Saturday, January 11, 2014

Typography Vocabulary Terms

Alignment.
Precise arrangement of letterforms upon an imaginary horizontal or vertical line.
Ampersand.
Typographic character (&) representing the word
Base alignment.
A typesetter or printer specification that the baseline for all letters should be horizontal, even in a line of mixed sizes or styles; also called baseline alignment.
Baseline.
An imaginary horizontal line upon which the base of each capital letter rests.
Bezier curves.
A type of curve with nonuniform arcs, as opposed to curves with uniform curvature, which are called arcs. A Bezier curve is defined by specifying control points that set the shape of the curve, and are used to create letter shapes and other computer graphics.
Bitmap.
A computerized image made up of dots. These are “mapped” onto the screen directly from corresponding bits in memory (hence the name). Also referred to as paint format.
C. and l.c.
Used in marking copy, to instruct the typesetter touse capitals and lowercase.
Cap height.
Height of the capital letters, measured from thebaseline to the capline.
Capitals. (Caps)
Letters larger than – and often differing from – the corresponding lowercase letters. Also called uppercase.
Caption.
Title, explanation, or description accompanying an illustration or photograph.
Cascading style sheets.
Web-site design software permittingthe specification of type characteristics such as type size, letter-,and line-spacing.
Character.
Symbol, sign, or mark in a language system.Character count. The number of characters in a block of text. In typography, spaces are counted but other nonprintingcharacters usually are not. In data processing, both printing andnonprinting characters are usually counted.
Colophon.
Inscription, frequently placed at the end of a book, that contains facts about its production.
Column guide.
Nonprinting lines that define the location ofcolumns of type.

Condensed.
Letterforms whose horizontal width has been compressed.
Copyfitting.
Calculating the area that will be occupied by agiven manuscript when set in a specified size and style of type.
Counter.
Space enclosed by the strokes of a letterform.
Cursor.
Term for the pointer or insertion point on a computerscreen.
Drop initial.
Display letterform set into the text.
Egyptian.
Typefaces characterized by slablike serifs similarin weight to the main strokes.
Ellipses.
Three dots used to indicate an omission in quoted material.
Em.
The square of the body size of any type, used as a unit ofmeasure. In some expanded or condensed faces, the em is alsoexpanded or condensed from the square proportion.
Em dash.
A dash one em long. Also called a long dash.
Em leader.
Horizontal dots or dashes with one em betweentheir centers.
En.
One-half of an em (see Em ).
En dash.
A dash one en long. Also called a short dash.
EPS.
The syllabic division of words used when theymust be broken at the end of a line. In electronic typesetting,hyphenation can be determined by the operator orautomatically by the computer.

Expanded.
Letterforms whose horizontal width has been extended.
Export.
To send text, graphics, or layouts created in one program from the computer memory in a form suitable for use with other programs.
Face.
The part of metal type that is inked for printing. Also another word for typeface.
Family.
The complete range of variations of a typeface design, including roman, italic, bold, expanded, condensed, and other versions.
Fit.
Refers to the spatial relationships between letters after they are set into words and lines.
Flush left (or right).
The even vertical alignment of lines of type at the left (or right) edge of a column.
Folio.
Page number.

Font.
A complete set of characters in one design, size, and style. In traditional metal type, a font meant a particular size and style; in digital typography a font can output multiple sizes and even altered styles of a typeface design.
Footer.
An identifying line, such as a page number and/or a chapter title, appearing in the bottom margin of a document. Footers repeated throughout a document are called running footers or running feet.
Format.
The overall typographic and spatial schema established for a publication or any other application.
Grayscale.
An arbitrary scale of monochrome (black to white) intensity ranging from black and white, with a fixed number of intermediate shades of gray.
Grid.
Underlying structure composed of a linear frameworkused by designers to organize typographic and pictorialelements. Also, a film or glass master font, containingcharacters in a predetermined configuration and used inphototypesetting.
Gutter.
The interval separating two facing pages in apublication.
Hairline.
Thinnest strokes on a typeface having strokes ofvarying weight.
Hanging indent.
In composition, a column format in which thefirst line of type is set to a full measure while all additional linesare indented.
Hanging punctuation.
Punctuation set outside the column measure to achieve an optical alignment.
Header.
An identifying line at the top margin of a document. A header can appear on every page and can include text, pictures, page numbers, the date, and the time. Headersrepeated throughout a document are called running headersor running heads.
Heading.
Copy that is given emphasis over the body of text,through changes in size, weight, or spatial interval.
Icon.
A pictorial representation. The elemental pictures on a computer screen used to represent disk drives, files,applications, and tools, etc., are called icons.
Import.
To transfer text, graphics, or layouts into a program ina form suitable for its use
Indent.
An interval of space at the beginning of a line to indicate a new paragraph.
Initial.
A large letter used at the beginning of a column; for example, at the beginning of a chapter.
Interletter spacing.
The spatial interval between letters, also called letterspacing.
Italic.
Letterforms having a pronounced diagonal slant to the right.
Justified text.
Copy in which all lines of a text – regardless of the words they contain – have been made exactly the same length, so that they align vertically at both the left and right margins.
Kerning.
In typesetting, kerning refers to the process of subtracting space between specific pairs of characters so that the overall letterspacing appears to be even. Compare Tracking.
Ligature.
A typographic character produced by combining two or more letters.
Line breaks.
The relationships of line endings in a ragged-right or ragged-left setting. Rhythmic line breaks are achieved byadjusting the length of individual lines of type.

Linespacing.
The vertical distance between two lines of typemeasured from baseline to baseline. For example, “10/12” indicates 10-point type with 12 points base-to-base (that is, with 2 points of leading). See Leading, Interline spacing.
Masthead.
The visual identification of a magazine ornewspaper, usually a logotype. Also a section placed near thefront of a newspaper or periodical containing information suchas names and titles of publishers and staff, along withaddresses.
Menu.
A list of choices in a computer application, from whichthe user selects a desired action. In a computer’s desktopinterface, menus appear when you point to and click on menu
Navigation.
The act of manually moving a cursor through anon-screen page or series of pages.
Oblique.
A slanted roman character. Unlike many italics,oblique characters do not have cursive design properties.
Old Style.
Typeface styles derived from fifteenth- to eighteenth-century designs, and characterized by moderate thick-and-thin contrasts, bracketed serifs, and a handwriting influence.
Orphan.
A single word on a line, left over at the end of a paragraph, sometimes appearing at the top of a column of text. See Widow.
Outline font.
A font designed, not as a bitmap, but as outlines of the letter shapes that can be scaled to any size. Laser printers and imagesetters use outline fonts. See Bitmapped font and Screen font
Paragraph mark.
Typographic elements that signal the beginning of a paragraph. For example, ¶.

Pica.
Typographic unit of measurement: 12 points equal 1 pica.6 picas equal approximately one inch. Line lengths and columnwidths are measured in picas.
Pixel.
Stands for picture element; the smallest dot that can be displayed on a screen.
Point.
A measure of size used principally in typesetting. One point is equal to 1/12 of a pica, or approximately 1/72 of an inch. It is most often used to indicate the size of type or amount of leading added between lines.
Ragged.
Lines of type set with equal interword spacing, resulting in irregular line lengths. Also called ragged.
Roman.
Upright letterforms, as distinguished from italics. More specifically, letters in an alphabet style based on the upright serifed letterforms of Roman inscriptions.
Run-around.
Type that is set with a shortened line measure to fit around a photograph, drawing, or other visual element inserted into the running text.

Sans serif.
Typefaces without serifs.
Serifs.
Small elements added to the ends of the main strokes of a letterform in serifed type styles.


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