Glossary

Glossary of graphic related terms

Adobe Acrobat

A program produced by Adobe Systems which uses Adobe's Portable Document Format (PDF) as its native file format. PDFs are widely used as a way of presenting information in a fixed layout which replicates the appearance of the original document. It is viewable by use of a 'reader'. The Adobe Acrobat Reader is available as a free download from the Adobe website.

Adobe Illustrator

A drawing program produced by Adobe Systems. Illustrator is used to produce vector-based graphics which can easily be scaled without affecting the integrity of the original form.

Adobe InDesign

A desktop publishing program produced by Adobe Systems. It is most commonly used to create page layouts for books, magazines or any form of multiple page publication.

Adobe Photoshop

A photo manipulation program produced by Adobe Systems. It is used for manipulating, editing and creating pixel based images.

Artwork

Visual material including text, images and illustrations, prepared for subsequent printing. When preparing files for commercial printers, the artwork is usually issued in EPS or PDF file formats.

Branding

A graphic, font, image or a series of elements that defines a company's or product's identity.

Brief

A comprehensive written document outlining the aims and objectives of a design project. The design brief ensures that important design issues are covered prior to commencement of design work. The brief usually includes information about the client’s company, details of the target audience, the aims of the project, and may also include references to or examples of preferred styles.

CMYK

Also known as process ink colours, CMYK stands for the colours of cyan, magenta, yellow and black. CMYK is the colour format used in digital printing, and the combination of the four colours is used to simulate full colour images.

Concept

A visual solution to a design brief. Usually the presentation will consist of a number of concepts exploring different directions and styles. The client’s preferred concept is then refined to a more finished level based on their preferences and feedback.

Corporate identity

The consistent image created by a company's communications through the use of specific fonts, logos, colours, graphics and styles. These are usually specified and controlled by the use of a corporate identity manual or style guide which includes samples of logo formats, instructions for their application, colour specifications and dimensional information.

Desktop publishing (DTP)

The production of publications using a personal computer and specialised software to lay out and produce documents for printing. Desktop publishing systems can mix text and graphics on the same page and are used to produce a variety of documents from flyers and newsletters to brochures and books.

Die cutting or forme cutting

A finishing technique whereby a document is partially or completely cut after printing to form a particular shape. The die is a steel blade which is used to punch out the shape. Often trade printers have standard dies for commonly used shapes, while a specific die must be created for custom shapes.

Digital printing

Any printing technique which does not involve the generation of film to print (as in offset printing). Generally, digital printing uses high end inkjet, laser and other printing presses, and is used for quick turnaround, smaller print runs.

DPI (Dots Per Inch)

The unit of measurement used to describe the resolution of printed output, as opposed to PPI (Pixels Per Inch) which is used for web based images. DPI is the number of dots that fit horizontally and vertically into a one-inch measure. The more dots per inch, the more detail is captured and the sharper the image. For printing, images should be supplied at 300 DPI.

Embossing

A special finish for print. To emboss is to make a physical impression of a shape into the surface.

EPS (Encapsulated PostScript)

An Encapsulated PostScript (EPS) file is a self-contained PostScript graphic file that contains vector image data. The most common file extension for this format is .eps

Flyer or leaflet

Usually a single page piece of advertising material designed to be handed out or picked up by consumers.

Font

A font is a complete set of characters in a particular style of type. A font set usually consists of an alphabet of letters, numerals and punctuation marks. Font sizes are usually measured in points. In current desktop publishing terms, 1 point has been equated to 0.3527mm.

Full colour printing

Also called four colour printing and process printing. Printing technique that uses cyan, magenta, yellow and black (CMYK) to simulate full-colour images.

GIF (Graphic Interchange Format)

A common image format especially suitable for images containing large areas of the same colour. GIFs typically display in 256 colours and have built-in compression. GIFs are mostly used in web applications and are generally not suitable for professional printing. The most common file extension for this format is .gif

Greyscale

An image made up of varying tones of black and white.

JPG or JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group)

Pronounced JAY-peg. A file format used to compress images, particularly photographs, by discarding unimportant picture detail. JPG is a ‘lossy’ type of image storage because even in its highest quality mode, there is compression which sacrifices image quality in exchange for a reduction in the file size. JPGs are generally used in web applications. The most common file extension for this format is .jpg

Offset printing

Commercial printing method in which ink is offset from the printing plate to a second roller, and then to paper.

PDF (Portable Document Format)

PostScript file format used by Adobe Acrobat. PDFs are widely used as a way of presenting information in a fixed layout which replicates the appearance of the original document. It is viewable by use of a 'reader'. The Adobe Acrobat Reader is available as a free download from the Adobe website.

Perforation

The creation of a line of small dotted holes for the purpose of tearing off a part of a printed matter. Perforations are usually straight lines, vertical or horizontal.

Pixel (Picture Element)

A single point in a graphic image. Digital images are composed of a number of pixels, each having a specific colour or tone. The eye merges differently coloured pixels into continuous tones.

PMS (Pantone Matching System)

A standard colour-matching system used worldwide to maintain consistency in colour reproduction. A PMS or Pantone colour is a standard colour defined by percentage mixtures of different primary inks.

PNG (Portable Network Graphics)

An image format similar to a GIF but with unlimited colours and full support for transparency. PNGs employ lossless data compression which means that the quality of the original image is retained. PNGs are mostly used in web applications – unfortunately, however, some older web browsers cannot support PNG format. The most common file extension for this format is .png

PPI (Pixels Per Inch)

The unit of measurement used to describe the resolution of an image for web use, as opposed to DPI (Dots Per Inch) which is used for print images. PPI is the number of pixels that fit horizontally and vertically into a one-inch measure. The more pixels per inch, the more detail is captured and the sharper the image. Images for web use are displayed at 72 DPI.

Raster

Graphics consisting of a pattern of pixels which form an entire image. Also known as a bitmap image, a raster image can be one of many formats, including GIF, JPG, PNG and TIFF.

Resolution

The number of dots or pixels in an area. Resolution is measured in dots per inch (DPI) or pixels per inch (PPI). For best results in print, a resolution of 300 DPI is recommended. For web applications, a resolution of 72 DPI is used.

RGB

Stands for the colours of red, green and blue, which are the primary colours of light. Computer monitors and televisions use the RGB colour model to display images. The three colours are combined in various configurations to reproduce other colours.

Spot varnish

A special finish for print where specified areas are ‘printed’ with a gloss varnish. A spot varnish can be used to highlight and add subtle details to printed material.

Stock photography

Existing photography or other imagery that can be licensed for use on specific commercial design projects.

Spot colours

A printed colour created with specially mixed inks. In printing, each spot colour requires its own separate printing plate. Spot colours are usually matched using the Pantone Matching System to ensure an accurate result.

TIFF (Tagged Image File Format)

An image format mostly used for high quality versions of images intended for print. The most common file extension for this format is .tif

Vector

Graphic illustrations composed of line and curve segments, as opposed to raster graphics which consist of a fixed number of pixels. Vector graphics can be easily scaled without affecting the integrity of the original form.

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Glossary of web related terms

Apache

Apache is open-source HTTP web server software. It is currently the most popular web server on the Internet and is usually run on Unix operating system versions like Linux.

Browser

A browser is an application program that provides a way of looking and interacting with all the information on the World Wide Web. An example of a commonly used browser is Microsoft Internet Explorer.

Database

A database is a collection of information stored in a computer in a systematic way, such that a computer program can consult it to answer questions.

Domain name

The location of a computer on the Internet. Domain names look similar to this: http://www.showandtell.com.au. Together with the name of a specific computer, a domain name can take you to a location (or 'site') on the Internet.

Download

To copy a file from the Internet to your own computer.

Email

The method of electronic messaging to communicate, any time of the day, anywhere in the world, with almost instant delivery via a computer.

Flash

Flash is an animation / interactivity application developed by Macromedia. It allows web designers to create animations and to develop highly interactive, visually appealing sites. To view Flash pages, the user must have Flash software installed - nearly all modern browsers come with this installed as standard. Websites designed in Flash can contain an automatic detection code, or an option to download the Flash player from Adobe (a free download which takes 2-3 minutes). Most Flash sites are pre-loaded into the computer prior to viewing and usually contain a loading bar. The Flash Player is available as a free download from the Adobe website.

HTML (Hyper Text Mark-up Language)

The language traditionally used to write web pages. HTML is a collection of 'tags' which tell your browser how to display a web page. HTML tags determine the size and colour of the words on your screen, where the graphics are displayed, and what page to access. HTML websites are NOT pre-loaded - instead each page is loaded into the computer once a button or link has been selected.

Host

The external computer that provides information to users. Once a domain name has been registered, it must then be appointed to a hosting company.

HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol)

It is the main protocol used on the World Wide Web (www) that enables linking to other websites. Addressing to web pages begins with 'http://' and is followed by the domain name.

Internet

An interconnected system of networks that connects computers around the world via the TCP / IP protocol.

Link

An active connection to another web page or location on the Internet. Links can be applied to any word, sentence, button or image contained in a website.

Mark-up

An alternative word for programming code.

MySQL

MySQL (pronounced 'my ess cue el') is an open source relational database management system (RDBMS) that uses Structured Query Language (SQL). MySQL is the most popular language for adding, accessing, and processing data in a database.

Navigation

The process by which a visitor can move around a site.

PDF (Portable Document Format)

When a document is saved in this format it retains the same look as that in which it was created. It is viewable by use of a 'reader'. The Adobe Acrobat Reader is available as a free download from the Adobe website.

PHP (Hyper Text Pre-processor)

The PHP Hypertext Preprocessor is a programming language that allows web developers to create dynamic content that interacts with databases.

Search engine

A website that enables you to find pages on the Internet by typing in keywords. A search engine uses an automated software agent, called a 'spider' which crawls from site to site, cataloguing the words it finds in a huge database. When you type in a keyword, the search engine looks through its database and returns a list of pages that included your word. An example of a well known search engine is Google.

Server

The host machine that provides connectivity to the Internet. Servers also pass data from their hard drive to other computers requesting information.

Splash page

An initial website page used to capture the user's attention for a short time as a promotional or lead in to the site home page. It can also be used to tell the user what kind of browser or plug-in specifications they need to view the website.

Unix

Unix is the most popular operating system used for Web servers that supports multi-tasking and is ideally suited to multi-user applications (such as networks).

Upload

To move a digital file from a local system to a server where it is stored for others to view via the Internet. For example, web pages must be uploaded to a web server for them to be viewed on the World Wide Web.

URL (Universal Resource Locator)

Also known as a 'web address'. URLs point to a website on the internet. For example, Show & Tell's URL is http://www.showandtell.com.au.

Website

A collection of pages at the same address, or URL, is called a website. The first page you come to is called the home page.

W3C (World Wide Web Consortium)

W3C is an international consortium which coordinates technical developments of the web by developing common protocols that promote its evolution and ensure its interoperability.

WWW (World Wide Web)

Invented in 1991 by Tim Berners-Lee, the World Wide Web is the fastest-growing Internet service. It is made up of many pages and websites, usually containing text and graphics.

WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get)

A graphical interface that shows how the end result will look as it is being produced. For example, a WYSIWYG HTML editor generates HTML mark-up but displays the document as if viewed with a Web browser.

XHTML (eXtensible Hyper Text Mark-up Language)

XHTML is the successor to HTML as the W3C standard language with which all web pages are created.

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