Glossary of Terms

2 ring – A ring metal mechanism that has 2 rings and is typically installed on spine or back cover of a binder case

3 ring – A ring metal mechanism that has 3 rings and is typically installed on spine or back cover of a binder case

5 ring – A ring metal mechanism that has 5 rings attached and is typically installed on spine or back cover of a binder case

6 ring – A ring metal mechanism that has 6 rings attached and is typically installed on spine or back cover of a binder case

7 ring – A ring metal mechanism that has 7 rings attached and is typically installed on spine or back cover of a binder case

Angle D-ring – A ring metal mechanism that has a ring that is shaped like a slanted letter D and is installed on back cover of a binder case

Back Cover – The back panel (cover) of a binder case. A binder case typically has three panels (covers)- Front, Spine and Back.

Binder Size – The Binder size typically refers to the size of the binder including height, width of front/back panels and width of spine. The size of the binder differs from the sheet size of the binder and because actual binder sizes vary by manufacturer, binders are usually sold according to the sheet size they hold such as 11″ x 8.5″, 8.5″ x 5.5″ or 9.5″ x 6″

Binders – A unit that binds together materials typically in a Loose-leaf format.

Bleed – A term that refers to when a document’s images, graphics or text extend to the edge of the page, leaving no white margin or trim. Since printers essentially grab each sheet of paper by the edges to feed it through the printer, no printer is capable of printing all the way to the outer edge of the material. A bleed zone helps ensure a design goes all the way to a material’s edge. See bleed measurements here.

Boosters – The object at each end of the ring metal mechanism that when pushed down will open the rings and allow insertion of material. Pushing/pulling back into the upright position will close the rings.

Business Card Holder – A holder made with clear vinyl and sealed on 2 or 3 sides. Designed to hold a standard size business card

Cardstock paper – A paper that is thicker material similar to construction paper or paper used for Greeting cards. Cardstock is thicker than Text Weight paper

Castilian Vinyl – A vinyl that is high-end and leather-like in its’ finish. It is best used with debossing or foil stamping but can be screen printed with minor limitations

Clear View Binder – A binder that has full size clear pockets that cover the entire outside panel(s) with a small opening at the top where the user can insert pre-printed sheets to decorate the binder

Clearview Binder – See Clear View Binder

Crush Grain Finish – A standard finish for Polyethylene (Poly) Binders that has a grain in the finish and is shinier than the matte finish. There is limited color/gauge selection for Crush Grain Finish

Debossing – A process of pressing a logo/text image into Castilian material using a metal plate that has been etched with your logo/text

Delivery Time – Time from order placement until the product leaves our facility. Transit time from our location to final destination will vary. Sales representatives can provide delivery times based on current production load

Die Cut Window – A Die Cut Window can be added to a Poly Binder cover for little to no added cost. Generally used to allow a portion of the first page to show through the front cover to the outside of the binder. Various window sizes are available.

Dividers – Also known as Index Tab Dividers are made from cardstock paper or thin poly. Dividers are used to sort and section the inside contents of a binder by printing section titles on the Tab Extension for easy reference

Double Business Card Holder – A holder made with clear vinyl and sealed on 3 outer sides with a center seal that separates the holder into two equal sections. Each equal section is designed to hold a standard size business card

D-ring – A ring metal mechanism that is shaped like a letter “D” and is always mounted to the inside back cover of a binder. The D-ring is available in the most common Angle D-ring (Slant D-ring) but also available in a Straight D-ring version

Dull French Calf – Vinyl finish with a grain (small lines) throughout and an overall dull (non-shiny) appearance. One of our three standard vinyl finishes

Easel Binder – Binder that can be setup in flip-chart style for easy demonstration use. The most common Easel Binder is a Poly Easel Binder.

Encapsulation – The process of permanently sealing printed sheets under clear vinyl onto the outside front, spine, and/or back panels as the binder is constructed. Typically the sheets being encapsulated are printed four color process (full color). Also known as Entrapment

Entrapment – The process of permanently sealing printed sheets under clear vinyl onto the outside front, spine, and/or back panels as the binder is constructed. Typically the sheets being entrapped are printed four color process (full color). Also known as Encapsulation

Exposed rivet – A rivet that is visible to the outside spine or back panel of a binder

Flexible Cover – A cover typically made of poly material that is a thin gauge (.016, .023 or .035) which is bendable with little to no effort

Foil Stamping – The process of adhering artwork (logo, text) on vinyl using metallic foil material. Foil color choices are gold and silver

Four Color Process Printing – Also known as Full Color or CMYK; printing that uses four colors (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, blacK) to create many shades of different colors including creating photographs

Front cover – The panel of a binder or padfolio that is visible when the item is laying flat and in the closed position. The outside front cover is where most people place their logo and most important text of their design since it is the most visible panel

Full Color Printing – (see Four Color Process Printing)

Gauge – The measurement used for thickness of poly material. Poly binders are constructed of .023, .035, .055, .075 or .110 gauge whereas Poly covers or Poly Tabs are constructed of .016, .023 or sometimes .035 guage. The gauge determines the flexibility of the poly material

Hidden rivet – Refers to the rivet not being visible to the outside spine or back cover of a binder. Option of Hidden rivet is available for Vinyl Binders but not Poly Binders. Also known as Rivetless

Index Tabs – Dividers that section out the contents of a binder. Typically made from card stock paper or a thin poly material and have section titles on the Tab Extension for easy access

Inside pockets – located inside a binder or padfolio, the inside pockets are typically 4″ to 5″ tall and are made to hold loose sheets of paper or other marketing materials. Vinyl binders/padfolios offer opaque or clear vinyl pockets. Poly binders only offer clear pockets.

Label Holder – Two or three sided clear pocket that is typically placed on outside spine panel to hold a pre-printed label

Locking ring – Metal ring mechanism that has a two action booster which locks to help prevent the ring from popping open if binder is dropped. To open the locking ring, simply press down on the boosters two times to open rings. To close locking ring, pull up twice so that boosters return to a 90 degree angle position

Loose-leaf Binders – refers to binders that hold loose sheets that can easily be removed or added as content change requires

Metal Ring – (see Ring Metal)

Montana Print Vinyl – Upgrade selection of vinyl that has a subtle pre-printed pattern in the design of the vinyl.

Multi ring – A Ring Metal that has more than the standard 3 rings is generally referred to as a multi-ring metal

Non-Boostered ring (No Boosters) – A Ring metal that does not have Boosters at either end of the ring base and that opens by pulling the rings to the open position

Outside Pockets – Located on the outside panel(s) of a binder, made of clear vinyl and typically used for Clear View Binders so that a sheet of paper with printed logo/text/graphics can be inserted/removed

Padded Board – Chipboard with a foam padding layer that creates a cushioned panel underneath the vinyl on a vinyl binder

Pen Loop – Vinyl loop that is sealed on the side of the front or back panel that allows an ink pen with a clip to be attached to the vinyl loop and therefore conveniently held on the side of the binder or padfolio.

Poly (polyethylene) – Material used in poly binders, poly covers, poly tabs. Available in various gauges .016, .023, .035, .055, .075 or .110 gauge. Colors available

Poly (polypropylene) – Material used in poly binders, poly covers. Available in clear in the following finishes: Matte/Smooth, Matte/Matte, Diagonal Line/Smooth

Poly Binders – Binders with covers made from a solid poly material (typically polyethylene) that do not contain chipboard. Poly Binders have a Ring Metal installed to hold Loose-leaf sheets o paper. Poly Binders are very durable and best used in heavy use or rugged environments

Poly Covers – Poly material trimmed down to fit Sheet Size, printed or plain. Poly Covers can be pre-punched with holes to fit Wire Binding, Coil Binding and other types of non-looseleaf binding methods.

Poly Easel Binder – Poly Binder that has 4 panels including one with a small lip that can fold into a tent shaped easel binder. This tent shape creates a flip chart mode for easy presentations

Poly Tabs – Index tab dividers made from poly material (.016, .023 or .035 gauge) rather than cardstock paper

Presentation Binder – (see Clear View Binders)

Rigid Cover – Refers to a cover that is not easily bent. A rigid cover in Poly (polyethylene) Material would be (.055, .075 or .110 gauge) Vinyl binder covers (panels) are rigid due to the thick chipboard that is sealed inside the covers.

Ring Capacity – Refers to the ring size that is installed in the binder. The ring capacity of a round ring can be determined by measuring the inside diameter of the circular portion of the ring from left to right. The ring capacity of an angle d-ring or straight d-ring can be determined by measuring the inside straight part of the “D” shaped ring (not including the metal piece). The measurement may not be exact and if you have questions, ask your sales representative

Ring Metal – High quality nickel ring mechanism which feature high tension design and are mounted to the spine or back cover using rivets (unless a Rivetless metal is used). The metal rings are offered in round and D-rings as well as offered as a standard three ring or multi rings such as 2-ring, 4-ring, 6-ring, or 7-ring.

Ring size – (see Ring Capacity)

Rings – (see Ring Metal)

Rivetless Metal – Ring Metal which has prongs on the back of the ring base that insert into chipboard for mounting into Vinyl Binder cases instead of using rivets. Rivetless feature not available in all sizes

Round ring metal – Ring metal which has circular (round) rings

Screen Printing – The process of using inks through a mesh screen to imprint graphics/logos on to vinyl or poly material

Sheet size – The size (measurement) of the sheet going inside a binder or accompanying an index tab. A standard sheet of paper measures 11” tall x 8.5” wide; therefore the “sheet size” of our standard size binder is 11” x 8.5”. Our second most popular sheet size is 8.5” x 5.5” (half sheet). Sheet size is not the same as Binder Size; see Binder Size for more explanation

Shiny French Calf – Vinyl finish with a grain (small lines) throughout and overall shiny appearance. One of our three standard vinyl finishes with limited color availability

Shipping Costs – Cost of shipping goods from our facility to yours. Some destinations that do not have a traditional loading dock may require special accessorial charges such as School Delivery, Place of Worship, Inside Delivery, Lift Gate, Residential, Call Ahead Appointment, delivery to a raised floor (2nd, 3rd, etc) and more. Your Sales Representative can assist in quoting shipping charges using your zip code and description of your delivery process and needs

Silk Screen printing – (see Screen Printing)

Skrim Reinforcing – A type of fabric material that is sealed in the hinges of your vinyl binder to help extend life of hinges

Spine – The smallest panel of a binder. When the binder is standing up on a book shelf, the spine is the panel that is seen. The outside spine panel is where most people place a logo/text that they want visible when sitting on a bookshelf. Round Ring Metals are typically mounted to the spine panel of a binder

Spot Color Printing – Example Refers to the printing of individual colors rather than a blend of colors to create many colors. In the old Binders, Inc. logo (see Example on right), we have the color Red and the color Black; spot color printing would be a process of printing a red ink and printing the portion of the logo/text seen in Red and then printing the portion of the logo/text seen in Black separately.

Straight D-ring – Ring metal which has rings in the shape of the letter “D”; D-ring metals are always mounted to the back cover of a binder

Suedene – Vinyl finish that has a matte and is smooth; Suedene is the most common vinyl finish. One of our three standard vinyl finishes

Tab Extension – Refers to the part of the Index Tab Divider that extends out past the Sheet Size the tab is accompanying so that the Tab Titles can be easily read

Tabs – (see Index Tabs)

Text Weight Paper – A paper that is typically used for the inside printed contents of a binder. Text Weight paper can vary in thickness and opacity and is available in different finishes and colors

Turn Around time – (see Delivery Time)

View Binder – (See Clear View Binder)

Vinyl – Material used in Vinyl Binders and Padfolios that heat seals around rigid chipboard. Colors available

Vinyl Binders – Binders that have two pieces of vinyl heat sealed around rigid chipboard typically with a ring metal installed on the spine or back panel that hold Loose-leaf sheets of paper