Nn

n
prefix in the metric system for nano.

NAAQS
acroynm for National Ambient Air Quality Standards.

NAICS
acroynm for North American Industrial Classification System.

naked glass
plain ware prior to decoration.

nameplate
an identification plate that can be engraved, etched, embossed or printed, and then affixed to a machine or device.

nano
a prefix utilized in the metric system of measurement that denotes 10 to the negative 9 power (10^-9 ) or 0.000 000 001; 0.1 Angstroms; symbol is n.

nanometer (nm)
a standard unit of distance used in measuring wavelengths in the electromagnetic spectrum (equal to 10^-9 meter or 10 angstroms); one billionth of a meter.

nanosecond
one billionth of a second.

nanotechnology
a complicated manufacturing process used to impart various high performance properties directly into the fiber, so that it will be inherent and not wash or wear out.

nap
the soft or fuzzy surface of a brushed fabric or leather.

naphtha
an aliphatic low KB hydrocarbon solvent; any of several volatile hydrocarbon liquids derived chiefly from coal tar, used as a solvent.

naphthenate driers
compounds of naphthenic acid with metals, usually cobalt or manganese, used to accelerate oxidation of an ink film.

narcosis
general anesthesia, or loss of feeling due to exposure to certain chemical vapors, may be accompanied by loss of consciousness.

National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS)
a set of maximum concentration levels for air pollutants established by the 1970 U.S. Clean Air Act; particulate matter, sulfur oxides, carbon monoxide, photochemical oxidants, hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides are among the substances regulated.

National Bureau of Standards (NBS)
established by Congress in 1901 changed name in 1988 to National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), a division of the Department of Commerce (US) that has responsibility for weights and measures.

National Electric Code (NEC)
electrical safety code adopted in the United States.

National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA)
develops product standards and participates in developing US National Electric Code and US National Electric Safety Code.

National Fire Protection Association (NFPA)
disseminates, develops, and publishes fire safety standards in the United States.

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
formally National Bureau of Standards, a federal government agency under Commerce Department, Technology Administration, that has responsibility for weights and measures in the United States.

National Paint and Coatings Association (NPCA)
company manufacturers (US) of paint and chemical coating equipment and supplies.

native files
original computer files in their original application form for digital graphic or publication.

natural aging
a change, if any, in a material occurring when the material is exposed to normal environmental conditions.

natural fiber
any fiber of vegetable or animal origin.

NBS
the acroynm for the U.S. National Bureau of Standards; changed name to National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in 1988.

N/cm
abbreviation for Newtons per centimeter.

NCR
acroynm for no-carbon required paper.

NDT
acroynm for nondestructive testing.

neck ring
a metal mold part that forms the finish of a hollow glass article.

necking
local reduction of a cross-sectional area of a tensile specimen that may occur during loading.

NEC
acroynm for National Electric Code (US).

neck lock
a display lock used in the setup of rectangular parts.

needle
slender piece of steel with a point, ball, taper or other shape on one end with a nearby hole or eye for thread used in machine sewing of fabrics.

negative
a photographic image on film where the black values in the original subject are transparent and the whie values are opaque.

negative holder
a device designed to hold a film negative in proper position in an enlarger during exposure.

negative opaque
an opaque brushing consistency liquid used to repair pinholes or other blemishes on negatives.

negative plane
the plane within a camera that is occupied by the film when ready to expose after proper focusing and removal of the ground glass.

negative temperature coefficient
a decrease in resistance with an increase in temperature.

NEMA
acronym for the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (US).

NEMA standards
property values adopted as standard by the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (US).

neon
(1) a colorless inert gaseous element comprising 0.0012 percent of normal air; (2) a fluorescent, a color of ink or dye that is especially bright.

nesting
placement of images of a job in an arrangement to minimize waste of material.

network
a group of machines linked via a central computer.

Neugebauer equations
a set of linear equations used to calculate the tristimulus values of halftone color mixtures and combinations when the dot area of the contributing colors are known.

neutral
(1) any color that has no hue such as white, gray, and black; (2) the absence of acid or alkaline activity in a material having a pH of 7; (3) the presence of an equal concentration of hydrogen and hydroxyl ions.

neutral atmosphere
an atmospheric condition in a firing kiln that is neither strongly oxidizing or reducing.

neutral-density filter
a camera filter that uniformly reduces all colors of light striking the lens.

neutral pH paper
an acid-free paper.

neutral wedge
refer to gray scale.

newsboard
a paper board used primarily in the set-up box trade, also used as a core for lining one or both faces with a higher quality paper, made from reclaimed newspapers.

new source performance standards (US)
limits on effluent as applied to new industrial or commercial installations in the United States; these standards are generally more stringent than those of existing plants.

newsprint
an inexpensive paper made from groundwood or mechanical pulp used chiefly in printing newspapers.

newton
the basic unit of force in the metric system; the amount of force necessary to accelerate one kilogram of mass at a rate of one meter per second squared.

newton rings
a pattern of minute, colored, concentric annular shapes that form between closely spaced polished surfaces, similar to a drop of oil on water. The phenomenon is more or less common in vacuum frames and pressure contact frames during exposure to film through a glass layer.

newton value
unit of measure, used in screen mesh tensioning, generally expressed in Newtons per centimeter.

Newtons per centimeter (N/cm)
a unit of measure used to determine the amount of deflection of a weighted object placed on a tnsioned screen mesh.

newtonian fluids
describes the rheological characteristics of a liquid that has an absolute viscosity that does not change with temperature fluctuations or shear rate. (Examples of Newtonian fluids are water, syrup, mineral oils, lacquers, and solvents).

newtonian liquid
fluids that have an absolute viscosity such as water.

NFPA
acronym for National Fire Protection Association (US).

NFPA 30
a National Fire Protection Association (US) safety code covering the handling and storage of flammable liquids.

nibs
small sharp tip or point of foreign material which project above the surface of an applied ink film.

nigrosine
very deep blue or black coal tar dyestuffs.

nip point
the point of contact between two in-running rollers.

nippers
small scissors like cutting tool for trimming thread.

NIST
acroynm for National Institute of Standards and Technology (US) formally National Bureau of Standards.

nitrocellulose
a film forming material produced by the treatment of cotton or wood fibers with nitric acid, and widely used in lacquer type inks made for screen printing.

nitrocellulose laquers
screen printing inks or coatings made by combining nitrocellulose with suitable vehicle, pigments, solvents and drying agents.

nitrocellulose screen printing ink
pigmented ink composed of nitrocellulose, film former, plasticizer, and high boiling solvents, similar to nitrocellulose lacquer except for high boiling solvent and increased pigment loading with more plasticizers.

nitrogen blanket
an inert atmosphere created by introducing nitrogen gas into a UV curing chamber, to counter oxygen inhibition of curing reaction.

nm
abbreviation for nanometer.

noise
an unwanted random and peristant disturbance that obscures or reduces the clarity or quality of a signal; a distortion of an image’s analog signal.

nomenclature
descriptive words.

Nomex®
DuPont tradename for a temperature resistant flame retardant nylon.

nominal
a measurement that is a designation or theoretical size that may vary from the actual.

nominal value
the prescribed value or capacity of an electronic component.

nominal weight
the basis weight of paper with a fluctuation tolerance of five percent.

nonactinic
light rays that do not affect sensitized surfaces within a resonable time.

nonblocking
an applied adhesive film that will not adhere to another surface under stacking conditions.

noncorrelated noise
a random distortion in an analog signal causing snow, speckles, or random spots throughout an image.

nondrying oils
those oils used in vehicles which do not form dry surface films when exposed to atmosphere.

nonflammable
any substance that does not support combustion.

nonimage areas
portion of mechanical, negative, or screen that will not print.

nonimpact printer
a printing device that creats images on a substrate without striking it such as ink jet, photo copier, and laser printing device.

nonNewtonian
substances such as fluids that have an apparent viscosity. (Generally, screen printing inks are considered nonNewtonian fluids).

nonoriented film
film that has not been subject to stress to align the polymer chains and improve properties.

nonpolar solvents
aromatic and hydrocarbon solvents that have low dielectric constants.

nonporous surfaces
surfaces such as glass, ceramic, or metal where the tendency of the ink to absorb slightly or bond with an application is absent.

nonrain lap
the various sheets of an outdoor poster laid-out and printed so that when posted, the bottom edge of the top sheets will be overlapped by the top edge of the bottom sheets.

nonreflective ink
a black ink used to form the optical characters that are read by a scanner or OCR device.

nonreproducible color
refers to certain colors that cannot be exactly reproduced by process printing especially fluorescent colors.

nonrigid plastic
a plastic material with an apparent modulus of elasticity of not more than 50,000 psi at 25ºC (77ºF) under specified test conditions.

nonscratch inks
inks which have high or total abrasion resistance when dry or cured.

nontactile
switch constructed without snap action; switch with tactile ratio of zero.

nonvolatile
any substance that will not evaporate at ordinary or room temperature.

nonvolatile matter
the ingredients of an ink or coating composition which, after drying, are left behind on the material.

nonwetting
failure of an ink to coat evenly on a substrate to which it is applied.

nonwoven material
a material that is matted, entangled with a binder forming an interlocking web of fibers; fabrics that are formed instead of woven or knitted.

nonyellowing adhesive
acrylic-based adhesive that does not yellow with age.

normal (axial) stress
the force per unit area on a given plane within a body.

normalize
to shift the readings representing a quantity to within a specified range on an instrument.

North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS
replaced the US Standard Industrial Classification (SIC), developed joinly by the United States, Canada, and Mexico to provide comparability in statistics about business activities across North America.

no-screen bump
refer to bump exposure.

notch
small serration or mark along the edge of film that are used for identifying and positioning.

nozzle
an orifice through which jets of ink are ejected to form an image in ink jet printing.

NPCA
acronym for the National Paint and Coatings Association (US).

NPDES permit (US)
National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit issued by the U.S. EPA or an approved state program to point sources which discharge process wastewater to public waters.

NR
acroynm for natural rubber.

N/R
a mark used with reference to containers which indicates "non-returnable."

nuance
a subtle graduation.

nuclear radiation resistance
the ability of a material to withstand nuclear radiation and still perform its designated function.

number of squares
a ratio, rather than a physical measurement, of width to length used in determining resistance value by formula of a printed resistor.

numbering
printing characters in a consecutive order.

nut
refer to en.

nylon
a synthetic polyamide fiber that has elastic properties that is used for making textile products and screen mesh; also refer to polymide.

nylon dyeing
a dye process using acid dye to color garments made of nylon.

nylon monofilament
(1) a single strand or thread of nylon of even diameter and smooth surface; (2) generally, the term indicates nylon screen printing mesh.

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