RESOURCES
The packaging vocabulary, in plain language.
Packaging carries a lot of jargon — dielines, gamut, Ti-Hi, freight class. Here's a glossary that defines it plainly, plus the deeper reads on how PackOS actually works, written by the team that manufactures at scale.
Nº 01 Start here
Security
Exactly how we store, access, and delete your files. The controls, in plain language.
Read → FITIntegrations
How PackOS connects to the ERP, CRM, MIS, and storage you already run.
See → TRY ITQuick Quote
Upload a label file and watch it get read, proofed, and priced — custom roll labels today, flexible packaging coming soon.
Start →LABEL BUYING RESOURCES
From label specification to supplier comparison.
Custom roll labels
Prepare the construction, artwork, quantities and applicator requirements for your next label order.
Plan an order → FREE TEMPLATESSKU schedule & quote comparison
Download blank CSV worksheets to coordinate releases and compare suppliers against the same specification.
Get the templates → SIZING TOOLMeasure your bottle or jar label
Estimate label dimensions from your container, then confirm the dieline and application requirements.
Size a label → CSV WORKSHEETLabel finish sample approval
Record physical samples, appearance criteria, trial observations and approval owners. Replace the example rows with your own evidence.
Download the worksheet →FREE DOWNLOADS
Printable sheets, templates and dielines.
Enter your work email once and each download starts. We also send The Press Sheet, our packaging newsletter; unsubscribe anytime.
The Packaging Troubleshooting Wall Chart
Every symptom on one sheet: causes, tells and fixes for the line and the warehouse wall.
Download the PDF → PDF · 1 PAGEThe FBA Prep Checklist
The prep steps on one sheet, each with where to verify the current Amazon rule.
Download the PDF → PDF · 1 PAGEThe RFQ & Quote-Reading Kit
A printable RFQ field list and a quote line-item decoder, side by side.
Download the PDF → PDF · 1 PAGEThe Label Spec Cheat Sheet
Sizes, materials, adhesives, roll spec and unwind positions on one sheet.
Download the PDF → PDF · 1 PAGEThe Pallet & Freight Sheet
Ti-Hi, box-strength derating, DIM weight and freight class, the shipping math on one sheet.
Download the PDF → PDF · 1 PAGEThe Print Quality & Handoff Sheet
Preflight, proof review, color targets and the clean-handoff checklist on one sheet.
Download the PDF → PDF · 1 PAGEThe Compliance Quick Sheet
The US packaging rules map: who regulates what, and where to verify.
Download the PDF → CSV TEMPLATELabel SKU schedule
One row per SKU, artwork revision, destination and release, for Excel or Google Sheets.
Download the CSV → CSV TEMPLATESupplier quote comparison
Compare label quotes line by line against the same quantities and construction.
Download the CSV → SVG DIELINESBox & carton dieline library
Eight styles drawn to your dimensions, downloadable as to-scale SVG with cut and crease layers.
Open the library →Nº 02 Glossary
Packaging & print, defined.
Dieline
The flat template of cut, crease, and bleed lines a package is die-cut and folded from. Everything downstream — proofs, quotes, production — is built on getting it right.
Bleed
Artwork extended past the trim edge so that after cutting there's no white sliver. Typically 3 mm on flexible and folding cartons.
Trim & safety
Trim is the finished cut edge; safety is the margin inside it where important text and logos must stay so they aren't cut off.
Gusset
A folded side or bottom panel that lets a pouch expand and stand. A bottom (Doyen) gusset makes a stand-up pouch; side gussets add volume.
Stand-up pouch SUP
A flexible pouch with a bottom gusset that lets it stand on shelf. Common for cannabis flower, coffee, snacks, and supplements.
Press-to-close zipper PTC
A reclosable interlocking zipper pressed shut by hand — the most common resealable closure on a stand-up pouch.
Tear notch
A small V- or laser-cut in the seal that starts a clean, straight tear so the pouch opens where intended.
Regular slotted container RSC
The standard corrugated shipping box: four panels and a glue tab, with flaps that meet in the middle top and bottom.
Folding carton
A paperboard box that ships and stores flat, then folds up for filling — think retail cartons, tuck-end and auto-bottom styles.
Flute
The wavy fluted medium glued between corrugated liners. A, B, C, and E flutes trade thickness for print quality and stacking strength.
Laminate structure
The stack of film plies (e.g. PET/PE) that gives a pouch its barrier and strength — or a mono-material single-polymer build for recyclability.
CMYK / 4-color process
Cyan, magenta, yellow, and black inks combined in tiny dots to reproduce full-color images. "4/0" means four colors on the front, none on the back.
Spot color PMS
A pre-mixed ink matched to a Pantone (PMS) reference — used for exact brand colors that process printing can't hit reliably.
Registration
How precisely the color separations line up on press. Poor registration shows as blur or color fringing; register marks help align the plates.
Halftone & rosette
Tones are simulated with dot patterns (halftones); the interlocking CMYK dot pattern viewed through a loupe is the rosette.
Trapping
A tiny deliberate overlap between adjacent colors so small registration errors don't leave a white gap.
GRACoL
A US printing characterization (and dataset) that defines expected color for coated offset — a common target "press intent" for accurate proofs.
PDF/X-4
A print-ready PDF standard that supports live transparency and color management — the safe hand-off format for modern prepress.
ICC profile
A file describing a device or process's color space, used to convert colors predictably between screen, proof, and press.
Gamut & OGV
The gamut is the range of colors a process can reproduce. OGV (orange/green/violet) extended gamut adds inks to reach colors CMYK can't.
Embellishments
Finishes beyond ink — foil, emboss/deboss, spot-UV gloss, and soft-touch matte — that add tactile, premium shelf appeal.
Preflight
Automated checks of a file against print rules — bleed, resolution, separations, ink limits, small-text legibility — before it goes to production.
Ink limit TAC
Total area coverage: the maximum combined ink percentage (often ~280–320%) that a substrate can hold without drying or trapping problems.
Resolution DPI
Image detail in dots per inch; roughly 300 dpi at final size is the print standard. Too low prints soft or pixelated.
Proof
A representation of the final printed piece — soft (on-screen), contract (color-accurate), or 3D — approved before plates are cut.
ISO 19593
A standard for naming layers and encoding processing steps (cut, crease, foil, varnish) so a converter's prepress can read your file directly.
ΔE
A numeric measure of color difference between two colors — used to judge how closely a proof or print matches the target.
Ti-Hi
Ti = cases per pallet layer; Hi = layers high. Ti×Hi sets how many cases fit a pallet and drives cube utilization and freight.
Pallet GMA
The standard 48×40 inch (1219×1016 mm) shipping pallet most North American racking and trucks are built around.
Box compression BCT
How much top-load a case can bear before crushing, estimated by the McKee formula and derated for humidity and interlocked stacking.
Cube utilization
How full a pallet, case, or container is by volume. Better cube means fewer trucks and lower cost per unit shipped.
Freight class NMFC
The classification (based largely on density) that sets less-than-truckload (LTL) freight rates. Denser, sturdier freight generally rates cheaper.
Dimensional weight
Billable weight derived from a shipment's size rather than its scale weight — carriers charge the greater of actual and dimensional.
Case pack
The number of units in a shipping case — a core input to pallet math, freight, and how the order physically ships.
Child-resistant CR
Packaging designed to be difficult for young children to open but not for adults, tested under 16 CFR 1700.20 (or ISO 8317 for reclosable packs) and classified per ASTM D3475. Required for cannabis in every legal state, with details that differ by state.
Extended producer responsibility EPR
Laws that make producers pay for the end-of-life of their packaging, with fees tied to material and weight — now live and reported in a growing set of US states.
Universal symbol
A required cannabis warning mark that must appear on packaging; the exact symbol, size, and placement vary by state.
Tamper-evident
A seal or feature that visibly shows whether a package has been opened — required across many regulated categories.
Face stock
The printable top layer of a pressure-sensitive label — paper, BOPP, vinyl, or PET — chosen for durability, look, and how it survives moisture, oil, and handling.
Wrap label
A label that wraps partly or fully around a container. Sized from the container’s circumference, with a gap or overlap at the seam.
Kiss cut
A die cut that slices through the label face stock but not the liner, so labels peel from a continuous roll or sheet. Cutting through everything is a die cut.
Cutting die
The steel-rule or rotary tool that cuts a label or blank’s shape. A new shape means a new die — one of packaging’s one-time tooling costs.
Plate
The etched polymer or metal tool that carries one ink color on a flexo or offset press. Each color needs its own plate, and artwork changes mean re-plating.
Make-ready
The setup work and waste before a press runs good product — mounting plates, dialing in registration and color. A fixed cost that quantity amortizes.
Unwind position
Which edge of the printed copy comes off a label roll first, commonly numbered 1–8. Machine applicators need the right one; conventions vary, so confirm the spec sheet.
Packaging automation
Doing packaging work with less manual effort — across workflow software (specs, artwork, quoting), physical line machinery (case packing, palletizing, right-sizing), and AI. One phrase covering three very different purchases.
Artwork management
Software that centralizes packaging artwork versions, online proofing and annotation, approval routing, and an audit trail — so reviews stop living in email threads and shared drives.
Specification management
Keeping a packaging spec — dimensions, material, closure, inks, finishes, case data — as one controlled record everyone reads, instead of copies that drift across spreadsheets and emails.
Right-sizing
Matching a shipping box or mailer to the product so there is minimal empty space — cutting material, void fill, dimensional weight, and freight cost at once.
Box-on-demand
Fit-to-size machinery that cuts and creases a right-sized corrugated box for each order in real time from fanfold board, instead of picking from a few stock box sizes.
No terms match — try a different word or category.
Nº 03 From the blog
What is a dieline?
The flat cut-and-crease template every package is built from — how to read one and why it drives your quote.
Read → QUALITYThe preflight checklist
The file checks — bleed, resolution, separations, ink limit — that decide whether artwork runs clean.
Read → DESIGNStand-up pouch spec guide
Sizes, laminate structures, gussets, and closures — how to spec a pouch that seals and stands.
Read → LOGISTICSTi-Hi, BCT & freight class
The pallet math behind cases-per-layer, stacking strength, cube, and how freight actually gets billed.
Read → COMPLIANCEPackaging EPR laws in the US
Extended Producer Responsibility, state by state — who counts as a producer and how to prepare.
Read → COMPLIANCEChild-resistant packaging
CR packaging, ASTM testing, and why cannabis makes it state-specific — the requirements, explained.
Read →Learn it, or just quote it.
You don't need to speak fluent packaging to use PackOS — upload a file and it reads the dieline, the colors, and the spec for you.