Acrobat: Acrobat is part of a set of applications developed by Adobe to create and view PDF (Portable Document Format) files. Acrobat is used to create the PDF files, and the freeware Acrobat Reader is used to read the PDF files.

Application: A program. Files such as Microsoft Word®, Adobe Illustrator®, Macromedia FreeHand®, etc. are applications. Applications give the computers instructions that provide the user with tools to accomplish a task. For instance, a word processing application provides space to type in, means to format the text, a spelling checker, etc.

B&W: Black and white.

Bit: Binary digit. Smallest unit of digital information, either On or Off, 1 or 0.

Bitmap Image (bmp): A graphic image stored as a specific pattern of dots, or pixels. Web graphics are bitmap images. Bitmap images are also known as raster images. Common types of bitmap graphics are GIF, JPEG, Photoshop, PCX, TIFF, Microsoft Paint, PNG, and TGA.

CMYK: Abbreviation for cyan, magenta, yellow and key (black), the four process colors used in offset printing.

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.

Color Separation: the process of creating separate negatives and plates for each color of ink, i.e.: cyan, magenta, yellow, and black, that will be used in a design or publication.

DPI (dots per inch): the unit of measurement used to describe the resolution of printed output. The most common desktop laser printers output a 300 dpi. Medium-resolution printers output at 600 dpi. Image setters output at 1270-2540 dpi.

EPS: Encapsulated PostScript, a known file format developed by Adobe and used to transfer PostScript information from one program to another. It is a vector format (not bitmap), thus inherently scalable and moderately device independent. Unless you have a computer equipped with Display PostScript, you cannot see EPS files on screen. Some graphic packages (Illustrator, Freehand and Corel) can open most all varieties of EPS files.

Font: a set of characters in a specific typeface, at a specific point size, and in a specific style. "12-point Times Bold" is a font -- the typeface Times, at 12-point size, in the bold style. Hence "12-point Times Italic" and "10-point Times Bold" are separate fonts.

GIF (Graphics Interchange Format): A popular file format for graphic images, created by CompuServe. The GIF format features image compression. GIF images are the most widely used graphic format on the web. GIF images display up to 256 colors.

Gray-Scale Image: An optical pattern consisting of discrete steps or shades of gray between black and white.

Import: To move an item or file into an application or environment which is different than that native to it. The file is converted to the new format while attempting to change as little as possible about the appearance of the file when printed. For instance, MS Word for the Macintosh is able to import files from a few MS-DOS word processors.

JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group): A format for compressed graphic images which uses a “lossy” (loss of image information) compression algorithm. Images can be compressed for maximum quality (very little loss of image information) or minimum quality (smaller file size, but image quality is sacrificed), and various levels of compression in-between.

Line Art: black-and-white artwork with no gray areas. For example, pen-and-ink drawings are line art. For printing purposes, positive halftones can be handled as line art.

Macintosh (MAC): Computer developed by Apple Computers, first released in 1984. The Macintosh was one of the first computers to use a graphical user interface. Today, Apple continues to produce many different models of Macintosh.

Offset Printing: for high-volume reproduction — utilizes three rotating drums: a plate cylinder, a blanket cylinder, and an impression cylinder. The printing plate is wrapped around the plate cylinder, inked and dampened. The plate image is transferred, or offset, onto the blanket cylinder. Paper passes between the blanket cylinder and the impression cylinder, and the image is transferred onto the paper.

Pantone/PMS (Pantone Matching System®): It is a solid color communication system based on the visual matching of individual, pre-mixed colors. It provides a series of books with thousands of precisely printed colors alongside printers' formulas for mixing those colors. It is used by artists and commercial printers to select, specify and match colors very precisely. Many logos are created with specific Pantone Colors that can be very closely reproduced.

PC-DOS: Personal Computer Disk Operating System. A version of MS-DOS licensed by IBM for use on its personal computers.

PC: Personal Computer. Strictly speaking, this refers to the IBM PC, which is any IBM-manufactured personal computer made prior to the PS/2 Series. Usually PC refers to any personal computer compatible with IBMs. It is also used to refer to any personal computer.

Pixel: Also called pel or picture element. The smallest graphic unit that can be displayed on the screen, usually a single-colored dot. Pel is abbreviated from picture element.

Place: Adobe PageMaker® uses this term instead of “Import” when inserting a picture or graphic.

PDF (Portable Document Format): A Text format designed by Adobe, to be read by the Adobe Acrobat Reader. PDF is designed to be portable across computer platforms.

PNG (Portable Network Graphics): A digital file format, generally pronounced "ping”, used for lossless compression and displaying images on the web. The advantages of PNG are that it supports images with millions of colors and produces background transparency without jagged edges. The disadvantages are that PNG images will not show up on older browsers, and still can be comparatively larger in file size than GIFs.

PostScript (.ps): A language designed for describing text and graphics, usually built into high-end output devices such as laser printers and typesetters. Display PostScript is the use of PostScript for the computer's own display (on a monitor).

PPI (Pixels Per Inch): PPI specifies the resolution of an input device, such as a scanner, digital camera, or monitor. Web page resolution ranges from 72-96 pixels per inch. (For information on output device measurements see dpi.)

Printer Font: high-resolution bitmaps or font outline masters used for the actual laying down of the characters on the printed page, as opposed to display on the screen.

Raster (i.e.: a file created in Adobe Photoshop®): A raster image is a file that is totally composed of tiny dots, or pixels. It is useful for photos or complex imagery that would be difficult to create as vector art. Some common formats you may be familiar with include: TIFF, GIF & JEPG. Raster files are Resolution Dependent, and will distort if enlarged beyond their intended use and original scale.

Resolution: the crispness of detail or fineness of grain in an image. Screen resolution is measured in dots by lines (for example, 640 x 350); printer resolution is measured in dpi (for example, 300 dpi). Resolution indicates the number of dots (or pixels) that make up an image on a screen or printer. The higher the resolution, the finer and smoother images can appear when displayed at a given size.

Resolution Dependent: Raster files (i.e.: Adobe Photoshop TIFF files). A resolution dependent file cannot be enlarged beyond its intended use without loss of image quality or resolution.

Resolution Independent: Vector files (i.e.: Adobe Illustrator® AI or EPS files). A resolution independent file can be enlarged or reduced to any scale without loss of image quality or resolution.

Reverse: white or light-colored image on a dark background, typically a white image on black background.

RGB (Red, Green, Blue): A standard way of specifying colors on a computer monitor. RGB stands for the three (additive) primary colors; that is, the primary colors when light is added together to produce the color. Red, yellow, and blue are the primary colors when ink is blended and put onto (white) paper. CYMK (Cyan, yellow, magenta, black) is the color model used for printing (this does correspond to the standard blue, yellow, red usage). An alternative model is saturation, hue, and luminance (this is the way television color is encoded. Computers sometimes use this model).

Scaling: reduction or enlargement of artwork, which can be proportional (most frequently) or disproportional. In desktop publishing, optimal scaling of bitmaps is reduction or enlargement that will avoid or reduce moiré patterns.

Screen Font: low-resolution (that is, screen resolution) bitmaps of type characters that show the positioning and size of characters on the screen. As opposed to the printer font, which may be high-resolution bitmaps or font outline masters.

Screen (Tint): in graphic arts, a uniform dotted fill pattern, described in percentage (for example, 50 percent screen).

Spot Color: PMS inks are spot colors. These inks are used for offset printing and will separated independently from CMYK inks. Spot colors are never used in on-screen applications such as Web graphics or PowerPoint displays.

TIFF (Tagged Image File Format): for digital gray-scale halftones, a device-independent graphics file format. TIFF files can be used on IBM/compatible or Macintosh computers, and may be output to PostScript printers.

Type Alignment: the distribution of white space in a line of type where the characters at their normal set width do not fill the entire line length exactly. Type maybe aligned left, right, centered, or right-justified.

Typeface: the set of characters created by a type designer, including uppercase and lowercase alphabetical characters, numbers, punctuation, and special characters. A single typeface contains many fonts, at different sizes and styles.

Type Families: a group of typefaces of the same basic design but with different weights and proportions.

Uncoated Paper: Paper that has not been coated with clay. Also called offset paper. This paper is never slick or glossy. For example, most stationery (business cards, letterhead, and envelopes) is designed on uncoated paper.

Vector (i.e.: Adobe Illustrator® files): This is the preferred format for logos and clip art. A Vector image is a graphic that has been created in a drawing program, such as Adobe Illustrator®). It uses paths to create polygons or lines and stores information mathematically. Vector art is resolution independent, which means that whether you enlarge or shrink the image, the output quality will be as high as you need it to be.

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