexible PVC film, backed with adhesive, used across nearly every wrap, sign, and graphic application. Comes in a range of adhesion levels for permanent, semi-permanent, or temporary use.
Vinyl, High Performance Cast — The industry standard for vehicle wraps. This cast vinyl conforms tightly to rivets and complex curves and holds up for years.
Vinyl, Intermediate — A solid choice for short to medium-term outdoor signage.
Vinyl Letters — Individual letters cut from adhesive-backed vinyl, available in a wide range of colors and finishes.
Vinyl, Perforated Window — A perforated vinyl that allows one-way visibility, commonly used on storefront windows and vehicle back glass.
Vinyl, Reflective — Vinyl that reflects light at night, adding significant visibility to a message after dark.
Visibility — How easily something stands out from its surroundings.
W
Water Resistant — A material treated to resist damage from moisture.
Weed — The process of peeling away excess vinyl from a cut design, leaving only the final image behind.
White Space — The empty, unused area of a design, also called negative space.
Word Space — The horizontal space between words.
X
X-Height — The height of a typeface’s lowercase letters, not counting any ascenders or descenders.