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Common Terms - F
Felt a fabric of natural or synthetic fibers used in the press section of a papermaking machine to absorb water from the paper as it is manufactured. see also felt finish, papermaking.
Felt Finish a soft texture that affects the look but not the strength of an uncoated paper. A felt finish can be created at the wet end during the papermaking process in one of two ways; either with a roll that is covered with a felt, or with a rubber roll with a felt-patterned finish. An embossed felt finish is created off the machine, after the paper has dried. Champion Carnival Felt is an example of a paper with a felt finish created during the papermaking process. see also felt finish, finish, papermaking, wet end.
Felt Side the top side of the paper, which comes in contact with the dandy roll and felts during the papermaking process. The bottom side of the paper, which comes in contact with the wire (forming fabric) or the papermaking machine, is called the wire side. The felt side of a paper may appear to be softer, while the wire side of a paper may have more "tooth." During printing, the softer texture of the felt side of an uncoated paper may pick up slightly more ink than the wire side of the same sheet, and the printer may have to adjust ink densities to compensate for this. Paper is generally packed and shipped as it is made: felt side up. see also finish, papermaking, tooth, two-sidedness, wire side.
Fiber filaments of plant tissue, such as cotton fiber and wood fiber. Some specialty papers may contain synthetic fibers, such as rayon or nylon. see also ingredients of paper.
Fiber-added Paper paper with visible fibers, flecks, and specks. The term may be a bit misleading because all paper is made from fiber. The most common fiber additives are wood chips, colored cotton fibers, and colored rayon fibers. see also recycled paper, recycled-content paper.
Filler materials like clay added to pulp before it's formed into paper. Fillers improve a sheet's smoothness, brightness, and affinity for ink. see also clay, ingredients of paper.
Finish the surface characteristics of a paper. Finishes may be created on-machine or off-machine. On-machine finishing can be done two ways: for a smooth or vellum finish, pressure is imparted on the sheet with a finishing "stack." Laid of felt finishes are made with a marking roll, which actually presses the pattern into the paper while it's still wet. Off-machine finishes are called embosses. This is a separate step that presses the paper between a steel pattern roll and either a hard cotton backing roll (to create the finish on both sides), or a plastic roll (for smoothness on one side). Several generic terms describe the various finishes of uncoated paper, such as vellum, smooth, and laid. Individual paper manufacturers may not use these terms consistently, instead using unique finishes or unique names for common finishes. see also calendering, embossed, papermaking, supercalender.
Finishing preparing printed pages for use. Most printed jobs require one or more finishing steps, such as trimming, folding, or binding. see also binding, folding, trimming.
Flexography a direct (not offset) printing method that uses relief plates, similar to rubber stamps, which are made from rubber or photopolymer. The flexible plates are wrapped around a cylinder on the printing press. "Flexo" works best when printing large areas of solid color, making it popular for printing plastic bags, wrapping paper, and milk cartons. It's also used for the Sunday color comics and newspaper inserts. Rubber manufactures, eager to find new uses for rubber, have invested heavily in flexographic research, and improvements have been made in ink coverage and four-color registration. see also four-color process, offset, plate, printing process, registration, relief.
Floatation a method for removing ink from paper during the de-inking process by floating if off the paper. see also de-inking.
Fluorescent Dye a coloring agent added to paper to increase its brightness. Fluorescent dyes give white papers added brilliance in natural light and may add a slight cast like blue or green. see also brightness, refractiveness, whiteness.
Fuorescent Inks printing inks that both emit and reflect light. Generally, these inks are brighter and more opaque than traditional inks. Using one or more fluorescent inks can actually brighten a printed image, especially four-color process printing on uncoated stock. On the down side, fluorescent inks are not colorfast and will fade in bright light and sunlight over time. They can also have a negative effect on dot gain and trapping, making the printing less sharp and without as much detail. see also dot gain, trapping.
Focaltone A proprietary color matching system for process color.
Foil Stamping to cover paper with a thin, flexible sheet of metal or other material. The foil, which may be clear or opaque, comes in a range of colors, and is carried on a plastic sheet. Stamping separates the foil from the plastic and makes it adhere to the paper. Foil stamping can be combined with embossing or debossing as an added design element. see also debossing, embossing.
Folding doubling up a sheet of paper so that one part lies on top of another. Folding stresses the paper fibers. To create a smooth, straight fold, heavy papers, like cover stocks and bristols, need to be scored before they're folded. Multiple fold strength is important in printed pieces like books, maps, and pamphlets. It's far less important in one-fold operations like greeting cards or envelops, where fold cracking is the vital consideration. Folding strength is negatively affected y the drying heat of various printing and finishing operations. see also binding, finishing, gatefold, imposition, scoring, signature.
Form the assembled pages and images as printed on a single large sheet, before trimming. With the correct imposition, the pages of a form will be in correct order after folding and trimming. Once folded and trimmed, a form becomes a "signature." see also folding, imposition, signature, trimming.
Formation the uniformity of fibers in a sheet of paper. For example, paper with fine formation has evenly dispersed fibers, and will be smoother and more uniform than a paper with uneven formation. The tighter the fibers are bound, the more uniform the surface, and the better the printed sheet usually looks. see also fiber, grain.
Four-color Process a method that uses dots of magenta (red), cyan (blue), yellow, and black to simulate the continuous tones and variety of colors in a color image. Reproducing a four-color image begins with separating the image into four different halftones by using color filters of the opposite (or negative) color. For instance, a red filter is used to capture the cyan halftone, a blue filter is used to capture the yellow halftone, and a green filter is used to capture the magenta halftone. Because a printing press can't change the tone intensity of ink, four-color process relies on a trick of the eye to mimic light and dark areas. Each halftone separation is printed with its process color (magenta, cyan, yellow, and black). When we look at the final result, our eyes blend the dots to recreate the continuous tones and variety of colors we see in a color photograph, painting, or drawing. see also color separation, continuous tone, dots per inch, halftone, screen subtractive color, touchplate.
Fourdrinier a papermaking machine with a horizontal continuous wire belt. A slurry of pulp is poured or sprayed onto the wire (forming fabric); the water is then drained off and pressed out; and the paper is dried. see also papermaking.
Freesheet paper that contains no more than 10% mechanical wood pulp. Most freesheet papers are "free" of mechanical (groundwood) pulp. see also pulping wood, uncoated freesheet, uncoated paper.
Furnish fully prepared pulp and all its ingredients: fiber, fillers, sizing, and pigments - diluted with water and ready for the papermaking machine. Furnish contains about 99% water. see also paper, pulp, slurry.