Craft acetate sheets are more of a transparent film, used in various thicknesses to create clear tags, layers or a window look.

Cardstock is the heavier, thicker paper used for a number of crafts. Also known as scrapbook paper, cover stock or pasteboard, cardstock is more durable than traditional printing paper, and it's the most common paper stock used in digital die cutters. Think of business cards, playing cards or postcards. Cardstock comes in all sorts of colors a [..]

Chipboard is a type of paperboard that is made from pressing multiple sheets of recycled paper together. The ply is the number of layers in a sheet. Many die cutting systems can handle thick cardstock.

Metal sheets like aluminum foil come in a variety of thicknesses but are typically pretty thin and so need to be cut more delicately with lower speeds to avoid tearing. Metallic foil paper can come in traditional hues (silver, gold, copper) but can also be colored. Some foils come preprinted or patterned.

Measured in pounds and usually represented with the # sign, paper weight is measured by weighing a ream (500 sheets) of paper. Unfortunately, this is based on a specific size of paper that isn t always what you d think it would be   not to mention it isn t consistent across paper types.

Think of the material that makes up Styrofoam coffee cups. Styrene is a lightweight foam material that is somewhat flexible and actually composed of mostly air. 

While true vellum is actually dried and stretched animal skin, the paper vellum of today is a synthetic. Vellum is typically light colored and translucent, and often used as an overlay for wedding invitations.

This vinyl used by crafters is a thin plastic sheet material that is often adhesive-backed and commonly used for home d cor, window clings, signs or other decals.

Distressing is used to make something look older. For paper products, distressing usually involves rubbing the paper with an abrasive tip.

Drawing is of course similar to printing, but in the world of die cutting it involves replacing the blade of your die cutting unit with a pen. The die cutting machine will sketch any pattern it could cut.