| Mar
Resistance |
The
property of an ink or varnish film which enables the film to remain
unimpaired by light abrasion, impact or pressure. |
| Mask |
To
block off a background or other area, so that the unmasked area
can be printed, or worked on. |
| Match
Print |
A
direct digital colour-proofing process that allows the printer to
see the colours desired in the final printing. |
| Matte
Finish |
A
low gloss (no gloss) finish. |
| Mechanical |
A
soluble colorant; as opposed to pigment, which is insoluble. |
| Media |
Another
term for substrate, the materials to be printed, such as watercolour
papers, canvas, copper, wood veneer, cotton, plastic. |
| Medium |
1)
The resinous fluid that forms the carrier for the pigment in an
ink. 2) An ink or varnish that may be used to produce metallic inks.
3) Synonymous with method. |
| Megabyte |
(MB)
A million bytes. |
| Melamine |
A
very resistant thermoset plastic. |
| Mercury
Vapour Lamp |
A
high intensity light use into photo screen preparation and curing
of ultra violet curing inks. The lamp has a specific spectral output
that causes a chemical reaction to take place. |
| Mesh
Count |
The
unit of measure which indicates the number of openings in a linear
measurement of screen fabric. Threads per inch t.p.I. Threads per
centimetre t.p.cm. |
| Mesh
Marks |
A
fine pattern left by the mesh of a screen printing fabric in the
ink film. |
| Metal
Halide |
A
UV curing lamp that has additives in the form of Halides that produce
a spectral output different to that of mercury vapour. |
| Metallic
Ink |
An
ink which, on application, gives a film with a metallic appearance.
This effect is normally produced by the incorporation of fine flakes
of such metals as copper, bronze or aluminium. |
| Metamerism |
Inks
made from different combinations of pigments create matches of the
same colour under one type of illumination, but when viewed under
another type of illumination, the colours do not match. The phenomenon
is known as metamerism and the colours are said to be metameric. |
| MHz
(Megahertz) |
A
unit of measure for frequency that can relate to the processing
speed of a computer. Equal to one million hertz. |
| Midtones |
Tones
in an image that are in the middle of the tonal range, halfway between
the lightest and the darkest. |
| Mileage |
See
"Coverage". |
| Moiré |
A
pattern which is produced by one set of very close parallel lines
or dots which cross another group of parallel lines or dots at an
angle. This occurs particularly in halftone printing. |
| Monochrome |
An
image made of a range of only one colour. |
| Monomer |
The
unit molecule from which a polymer is built up. |
| Mottle |
A
spotty or uneven printed surface with is most apparent in solid
areas. |
| Mottling |
A
texturing seen in the smooth or monotone areas of an image. This
can be due to faulty processing and a number of improperly used
digital processes e.g. excessive un-sharp masking. |
| Munsell
System of Colour Notation |
Identifies precise, specific colours and shows relationships among
colours, relying upon three attributes: hue, value and chroma. The
system consists of over 3 million observations of what people perceive
to be like differences in hue, chroma, and intensity, choosing samples
they perceived to have like differences. |
