Glossary of terms
Font terminology can be a bit confusing even to seasoned computer users. We have compiled the following glossary of terms found throughout our site. We would like to thank the font team at Macromedia (http://www.macromedia.com) for their permission to reproduce portions of their very complete font reference material.
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- A - |
Application
A computer program, designed to perform a specific function such as
word processing or illustrating.
Ascent
A font's maximum distance above the baseline. Click here
for an example.
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- B - |
Baseline
The line upon which the letters of a font rest. Click here for
an example.
Bitmap
A grid of individual dots or pixels that make up the graphic display.
Each pixel (or picture element) corresponds to bits in the computer's
memory.
Byte
A unit of data consisting of a small number of bits; usually a
byte equals a series of eight bits and signifies a character.
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- C - |
Cap Height
The height of uppercase letters. Click here
for an example.
Cap Line
The imaginary line which represents the uppermost part of capital
letters and some characters' ascenders. Click here
for an example.
Character
A symbol in writing. A letter, punctuation mark, or figure.
Character set
The characters, symbols, and numbers that make up one single font.
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- D - |
Descender Line
The lowest line that a character's descender extends to, like the
line beneath the lower case "j" and "y". Click here
for an example.
Downloadable font
A font that can be temporarily stored in the printer's memory.
Dots Per Inch (dpi)
The measure of resolution for a video
monitor or printer. High-resolution printers contain usually at least
1000 dpi. Laser printers typically have a resolution of 300 dpi;
monitors usually contain 72, 75, or 90 dpi.
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- E - |
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- F - |
Face
Short for "typeface"; the style of a font or set of
character images
Family
All the type sizes and styles of one character. A complete
character set of a font. The group shares a common design but can
differ in attributes such as character width, weight, and posture
(ie., roman vs. Italic). A typical computer family unit frequently
contains four fonts- Roman, Italic, Bold and Bold/Italic- in all
sizes.
Font
In modern usage the term "font" is often confused with
"typeface" and "family". Traditionally, the term
font represents a complete set of characters or symbols, which share
the same size and style. For example, 12 point Goudy Oldstyle Bold is
a font. Fonts can be as small as the basic alphabet or up to hundred
of characters. Some languages, like Japanese, can exceed these
numbers, which make them more difficult to access from the standard
keyboard. Originally derived from the word "found" as a
typefoundry.
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- G - |
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- H - |
Hints
Information embedded to enhance the appearance of characters printed
or imaged at low resolutions (72-600 dpi). ATM and True Type can make
advantage of hints to render more uniformly shaped screen fonts across
the character set.
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- I - |
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- J - |
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- K - |
Kerning
Moving pairs of letters either closer together or farther apart to
adjust and improve the space between them.
Kerning pairs
Combinations of characters pairs where the space between them has
been modified to improve readability
Keystroke
A single pressing of a key on the keyboard.
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- L - |
Leading
The space, measured from baseline to baseline, added between
successive rows of text in a document. Check here for example.
|
- M - |
Megabyte
A measurement unit; 1,048,576 bytes denoted by the letters
"M" or "MB".
Meanline
The top (imaginary) point of all lowercase characters without
ascending. Also called "x-height" Click here
for an example.
MMPC2MAC
Macromedia PC to Macintosh font conversion utility. Converts files
created for the Macintosh on a PC into a Macintosh font files ready
for installation. To get a copy click here.
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- N - |
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- O - |
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- P - |
Pica
A unit of Typographic measurement equal to 0.166 inches or 12 points.
Pixel (PICture ELement)
Square dots that represent the smallest units displayed on a
computer screen. Typical monitors display 72 pixels per inch.
Characters and graphics are created by turning pixels on or off.
Point
A unit of typographic measurement equal to approximately 1/72 inch
(0.01383 inches). 72 points (representing 1 inch) is normally the
largest point size available in pull-down menus. This is a hold over
from the days when printing was done with metallic type. In most
up-to-date applications, you should be able to select higher point
sizes simply by typing the required size into the pull-down or in the
format character dialog box.
Point size
The height of the type body. A standard type measurement system
was originally developed by the Parisian type founder Pierre Fournier
le Jeune in 1737. In the days of metal type, the point size was the
total number of points in the height of metal type, including the
ascent and descent of the letters, and the metal above and below the
letters (i.e., built-in leading).
Pop-up
A menu (also known as pull-down or drop-down) that appears in a
dialog box or in a main menu when related information is selected.
PostScript
Adobe System's page description language. Many programs use
PostScript to create complex pages, text, and graphics on screen. This
language is then sent to the printer to produce high-quality printed
text and graphics.
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- Q - |
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- R - |
Resolution
The number of dots in an image's screen display or printed output. A
monitor's resolution refers to the number of pixels per linear inch.
Printed resolution refers to dots per linear inch (see dpi.
To learn how to change your screen's resolution, click here.
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- S - |
Scale
To change the size of a character or image by altering it
proportionally.
Scan
To digitally capture an image and save it in a format that can be
manipulated or altered from within a computer application. The
resulting image is a bitmap file. If you wish to
send us your signature via e-mail, scan it with a resolution
of at least 600 dpi and save in either .jpg, .gif,
.tif, .pcx, .bmp (Windows) format. If possible, save it as a two color image (Black and White).
Scroll bar
The window bars containing arrows that allow the document to be moved
so that other parts of it become visible.
Style
A visual variation of a basic typeface used to create emphasis.
Typestyle is important since it can attract (or repel) the reader's
eye. The four basic computer styles are Plain, Bold, Italic, and
BoldItalic.
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- T - |
TTF
A file in an outline font format (True Type Font) that is used both in
screen display and printing.
Tracking
The overall letterspacing in text. Tracking can also be used to
tighten or loosen a block of type. Some programs have automatic
tracking options which can add or remove small increments of space
between the characters.
Transient Font
A font which stays in the printer memory only until the current
document is finished printing.
True Type
Apple and Microsoft's outline font format designed to be used with
the Mac System 7 operating system and Microsoft Windows 3.x and later
versions.
Typeface
A set of characters which share a similar appearance.
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- U - |
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- V - |
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- W - |
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- X - |
X-height
The height of a face's lowercase letters, or the size from mean
line to baseline of the lowercase 'x'. The lowercase 'x' is used for
measurement since it usually sits squarely on the baseline and has no
ascenders or descenders. Click here
for an example.
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- Y - |
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- Z - |
Elements of this glossary (c) copyright 1999 Macromedia http://www.macromedia.com, Inc. Used with Permission.
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