Pp
Paper Thermometer: Paper strips that have temperature readings printed on them. The thermometers are attached to a garment as it is being run through the dryer or under a flash cure unit to determine the temperature of the substrate and whether it is over or under cured.
.pdf: Portable document format used in Adobe Acrobat.
Phosphorescent Ink: Screen printing ink that contains glow in the dark pigment.
Photochromic Ink: Specialty plastisol and water base inks that appear colorless when viewed in indoor light but will display a different color when exposed to direct sunlight.
Photopolymer: A Murakami invention that utilizes the SBQ sensitizer instead of diazo. Photopolymer emulsions expose faster than diazo emulsion and are unaffected by heat or long storage conditions.
Pigment: The component of ink that provides the color or to color with pigment.
Pinholes: An unwanted condition of tiny holes that appear in the stencil after exposure. Pinholes cause unwanted ink dots that require spot cleaning to remove. Pinholes are controllable with proper degreasing, exposure and using a quality emulsion that resists pinholes.
Pixilated: A graphic displayed in such a manner that individual pixels are discernible.
Plasticizer: A chemical component in plastisol ink used to give it flexibility.
Plastisol: An ink mainly used for textile printing made up of: Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC), Color Pigments and Plasticizers.
Platen: A flat surface used to hold the substrate during printing. Also known as a shirt board.
Platen Adhesive: Adhesive that is used to hold down a garment on the shirt board during printing.
Platen Mask: A paper based tape that is applied to the shirt board or platen to protect the surface during printing.
Plugging: When ink dries in the mesh preventing the ink from passing through. Also known as clogging.
Point: With 72 points equaling one inch it is the standard unit for measuring font size.
Point light Source: Used to describe a desirable light source for a screen making exposure unit. A single identifiable source of light. Point light sources have significant imaging qualities that chaotic light like fluorescent tubes cannot obtain.
Positive: A clear plastic film containing a black image.
Post Hardening: After the washout process and the screen development it is advantageous to post expose in the sun or 2x in the exposure unit to post expose and hardent the screen. This also applies to chemical hardeners like Murakami’s MS or A&B hardeners (separate systems) to create durable screens for water base and discharge ink systems.
Powdered Adhesive: Applied to cold peel transfers while the last ink color is still wet, commonly called the ‘backer’. These finely ground adhesive powderso aid in adhesion of the transfer print to the garment.
Print Head: The component that the screen is attached to on the screen printing press
Print-Flash-Print (PFP): Used to achieve an opaque print, a screen printing technique by printing a base plate then partially curing with a flash unit and then applying another print stroke to obtain opacity within the print.
Proof: Sample print or a test prin
.psd: An Adobe Photoshop file used to create layered image files with the file extension .psd.
Puff Ink: A special effect type of plastisol ink that raises up or expands during the curing process.
Puff Additive: An ink additive for plastisol ink to make it expand in size and turn the ink into a puff ink (Not all inks can use this additive, consult with your ink manufacturer for applicability).
Pyrometer: Used to determine the temperature of an object’s surface using a non-contact measuring instrument. In screen printing it is commonly called a heat gun or pyrometer.