Textile design, production, and AI each have their own vocabulary. Same term means different things across fields; related concepts have different names. This glossary covers 50+ terms you'll encounter across traditional textile design, print production, and AI tooling. Use it as a reference when reading specs, talking to printers, or choosing AI settings.
A
- Adobe RGB 1998
- Wide-gamut RGB color space commonly used for photography and design working files. Wider than sRGB, narrower than ProPhoto RGB. Standard starting point for textile design files before conversion to CMYK.
- Alpha channel
- The transparency channel in an image. Binary alpha = fully opaque or fully transparent. Graduated alpha = partial transparency, needed for translucent fabrics and sheer garments.
B
- Bleed
- Extension of the design past the cutline to compensate for cutting inaccuracies. Textile standards: 3–5mm for cut-and-sew apparel, 10–15mm for banners, one full repeat for rotary screen.
- Block print
- Traditional textile printing method using hand-carved wooden blocks. Characteristic slightly irregular edges; inspiration for many AI "block print style" prompts.
C
- CIEDE2000
- The modern formula for calculating Delta E perceptual color difference. More accurate than older CIE76 or CIE94 formulas. Standard for textile quality control. See our CIEDE2000 explained.
- CIELAB (Lab)
- Device-independent color space designed around human color perception. Equal distances in LAB correspond to equal perceived color differences. Standard space for color matching and Delta E calculation.
- CMYK
- Subtractive color space for printing (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Key/Black). Smaller gamut than sRGB; required for most textile production.
- Colorway
- A specific color variant of a design. One pattern + four colorways = four distinct production files.
D
- Delta E (ΔE)
- Measurement of perceptual color difference. Delta E 1 is barely visible; Delta E 4+ is obvious at arm's length. Expressed in CIEDE2000 formula.
- Diffusion model
- Type of AI image generator that creates images by iteratively removing noise from a random starting point. Stable Diffusion, Flux, DALL-E use this approach.
- DPI (Dots Per Inch)
- Print resolution measurement. Digital textile standard: 300 DPI at final size. Rotary screen: 360 DPI. See our DPI for fabric printing.
- DTF (Direct to Film)
- Textile printing method where design is printed on film then transferred to fabric. Common for apparel transfer.
- DTG (Direct to Garment)
- Textile printing method where ink is applied directly onto the garment. Standard for short-run cotton apparel.
E
- E-E-A-T
- Google's content quality framework: Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness. Relevant for textile blog SEO.
- EXIF
- Metadata format embedded in image files. Camera settings, GPS, date/time. Often stripped before publication for privacy. See our EXIF metadata guide.
F
- Fogra39
- European standard ICC color profile for CMYK offset and digital printing. Default for most textile digital shops.
- Flat screen printing
- Traditional screen printing using flat rectangular screens. Slower than rotary but less setup cost.
G
- Gamut
- The range of colors a device or color space can reproduce. sRGB gamut < Adobe RGB gamut > CMYK gamut for most colors.
- GSM (Grams per Square Meter)
- Fabric weight measurement. Lightweight shirting 100–120 GSM, mid-weight apparel 150–200 GSM, upholstery 300+ GSM.
H
- Half-brick repeat
- Repeat geometry where each row shifts horizontally by half a tile width. Good for masonry and horizontal motifs.
- Half-drop repeat
- Repeat geometry where each column shifts down by half a tile height. Textile industry default for florals and organic patterns. See our repeats visual guide.
- Halftone
- Technique for reproducing gradients as dot patterns. Used in rotary and flat screen printing. Dot density controlled by LPI.
I
- ICC Profile
- Color management data file that tells software how to interpret color values for a specific device or color space. Fogra39, GRACoL, custom printer profiles.
- Ikat
- Traditional textile technique where yarns are resist-dyed before weaving, producing characteristic blurred-edge patterns. Inspiration for AI "ikat style" prompts.
- Inpainting
- AI technique for filling masked regions of an image using surrounding context. Used for defect removal, motif editing, edge extension. See our inpainting guide.
- IPTC
- International Press Telecommunications Council metadata standard. Carries author, copyright, keywords, captions.
L
- LAB
- Short for CIELAB. See entry under C.
- LPI (Lines Per Inch)
- Halftone screen ruling measurement. Rotary screens typically 40–120 LPI. Fine work up to 150 LPI.
M
- Moiré
- Wavy interference pattern caused by overlapping grids (file pixels, halftone screens, fabric weave) at wrong angles or frequencies. Prevention requires correct DPI, screen angles, and substrate-appropriate LPI. See our moiré prevention guide.
P
- Pantone TCX
- Pantone Textile Cotton standard. Reference color codes for textile cotton substrate. Different from Pantone C/M (paper-based).
- Pantone TN
- Pantone Textile Nylon standard. For synthetic nylon substrates. Different behavior than TCX on cotton.
- PPI (Pixels Per Inch)
- Pixel density measurement for digital files. Often used interchangeably with DPI in casual conversation but technically different (PPI = file, DPI = printer).
- Prompt
- Text input given to an AI image generator describing the desired output. "Seamless tileable floral pattern in sage green and cream" is a textile-specific prompt.
R
- Reactive ink
- Ink type that forms covalent bonds with cellulose fibers (cotton, linen). Standard for cotton digital printing. High washfastness.
- Reinhard color transfer
- Statistical method for applying one image's color distribution onto another's. Used for fast colorway generation. See our Reinhard transfer guide.
- Repeat
- The fundamental tile of a seamless pattern. Dimensions, geometry (straight/half-drop/half-brick), and size all dictate how the pattern appears at production scale.
- RIP (Raster Image Processor)
- Software that converts design files into printer-ready data. Handles color conversion, halftone screening, registration, ink layering.
- Rotary screen printing
- Cylindrical screen printing process. Dominant method for mass-market printed textile. Screen circumference (64cm, 91cm, 102cm) dictates repeat size. See our rotary design checklist.
S
- Seam energy
- Measurement of pixel continuity at tile boundaries in a seamless pattern. Low seam energy = seamless. High = visible seam. Used in automated seamless verification.
- Seamless pattern
- A pattern whose tile edges match such that the pattern can repeat infinitely without visible seams.
- Soft-proofing
- Previewing how a design will look when printed, using the target ICC profile applied in design software. Catches gamut and color shift issues before submission.
- Spot color
- A pre-mixed ink matching an exact Pantone reference. Used when CMYK cannot reproduce the target color. Adds setup cost but guarantees color match.
- sRGB
- Standard additive RGB color space for screens and web. Wider gamut than CMYK in most bright colors. Never the correct format for final textile submission.
- Stable Diffusion
- Open-source AI image generation model based on diffusion technique. Underlies many current textile AI tools.
- Straight repeat
- Simplest repeat geometry — tiles align in a direct grid. Good for geometric and logo patterns; reveals gridding in floral or organic motifs.
- Strike-off
- Test print on production fabric at production settings. Used to verify color, registration, and fabric compatibility before full production run.
- Style transfer
- AI technique that applies the artistic style of one image onto the content of another. Used in textile for mood-shift and traditional-style translation. See our style transfer guide.
- Substrate
- The fabric being printed on. Silk, cotton, polyester, linen, viscose — each has different ink absorption and color behavior.
- Sublimation
- Dye printing process where ink vaporizes and bonds with polyester fibers. High color accuracy, extreme washfastness. Only works on polyester and polyester blends.
T
- Tile
- A single repeat unit of a seamless pattern. Standard textile tile sizes: 20cm, 40cm, 64cm, 91cm, 102cm squared.
- TIFF
- Tagged Image File Format. Universal standard for textile production files. Supports CMYK, ICC profiles, lossless LZW compression. See our file format comparison.
- Trap / Choke
- Intentional slight overlap between adjacent colors in multi-color print to prevent white gaps from registration drift. Trap = dark color expands into light; choke = light color contracts.
U
- Upscaling (AI)
- AI technique that increases image resolution by generating new pixels. Textile-aware upscalers preserve weave detail better than generic photo upscalers.
V
- Vectorization
- Converting raster artwork to vector paths. Essential for rotary screen printing where raster edges would show as jagged at bolt scale. See our vectorize hand drawings.
W
- Waste factor
- Percentage added to raw fabric/ink yield to cover setup, misprints, strike-offs, edge trim. Digital textile 3–5%, rotary 8–12%, short-run 15–25%.
X
- XMP
- Adobe's Extensible Metadata Platform. Container format for EXIF, IPTC, and custom metadata. Most modern PSD, TIFF, PDF files use XMP.
Related Reading
Every term linked above goes to a detailed post. For the broadest starting points: textile artwork preparation, color management playbook, seamless textile patterns, and AI textile design trends.
