In this glossary, you will find a list of common terms and definitions used in the industry of corporate merchandise, which refers to the production and distribution of promotional products, corporate gifts, and branded merchandise for companies and organizations. These products are often used as marketing tools to promote a company's brand, generate leads, or thank customers and employees. The corporate merchandise industry is a vast and diverse field, and understanding the terminology used in it can be helpful for anyone working in or interested in this industry. This glossary aims to provide a comprehensive resource for understanding the language and concepts used in the corporate merchandise industry.

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S 

• Substrate- In the printing and corporate merchandising industry, a substrate refers to the material on which a design is printed. The substrate can be any type of material, such as fabric, paper, plastic, or metal, and it is typically chosen based on the intended use and desired properties of the final product.

  For example, a t-shirt would be a common substrate for screen printing in the corporate merchandising industry, as it is a durable and widely-used promotional item. Other common substrates in the industry include bags, hats, and other types of clothing, as well as promotional items such as pens, keychains, and other small items.

  The choice of substrate is important, as it can affect the quality and durability of the final printed product. Factors such as the texture, absorbency, and smoothness of the substrate can all have an impact on the final result. Therefore, it is important to select a substrate that is appropriate for the intended use and design of the product.

• Squeegee - a tool used in the printing industry to spread and smooth ink or other printing materials over a substrate. It consists of a handle with a rubber blade attached to it, and it is used to push the ink through a screen or stencil and onto the substrate.
  
  Squeegees are commonly used in screen printing, as well as in other printing methods such as flexography and letterpress printing. In screen printing, the squeegee is used to apply the ink to the substrate through the stencil, creating the final printed design.
  
  The blade of the squeegee is typically made of rubber, as it is a material that is both flexible and durable. The type of rubber and the hardness of the blade can be adjusted to suit different printing needs, such as the type of ink being used and the type of substrate being printed on.
  
  Overall, the squeegee is an important tool in the printing industry, as it helps to ensure that the ink is applied evenly and consistently to the substrate, resulting in high-quality printed products.

V 

• Vector PDF - When a designer completes your artwork, always ask for the artwork in vector PDF format. A vector PDF (Portable Document Format) is a type of digital document that uses geometric shapes and mathematical formulas to define the lines, curves, and shapes in an image, rather than using pixels as in a raster image.
  
  One of the main advantages of vector graphics is that they can be resized and modified without losing quality, since they are not made up of fixed pixels like raster images. This makes vector graphics ideal for printing, since they can be scaled up or down to fit different sizes of paper without losing clarity or sharpness.
  
  Vector PDFs are often used for documents that contain text, graphics, and other design elements, such as logos, diagrams, and charts. They are also commonly used for printing documents that need to be enlarged or reduced, such as maps, technical drawings, and blueprints.
  
  Vector PDFs can be created and edited using specialised software, some example which are Adobe Illustrator or Inkscape. They can be opened and viewed using any PDF viewer, such as Adobe Acrobat or the built-in PDF viewer in most modern web browsers.