PULP AND PAPER DICTIONARY
This page contains definitions of the terms, words and phrase commonly used in pulp and papermaking, printing, converting and paper trading.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
T4S Abbreviation indicating that the paper has been guillotine trimmed on all four sides. Literal translation: trimmed four sides.
Table Roll The small diameter rolls used to support the wire.
TACK OR STICKINESS Tack is a critical property of the ink used in lithography. Because the ink sits on a flat surface, it needs internal cohesion; in other words, it needs to stick to itself so that it doesn't run all over the plate. However, too much tack can cause it to pull the paper apart.
When printing two or more ink colours in line, the ink tack and sequence must be adjusted in order for the inks to adhere to each other as well as to the paper.
TAG PAPER A heavy utility grade of paper used to print tags, such as the store tags on clothing. Tag paper must be strong and durable, yet have good affinity for printing inks.
TALC Mineral used in papermaking as a filler and coating pigment.
TEAR INDEX Tear index = tearing resistance/basis weight.
TEAR RESISTANCE The mean force required to continue the tearing of paper from an initial cut under standardized conditions.
TEAR STRENGTH A measure of how likely a paper will continue to tear once started. Tear strength will differ with and against the grain.
TENSILE ENERGY ABSORPTION (TEA) It is the work done when a paper specimen is stressed to rupture in tension under prescribed conditions as measured by the integral of tensile strength over the range of tensile strain from 0 to maximum.
TENSILE INDEX Tensile index = tensile strength (N/m) /basis weight (g/m2).
TENSILE STRENGTH A measure of how likely a paper is to break when pulled at opposite ends. This is very important when running through high-speed web presses.
TESTLINER Mainly produced from waste paper used as even facing for corrugated board or as liner of solid board. They are often produced as duplex (two-layer) paper. The grammage is higher than 125 gsm.
TEXT PAPER Text papers are defined as fine, high quality uncoated papers. Typically, they are made in various colours, with numerous textures and a variety of surface finishes. Text papers are made from high-grade bleached wood pulp, cotton fibres, or tree-free pulp such as bamboo. Recycled sheets include high quality recycled waste paper and post-consumer waste pulp, in addition to bleached wood pulp, tree-free pulp or cotton fibres.
THERMAL PAPER Any paper with a heat-sensitive coating on which an image can be produced by the application of heat.
THERMAL TRANSFER PRINTING Printing whereby a design image is first printed on heat transfer paper using inks with sublimable dispersed dyes.
THERMO MECHANICAL PULPING (TMP) Mechanical pulp made by steaming wood chips under pressure prior to and during refining, producing a higher yield and stronger pulp than regular stone groundwood or regular refiner wood pulp.
THIN PAPER Includes carbonizing, cigarette, bible, air mail and similar papers.
THINNING A practice in which certain trees are removed from a dense stand to allow the remaining trees adequate sunlight, nutrients and moisture to grow at an even rate.
TINT To vary a colour by adding white. Also, a very light or delicate variation of a colour.
TISSUE A low weights and thin sheet. Normally a paper sheet weighing less than 40 gram per meter square is called tissue.
At-Home products: Also known as Consumer Products, these are the tissue products you purchase in the grocery store and convenience store for use in your home and include toilet paper and facial tissue, napkins and paper towels, and other special sanitary papers.
Away-from-Home products: Also known as Commercial & Industrial Tissue, these are the products that serve markets such as hospitals, restaurants, businesses, institutions, and janitorial supply firms.
Specialty: These types of tissue papers are often high-end, decorative papers that are glazed, unglazed, or creped, and include wrapping tissue for gifts and dry cleaning, as well as crepe paper for decorating.
Facial tissue: The class of soft, absorbent papers in the sanitary tissue group. Originally used for removal of creams, oil, and so on, from the skin, it is now used in large volume for packaged facial tissue, toilet paper, paper napkins, professional towels, industrial wipes, and for hospital items. Most facial tissue is made of bleached sulphite or sulphate pulp, sometimes mixed with bleached and mechanical pulp, on a single-cylinder or Fourdrinier machine. Desirable characteristics are softness, strength, and freedom from lint.
TITANIUM DIOXIDE An opaque and expensive compound used as a white pigment and opacifier in papermaking. Elemental titanium is a lustrous, lightweight, white metal with exceptional strength.
TOLERANCE Permissible degree of variation from a pre-set standard.
TON ON TONNE Metric ton or Metric Tonne is equal to 1000 Kgs. or 2240 lbs. English tons are as defined. Long Ton = 2240 lbs is similar to metric ton. Standard English ton is 2200 lbs. Short ton is 2000 lbs.
TOP SIDE Side of the paper opposite to the wire side.
TOTAL ALKALI NaOH + Na2S + Na2CO3 + 0.5*Na2SO3 all expressed as Na2O in alkaline pulping liquor.
TOTALLY CHLORINE FREE (TCF) Totally chlorine free applies to virgin fibre papers that are unbleached or processed with a sequence that includes no chlorine or chlorine derivatives. (Also see ECF)
TRANSLUCENCY The ability to transmit light without being transparent.
TRANSLUCENT DRAWING PAPER A paper suitable for drawing office use; sufficiently translucent for an image on it to be reproduced by processes using transmitted light and for a design to be traced on it from an original placed beneath it. Such processes include blueprint and diazo.
TRANSPARENCY Ability of paper to allow light rays to pass through so that objects behind it can be clearly seen.
TRANSPARENT PAPER Extended and particularly careful grinding of high quality fibres (hard chemical pulps, rags) yields a raw material permitting the production of transparent paper.
TREATED PAPER Papers which have functional characteristics added through special treatment. Among the most common are insect resistant, mould resistant, clay coated, and flame retardant.
TRIM To cut true to exact size, by cutting away the edges of paper in the web or sheet.
TUB SIZING The operation of surface sizing paper by passing it through a bath of a suitable solution such as gelatine.
TUBE DIGESTER Single or multi-tube continuous digester; used mainly in nonwood pulping and sawdust pulping purposes; horizontal tubes.
TWIN-WIRE MACHINE A papermaking machine with two continuous forming wires, rather than just one. Twin-wires were designed to create a less two-sided paper than paper manufactured on a Fourdrinier paper machine.
Other techniques for reducing two-sidedness have since been developed, enabling paper manufacturers to create paper on single-wire machines with little side-to-side variation.
TWO PARALLEL FOLD An excellent fold for legal size (or larger) pieces that are to be mailed. A legal sheet (8.5" x 14") is folded to 3.5" x 8.5". A 9" x 16" sheet produces a 4" x 9", four panel brochure. Note: A perforation added at one of the folds can create a three panel brochure with detachable reply card. For picture of this type and other fold please visit http://www.bradenprint.com/pdf/Folds-IS.pdf
TWO-SIDEDNESS The property denoting a difference in appearance and printability between its top (felt) and wire sides.