Abstraction - A visual representation that may have little resemblance to the real world. Abstraction can occur through a process of simplification or distortion in an attempt to communicate an essential aspect of a form or concept.

Achromatic - Black, gray or white with no distinctive hues.

Actual Space - Space involved in three-dimensional design such as pottery, sculpture, architecture and so on, in which the space forms an integral element of design.

Additive - Descriptive of a structural method in which form is created by building up materials, as by modeling or welding. Compare subtractive.

Additive Primary colours - In light, those primary colours- red, blue and green- which in theory can be blended to add up to white light, or all light.

Aesthetics - A branch of philosophy concerned with the beautiful in art and how it is experienced by the viewer.

Afterimage - The tendency of the human eye to see a hue after looking for several minutes at its complementary hue.

Ambiance - The total environment of a work of art as it is created by the various parts of the composition working together.

Analogous colours - A colour scheme that combines several hues located next to each other on the colour wheel.

Anthropomorphic - The ascribing of human traits to things not human.

Anti-Aliasing - The blurring of a jagged line or edge on a screen or output device to give the appearance of a smooth line.

Anticipated Movement - The implication of movement on a two-dimensional surface caused by the viewer's past experience with a similar situation.

Apple Macintosh - (Mac) Computer Launched in January 1984, the first computer to achieve commercial success with a WIMP (WINDOWS Icon Mouse Pull-down-menus) interface. The user-friendliness of the graphics interface allows users to get to grips with the machine without the need to learn a complex command language. Images and text can be created quickly and cheaply, while the designer stills retains control. A program of continuous technical updating has ensured that Apple Mac is one of the most widely used computers in graphic design.

Aqueous Coating - Coating in a water base and applied like ink by a printing press to protect and enhance the printing underneath.

Area Composition - The organization of typographic and other graphic elements into their final positions by electronic means (keyboard, graphics tablets and electronic pens, etc.), eliminating the need for hand assembly or pasteup.

Art - The application of skill and taste to the production of an aesthetic result, independent of, but not necessarily excluding, practical use or purpose.

Art Deco - A decorative style, popular in the 1920s, characterized by its geometric patterns and reflecting the rise of industry and mass production in the early twentieth century.

Arts and Crafts Movement - A group led by William Morris in the late nineteenth century that stressed decorative design in useful objects with emphasis on books and home furnishings.

Artwork - Term applied to illustrative, diagrammatic and photographic material (i.e. material that is not typeset) prepared for reproduction by a designer or artwork technician. When all type and design elements have been positioned, this camera-ready copy is also referred to as the finished artwork or mechanical. Finished artwork would normally include specifications for any detailed reproduction or printing requirements.

Ascender - Stroke on a lowercase letter that rises above the meanline.

Aspect Ratio - The ratio of an image, screen or other medium's height to its width. Images will become distorted if forced into a different aspect ratio during enlargement, reduction or transfer.

Asymmetrical Balance Balanced achieved with dissimilar objects that have equal visual weight or equal eye attraction.

Atmospheric Perspective - The effect of an intervening body of air between an object and the viewer, causing a softening of outlines, blurring and cooling of colours, and loss of detail at the horizon; the simulation of depth in two-dimensional art by the portrayal of this effect. Also known as aerial perspective.
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B
Balance - The equilibrium of opposing or interacting forces in a pictorial composition.

Baseline - An imaginary horizontal line upon which the base of each capital letter rests.

Bauhaus - A school of design founded in Germany in 1919, known for its adaptation of design principles to mass production; also applied to works, especially furniture, designed by the staff.

Bezier Curve - 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.

Bilateral Symmetry - Symmetrical balance in which a central axis cutting through the design would produce two identical mirror images.

Binding Methods - Ways of securing pages of book or brochure on left-hand edge (spine).

Biomorphic - Shapes derived from organic or natural forms.

Bit-Map - A computerized image made up of dots. These are “mapped” onto the screen directly from corresponding bits in memory (hense the name). Also referred to as paint format.

Bit-Mapped Font - A font whose letters are composed of dots, such as fonts designed for dot matrix printers.

Bleed - Printing that extends to the edge of a sheet or page after trimming.

Blind Image Image debossed, embossed or stamped, but not printed with ink or foil.

Blueline - Perjures photographic proof made from stripped negatives where all colours show as blue images on white paper.

Body Type - Text material, usually set in sizes from six to twelve point. Also called text type.

Book Paper - Category of paper suitable for books, magazines, catalogues, advertising and general printing needs. Book paper is divided into uncoated paper (also called offset paper), coated paper (also called art paper, enamel paper, gloss paper and slick paper) and text paper.
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C
Calligraphic - Elegant, flowing lines suggestive of writing with an aesthetic value separate from its textual content.

Camera Ready - Copy and/or artwork that is ready to be photographed to make negatives, which are exposed to printing plates.

Cap Height - Height of the capital letters, measured from the baseline to the capline.

Capline - Imaginary horizontal line defined by the height of the capital letters.

Caption - Title, explanation or description accompanying an illustration or photograph.

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 non-printing characters usually are not. In data processing, both printing and non-printing characters are usually counted.

Chiaroscuro - The use of light and dark values to imply depth and volume in a two-dimensional work of art.

Chromatic - Relating to the hue or saturation of colour.

Classical - Suggestive of Greek and Roman ideals of beauty and purity of form, style or technique.

Closed Form - The placement of objects in which the focal point of a composition keeps the viewer's attention within the picture.

CMYK - Abbreviation for cyan, magenta, yellow and key (black), the four process colours.

Coated Paper - Paper with a coating of clay and other substances that improves reflectivity and ink holdout. Mills produce coated paper in the four major categories cast, gloss, dull and matte.

Collage - An artwork created by assembling and pasting a variety of materials to a two-dimensional surface.

colour Harmony - Any one of a number of colour relationships based on groupings within the colour wheel.

colour Key - Brand name for an overlay colour proof. Sometimes used as a generic term for any overlay colour proof.

colour Separation - 1.Technique of using a camera, scanner or computer to divide continuous-tone colour images into four halftone negatives. 2.The product resulting from colour separating and subsequent four-colour process printing. Also called separation.

colour Symbolism - Employing colour to signify human character traits or concepts.

colour Theory - The psychology of colour as it affects the viewer through individual associations with colour significance such as: white=purity, cleanliness, innocence, new beginnings and spiritual excellence; black=absence of colour, formal affairs, elegance and mystery; red-bold, energetic, intense, impulsive, daring and pulsating; green=fertility, growth, rebirth, persistence, life and hope; yellow=enlightenment, loyalty, optimism, idealism and represents a challenge; blue=peaceful, calm, cool, confident, sincere, truthful and trustworthy; purple=dignity, sentiment, wealth, nobility, romance and nostalgia; orange=festivity, food, orange is an appetite stimulant;pink=delicacy, sweetness, tenderness and shyness; brown=justice, fairness, independence, also has represented hearth and home; gray=knowledge, maturity, merit, quietness and solemnity.

colour Wheel - An arrangement of colours based on the sequence of hues in the visible spectrum.

Complementary - A colour scheme incorporating opposite hues on the colour wheel. Complementary colours accentuate each other in juxtaposition, and neutralize each other in mixture.

Composite Film - Film made by combining images from two or more pieces of working film onto one film for making one plate.

Composite Proof - Proof of colour separations in position with graphics and type. Also called final proof, imposition proof and stripping proof.

Composition - The overall arrangement and organization of visual elements on the two-dimensional surface.

Comprehensive - Layout (Comp) An accurate representation of a printed piece showing all type and pictures in their size and position. Comps are used to evaluate a design before producing final type and artwork.

Concept - The original vision or idea that leads to the development of a work.

Conceptual - Artwork based on an idea. An art movement in which the idea is more important than the two- or three-dimensional surface.

Constructivism - Radical Russian art movement which developed shortly before the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917. In an attempt to redefine the role of the artist and contribute to the `construction' of a new communist state, a group of artists rejected the `art for art's sake' concept underpinning Suprematism and directed their energies to socially useful activities like industrial, graphic and theater design, photography and film.

Content - An idea conveyed through the artwork that implies the subject matter, story or information the artist communicates to the viewer.

Continuity - The visual relationship between two or more individual designs.

Cool colour A colour closer to blue on the colour wheel.

Copy - The literal portion of an advertisement, employing alluring or persuasive terms to accompany the illustration.

Corporate Identity - Process whereby the design elements of an organization are utilized to maximum effect in order to communicate what it does and how it does it. Corporate identity can embrace products, services, environments and the means of internal and external communication.

Counter - Space enclosed by the strokes of a letterform.

Cover - Thick paper that protects a publication and advertises its title. Parts of covers are often described as follows: Cover 1=outside front; Cover 2=inside front; Cover 3=inside back; Cover 4=outside back.

Coverage - Extent to which ink covers the surface of a substrate. Ink coverage is usually expressed as light, medium or heavy.

Cover Paper - Category of thick paper used for products such as posters, menus, folders and covers of paperback books.

Craftsmanship - The application of skill and dexterity in creating a work of art or design.

Creativity - The stage in the process of problem solving in which the imagination is encouraged to soar in a search for totally new and innovative approaches.

Crop Marks - Lines near the edge of an image indicating portions to be reproduced. Also called cut marks and tie marks.

Crosshatching - A series of intersecting sets of parallel lines used to indicate shading or volume in a drawing.

Cubism - An art movement of the early twentieth century in which objects were interpreted in geographic planes, neutral tones and the breaking of objects into facets. Associated particularly with George Braque and Pablo Picasso.

Curvilinear - Rounded and curving forms which tend to imply soft flowing shapes and compositions.

Cyan - One of the four process colours. Also known as process blue.
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D
Dada - Literary and visual art movement that developed in Switzerland during 1916. Responding to the futility of the First World War a group of poets and artists set out to ridicule established values and beliefs.

Descender - Stroke on a lowercase letterform that falls below the baseline.

Design - A planned arrangement of visual elements in order to construct an organized visual pattern.

De Stijl (The Style) - Dutch art movement and magazine originated by the painter and designer Theo van Doesburg in 1917. De Stijl, which influenced the international avant-garde throughout the 1920s, was committed to a unity of the arts. Attracting artists, designers and architects, the movement sought an abstract objectivity through the use of the rectangle and a reliance on primary colours in association with black, white and gray.

xDie - Device for cutting, scoring, stamping, embossing or debossing.

Die Cut - To cut irregular shapes in paper or paperboard using a die.

Direct Digital colour Proof - colour proof made by a laser, ink jet printer or other computer-controlled device without needing to make separation films first. Abbreviated DDCP.

Dithering - A technique for alternating the value of adjacent dots or pixels to create the effect of an intermediate value. When printing colour images or displaying colour on a computer screen, dithering refers to the technique of making different colours for adjacent dots or pixels to give the illusion of a third colour; for example, a printed field of alternating cyan and yellow dots appears to be green. Dithering gives the effect of shades of gray on a black-and-white display or the effect of more colours on a colour display.

Dot Gain - Phenomenon of halftone dots printing larger on paper than they are on films or plates, reducing detail and lowering contrast. Also called dot growth, dot spread and press gain.

Dots Per Inch (dpi) - A measure of the resolution of a screen image or printed page. Dots are also known as pixels. Some computer screen display 72 dpi; many laser printers print 300 dpi; and imagesetters often print 1270 or 2540 dpi.

Downloading - Transferring information from one computer to computer and storing it there.

Drawdown - Sample of inks specified for a job applied to the substrate specified for a job. Also called pulldown.

Drawing - A work depending primarily on lines and shading to depict the subject matter.

Dull Finish - Flat (not glossy) finish on coated paper; slightly smoother than matte. Also called suede finish, velour finish and velvet finish.

Dummy - Simulation of the final product. Also called mockup.

Duotone - Black-and white photograph reproduced using two halftone negatives, each shot to emphasize different tonal values in the original.

Dylux - Brand name for photographic paper used to make blueline proofs. Often used as alternate term for blueline.
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E
Eclecticism - The blending of many influences and styles in one work.

Electronic Page Design - The layout and typesetting of complete pages using a computer with input and output devices.

Em - The square of the body size of any type, used as a unit of measure. In some expanded or condensed faces, the em is also expanded or condensed from the square proportion.

Emboss - To press an image into paper so it lies above the surface. Also called cameo and tool.

Emotional colour - A subjective approach to colour usage to elicit an emotional response in the viewer.

Emphasis - The principle of design that stresses one feature as being the center around which the rest of the design is coordinated.

Emulsion - Coating of light-sensitive chemicals on papers, films, printing plates and stencils.

En - One-half of an em.

Encapsulated PostScript (EPS) - A computer format for encoding pictures. These can be stored, edited, transferred and output in the form of structured PostScript code.

Engraving - Printing method using a plate, also called a die, with an image cut into its surface.

Equilibrium - Visual balance between opposing compositional elements.

Estimate -Price that states what a job will probably cost. Also called a bid, quotation and tender.

Export - To send text, graphics or layouts created in one program from the computer memory in a form suitable for use with other programs.

Expressionism - An artistic style in which an emotion is more important than adherence to any perceptual realism. It is characterized by the exaggeration and distortion of objects in order to evoke and emotional response from the viewer.
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F
Fauve - A French term meaning “wild beasts” and descriptive of an artistic style characterized by the use of bright and intense expressionistic colour schemes.

Figure- Any positive shape or form noticeably separated from the background or, negative space.

Focal Point - A compositional device emphasizing a certain area or object to draw attention to the piece and to encourage closer scrutiny of the work.

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.

Font Substitution - During output of a page, the replacement of a requested but unavailable font by another (usually similar) available font.

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.

Foreshortening - A method of depicting objects on a two-dimensional surface so they appear to lie flat and/or recede into the distance. For example, a foreshortened circular plate becomes an ellipse.

Form - When referring to objects, it is the shape and structure of a thing. When referring to two-dimensional artworks, it is the visual aspect of composition,structure and the work as a whole.

Formal - Traditional and generally accepted visual solutions that are strictly observed.

Format - The overall typographic and spatial schema established for a publication or any other application.

Four-colour Process Printing - Technique of printing that uses black, magenta, cyan and yellow to simulate full-colour images. Also called colour process printing, full colour printing and process printing.

Futurists - A group of Italian artists and writers, originating around 1909 and interested in the expression of the dynamic energy and movement of mechanical processes.
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G
Gestalt - The principle that maintains that the human eye sees objects in their entirety before perceiving their individual parts. From the German word for "form," it is based on psychological theory.

Gesture - A line that does not stay at the edges, but moves freely within forms. These lines record movement of the eye as well as the form.

Golden Mean - A mathematical ratio in which width is to length as length is to length plus width. This ratio has been employed in design since the ancient Greeks. It can also be found in natural forms.

Graphic - Forms drawn or painted onto a two-dimensional surface. Any illustration or design. Gray Scale A series of value gradations ranging from white to black.

Greeking - Type set using random or Greek characters to simulate typeset text in a layout or comp.

Grid - A network of horizontal and vertical intersecting lines that divide spaces and create a framework of areas.

Gripper Edge - Edge of a sheet held by grippers on a sheetfed press, thus going first through the press. Also called feeding edge and leading edge.

Ground - The surface of a two-dimensional design that acts as the background for the "figures" in the composition. The ground orients the viewer in space by the contrasts and relationships that exist with the figure.

Gutter - The interval separating two facing pages in a publication. Gutter Margin Inner margin of a page of a publication.
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H
Hairline - Thinnest strokes on a typeface having strokes of varying weight.

Halftone - 1.To photograph or scan a continuous-tone image to convert the image into halftone dots. 2.A photograph or continuous-tone illustration that has been halftoned and appears on film, paper, printing plate or the final printed product.

Halftone Screen - Pieces of film or glass containing a grid of lines that breaks light into dots. Also called contact screen and screen.

Hard Copy - Computer output printed on paper.

Hard Edge - A style of art developed in the mid-twentieth century, in which forms are depicted and separated by meticulous, regular, geometric lines.

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. Headers repeated throughout a document are called running headers or running heads.

Heading - Copy that is given emphasis over the body of text, through changes in size, weight or spatial interval.

Headline - The most significant type in the visual hierarchy of a printed communication.

Horizon Line - The farthest point we can see where the delineation between the sky and ground becomes distinct. The line on the picture plane that indicates the extent of illusionistic space and on which are located the vanishing points.

House Style - Term used to describe a set of rules that organizations may adopt to create and maintain a visual consistency in their diverse activities. Now largely replaced by the more comprehensive term Corporate Identity.

Hue - A property or colour defined by distinctions within the visual spectrum or colour wheel
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I
Icon - A pictorial representation. The elemental pictures on a computer screen used to represent disk drives, files, applications, tools and so on are also called icons.

Idealism - An artistic theory in which the world is not reproduced as it is, but as it should be. All flaws, accidents and incongruities of the visual world are corrected.

Ideographic - Writing that actually represents the object it describes, as in Oriental calligraphy and early Egyptian hieroglyphics.

Illumination - The decoration of manuscripts with designs and symbolic devices, often entwined with fruit, flowers and human or animal figures.

Illusionistic Space - Space or depth indicated or implied on a two-dimensional surface through devices such as perspective.

Imagery - The representations or symbols used by the visual artist, often arising in the imagination.

Imbalance - Occurs when opposing or interacting forms are out of equilibrium in a pictorial composition.

Implied Line - An invisible line created by positioning a series of points in order to compel the eye to connect them and thus create movement across the picture plane.

Implied Space - Space beyond the physical boundaries of a work of art but involved in the composition through devices employed by the artist, such as directing the attention of figures within the composition outward at something the viewer cannot see.

Import - To transfer text, graphics or layouts into a program in a form suitable for its use.

Imposition - The arrangement of pages in a printed signature to achieve the proper sequencing after the sheets are folded and trimmed.

Impressionism - An artistic style that sought to recreate the artistÕs perception of the changing quality of light and colour in nature.

Informal Balance - Synonymous with asymmetrical balance. It implies a less rigid, more casual balance. Inspiration The process by which the designer senses the possibility of creating a new and individual form from something perceived or experienced.

Integrity - The quality of being whole, applied to a design that expresses its material, form and function in a direct and honest manner.

Intensity - The saturation of hue perceived in a colour.
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J
Justified Setting - A column of type with even vertical edges on both the left and the right, achieved by adjusting interword spacing. Also called flush left, flush right.

Justified Text - Copy in which all the lines of 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.

Juxtaposition - When one image or shape is placed next to or in comparison to another image or shape.
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K
K - Abbreviation for black in four-colour process printing.

Kerning - In typesetting, the process of subtracting space between specific pairs of characters so that the overall letterspacing appears to be even.

Kinesthetic Empathy - A mental process in which the viewer consciously recreates an action or motion he or she observes.

Kinetic - Artworks that actually move or have moving parts.
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L
Layout - Design draft/sketch of book, advertisement, title page, etc. produced by a designer to establish overall appearance and relationship between elements such as illustrations, photographs and typography. Alternate layouts exploring colour and scale are prepared before selecting the final design for production.

Leading - In early typesetting, strips of lead were placed between lines of type for spacing, hence the term.

Line - A visual element of length. It can be created by setting a point in motion.

Line Breaks - The relationships of line endings in a ragged-right or ragged-left setting. Rhythmic line breaks are achieved by adjusting the length of individual lines of type.

Line Quality - Any one of a number of characteristics of line determined by its weight, direction, uniformity or other features.

Linear Perspective - A spatial system used in two-dimensional artworks to create the illusion of space. It is based on the perception that if parallel lines are extended to the horizon line, they appear to converge and meet at a common point, called the vanishing point.

Local colour - The identifying colour perceived in ordinary daylight.

Logotype - Two or more type characters that are combined as a sign or trademark.

Luminosity - The actual or illusory effect of giving off light.
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M
Magenta - One of the four colour process colours.

Masthead - The visual identification of a magazine or newspaper, usually a logotype.

Mechanical - A camera-ready pasteup of artwork including type, images showing position of colour and halftone matter, line art and so on, all on one piece of artboard.

Medium - The tools or materials used to create an artwork.

Minimalism - An artistic style that stresses purity of form above content and other extraneous or trivial elements.

Mixed Media - The combination of two or more different mediums in a single work of art.

Modernism - Term used to embrace a diverse range of art movements and ideas that emerged during the first half of the 20th c. and profoundly influenced the subsequent development of art, architecture and design. Reacting particularly to the declining standards of craftsmanship in the late 19th c. and to the decorative excesses of Art Nouveau, many practitioners and critics recognized the need for a new approach which would enable the production of well-made artifacts for mass consumption.

Module - A specific measured are or standard unit.

Moire - Undesirable pattern resulting when halftones and screen tints are made with improperly aligned screens, or when a pattern in a photo, such as a plaid, interferes with a halftone dot pattern.

Monochromatic - A colour scheme using only one hue with varying degrees of value or intensity.

Motif - A designed unit that is repeated to form an area of pattern.
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N
Naturalism - The skillful representation of the visual image, forms and proportions as seen in nature with an illusion of volume and three-dimensional space.

Negative Space - Unoccupied areas or empty space surrounding the objects or figures in a composition.

Neutral - Having no hue. colours such as grays, beige, black and white, mixed either from black and white or from complementary colours.

Nonobjective - Having no relationship to recognizable objects.

Nonrepresentational - Referring to works that have no relationship to recognizable objects but are meant to be appreciated for their line and shapes, and perhaps colour, alone.
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O
Offset Lithography - A printing method using flat photo-mechanical plates, in which the inked image is transferred or offset from the printing plate onto a rubber blanket, then onto the paper.

Opaque - A surface impenetrable by light.

Op Art - The popular term for optical art, a movement in the sixties in which painters based their work on experimentation with the science of optics.

Open Form - The placement of objects in a composition so that they imply completion beyond the boundary of the design.

Optical Adjustment - The precise visual alignment and spacing of typographic elements. In interletter spacing, the adjustment of individual characters to achieve consistent spacing.

Organic - Shapes or forms associated with living plants or animals.

Originality - The quality of having been created without recognizable reference to other works.

Overlapping - A device for creating an illusion of depth in which some shapes partially hide or obscure others.
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P

Palette - Much like an oil painter with her palette of many unique colour combinations, each operating system has its own palette. Many computers out there display only 256 colours at a time, and the Macintosh and Windows operating systems reserve about 40 colours out of the 256, leaving 216 available. Netscape Navigator, Microsoft Internet Explorer, and NCSA Mosaic implemented a 216-colour palette that won't dither (i.e., vary the pattern of dots in an image) on different platforms and is "browser safe" (in other words, these 216 colours will always look the same, no matter what platform or browser is being used). Theoretically.

Pantone Matching System (PMS) - The trademarked name of a system for specifying colours and inks that is a standard in the printing industry.

Parent Sheet - Any sheet larger than 11" x 17" or A3.

Perception - The experience of seeing in which the action of the sensory organs is augmented by experience and association.

Perceptual Imagery - Imagery derived from experience or perception of the natural world.

Perfect Bind - To bind sheets that have been ground at the spine and are held to the cover by glue.

Perspective - A system of representing three-dimensional space on a two-dimensional surface.

Photomontage - Technique of combining or superimposing images from different sources in order to produce a new and surprising relationship between the individual components.

Photorealism - A painting movement of the mid-twentieth century in which artists painted from photographs or depicted objects and people as they felt the camera would show them, complete with every minute detail.

Pica - Typographic unit of measurement; 12 points equals 1 pica. Six picas equal approximately one inch. Line lengths and column widths are measured in picas.

PICT - A computer format for encoding pictures. PICT data can be created, displayed on the screen and printed, thus applications without graphics-processing routines can incorporate PICT data generated by other software.

Pictogram - Pictorial sign that depicts a simplified representation of a particular object or activity.

Picture Plane - The two-dimensional surface on which shapes are organized into a composition.

Pixel - Short for picture element, a dot made by a computer, scanner or other digital device. Also called pel.

Plane - The two-dimensional surface of a shape.

Plate - Piece of paper, metal, plastic or rubber carrying an image to be reproduced using a printing press.

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.

Pointillism - A system of colour mixing based on the juxtaposition of small bits of pure colour. Also called Divisionism.

Pop Art - An art movement originating in the 1960s that sought inspiration from everyday popular culture and the technique of commercial art.

Positive Shape - Any shape or object distinguished from the background.

Post-Impressionism - A general term used to designate the various painting styles that followed Impressionism, during the period 1885 to 1900. The term is applied primarily to the work of Van Gogh, Cezanne, Gauguin, Seurat and their followers.

Post-Modernism - Design movement that evolved in the mid-1960s as a critical response to the dominance, and perceived sterility of Modernism. Embracing art, architecture and the applied arts, it reestablished interest in ornament, symbolism and visual wit. Unconstrained by dogma, postmodern designers rejected modernismÕs obsession with progress and challenged fundamental tenets of order and discipline espoused by the Bauhaus and its followers.

PostScript - A page-description programming language created by Adobe Systems that handles text and the graphics, placing them on the page with mathematical precision.

Pre-press - Camera work, colour separating, stripping, platemaking and other prepress functions performed by the printer, separator or a service bureau prior to printing. Also called preparation.

Pre-press Proof - Any colour proof made using ink jet, toner, dyes or overlays, as compared to a press proof printed using ink. Also called dry proof and off-press proof.

Press Check - Event at which makeready sheets from the press are examined before authorizing full production to begin.

Price Break - Quantity at which unit cost of paper or printing drops.

Primary colours - The three colours from which all other colours can theoretically be mixed. The primaries of pigments are traditionally represented as red, yellow and blue, while the primaries of light are red, blue and green.

Printing - Any process that transfers to paper or another substrate an image from an original such as a film negative or positive, electronic memory, stencil, die or plate.

Printing Plate - Surface carrying an image to be printed. Quick printing uses paper or plastic plates; letterpress, engraving and commercial lithography use metal plates; flexography uses rubber or soft plastic plates. Gravure printing uses a cylinder. The screen in screen printing is also called a plate.

Proof - Traditionally, an impression from metal type for examination and correction; now applies to initial output for examination and correction before final output.

Proportion - Size measured against other elements or against a mental norm or standard. A ratio.

Punk - Subversive street culture movement that originated in London in the mid-1970s. Embracing art, music and fashion, followers of Punk were recognizable by their aggressive visual appearance and anarchic behavior.
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R
Radial Balance - A composition in which all visual elements are balanced around a central point.

Realism - An approach to artwork based on the faithful reproduction of surface appearances with a fidelity to visual perception.

Ream - 500 sheets of paper.

Rectilinear - Composed of straight lines.

Register - To place printing properly with regard to the edges of paper and other printing on the same sheet. Such printing is said to be in register.

Register Marks - Cross-hair lines on mechanicals and film that help keep flats, plates and printing in register. Also called crossmarks and position marks.

Repetition - Using the same visual element over again within the same composition.

Representational - An image suggestive of an object which actually exists.

Resolution - The degree of detail and clarity of a display; usually specified in dots per inch (dpi). The higher the resolution, or the greater the number of dpi, the sharper the image.

Reverse Type - or image that is dropped out of a printed area, revealing the paper surface.

RGB - Abbreviation for red, green, blue, the additive colour primaries.

Rhythm - An element of design based on the repetition of recurrent motifs.

Rococo - An artistic style of the eighteenth century characterized by fanciful curved forms and elaborate ornamentation.

Romanticism - A style of art and architecture in which the designer looks to the past with nostalgia, interpreting previous styles through personal associations and imagery that results in dramatic contrasts and intricate detail.

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.
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S
Saddle Stitch - To bind by stapling sheets together where they fold at the spine, as compared to side stitch. Also called pamphlet stitch, saddle wire and stitch bind.

San Serif - Typefaces without serifs.

Saturation - The degree of purity and brilliance in a colour.

Scale - Size or weight relationships in a structure or between structures, especially as measured by some standard such as the human body.

Scanner - A computer peripheral device that scans pictures and converts them to digital form so they can be stored, manipulated and output.

Screen Angles - Angles at which screens intersect with the horizontal line of the press sheet. The common screen angles for separations are black 45¼, magenta 75¼, yellow 90¼ and cyan 105¼.

Screen Font - A bit-mapped version of an outline font that is used to represent the outline font on a computer screen.

Screen Ruling - Number of rows or lines of dots per inch or centimeter in a screen for making a screen tint or halftone. Also called line count, ruling, screen frequency, screen size and screen value.

Secondary colour - A mixture of any two primary colours.

Serifs - Small elements added to the ends of the main strokes of a letterform in serifed type styles.

Shade - A hue mixed with black.

Shape - A visually perceived area created either by an enclosing line or by colour and value changes defining the outer edges.

Signature - Printed sheet folded at least once, possible many times, to become part of a book, magazine or other publication.

Soy-Based Inks - Inks using vegetable oils instead of petroleum products as pigment vehicles, thus are easier on the environment.

Specifications - Complete and precise written description of features of a printing job such as type size and leading, paper grade and quantity, printing quality or binding method. Abbreviated specs.

Spectrum - The range of visible colour created when white light is passed through a prism.

Spot colour or Varnish - One ink or varnish applied to portions of a sheets, as compared to flood or painted sheet.

Spread - 1.Two pages that face each other and are designed as one visual or production unit. 2.Technique of slightly enlarging the size of an image to accomplish a hairline trap with another image. Also called fatty.

Staccato - Abrupt changes and dynamic contrast within the visual rhythm.

Stylization - The achievement of design quality by simplification of natural forms.

Subject - The content of an artwork.

Surrealism - An artistic style that stresses fantastic and subconscious approaches to art making and often results in images that cannot be rationally explained.

Symbol - An element of design that communicates an idea or meaning beyond that of its literal form.

Symmetry - A quality of a composition or form wherein there is a precise correspondence of elements that reference to an axis or a point.

Syntax - In grammar, the way in which words or phrases are put together to form sentences. In design, the connecting or ordering of typographic elements into a visual unity.
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T
Tactile Texture - The use of actual materials to create a surface that can actually be felt or touched.

Tag Image File Format (TIFF) - A computer format for encoding pictures as high-resolution bit-mapped images, such as those created by scanners.

Tertiary - A mixture of a primary and an adjacent secondary colour.

Text - The main body of written or printed material, as opposed to display matter, footnotes, appendices and so on.

Text Paper - Designation for printing papers with textured surfaces such as laid or linen. Some mills also use ÔtextÕ to refer to any paper they consider top-of-the-line, whether or not its surface has a texture.

Texture - The surface quality of objects that appeals to the tactile sense.

Thumbnail - A miniature image of a page, either a small planning sketch made by a designer, or a reduction in a page-layout program.

Tint - A hue mixed with white.

Tone - A hue mixed with its complement.

Tonality - A single colour or hue that dominates the entire colour structure despite the presence of other colours.

Trademark - Identification device, in the form of a symbol or logotype, used to identify and/or unify the products/services provided by a particular manufacturer or supplier.

Translucent A situation in which objects, forms or planes transmit and diffuse light but have a degree of opacity that does not allow clear visibility through the form.

Transparency - A situation in which an object or form allows light to pass through it.

Trap - To print one ink over another or to print a coating, such as a varnish, over an ink. The first liquid traps the second liquid.

Trompe LÕoeil - A French term meaning "to fool the eye." The objects are in sharp focus and delineated with meticulous care to create an artwork that fools the viewer into believing that the images are real.

Typeface - The design of alphabetical and numerical characters unified by consistent visual properties.

Typesetting - The composing of type by any method or process, also called composition.

Typographer - A firm specializing in typesetting.
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U
Uncoated Paper -Paper that has not been coated with clay. Also called offset paper.

Unity - The degree of agreement existing among the elements in a design.

Unjustified - Type Lines of type set with equal interword spacing, resulting in irregular line lengths. Also called ragged.
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V
Value - A measure of relative lightness or darkness.

Vanishing Point - In linear perspective, the point at which parallel lines appear to converge on the horizon line. Depending on the view there may be more than one vanishing point.

Varnish - Liquid applied as a coating for protection and appearance. Vellum Finish Somewhat rough, toothy finish.

Velox - Brand name for high-contrast photographic paper.

Vernacular - A prevailing style or attitude in a specific geographical location, group of people or time period.

Vignette - A representation in which the center of interest is sharply focused but the image fades out at the perimeter.

Visual Balance - Our perception of balance as it appears in a design.

Visual colour Mixing - The optical mixture of small units of colour so that the eye perceives the mixture rather than the individual component colours.

Visual Texture - A two-dimensional illusion suggestive of a tactile quality.

Volume - The appearance of height, weight and depth in a form.
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W
Warm colour - A colour that appears to be closer to the yellow to red side of the colour wheel.

Weight - The lightness or heaviness of a typeface, which is determined by ratio of the stroke thickness to character height.

White Space - The "negative" area surrounding a letterform.

Widow - A very short line that appears at the end of a paragraph, column, or page or at the top of a column or page. These awkward typographic configurations should be corrected editorially.
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X
X-Height - The height of lowercase letters, excluding ascenders and descenders. This is most easily measured on the lowercase x.
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Y
Y - Abbreviation for yellow in four-colour process printing.