The Index Tab Glossary
Every term in the custom tab trade, defined by people who die-cut tabs for a living — not paraphrased from someone else's catalog. If a vendor uses a word you don't see here, ask usand we'll add it.
Anatomy of a tab divider
- Index tab (tab divider)
- A sheet with a protruding labeled tab along one edge, used to divide a binder or chart into sections. Sold in sets; also called tab dividers, index dividers, or divider tabs — all the same product.
- Tab extension
- The part of the tab that sticks out past the body of the sheet so it stays visible beyond the pages — 0.5 inches on a standard divider.
- Body (body sheet)
- The main sheet the tab extends from — 8.5 × 11 inches (letter) on a standard divider.
- Finished size
- The full sheet dimensions including the tab extension: 9 × 11 inches for a standard portrait divider. Full dimensions reference →
- Cut
- The fraction of the tabbed edge each tab occupies. A 1/5 cut means each tab spans one-fifth of the working length, so five tabs cascade down the page. Standard cuts run 1/2 through 1/15. Tab cut calculator →
- Bank
- One full cascade of tab positions down the page — a 1/5 cut has 5 positions per bank, a 1/8 cut has 8. Sets needing more tabs than one bank holds continue in a second, staggered bank.
- Working length
- The usable span of the tabbed edge that the cuts divide: 10 inches on portrait and hanging-tab layouts, 7.5 inches on landscape side-tab layouts.
- Tab position (stagger)
- Where along the edge a specific tab sits — position 1 at the top, cascading downward. Staggered positions keep every tab visible at once.
Materials
- Index stock
- The stiff paper grade tab dividers are made from, measured in U.S. index pounds — 90# (~163 gsm) is the everyday standard; 110# (~199 gsm) is about 20% thicker for heavy daily handling.
- Poly
- Solid plastic divider stock (typically .015-inch polyethylene) that resists tearing and moisture — the choice for records rooms, kitchens, shops, and anywhere paper wears out.
- Mylar
- A clear or colored polyester film laminated onto paper tabs for protection and color coding. Available in many colors on the tab extension.
- Tab coating (Mylar-coated tabs)
- The protective Mylar film applied over the tab extension itself — clear or colored — which is what lets a paper tab survive thousands of pulls without fraying.
- Mylar edge reinforcing
- A clear Mylar strip applied along the binding edge of the sheet, adding strength where binder rings stress the holes. Usually paired with 3-hole punching.
Printing & finishing
- Die cutting
- Cutting the tab shape with a custom steel-rule die — the process that gives 'Anselmo Die & Index' its name. Each cut and layout uses its own die.
- Offset printing
- Traditional plate-and-ink press printing — economical for large runs of paper tabs.
- Digital printing
- Plateless toner or inkjet production — fast and economical for shorter runs and variable content.
- Screen printing (UV)
- Forcing UV-cured ink through a stencil mesh — how poly tabs are printed, since standard inks won't bond to plastic. The screens are part of why poly setup costs more.
- 3-hole punching
- Standard punching sized for 3-ring binders. Dividers can also be supplied unpunched for other binding styles.
- Step indexing
- Cutting a bound set so each section's edge steps progressively deeper — used in reference books and multi-bank sets; specialty bank configurations run from 3 to 31 banks.
- Collation
- Assembling tabs into finished, ready-to-use set order (collated) versus supplying them grouped by position (uncollated) for you to assemble.
- Copy tabs (collated copy tabs)
- Pre-collated tab sets designed to be inserted into copy or print jobs — arrive in exact set order, ready to drop into a document.
- Variable data imprinting
- Printing different text on each tab or set from a data file — how numbered exhibit ranges like 1–500 are produced efficiently.
Ordering
- Set
- One complete group of tabs (e.g., tabs 1–10). Orders are priced per set at a quantity of sets — Tabzoola's minimum is 25 sets. Published pricing →
- Tabs per set
- How many individual tab sheets make up one set — from 1 to 20 on a standard order, independent of the cut.
- Setup (make-ready)
- The one-time cost of preparing a job: typesetting, plates or screens, and die setup. It's why per-set prices fall steeply as quantity rises.
- PDF proof
- A print-accurate preview emailed before production. Nothing prints until the proof is approved — the industry-standard protection against surprises.
- Turnaround
- Production time measured from proof approval, not from order placement. Paper tabs run about 5 business days at Tabzoola; poly about 15.
- gsm vs. index pounds
- Two ways of stating paper weight. U.S. tab stocks use index pounds: 90# index ≈ 163 gsm, 110# ≈ 199 gsm — both roughly double the weight of ordinary office paper.
The industry
- Manufacturer
- A company that physically produces the tabs it sells — owns the presses, dies, collators, and reinforcing equipment, and controls quality and turnaround directly.
- Reseller (broker)
- A storefront that takes tab orders and subcontracts production to a manufacturer, adding a margin and a handoff. Many well-known tab websites are resellers — a useful question to ask any vendor is whether they run their own presses. How to compare vendors →
- Exhibit tabs
- Numbered or lettered tabs (Exhibit 1–25, A–Z) used in legal case binders and filings — usually 1/8 cut, collated, Mylar-reinforced. Legal exhibit tabs →
- Chart divider
- A tab divider for medical charts and patient records — typically 1/8 or 1/10 cut side tabs in poly or reinforced paper. Medical chart tabs →
- Stock tabs
- Pre-printed, off-the-shelf tab sets (1–10, A–Z, months). Cheaper per pack but fixed content — custom tabs print exactly the sections you use.
- Write-on (blank) tabs
- Dividers with unprinted tabs meant to be hand-labeled. Fine for one binder; custom printing wins when many binders must match.
Vocabulary handled — ready to put it to work?
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