Glossary 1 Terms Used in Graphic Design and Printing
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Computer Presentation of Data 121 GLOSSARY 1 GLOSSARY 1 TERMS USED IN GRAPHIC DESIGN AND PRINTING Words in italics are separately defmed. alphabet length The space occupied by the 26 lowercase letters in a given typeface and size, when they are set in a single line without spaces. alphanumerics Letters and numbers, as opposed to other kinds of symbol. artwork Text or graphics presented in a form suitable for reproduction. In desktop publishing, the artwork is usu ally in the form of output from a laser printer. ascender Thepartofalowercase letter, such as 'd' or'h', that rises above the x-height. asymmetrical layout A page layout that has no central axis. Typically, both headings and text would be ranged left. back-edge In a bound document, the edge of the page nearest to the binding. baseline An imaginary horizontal line with which the bases of most lowercase letters (i.e. those without descenders) are aligned. baseline-to-baseline measurement The measurement (usually in points) from the baseline of one line of type to the baseline of the next. See also: linefeed. body size The term originates from metal type and it refers to the size of the 'body' on which each character is cast. The body size, usually measured in points, is the vertical di mension of the surfaces carrying the characters. With digital type there is no physical body, so the term has little relevance. See also: point size. brightness The subjective impression caused by the lumi nance of an object. cap. height See: capital-letter height. capital-letter height The height of the capital letters in a given typeface and size, measured from the baseline to the capita/line. GLOSSARY 1 122 Computer Presentation of Data capital line An imaginary line running along the tops of the capital letters in a line of type set in a given typeface and size. centred setting The setting of text such that each line is filled to the nearest whole word, with word and letter spacing held constant; the line is then centred between the left hand and right-hand margins. chromatic aberration Blurring and depth effects in col oured images, caused by the fact that different wave lengths of light are bent by different amounts as they enter the eye. colour separation The process of photographing or elec tronically scanning a coloured image to produce four separate images representing the red, green, blue and black components of the original. In printing, the four images are superimposed to recreate the original colours. The ink colours used are black and the process colours. See also: four-colour printing. complementary colour The complementary of a colour is produced when that colour is removed from white light. Ifblue is removed, the remaining wavelengths are mainly red and green, giving yellow as the complementary colour. Thus the complementary of a primary colour of light is in effect a mixture of the two remaining primaries. continuous tone Used to describe an image that contains a range of tonal values, such as a photograph. See also: halftone. copy-fitting Calculating how many lines your copy will occupy when set in a given typeface and type size, and to a given line length. counter An enclosed or partially enclosed space within a character. crop marks See: trim marks. cyan A mixture of blue and green, one of the three process colours in printing. descender The part of a lowercase letter, such as 'g' or 'y', that drops below the baseline. diazo A contact printing process in which ammonia is used as the developing agent in an ultraviolet light source. Commonly used to produce slides with white lettering on a blue ground. The process is unstable and slides are apt to fade. digital type Type that is held only in electronic fonn. dingbats A rather loosely-used tenn for non-alphanumeric typographic elements of various kinds. display sizes Type sizes of 18 points and upwards. Computer Presentation of Data 123 GLOSSARY 1 double-page spread A pair of facing pages. Two A4 pages will of course give an A3 spread. drop cap. Short for 'drop capital'. Often used at the begin ning of a chapter or paragraph, this is a capital letter that extends below the baseline of the first line of type, and perhaps several subsequent lines. dry-transfer lettering One of the most usual ways of producing artwork for posters and slides before the ad vent of graphics-driven computers. Lettering attached to a carrier sheet is transferred to the artwork by rubbing the back of the carrier. Letraset is the best-known brand. Dry transfer lettering is expensive to buy and requires a certain amount of skill for good results. dummy A model or mock-up of a document, used as a guide for pagination, imposition, folding and binding. electronic tyesetting Methods of typesetting in which the type is held in electronic (i.e. digital) fonn. em The width of a lowercase letter 'm'. This is usually the same as the point size of the type. Thus an em in lOpttype will be 10 points wide. The em is used as a unit of measurement for horizontal space on a line. Indents, for example, are usually specified in ems. See also: pica em. en The width of a lowercase 'n'. This is usually half the width of the em, i.e. half the point size of the type in question. Ens are used to specify small amounts of horizontal space, for example between an index entry and its associated page number. filmsetting See: phototypesetting. fixed space A unit of horizontal space, such as an em or an en, that remains unchanged duringjustification and hyphena tion. folio Page number. font Traditionally, a font is a set of letters, numerals, punc tuation marks and other characters in the same typeface, type style and size. With metal type, the printer holds a separate font, or set of characters, for every combination of size and style likely to be needed in a given typeface. With digital type, however, a number of sizes and styles can be generated from the same 'font master' held in electronic fonn. In desktop publishing, the word 'font' is increasingly used to mean 'typeface' rather than a spe cific combination of typeface, style and size. fore-edge In a document, the edge of the page farthest from the binding. fount An alternative spelling forjont. GLOSSARY 1 124 Computer Presentation of Data four-colour printing Four colour separations are screen printed on top of one another using the three process colours and black. Dots of different sizes and colours combine to recreate the colours of the original. See also: screen printing. galley proof A proof in which the text is not divided into pages. See also: page proof. generic coding The insertion of codes into electronic text to identify structural elements such as paragraphs, listed points, headings at various levels, and so on. The codes are later converted to typesetting instructions. This pro cedure allows output from relatively unsophisticated word-processing systems to be used for electronic type setting.lt is not necessary with 'WYSIWYG' systems such as the Apple Macintosh. graphic design Designing with type and 'pictures'. See also: graphics. graphics A loosely-used term, generally taken to mean illustrations or 'pictures' as opposed to text. A graphic may include lines, shadings, alphanumerics and other symbols. In computing, however, the term has a very spe cific meaning (see Glossary 2). grey scale The range of tones between black and white. grid The grid defines the margins and text area on a page. The text area itself may be divided into two, three, four or more columns into which all text and illustrations must fit exactly. gutter The space between columns of text. Sometimes back edge margins are referred to as 'gutter margins'. h & j Short for 'hyphenation and justification'. H & j routines are computer programs used to achieve a straight, or 'justified', right-hand margin. See also: hyphenation, justified setting. hairline rule A rule that is l/4 of a point in width. halftone A method of reproducing a continuous tone image such as a photograph. The image is photographed through a screen. Lighter areas are reproduced as smaller dots farther apart, while darker areas consist of larger dots closer together. See also: screen printing. hanging indent Where the first line of a paragraph is against the left-hand margin and subsequent lines in the para graph are indented. house style A set of rules relating to typography and to linguistic matters such as spelling, abbreviation and punctuation. Normally all publications from the same Computer Presentation of Data 125 GLOSSARY 1 publisher or company would be expected to conform with these rules. hue That property of a colour which is determined by wavelength. · hyphenation The breaking of words at ends of lines in justified setting. Good hyphenation routines break words at legitimate points only. imposition The arrangement of a number of pages of camera ready copy so that they can be printed together on one sheet of paper. The arrangement must be such that the pages will be in the correct sequence when the sheet is folded and trimmed. intensity See: tonal value. inter-letter spacing The space between letters making up a word. See also: kerning, letterspacing, tracking. inter-line spacing The space between lines of type, measured from the baseline of one line of text to the baseline of the next (usually specified in points, sometimes in millimetres). See also: linefeed. inter-word spacing The space between words. Usually an en, or one-third of an em.