JS Graphics, Inc. • Strategic Design for Smart Business

GLOSSARY

RESOLUTION & FILE FORMATS

Pixels- The individual dots that are used to display an image on a computer monitor. The higher the resolution, the more pixels.

Resolution- The number of pixels or dots in an image. The more pixels within the image, the higher the quality of the image.

Dpi- (Dots per inch) A unit that is used to measure the resolution of a printer.

AI- (Adobe Illustrator) Adobe Illustrator is a vector-based drawing program developed and marketed by Adobe Systems.

BMP- Large file, standard Windows format, not compressed.

EPS- (Encapsulated PostScript) A vector based graphics file that can be opened and easily edited for type, color, etc. in Adobe Illustrator or PC vector based programs like Corel Draw. They can be almost infinitely scaled in size without degrading the output because they are vector based. The other type is an .EPS photo file, flattened, set resolution "picture" type file. It can be opened in PhotoShop or other image editing programs, but it will be significantly degraded if scaled beyond the set resolution.

GIF- A file format used for web graphics.

JPEG- (Joint Photographic Experts Group) A compression method that shrinks a files storage size, but which can also cause image degradation as a result of data loss.

PNG- (Portable Network Graphics) An open, extensible image format with lossless compression.

PSD- (Photoshop Document) Adobe Photoshop file format which supports multi-layered images.

SVG- (Scalable Vector Graphics File) A language for describing two-dimensional graphics and graphical applications in XML.

TIFF- (Tagged Image File Format) A common format that is used for saving a bitmapped image. A TIFF image can be colour separated and can contain color management profiles. Can be compressed without image degradation, unlike a JPEG image.

TYPE TERMS

Ascender- The part of a lowercase letter that extends above the x-height, usually continuous with a main stroke. The letters b, d, f, h, k, and l have ascenders; i and j do not. (The letter t, which has a shorter projection above the x-height, is often not classified with other ascending letters.) The old-style numerals 6 and 8 also have ascenders because they extend above 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, and 9.

Descender- Part of a capital or lowercase letter that extends below the baseline. In roman typefaces, letters that typically have descenders are g, j, p, q, y, Q, and sometimes J. In italics, f often has a descender. The old-style numerals 3, 4, 5, 7, and 9 also have descenders.

Hanging Punctuation- A way of typesetting punctuation marks and bullet points, most commonly quotation marks and hyphens, so that they do not disrupt the ‘flow’ of a body of text or ‘break’ the margin of alignment. It is so called because the punctuation appears to ‘hang’ in the margin of the text, and is not incorporated into the block or column of text. It is commonly used when text is fully justified.

Justified Text- Text in which word spaces are adjusted so that lines of type are vertically aligned at left and right, forming smooth edges along the margins.

Kerning- The adjustment of intercharacter space to improve or otherwise alter the overall appearance of characters, words, and lines of type. As distinguished from tracking or uniform letterspacing, in which an equal amount of space is added or subtracted between a series of character pairs, kerning (or pair kerning) usually refers to the selective addition or subtraction of small, individually-determined amounts of space, depending on which is needed to improve spacing.

Legibility; Readability- A characteristic of type that indicates the degree of comfort or ease with which text may be read. Generally measured by comprehension, also by the length of time that a reader can read a passage without strain.

Line Spacing- The vertical distance between lines of type measured from the baseline of one line to the baseline of the next, often expressed in points, fractions of points, or millimeters.

Point Size- A measure used to identify the size of composed type. Based on the traditions of metal type, in which the depth of the block of metal on which letters rested determined type size, not the height of the letters themselves. Due to variations in the relative proportions of letters in different typefaces (principally lowercase letters), and in digital type especially, to differing methods for defining the body of the typeface, the same point size from different typefaces may vary in apparent size.

Ragged Right; Ragged Left- Describes typeset copy in which word spacing is even and the lines of type align vertically along one margin but do not align along the other margin, so that one margin has a smooth edge and the other, an irregular, or ragged, edge. Also known as flush left and flush right or flush left, ragged right and flush right.

Rivers- Vertical ribbons of white space that sometimes appear by happenstance in a column of type. They are most common in newspapers, which tend to have narrow columns and tight deadlines. The problem with rivers is that they draw attention away from the text.

Widows and Orphans- A widow is a very short line—usually one word, or the end of a hyphenated word—at the end of a paragraph or column. A widow is considered poor typography because it leaves too much white space between paragraphs or at the bottom of a page. This interrupts the reader’s eye and diminishes readability. Like a widow, an orphan is a single word, part of a word or very short line, except it appears at the beginning of a column or a page. This results in poor horizontal alignment at the top of the column or page.