• Acid dyes: Commercial dyes used for nylon, wool, silk, acrylic, polypropylene and blends of these fibers, so called because they are applied to fabric in organic or inorganic acid dyeing solutions.

• Blotch printing: Method of printing in which the ground color is printed rather than dyed; the reverse of the fabric is white.

• Color fastness: Term used to denote the resistance of a material to change in any of its color characteristics. (Usually refers to a dye's permanence after washing, exposure to light, etc.

• Digital printing: A form of printing where micro-sized droplets of dye are placed onto the desired substrate through an inkjet printhead. The print system software interprets the data supplied by a digital image file to control the droplet output so that the image quality and color control may be achieved.

• Disperse dyes: Synthetic, almost water-insoluable dyes used for acetate, nylon and polyester, applied from fine aqueous solutions.

• Discharge printing: Method of printing with chlorine or other color-destroying chemicals on a fabric already dyed to bleach out the color, yielding a white pattern on a colored ground.

• Dye sublimation: A loss of dye due to evaporation of the solid without formation of a liquid phase.

• Fixing/ Fixation: Method of setting the dye after dyeing, usually by steaming, hot wash, or chemicals.

• Heat transfer printing: A method to transfer designs from rolls of paper to fabrics. Designs are preprinted on the paper with disperse dyes that sublime onto fabric when they are brought together at 400ºF (204ºC) in a heat transfer printing machine; most effective on polyester and cellulose triacetate; blends with cellulosic and animal fibers produce pale effects.

• Pigment dyes: Insoluble pigments are printed onto fabric with binders or adhesive resins, and the printed fabric is then heated to fix the binder and render it insoluble.

• Reactive dyes: Class of dye which reacts chemically to bond with the fiber substrate. Application is mostly limited to cellulosic, protein, and nylon fibers. Colors are bright; fastness excellent.

• Rotary Screen Printing: A technique for printing that utilizes perforated nickel screens shaped into hollow cylinders. A screen is prepared with the pattern for each color in the design. A metal roller forces the color paste onto the fabric wherever the holes in the screen have not been covered. Particularly suited to making blotch prints. (This is the method used for most commercial screen printed fabrics for apparel.)

• Substrate: In textiles, a fiber assembly, yarn, fabric or film to which another material is applied.