CUSTOMIZATION

Creative Specialty Packaging

This most appropriately named group..."Creative Specialty Packaging" has provided the final "perfection" for many of our customers' unique projects. These one-of-a-kind applications have benefited from the ingenuity of our design engineers. If your tooling isn't already in our extensive die library, we will start with your specifications and design a package around your product. At Blair, we welcome your ideas and your questions.

Now more important than ever...vinyl packaging provides a distinct advantage over other available packaging: reusable, quality packaging for tools, gauges, school supplies, repair kits, dental instruments, and medical items.

Pouches & Kits

Passbook Covers & Savings Wallets

Financial institutions strive to develop their image/name recognition. Blair is pleased to help by providing savings wallets and passbook jackets in quality materials. For your convenience, some styles are maintained in stock for immediate shipment.

VINYL PACKAGING INFORMATION

Key Packaging Terminology

When manufacturers and clients get together, a clear understanding of packaging terms is vital when ordering new packaging products. A major problem in this area is a gap in understanding the industry terminology. The manufacturer may be accustomed to manufacturing terminology while the client may know what they want but aren't familiar with the terminology needed to clearly describe the parts and pieces of the packaging product. The following terms and definitions are furnished to provide you with the data needed to make more informed decisions concerning your packaging needs.

Printed Inserts

Your sales representative must verify sizes for each project with production engineers. Product specifications and materials can cause dimensions to vary, as can the corners on printed sheets (round or square).

The porosity of paper stock selected is critical, especially if it is a recycled stock. You are strongly urged to provide samples (for testing) of any fibrous or recycled stock you select prior to printing and production.

For satisfactory inserts, paper used for printed sheets should be 70#--100# stock, enamel-coated on one side only.

For best results, graphics must be printed so that the grain of the paper stock runs with the vertical dimension of the insert. Inserts should be trimmed (and round-cornered, if required) by your printer and shipped ready to use.

NOTE: If printed sheets are received untrimmed, the following specifications are necessary for Blair to trim inserts:

1. Sheets must have a minimum of 1/4" unprinted stock surface (allowance) between cover and spine graphics.

2. Final trim marks for cutting must be outside final trim sizes for cutting.

3. Press sheets should have gripper and guide side marked.

Illustrated Terminology

FLUSH INTERLOCK The male and female trays lock together with outside walls meeting evenly, giving a flush sidewall for the album
	OVERLAP INTERLOCK The female tray locks over the top of the male tray, creating a visible, outer overlapping wall.
RIBBED SPINE Extra sealing bars are used, combined with omitting board from the spine of the product. There are both functional and aesthetic reasons for this construction, added flexibility to the spine and a contrast in the overall package surface.
	RIBBED SIDEWALLS - PVC Trays are vacuum-formed with ribbed indentations on the outside walls. This affords both an attractive variation in appearance and extra strength to the package when that is a consideration.
SQUAREBACK SPINE Flat spine with sealing bars on each side, used in conjunction with interlocking PVC trays, gives a sharply defined, bound book appearance.
	ROUNDBACK SPINE Albums with our patented roundback have a softly, curved spine giving the classic appearance of earlier bound books. It also offers some practical advantages - products with roundback construction permit use of full interior PVC, one piece sealed-in or inserted artwork, and more flexibility in overall silk screening design.

Decorative Terminology

APPLIQUE A custom die made from your artwork is used to apply, cut and seal one or more pieces of vinyl to the surface of another. When the sealing process is complete, these layers of material are removed, leaving only those within the perimeters of the seal. This technique has some size limitations, but with good artwork, results can be very effective.	CLEAR OVERLAY A layer of clear vinyl on the outside of a product into which a printed sheet can be inserted by the customer or sealed in permanently during manufacturing.
DEBOSSING Using heat and pressure, the debossing die depresses the graphic down into the surface of the product, smoothing out any graining or embossing in the materials. This is frequently used to prepare a smooth surface on supported, textured vinyls prior to foil stamping or screening.	EMBOSSING Imprinting dies are applied, using heat and pressure to produce graphics with a raised appearance on the surface of the products.
FOIL STAMPING Utilizing dies, heat, pressure and a variety of colored foils, your logo or other graphics can be depressed onto the product surface, producing a bright, shiny or matte metallic design, depending on the type of foil selected.	PRINTED INSERT SHEETS Your printer ships ready-to-use printed sheets (70# minimum), coated one-side, enamel stock. These inserts are sealed under clear vinyl during the manufacturing process. Some find it more convenient to have the product constructed with an outside overlay, open at the top. The inserts can then be inserted into the pocket, as you are ready to use them.
SILK SCREENING Using color separated artwork, a screen is created for each separate color and/or copy change. These screens (stencils) are utilized in applying opaque color ink to the product surface. Originally, screens were made with silk material, thus the term "silk screening."

Structural Terminology

DIE CUT A method of cutting materials into various shapes by use of a steel rule cutting die.	STRAIGHT STRAP A clear vinyl strap sealed on the left and right hand walls of a PVC literature tray to hold printed material in place.
T-STRAP A clear vinyl strap sealed on the left, right and bottom wall of a PVC tray to hold contents within the tray, sometimes referred to as a diaper strap.	VACUUM FORMING The process of heating rigid PVC near melting, drawing it over a mold, and by applying vacuum from within the mold, producing a rigid finished shape.
DIELECTRIC HEAT SEALING/HIGH FREQUENCY WELDING Electromagnetic energy in the high frequency range (microwave) creates intense friction that changes the vinyl to a liquid state. The pressure being applied to the sealing die holds the different layers of vinyl together. When the RF power is removed, the melted vinyl instantly cools and the resulting product is one which has been welded into a single unit.	FORMED FLAP The "finished edge" on a pocket that is produced by heat sealing, as opposed to die cutting.

Blair's "Snap-In" Audio Cassette Cavity Cover

Block out one or more cavities with Blair's "Snap-In" Audio Cassette Cavity Covers. Constructed of PVC in either shiny or matte finish, "Snap-Ins" easily and economically converts a standard album to a special custom configuration.

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