Lenticular Glossary

Common words and terms used in the lenticular printing and the printing industry.

Lenticular Glossary | World3D

Alignment
The matching up of the image to the lines or lens.

Contrast
The tonal change in color from light to dark. High contrast images can create ghosting in an animated lenticular.

Cross Talk
In an animated lenticular, the intrusion of one frame into the viewing space of another causing a smear in the animation.

Cylinder
An engraved production roll for use in extruding lenticular lens sheet material.

Direct-to-lens
Printing of image is on the lens itself as opposed to printing on paper and then laminating paper to lens.

DPI
Dots per inch. A measure of the resolution of a printed image.

Dynamic Images
A specific lenticular process developed by Kodak. Division was closed but large format version still exists.

Flip
A lenticular effect that animated between two images.

Focal Plane
In a 3D image, the plane that appears to be most in focus with other planes appearing to be in front or behind it.

Frames
The individual images that when run in sequence, make up a lenticular animation.

Gauge
The thickness of a lenticular lens sheet. Usually noted in mils or point (thousandths of an inch). There is a correlation between the thickness of a lens and its quality.

Ghosting
In an animated lenticular, the intrusion of one frame into the viewing space of another causing a smear in the animation.

Hologram
A 3D image that is created using lasers. Although they are often confused with lenticular (because both can display depth), they are really two very different products.

Interlacing
The process of striping and arranging printed information to a given pitch to match a lenticular lens.

Lamination
The process of adhering a pre-printed media to the lens sheet. Not applicable in direct to lens process. However, printed lenticular is often laminated to another substrate to add opacity and to allow backside printing.

Large Format
Any lenticular bigger than 26″x 38″. Too big to run through a traditional press, these images are usually digitally printed and hand laminated.

Lens Sheet
A sheet of transparent plastic material that has been extruded, cast or embossed with an array of identical parallel lenses.

Lenticular
A specialized printing process that allows depth, motion or a little of each to be shown in a flat piece of plastic. The effect is created using lenticules in the plastic sheet that serve as a decoder for the image that is printed behind it

Lenticular Manufacturer
A specialized printing process that allows depth, motion or a little of each to be shown in a flat piece of plastic. The effect is created using lenticules in the plastic sheet that serve as a decoder for the image that is printed behind it

Lenticule
A single lens in a lenticular sheet.

LPI
Lenses (or lines) per inch. The smaller the lenses the more will fit within an inch. Smaller lenses allow for less breakup of detail. However, bigger lenses (lower LPI) allow for better delineation between frames.

Morph
A lenticular effect where one image appears to melt into another image. This is done by creating an animation where each frame is successively more like the final frame.

Motion
A lenticular effect that shows movement as the image is turned. This is achieved by using a series of frame that when run in sequence, appear to show movement. Exact same principle as a GIF file for the internet, a movie or a flip book.

Overruns
Or “overs” amount of product beyond actual client order that can be delivered (and charged), usually no more than 3-5%.

Parallax
In a 3D image, the phenomenon where objects in a scene seem to shift relative to one another as the angle of view is changed.

Phase
A discrete frame or channel of a lenticular image.

Photoshop
The most popular software for basic image manipulation.

POS
Point of Sale Display

Proof
A single copy of a lenticular image that is produced to obtain client’s approval. Usually produced digitally.

PSA Backing
Pressure Sensitive Adhesive. This allows the end user to peel off a liner to reveal a sticky back.

Radius
Degree of curvature.

Registration
The alignment of the printed image to lenticular sheet.

Source Art
The artwork provided by the client to the lenticular vendor.

Straight Cut
A method of cutting the image out of the sheet using a flat blade instead of a die.

Thickness
The thickness of a lenticular lens sheet. Usually noted in mils or point (thousandths of an inch). There is a correlation between the thickness of a lens and its quality.

Zoom
A lenticular animation effect that makes the object appear to be getting closer as it animates. Achieved by simply making the image larger in each frame.

Lenticular Design Guide

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LPI GUIDE

You will see a spec in your quote calling out the “LPI” and thickness of the lenticular material. That may not be familiar to you. Most people, even those who have spent a lifetime in printing, are unfamiliar with it. It’s not something you will need to choose. We will make sure your project has the right lens for the job. But if you would like to understand a bit more about how it works, read on. LPI stands for “Lenses Per Inch.” Sometimes it is referred to as “Lines Per Inch,” since the lenses are the fine lines that make up the surface. If you run your fingernail across a lenticular print, you can feel and hear those ridges. Those lines are the lenses. Each one controls what you see by hiding one part of the image and revealing another. As your viewing angle changes, the lenses shift what is visible, hiding one frame and revealing the next. That is what creates the motion or flip effect.

So what does the LPI spec actually mean?
 
If a material has more lenses per inch, each lens is thinner. Lenticular lenses typically range from about 10 LPI up to about 100 LPI.
 
Lower LPI means thicker lenses. Higher LPI means thinner lenses.
 
Thinner lenses make the image look cleaner because the lines are less visible. Thicker lenses do a better job of hiding the underlying print structure, which gives you a stronger effect. If the lenses are too thin, the hidden image can start to peek through, and the transition between frames feels weaker.
 
Simply put: Low LPI gives you a stronger effect. High LPI gives you a cleaner image. 
 
So how do we choose the right lens?
 
The goal is to use the lowest LPI that does not interfere with the image. That depends on the size of the piece and how far away it will be viewed from. A 20 LPI lens on a postcard would look rough and obscure detail. But on a 48” x 72” panel, that same lens works well because you are viewing it from farther away. On the other hand, using a 75 LPI lens on a large-format piece will not hide the image well enough, and the effect will feel weak. 
 
Most prints smaller than about 18” x 28” use a 75 to 100 LPI lens. Most prints larger than that use a 10 to 40 LPI lens.
 
We will always choose the best lens for your specific project. Most clients never need to think about LPI, but we dial it in carefully because it has a big impact on the final result.