|
# A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z 
 Alley The space between columns within a page. Not to be confused with the gutter, which is the combination of the inside margins of two facing pages. Ascender In typography, the parts of lowercase letters that rise above the x-height of the font, e.g. b, d, f, h, k, I, and t.   Banner
Binding The method used to hold the pages of a book together. Bit-mapped (mode) The Paint graphics mode describes an image made of pixels where the pixel is either on (black) or off (white). Black (font) A font that has more weight than the bold version of a typeface. Bleed When a page or a cover design extends to and off the edge of the paper it is called a "bleed". The art must extend off the edge off the page. The image is printed on larger paper, and then the page is trimmed to the desired size. Block quote A long quotation -- four or more lines -- within body text, that is set apart in order to clearly distinguish the author's words from the words that the author is quoting. Body copy Refers to the small type containing the bulk of the message in an ad or a publication. Busy Too many elements in a design that may confuse the viewer's eye. Byline In newsletter/magazine layout, a credit line for the author of an article.  Callout An explanatory label for an illustration, often drawn with a leader line pointing to a part of the illustration. Camera-ready copy Final publication material that is ready to be made into a negative for a printing plate. May be a computer file or actual print and images on a board. Cap height In typography, the distance from the baseline to the top of the capital letters. Caption An identification (title) for an illustration, usually a brief phrase. The caption should also support the other content. Center spread Art that appears on the two facing pages in the center of a magazine or booklet. Character Any letter, figure, punctuation, symbol or space Clip art Ready-made artwork sold or distributed for clipping and pasting into publications. Available in hard-copy books, and in electronic form, as files on disk. Colophon
 .Color separation The process of creating separate negatives and plates for each color of ink (cyan, magenta, yellow, and black) that will be used in the publication. See Process color separation, Spot color separation. Color spacing The addition of spaces to congested areas of words or word spacing to achieve a more pleasing appearance after the line has been set normally. Column gutter The space between columns of type. Comprehensive layout (comp) A layout illustrating a proposal depicting what a finished piece will look like. See Virtual Comp. Condensed font A font in which the set-widths of the characters is narrower than in the standard typeface. (Note: not the inter-character space -- that is accomplished through tracking). Continuous tone Artwork that contains gradations of gray, as opposed to black-and-white line art. Photographs and some drawings, like charcoal or watercolor, require treatment as continuous-tone art. See Line Art. Copy Generally refers to text -- typewritten pages, word-processing files, typeset galleys or pages -- although sometimes refers to all source materials (text and graphics) used in a publication. Copyfitting The fitting of a variable amount of copy within a specific and fixed amount of space. Counter In typography, an enclosed area within a letter, in uppercase, lowercase, and numeric letterforms. Crop marks On a mechanical, horizontal and vertical lines that indicate the edge of the printed piece. Cropping For artwork, cutting out the extraneous parts of an image, usually a photograph. Cutlines Explanatory text, usually full sentences, that provides information about illustrations. Cutlines are sometimes called captions or legends; not to be confused with title-captions, which are headings for the illustration, or key-legends, which are part of the artwork.  Descender In typography, the part of the letterform that dips below the baseline; usually refers to lowercase letters and some punctuation, but some typefaces have uppercase letters with descenders. Dingbat typeface A typeface made up of nonalphabetic marker characters, such as arrows, asterisks, encircled numbers. Discretionary hyphen A hyphen that will occur only if the word appears at the end of a line, not if the word appears in the middle of a line. Display type Large and/or decorative type used for headlines and as graphic elements in display pieces. Common sizes are 14, 18, 24, 30, 36, 48, 60, and 72 point. Dither For digital halftones, the creation of a flat bitmap by simply rutning dots off or on. All dots are the same size there are simply more of them in dark areas and fewer of them in light areas -- as opposed to deep bitmaps used in gray-scale images. See Gray-scale images, Halftone. DPI (dots per inch) The unit of measurement used to describe the resolution of printed output. The most common desktop laser printers output a 300 dpi. Medium-resolution printers output at 600 dpi. Image setters output at 1270-2540 dpi. Duotone A halftone image printed with two colors, one dark and the other light. The same photograph is halftoned twice, using the same screen at two different angles; combining the two improves the detail and contrast.  Egyptian type Originally, from 1815 on, bold face with heavy slabs or square serifs. Em space A space as wide as the point size of the types. This measurement is relative; in 12-point type an em space is 12 points wide, but in 24-point type an em space is 24 points wide. En space A space half as wide as the type is high (half an em space). Expanded (font) A font in which the set widths of the characters are wider than in the standard typeface. (Note: not the intercharacter space -- that is accomplished through letterspacing -- but the characters themselves). Extended type Typefaces that are wide horizontally -- Hellenic, Latin Wide, Egyptian Expanded, Microgramma Extended, etc.  Facing pages In a double-sided document, the two pages that appear as a spread when the publication is opened. See Recto, Spread, Verso. Feather To insert small amounts of additional leading between lines, paragraphs, and before and after headings in order to equalize the baselines of columns on a page. Folio A page number, often set with running headers or footers. Font A set of characters in a specific typeface, at a specific point size, and in a specific style. "12-point Times Bold" is a font -- the typeface Times, at 12-point size, in the bold style. Hence "12-point Times Italic" and "10-point Times Bold" are separate fonts.  Galleys In traditional publishing, the type set in long columns, not laid out on a page. In desktop publishing, galleys can be printed out using a page-assembly program, for proofreading and copyfitting purposes. Greeked text Rules or dummy Latin text used to show the look of a page without having to actually typeset the words. You may see a paragraph starting with the words 'Lorem ipsum'; this is an example of Greeked text. Gray-scale image A "deep" bitmap that records with each dot its gray-scale level. The impression of greenness is a function of the size of the dot; a group of large dots looks dark and a group of small dots looks light. Gutter In double-sided documents, the combination of the inside margins of facing pages; the gutter should be wide enough to accommodate binding.  Halftone In traditional publishing, a continuous-tone image photographed through a screen in order to create small dots of varying sizes that can be reproduced on a printing press. Digital halftones are produced by sampling a continuous-tone image and assigning different numbers of dots, which simulate different sized dots, for the same effect. See Dither, Gray-scale images, TIFF. Halftone screen In traditional publishing, the screen through which a continuous-tone image is photographed, measured in lines per inch. Although digital halftones are not actually photographed through a screen, the term is still used to describe the size of the dots; the larger the dots (fewer lines per inch), the more grainy the image. Special screens can be used for special effects. See Mezzotint, Solarization Hang indent alignment Type set so that the first line is flush left and subsequent lines are indented. Hard hyphen A non breaking hyphen, used when the two parts of the hyphenated word should not be separated. As opposed to a soft (or normal) hyphen, on which the word-wrapping function of a program will break a line. Hard return A return created by the Return or Enter key, as opposed to a word-wrap, or soft return, which will adjust according to the character count and column width. Head A line or lines of copy set in a larger face than the body copy. Hyphenation zone For ragged-right text, an arbitrary zone about 1/5 to 1/10 of the length of the line; if a long word is not hyphenated and leaves a gap within that zone, discretionary hyphens are used to fill the line. See Discretionary hyphen.  Image area The area on a page within which copy is positioned; determined by the margins. Italic Any slanted or leaning letter designed to complement or be compatible with a companion roman typeface. See Oblique.  Justified alignment See Right-justified alignment.  Kern To squeeze together characters, for a better fit of strokes and white space. In display type, characters almost need to be kerned because the white space between characters at large sizes is more noticeable. Kicker A brief phrase or sentence lead-in to a story or chapter; usually set smaller than the headline or chapter title, but larger than text type. Knockout In printing, when one color is to be printed immediately adjacent to another color; actually they are printed with a slight overlap. See Lap register.  Landscape (orientation) A page or layout that is wider than it is tall. Lap register Used with knockouts, images of different colors are slightly overlapped, to avoid the appearance of a white line between the two inks. Leader A line of dots or dashes to lead the eye across the page to separated copy. Leading (pro: "led-ding") The space between lines of type, traditionally measured baseline-to-baseline, in points. Text type is generally set with one or two points of leading; for example, 10-point type with 2 points of leading. This is described as 10/12, read ten on twelve. Letterforms In typography, the shapes of the characters. Ligature In typography, characters that are bound to each other, such as "oe" and "ae." In professional typefaces, the lowercase "f" is also often set as a ligature in combination with other characters such as "fi" and "fl." Light (font) A font that is lighter than the roman (normal, plain, or book) version of the typeface. Line art Black-and-white artwork with no gray areas. Pen-and-ink drawings are line art, and most graphic images produced with desktop publishing graphics programs can be treated as line art. For printing purposes, positive halftones can be handled as line art. Logotype A symbol, mark, or identifying name.  Majuscule A capital letter. Miniscule A lowercase letter. Masthead
Measure (n) In typography, the length of a line, even if the line is not filled with characters (such as a centered or partial line), designated in picas. When the text is set in columns, the line length is called columnmeasure. Mezzotint For a halftone, a special screen that produces connected, dusty-looking dots. Moiré patterns (pro "mo-ray") Irregular plaid-like patterns that occur when a bit-mapped image is reduced, enlarged, displayed, or printed at a resolution different from the resolution of the original. See Scaling. Monospaced type A (typewriter) typeface in which the amount of horizontal space taken up by each character is the same.  Nameplate (or Banner) The banner on the front of a newsletter that identifies the publication. The nameplate usually contains the name of the newsletter, possibly graphics or a logo, and perhaps a subtitle, motto, and publication information. Although usually found horizontally across the top of the front page, vertical nameplates are not uncommon. The nameplate provides a visual identity for the newsletter. The nameplate is not the same as the masthead. Negative space In design, the space where the figure isn't -- in artwork, usually the background; in a publication, the parts of the page not occupied by type or graphics. See White space. Nested stories In newsletter/magazine layout, stories run in multiple columns at different column depths.  Objected-oriented (mode) The Draw graphics mode. A set of algorithms describe graphic form in abstract geometrical terms, as object primitives, the most fundamental shapes from which all other shapes are made: lines, curves, and solid or patterned areas. Oblique type Characters that are slanted to the right; sans serif typefaces often have oblique rather than true italics, which are a separate font. Offset printing For high-volume reproduction -- utilizes three rotating drums: a plate cylinder, a blanket cylinder, and an impression cylinder. The printing plate is wrapped around the plate cylinder, inked and dampened. The plate image is transferred, or offset, onto the blanket cylinder. Paper passes between the blanket cylinder and the impression cylinder, and the image is transferred onto the paper. Orphan In a page layout, the first line of a paragraph separated from the rest of the paragraph by a column or page break. Headings without enough type under them may be considered as orphans; there should be as much type below the heading as the height of the heading itself, including white space.  Pasteup The process of preparing mechanicals -- in traditional publishing, positioning and pasting type and graphics on a board (and overlays). In desktop publishing, page-assembly software enables the user to do electronic pasteup. Pica A measurement used in typography for column widths and other space specifications in a page layout. There are 12 points in a pica, and approximately 6 picas to an inch. Pixel (picture element) The smallest unit that a device can address. Most often refers to display monitors, a pixel being the smallest spot of phosphor that can be lit up on the screen. PMS (Pantone Matching System) A standard color-matching system used by printers and graphic designers for inks, papers, and other materials. A PMS color is a standard color defined by percentage mixtures of different primary inks. Point A measurement used in typography for type size, leading, and other space specifications in a page layout. There are 12 points in a pica, and approximately 70 points to an inch. Posterization For a halftone, the reduction of the number of gray scales to produce a high-contrast image. See Gray-scale image, Halftone. Printer font High-resolution bitmaps or font outline masters used for the actual laying down of the characters on the printed page, as opposed to display on the screen. See Screen font. Process color separation In commercial printing, used for reproduction of color photographs. The various hues are created by superimposition of halftone dots of the process colors: cyan (a greenish blue), magenta (a purplish red), yellow, and black. See Color separation. Proportionally spaced type A typeface in which the set width (horizontal space) of characters is variable, depending on the shape of the character itself and the characters surrounding it. See Set width. Pull quote A brief phrase (not necessarily an actual quotation) from the body text, enlarged and set off from the text with rules, a box, and/or a screen. It is from a part of the text set previously, and is set in the middle of a paragraph, to add emphasis and interest. Punctuation block In right-justified or right-aligned text, several consecutive lines that end with punctuation and make the right margin look uneven.  -  Ragged right alignment - Type set so that the extra white space in a line is set at the right, giving the text a ragged margin. Usually set with flush left. Recto In a double-sided document, the page that appears on the right side of the spread; an even-numbered page. Resolution Resolution defines the quality of graphics in relation to the number of "dots", or bits or pixels the graphic has. A high resolution graphic has more dots per inch (dpi), while a low resolution graphic has a lower dpi. Resolution applies to both graphics designed for print (typically high resolution) or graphics created for the Web (low resolution). Low and high resolution is also applied to printers. A 300 dpi laser printer is low resolution, but a 2450 dpi imagesetter is high resolution. Reverse White or light-colored type of images on a dark background. Right-justified alignment Type set so that the text runs even on the right margin as well as on the left margin; the extra white space is distributed between words and sometimes between characters on the line. Rivers Spaces between words that create irregular lines of white space in body type, particularly occurs when the lines of type have been set with excessive word spacing. Roman type Book weight, regular, or in desktop publishing systems, called plain or normal type -- used for the body type in a text-intensive publication. Rough A refined thumbnail sketch for a publication design, done at actual size, with more detail. Roughs are often used for the first client review. Rule (ruling line) A geometric line used as a graphic enhancement in page assembly -- the term is used to distinguish ruling lines from a line of type. Run-around Type that is set to fit the contour of an illustration, photo, ornament or initial. Run-in heading A heading set on the same line as the text, usually in bold or italic type. Running heads/feet or headers/footers Titles (often accompanied by page numbers) set at the top/bottom of text pages of a multipaged publication.  Sans serif typeface A typeface that has no serifs, such as Helvetica or Swiss. The stroke weight is usually uniform and the stress oblique, though there are exceptions. Scaling Reduction or enlargement of artwork, which can be proportional (most frequently) or disproportional. In desktop publishing, optimal scaling of bitmaps is reduction or enlargement that will avoid or reduce moiré patterns. Screen font Low-resolution (that is, screen resolution) bitmaps of type characters that show the positioning and size of characters on the screen. As opposed to the printer font, which may be high-resolution bitmaps or font outline masters. See Printer font. Screen (tint) In graphic arts, a uniform dotted fill pattern, described in percentage (for example, 50 percent screen). Script Connected, flowing letters resembling hand writing with pen or quill. Either slanted or upright. Sometimes with a left-hand slant. Serif In a typeface, a counterstroke on letterforms, projecting from the ends of the main strokes. For example, Times or Dutch is a serifed typeface. Some typefaces have no serifs; these typefaces are called sans serif. Set width In typography, the horizontal width of characters. Typefaces vary in the average horizontal set width of each character (for example, Times has a narrow set width), and set widths of individual characters vary in typeset copy depending on the shape of the character and surrounding characters. Sidebar In newsletter/magazine layout, a related story or block of information that is set apart from the main body text, usually boxed and/or screened. Small caps Capital letters set at the x-height of the font. Solarization A photographic image in which both blacks and whites appear black, while midtones approach white. Solid Lines of type with no space between the lines (unleaded). Spot color separation For offset printing, separation of solid premixed ink colors (for example, green, brown, light blue, etc.); used when the areas to be colored are not adjacent. Spot color separations can be indicated on the tissue cover of the mechanical, or made with overlays. Spread In a double-sided document, the combination of two facing pages, which are designed as a unit. Also, the adjacent inside panels of a brochure when opened. Standing elements In page design, elements that repeat exactly from page to page, not only in terms of style, but also in terms of page position and content. The most commonly used standing elements are page headers or footers, with automatic page numbers. Standoff The amount of space between a clock of text and a graphic, or between two blocks of text that wrap. See Text Wrap. Stress In a typeface, the axis around which the strokes are drawn: oblique (negative or positive) or vertical. Not to be confused with the angle of the strokes themselves (for instance, italics are made with slanted strokes, but may not have oblique stress). Stroke weight In a typeface, the amount of contrast between thick and thin strokes. Different typefaces have distinguishing stroke-weight characteristics. Style sheet In desktop publishing program, style sheets contain the typographic specifications to be associated with tagged text. They can be used to set up titles, headings, and the attributes of blocks of text, such as lists, tables, and text associated with illustrations. The use of style sheets is a fast and efficient way to insure that all comparable elements are consistent. See Tags. Subhead A secondary phrase usually following a headline. Display line(s) of lesser size and importance than the main headline(s). Subscript A character slightly smaller than the rest of the font, set below the baseline; used in chemical equations and as base denotation in math, and sometimes as the denominator of fractions. Superscript A character slightly smaller than the rest of the font, set above the baseline, used for footnote markers and sometimes as the numerator of fractions.  Tabloid-sized page A page that measures 11" x 17" -- most often used in portrait orientation for newspapers. Not to be confused with an 11" x 17" spread, which is made up of two letter-sized pages. Tags For style sheets, delimited sets of characters embedded in the text or internally coded. Tags apply to paragraphs (text terminated with a hard return -- this includes titles and headings) and indicate the function of paragraphs. The actual type specification depends on the style sheet that is associated with the tag. See Style sheet. Template In page design, a file with an associated style sheet and all standing and serial elements in place on a master or base page, used for publication following the same design. Text wrap The spatial relationship between blocks of text and graphics, or between two blocks of text. A text wrap may be rectangular (most commonly), irregular, or arbitrary. See Standoff. Thumbnails Miniature pictures sketched as first design ideas, like thinking on paper (or on screen). TIFF (Tagged Image File Format) For digital gray-scale halftones, a device-independent graphics file format. TIFF files can be used on IBM/compatible or Macintosh computers, and may be output to PostScript printers. See Gray-scale image, Halftone. Tiling (tile) Printing a page layout in sections with overlapping edges so that the pieces can be pasted together. Tombstoning In multicolumn publications, when two or more headings in the same horizontal position on the page. Track In typography, to reduce space uniformly between all characters in a line. As opposed to kerning, which is the variable reduction of space between specific characters. Type alignment The distribution of white space in a line of type where the characters at their normal set width do not fill the entire line length exactly. Type maybe aligned left, right, centered, or right-justified. Typeface The set of characters created by a type designer, including uppercase and lowercase alphabetical characters, numbers, punctuation, and special characters. A single typeface contains many fonts, at different sizes and styles. See Font. Type families A group of typefaces of the same basic design but with different weights and proportions. See Light, Black, Condensed, Expanded.  U&lc Abbreviation for upper- and lowercase. Unit In typography, divisions of the em space, used for fine-tuning the letterspacing of text type. Different typesetting systems and desktop publishing software use different unit divisions: 8, 16, 32, and 64 are common. One unit is a thin space or a hair space.  Verso In a double-sided document, the page that appears on the left side of the spread; an odd-numbered page. Virtual layout (comp) A layout illustrating a proposal depicting what a finished piece will look like. These can be viewed on the ECS|DC Client Intranet during the course of our projects. See Comp.  Weight Denotes the thickness of a letter stroke, light, extra-light, "regular," medium, demi-bold, bold, extra bold and ultra bold. White space In designing publication, the areas where there is no text or graphics -- essentially, the negative space of the page design. Widow In a page layout, short last lines of paragraphs -- usually unacceptable when separated from the rest of the paragraph by a column break, and always unacceptable when separated by a page break. Word wrap In a word processor or text editor, the automatic dropping of characters to the next line when the right margin is reached. WYSIWYG (What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get) An interactive mode of computer processing, in which there is a screen representation of the printed output. WYSIWYG is never entirely accurate, because of the difference in resolution between display screens and printers.  x-height The height of the lowercase "s." Sometimes referred to as "body height." More generally, the height of the lowercase letters. |