3D Paper Crafting Glossary

Also known as a 3D cutting file, a Cricut Project and many other names.  A 3D SVG (See SVG File, below) Template is used by craft cutting machines (like Cricut) and laser cutters (like Glowforge) to make projects that are intended to be 3-dimensional when finished.  These include pop-up cards, layered shadowboxes, paper lanterns, and 3D shapes, such as animals.

 Products (especially paper and glue) that are free from acid, which if present can lead to the fading, discoloration and deterioration of items. Particularly important on products that are used with sentimental items (for example the glue used to stick photographs into scrapbooks).

The craft of making greetings cards by hand.

A cutting machine is a machine that cuts all kinds of shapes and creations from materials. There are manual cutting machines that use metal dies and electronic cutting machines that use blades to cut paper.  Either kind makes a cutting job easier and faster for you. The most familiar electronic cutting machine models for crafters are the ones by Cricut, Silhouette and Brother. 

A surface for cutting on that will protect your work area. Can be a soft mat surface which is self-healing, or from toughened, tempered glass, which is also great for some inking techniques.

Specialty cutting mats are also used by cutting machines.  These have a light adhesive to hold the paper or other material straight and flat while cutting. 

Debossed is an image pressed into the surface of paper.

Embossed is the opposite of debossed, it is the reverse side of an image pressed into a surface of paper.

A technique where metal dies or blades are used in a manual or electronic machine to cut words, shapes and designs into a range of materials, including cardstock fabric, foil and more. Die cutting is perfect for producing multiple instances of the same design in a consistent form or intricate designs that would take a lot of time and labor to cut out by hand..

The weight of a paper is called "basis weight".   This is the weight in pounds (lb) or grams (gm) of 500 sheets of paper.  The ideal weight for pop-up papercrafting is usually 80 pounds. 

A paper score refers to making a defined crease in cardstock paper, either manually with a scoring/folding tool such as a bone folder or mechanically with an electronic cutting machine. The score line should be an impression they does not tear or cut into the paper fibers, but be deep enough to allow the paper to be folded into a neat and straight crease without cracking.