GLOSSARY - Typographic Design: Form and Communication

Graphics Reference

In-Depth Information

Hinting. A technique used to add greater

realism to a digital image by smoothing

jagged edges on curved lines and diagonals.

Hot type. Type produced by casting molten

metal.

HTML. Abbreviation for hypertext markup

language. The basic computer programming

language used to design web sites.

Humanist. Term used to describe sans

serif typefaces with proportions similar to

handwritten Roman capitals. Characteristics

include letterforms with diagonal stress and

two-storied a and g characters.

Hypertext. Text on a computer screen

that contains pointers enabling the user to

jump to other text or pages by clicking on

highlighted material.

Hyphenation. The syllabic division of words

used when they must be broken at the end

of a line. In typesetting, hyphenation can be

determined by the designer or automatically

by the computer.

JPEG. Abbreviation for joint photographic

experts group. JPEG is a file format used

to compress images. The amount of

compression can be adjusted to allow for

small or large file sizes and varying image

qua lit y.

Justified text. Copy in which all lines of a

text, regardless of the words they contain,

are exactly the same length, so that they

align vertically at both the left and right

margins.

M

Machine composition. General term for

the mechanical casting of metal type.

Majuscules. A term in calligraphy for

letterforms analogous to uppercase

letterforms, usually drawn between two

parallel lines, the capline and the baseline.

See Minuscules .

Margin. The unprinted space surrounding

type matter on a page.

Master page. In a page-layout program, a

master page is a template providing standard

columns, margins, and typographic elements

that appear on a publication's individual

pages.

Masthead. The visual identification of a

magazine or newspaper, also called a flag .

Also, a section placed near the front of a

publication containing names and titles of

publishers and staff, along with addresses.

Matrix. In typesetting, the master image

from which type is produced. The matrix

is a brass mold in linecasting and a

glass plate bearing the font negative in

phototypesetting.

MB. Abbreviation for megabyte. A unit of

measurement equal to 1,024 kilobytes or

1,048,576 bytes.

Meanline. An imaginary line marking the

tops of lowercase letters, not including the

ascenders.

Measure. See Line length .

Minuscules. A term in calligraphy for

letterforms analogous to lowercase letters

and usually drawn between four parallel

lines determining ascender height, x-height,

baseline, and descender depth. See

Majuscules .

Minus spacing. A reduction of interline

spacing, resulting in a baseline-to-baseline

measurement that is smaller than the point

size of the type. See Reverse leading .

Modern. Term used to describe typefaces

designed at the end of the eighteenth

century. Characteristics include vertical

stress, hairline serifs, and pronounced

contrasts between thick and thin strokes.

Monocase alphabet. A language alphabet,

such as Hebrew and Indic scripts, having

only capital-height letters and no lowercase

letterforms.

Monochrome. Refers to material or a display

consisting of a single color, typically black

or white.

Monogram. Two or more letterforms

interwoven, combined, or connected into a

single glyph, typically used as abbreviations

or initials.

Monoline. Used to describe a typeface or

letterform with a uniform stroke thickness.

Monospacing. The spacing in a font

with characters that all have the same

set width or horizontal measure; often

found in typewriter and screen fonts. See

Proportional spacing .

K

K. Abbreviation for kilobyte. A term for

1,024 bytes of memory.

Kerning. In typesetting, kerning refers to

the process of adjusting space between

specific pairs of characters so that the

overall letterspacing appears to be even.

Compare Track ing .

L

Latin. Typestyle characterized by triangular,

pointed serifs.

Leader. Typographic dots or periods that are

repeated to connect other elements.

Lead-in. Introductory copy set in a

contrasting typeface.

Leading. (Pronounced “LED-ing”) In

early typesetting, strips of lead were

placed between lines of type to increase

the interline spacing, hence the term. See

Linespacing , Interline spacing .

Letterpress. The process of printing from a

raised inked surface.

Letterspacing. See Interletter spacing .

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

by adjusting the length of individual lines

of type.

Line length. The measure of the length of a

line of type, usually expressed in picas.

Linespacing. The vertical distance between

two lines of type measured 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 .

Lining figures. Numerals identical in size

to the capitals and aligned on the baseline:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10.

Linotype. A machine that casts an entire

line of raised type on a single metal slug.

Logotype. A distinct combination of two

or more type characters that are combined

as a sign and used to represent a company,

institution, brand, or product in a variety of

media.

Lowercase. The alphabet set of small letters,

as opposed to capitals.

Ludlow. A typecasting machine that

produces individual letters from hand-

assembled matrices.

I

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.

Incunabula. European topics printed during

the first half-century of typography, from

Gutenberg's invention of movable type until

the year 1500.

Indent. An interval of space at the beginning

of a line to indicate a new paragraph. Also

used to visually separate quotes, lists and