The location of a particular computer file as described subdirectory by subdirectory. See also relative path.

The resolution of an image as it was saved from a scan or digital camera or image editing program before any reductions or enlargements have been applied in the page layout program. See effective resolution.

The color model of computer monitors, movie projectors, and the human eye, in which the primary colors (red, green, and blue), when added together, produce white. Sometimes called transmissive color. See also RGB; subtractive color.

An extra channel of data. Image editing applications will use alpha channels typically to store information (both eight-bit grayscale and vector) on masks, clipping paths, and spot colors.

The initials stand for American Standard Code for Information Interchange. A standard method of representing text as numerical data designed originally to be used by Teletype and Linotype machines. The original set consists of 128 characters; this was expanded in the 1980s to 256 characters. Those two sets are also called seven-bit data and eight-bit data respectively. Even today, “ASCII data” is used most often to refer to the original seven-bit character set.

The background color of an object in desktop publishing applications is the color that object is filled with. All objects with the exception of lines have a background color. Historically, elements with a background color of “None” have caused problematic output, particularly when they are the bottom-most element on the page.

An artifact caused by digital output that makes a gradient appear to have discrete tonal steps or bands instead of a smooth graduation in tonality. The artifact was more pronounced in PostScript Level 1 than in subsequent implementations, but it can still be found in some large-format output.

The method used by PostScript to define the curvature of vector paths. (The name comes from Pierre Bézier, the French mechanical engineer who developed the approach for computer-aided drafting applications in the 1970s.) In desktop publishing usage, these curves can be recognized by the presence of control points with manipulable handles.

Data that use all eight bits of a byte, as opposed to those that use only seven of those bits. The distinction was important more so in the past than in the present; many of the earlier computer networks used the eighth bit for error control and so could only handle seven-bit (or “ASCII”) data.

(1) The electronic representation of a page described by a series of bits (binary digits with a value of either zero or one) that are meant to be output as dots that are either black or white.

(2) The electronic representation of an image described by a series of bits or pixels.

See screen font.

(1) A monochrome raster image; line art.

(2) A raster image, whether monochrome, grayscale, or color.

Additional image (typically an extra pica or a quarter-inch) appearing outside the nominal printing area to allow for the mechanical tolerances of the trimming process.

A mask applied to, and usually saved with, a specific graphic which hides unwanted parts of the image. A clipping path can be as simple as a square frame for the picture or as complicated as an intricate knockout and can be described by either vector or raster data.

The initials for cyan, magenta, yellow, and black, which are the inks used in process-color printing. According to color theory, the first three inks added together make black; however, black ink is also needed to make up for such physical shortcomings as total ink density.

The result of filtering a full-color image into its primary components in order to print in full color using only the four process inks. See process color.

When there are an excessive number of control points along a path in a vector image, older PostScript interpreters might bog down or fail to render the image. The path would then be simplified by removing unnecessary control points.

Decreasing the size of a file for storage or transfer. Software such as WinZip and StuffIt are commonly used to compress files with no loss of image quality.

A raster image that includes tonalities; a grayscale image.

The initials stand for central processing unit. The part of the computer that directs most of the system’s activity including any arithmetic calculations and comparisons. The CPU extracts instructions from memory and executes them.

Traditionally, the term refers to the marks used to show what part of an image is to be cropped and printed. The term is also used to describe the trim marks of a printed piece.

The act of defining the precise area of an image that is to appear on the printed page, not unlike using scissors to trim out the desired area of a photograph.

This term is used to describe settings or functions which computer hardware or software will automatically use unless the operator specifies otherwise.

The initials stand for “dots per inch.” A measure of digital resolution, whether applied to a raster image, a computer monitor, or a printed page. Devices can have different horizontal and vertical resolutions.

A two-color halftone produced from a one-color photograph (or other continuous-tone image) by applying its grayscale values in two different ink colors.

The resolution at which a raster image will be printed. This is the result of the image’s actual resolution divided by the enlargement or reduction factor at which it is to be output. For example, a 72 DPI image output at 25% would have an effective resolution of 288 DPI. See also actual resolution.

A file whose data have been included completely within another file, as opposed to a linked file.

A font stored within the document (typically a PDF) that uses it and not available for the operating system to use elsewhere.

The initials stand for “encapsulated PostScript,” a file format that can contain both text and image data and that can be shared across most computer platforms and most desktop publishing applications.

When a left-hand page and a right-hand page face each other in a layout, they are said to be facing pages. Also called “reader’s spreads.” Other common ways to display a multipage document are in continuous single pages and in imposition order.

A sheet of dimensionally stable plastic, usually goldenrod in color, used in traditional lithography. Film negatives are combined (stripped) onto flats before plates are made. The flat is then used to expose (burn) the film images onto the printing plates.

A dummy is a “mock-up” made with the correct size, format, and paper of the final printed document. A folding dummy is used to show the page layout for the film stripping department.

The complete set of characters in a typeface. Every font has a unique weight, style, and sometimes size.

The initials stand for “for position only.” An element used as a placeholder, usually a low-resolution raster image that needs to be replaced by its high-resolution counterpart when the document is output.

The initials stand for “graphic interchange format.” A group of file formats designed primarily for exchanging raster images across computer platforms, more appropriate for images meant to be viewed on monitors than for commercial printing.

A gradual change from one tonality to another, as when black fades to white. Also called gradation, dégradé, blend, and vignette.

An adjective meant to describe raster images made up of varying tonalities, or levels of gray, as opposed to line art. When a grayscale image is output, its levels of gray are normally converted to black-and-white halftone dots varying in size to approximate each different level.

The initials stand for “hyphenation and justification,” the traditional typographical process of determining how to end a line of type whereby the last word on the line, if it doesn’t fit, is broken (hyphenated) and the leftover horizontal space is distributed across the words in that line in order for the line to set to full measure (justified). On the computer, this process is controlled by sophisticated algorithms supported by an exceptions dictionary.

In traditional printing, a line (or rule) a quarter of a point thick. PostScript defines the hairline, however, as a stroke of one device pixel in weight; when the device outputs 2540 pixels per inch, as in the case of commercial printing, such a stroke is almost invisible.

An image reproduced on the printing press by breaking down its original continuous tone or grayscale into a pattern of dots of varying size. Light areas of the original image are printed with small dots, darker areas or shadows with large dots.

The lightest areas in a photograph or illustration. The other areas are referred to as midtones and shadows.

The initials stand for International Color Consortium, an industry-wide committee that establishes standards for color management. These profiles are mathematical descriptions of how specific devices behave when outputting color; their purpose is to promote standardized color-matching among all combinations of input, display, and output equipment.

A device that takes interpreted PostScript code that has been rendered into a rasterized format and outputs that to create images on film or paper.

A page layout software application used for creating print-ready publications from Adobe Systems Inc.

A color system that uses information from a file or from software as a pointer to a “look-up table” of colors rather than specifying a color directly. Color specified from a 24-bit palette but displayed in an 8-bit system is indexed color. Indexed color is not suitable for commercial printing.

The total amount of ink present on a printed sheet, usually measured at darkest shadow of an image. Depending on the type of paper, the type of press, and the formulation of the inks, the maximum ink density that a sheet can hold varies generally between 260% and 340%. This means that an element printing at full strength in all four process colors (a total ink density of 400%) would exceed the physical limits of all known offset lithography and would really annoy the people running the press.

An algorithm applied by applications that edit raster images when increasing the size of such an image. These algorithms attempt to add new pixels that are similar but not identical to the original pixels, so the color and tonality of the new pixels are interpolated from those of the original pixels nearby.

The initials stand for Job Definition Format, an electronic job ticket meant to be used in conjunction with PDFs and other files in an automated digital workflow to assure predictable and consistent output results.

The initials stand for Joint Photographic Experts Group, the industry-wide committee that developed this file format, which is referred to technically as JFIF. It is a method of compressing raster data into files considerably smaller than the original, but at the expense of losing pixels that are determined to be cognitively unimportant. Repeated application of the JPEG algorithm to a file will result in visual artifacts and degradation of the image.

The adjustment of spacing between certain letter pairs, A and V for example, to obtain a more pleasing appearance.

An outline drawn or set on artwork showing the size and position of an illustration or halftone.

A color model and proposed international standard that defines each color as a product of its luminance (L), its position on the green-red axis (a), and its position on the blue-yellow axis (b). L*a*b color has a wider gamut than have the RGB and CMYK models and can be applied without reference to an output profile. Sometimes called CIE L*a*b in honor of the Commission Internationale d’Éclairage.

The orientation of an image or page where its width is greater than its height, so called because images of landscapes have to be turned sideways in order to fit onto the page of a normal book. See also portrait.

Tiers or levels of a document that allow you to work on some elements without affecting other elements of the same document. You can hide the layers of a document or make them visible.

The vertical space between one line of type and the next. Computer graphics will express this spacing in terms of points, the traditional measure, or as a percentage of the size of the type being used.

Letters that are joined together as a single unit of type, such as “fl” and “fi.”

An image with no tonalities, such that it can be represented by a bitmap or monochrome file. The opposite of continuous tone.

A file whose data are meant to be included in the output of another file where the two exist as separate files. The main file contains either a relative or absolute pointer to the ancillary file whose path must be valid at the time of output if the linked file is to print correctly.

The initials stand for “lines per inch,” also called “ruling”; it is the measure of halftone screens. The finer the ruling (the higher the LPI), the more details can be preserved from the original image.

Most desktop publishing applications allow the user to specify the “live area” of a page by defining the amounts of margin to be allowed on all four sides.

A mask allows you to isolate and protect areas of an image as you apply color changes, filters, or other effects to the rest of the image. When you select part of an image, the area that is not selected is masked, or protected from editing. You can also use masks for complex image editing such as gradually applying color or filter effects to an image.

A template that can be used to create uniform pages throughout your document. Anything placed on a master page will appear on each page derived from that master page throughout the document.

The area of an image in the middle of the tonal range, neither highlights nor shadows.

The result, often visually objectionable, of superimposing one screen on top of another. Moirés occur in multicolor halftones and when a halftone is rescreened (taken from a previously printed copy instead of a continuous-tone original).

Another term for line art. The image consists of a single color with no tints or gradations.

An image file placed within another image file. If the nested image is embedded, there should be no difficulty outputting the entire image; if it is only linked, it might be missing when the file it is nested in is output.

See bitmapped image.

A cross-platform typographical specification incorporating Uni-code and other innovations. It is too new to be used on some flavors of Windows or most versions of the classic (pre–OS X) Macintosh operating system.

The initials stand for “open prepress interface.” An extension to PostScript that allows designers to use low-resolution FPO images during the production of desktop-publishing files, which are replaced automatically by high-resolution versions of the same images when the work is output for commercial printing. Sometimes called PostScript-5. Other methods that achieve the same end are DCS and APR.

See landscape and portrait.

A printing technique, also called surprinting, in which a graphic element is printed on top of another element without knocking out the lower element. Transparent and semi-transparent inks are used in this technique because they blend to form new colors with the inks below them.

In desktop publishing, a skeletal representation of a page with the various graphic elements therein shown as keylined shapes.

An option in many printer drivers to allow for extra space between one page and another when the pages are being output to rolls of paper or film.

An option in many printer drivers to allow for extra blank space on the left side of the output material.

In desktop publishing applications, the area outside of a working page where you can store objects that are not yet positioned on the page.

As used by Adobe Acrobat, the acronym stands for Portable Document Format.

A format commonly used on the Macintosh to store color or grayscale previews of EPS files. The format is more appropriate for system-level uses than for commercial printing.

The term is a contraction of “picture element,” the smallest unit of a raster image. A monochrome pixel, being either black or white, is described by a single bit; a pixel in 256 levels of grayscale is described by an entire byte. Sandee’s cat is named Pixel.

The amount of information contained in one pixel. One-bit is simple black and white; eight-bit contains 256 grayscale levels, 24-bit contains three channels (either RGB or L*a*b) of 256 levels each, and so on.

An auxiliary utility that extends the functionality of larger applications. All Adobe applications use the term plug-ins to describe these utilities. Markzware’s Q2ID is such a plug-in for InDesign.

The initials stand for “portable network graphics.” A format for raster images meant to supplant GIF.

The orientation of an image or page where its height is greater than the width. See also landscape.

The process of analyzing interpreted or processed files (such as PostScript, PDF, DCS2, TIFF/IT, and fully rasterized data) for quality control in a digital prepress workflow.

A page description language. PostScript was introduced by Adobe Systems Inc. in 1985 to provide a high-level, device-independent page description language to control a wide range of different output devices. Since then PostScript has become the standard language that drives desktop printers and imagesetters.

A font consisting of two files: one, the printer font, which contains a description of the characters in terms of vectors, and the other, the screen font, which contains bitmaps of all the characters at one or more specific point-sizes.

The initials stand for PostScript Printer Description; a file that contains information on the specific capabilities of an individual PostScript printer.

The initials stand for “pixels per inch,” a measure of resolution for raster images.

The examination, verification, and attestation of desktop publishing documents prior to sending them to be output by a RIP.

A typeface described in terms of vector data, which is what PostScript printers use to print type.

A method of printing in full color by means of four superimposedinks: cyan, magenta, yellow, and black.

A method of printing in which a grayscale image is printed using four colors to give greater tonal range or to achieve a colorized effect.

A page layout application from Quark Inc. used for creating publications.

(1) The file of single-bit pixels produced by a RIP.

(2) Any image comprised of pixels, not vectors.

The device that produces a digital image of a printing plate by calculating from a series of instructions the bitmap of all text and graphics. PostScript instructions are currently the industry standard. Three major versions of PostScript have been released (Level 1, Level 2, and PostScript 3) that have generally been built into the RIP hardware, thus fixing a particular RIP at a particular level of PostScript.

(1) The process of converting page description language into the particular pattern of dots (the raster image) that will make up the image of a page on the printing plate.

(2) The process of converting vector images or fonts into a pixel-based illustration.

The layout of pages that mimics the way a reader would view the pages bound in a book.

The correct positioning of an image, especially when printing one color on or near another.

A color made up of all the colors used in a multicolor printing job.

Targets used in multicolor printing to position the paper for correct registration. The marks are usually crosses or circles printed in registration color outside of the live area.

A way of specifying a file’s location within the disk structure by describing the path to it from the local directory downward. On Macintosh platforms, the symbol “:” stands for the local directory and “::” stands for the parent of the local directory; on Windows platforms, that shorthand is represented by “.” and “..” respectively. See also absolute path.

The measure of how detailed an image is. It is expressed a number of ways: for a raster file by the raw number of pixels it contains, for a computer screen by the number of pixels in a linear inch (PPI), for a laser printer by the number of dots printed in a linear inch (DPI), for a scanner by the number of pixels per inch (PPI) or the number of pixels per square millimeter (RES), and for a halftone by the number of lines of halftone dots per inch (LPI).

This acronym stands for the primary additive colors red, green, and blue. RGB is the standard color model used for monitors and televisions. This color model should be avoided when creating documents for print, which uses the CMYK model.

See raster image processor.

Type set such that it fits around a picture or other graphic element of the page design. Also called text wrap.

The direction of the lines or rows of dots in a halftone screen. In multicolor printing, the superimposition of one color’s halftone screen onto another color’s will create a moiré pattern; by using optimal screen angles, the amount of moiré can be minimized.

A typeface represented as a bitmap at one or more specific point-sizes; this is used for displaying the font on computer monitors.

See also color separation.

The darkest parts of an image. See also highlights, midtones.

A ink other than, and often in addition to, the four process inks; also, a color that is printed in an ink of that specific color rather than built from a combination of process-color tints. Every spot color requires its own printing plate.

See reader’s spreads.

A collection of formatting attributes meant to be applied to a paragraph, a group of characters, or page elements.

The material onto which ink, toner, or pigment is applied. The most common substrate is paper; other materials include label stock, plastics, synthetic papers, and overhead transparencies.

The color model of ink on paper, in which the primary colors (cyan, magenta, and yellow), when taken away, make white. Sometimes called reflective color. See also CMYK; additive color.

A special kind of Macintosh file in which a screen font, or a group of screen fonts, can be stored and be made available to the operating system.

The method of creating a single text stream to flow through designated pages or text boxes. Text boxes can be linked in any sequential order, allowing text to flow from one text box to another. Sometimes called threading.

Small versions of an image or page layout. The small versions of complete pages may be viewed in most page layout applications and can also be printed directly from those applications.

The initials stand for “tagged image file format.” A common, cross-platform file format for raster image data used for monochrome, grayscale, and color images.

The initials stand for “tagged image file format for image technology.” An international standard, ISO 12639, based on the TIFF specification and broadened in order to transmit complete pages of raster data.

Printing a file by sections across several pieces of paper that must then be assembled like tiles, the way billboards are made.

The effect of adding white to a hue or of applying a halftone screen to an area of solid color.

The term refers colloquially to enlarging (“spreading”) or reducing (“choking”) an area of color so that it overlaps slightly with a neighboring color. This is done so that no gaps appear on printed sheets that are slightly out of register.

Hairline strokes placed outside of the live area to show where the finished printed piece should be trimmed out of the press sheet.

The size of a printed document after it has been cut out of the press sheet but before it is folded or subjected to other bindery operations. The trim size should in most cases equal the page size of a document.

A method of printing in which a grayscale image is printed using three colors to give greater tonal range or to achieve a colorized effect.

A font format that combines into a single file the information used to display type on a monitor with the information used to print to an output device.

See PostScript Type 1 font.

An image described in mathematical terms of points and curves. Vector images can represent both grayscale and line art but, because they have no inherent resolution, they may be enlarged without any degradation of the image. See also Bézier curves.

(1) An image not enclosed in a definite border.

(2) A gradient.

A broad term referring to the hardware, software, sequence of steps employed in the production of digital printing, and the effects of their interactions.

The initials stand for “what you see is what you get.”

A utility, tool, or plug-in that offers additional capabilities to QuarkXPress. Markzware’s ID2Q is such an XTension.