Writing about printing means being accurate with terms, concepts, and a veritable word cloud of details about everything the industry consists of. That takes research, usually done on the fly, as deadlines close in. This kind of impromptu fact-gathering wouldn’t be possible without ready access to reliable source materials.

Fortunately, reference documents of this type aren’t hard to find for writers who know where to look for them. Here, we share 10 free online and PDF resources that have been helpful in the past and undoubtedly will be again. Bookmark them, and feel free to share the links with other knowledge-seekers.

Headquartered in Wausau, Wis., Wausau Coated Products makes pressure sensitive products, label materials, and custom coating technologies for a wide variety of markets. It also publishes what could well be the most extensive glossary of label terminology available anywhere. Everything’s here, from abhesive (a material that resists adhesion) to Zahn cup (a device for measuring viscosity). Wausau also offers a downloadable spreadsheet that performs unit conversions for label production.