| Bitmap |
An
organized group of dots or pixels that form an image.
These dots are all consistent in size and in density.
A bitmap image is mostly associated with graphic
images and non-scalable graphic font formats. |
| Card |
A
plug-in hardware media used to supply additional
fonts for printers. Cards often have the dimensions
of a deck of cards. |
| Cartridge |
A
plug-in hardware media used to supply additional
fonts for printers. Cartridges often have the dimensions
of a deck of cards. |
| Character |
A
single image from a set of interrelated images.
In the case of fonts, it is a single character from
a font set. |
| Character
Cell |
An
imaginary box which surrounds a single character.
This box contains the dots or pixel references for
every dot of a font character. |
| Characters
Per Inch (CPI) |
The
number of horizontal characters that will fit in
one inch. Often referred to as "pitch". |
| Character
Set |
A
collection of characters existing in a given font. |
| Condensed
Type |
Narrow
version of a typeface. |
| Digitize |
The
process of converting an image into a series of
dots or pixels that can be stored, utilized, and
manipulated by a computer. |
| Emulation |
The
imitation of a computer system or device. |
| Extended
Type |
Also
called expanded type. A widened version of a typeface. |
| Family |
A
family consists of four progressions (medium, bold,
medium italic and bold italic) of the same style. |
| Font |
A
font is a collection of graphic images designed
for written communication. These images often correspond
to a collection of letters, punctuation, numbers,
and special characters. |
| Font
Format |
The
system by which font data is arranged for use. |
| Font
Set |
A
series of interrelated font characters which have
been saved as one file. This set consists of characters
of a particular typeface, point size, style, and
stress. |
| Hinting |
Special
instructions placed into a character's outline definition
that cause the character's outline to be adjusted
in a way that improves the character's perceived
shape when rendered. |
| Italic |
The
style of letters that have a forward slanting tilt. |
| Kerning |
The
act of adjusting the spacing between two characters
to compensate for awkward spacing caused by some
type designs. |
| Lines
Per Inch (LPI) |
The
number of vertical lines of text that will fit in
one inch. |
| Monospacing |
Also
known as "fixed pitch" or non-proportional.
Each cell width within the font is a consistent
width. CPI (Characters Per Inch) is used to measure
a monospaced font. |
| Orientation |
Refers
to the direction that text will appear on a printed
page. Portrait orientation is the format for most
business letters (sometimes referred to as "tall").
Landscape orientation is the format for most line
printer "green-bar" printouts (sometimes
referred to as "wide"). |
| Outline |
A
font format which is variable in size because each
character is defined by a mathematical equation
or outline (example: PostScript™, TrueType™). |
| PCL |
A
page description programming language developed
by Hewlett-Packard. There are two popular versions
of this format, PCL4 and PCL5. The latest release
is PCL6. |
| Point
Size |
The
height of a font is measured in points (1/72")
from the lowest part of a character to the highest
part of a character. |
| PostScript™ |
A
page description programming language developed
by Adobe Systems. A PostScript™ file can be printed
on any printer that has a PostScript™ interpreter
built into its firmware, or displayed and printed
by any software that utilizes a similar interpreter. |
| Posture |
The
posture of a font can be Upright or Italic. |
| Progression |
A
progression is a single type style, in a variety
of point sizes (usually 6-36 point), one weight,
one posture and two orientations (portrait and landscape). |
| Proportional |
The
relative placement of and spacing between the characters
of an entire font set. While the space between characters
remains the same, the positioning of characters
in relation to each other is based on the relative
width of individual characters. |
| Rasterization |
The
conversion of scalable (vector and outline) graphic
images into images composed of patterns of dots
or pixels. |
| Render |
The
process of producing the final display of an image
on a screen or printing device. |
| Roman |
A
style of characters that incorporates thick and
thin strokes and serifs. |
| Sans
Serif/Serif |
Sans
Serif fonts are fonts that do not have "tails"
that extend from the tips of the characters. Serif
fonts have "tails". |
| Scalable
Font |
A
term used to describe vector or outline format fonts.
Scalable fonts are capable of being enlarged and
reduced via software on a screen or printer. |
| Soft
Font |
Used
to describe the category of fonts stored on diskette
or magnetic tape and accessed by software. |
| Style |
The
style refers to the overall design of a font. |
| Typeface |
Used
to describe a set of characters which exhibit a
particular stylistic attitude. This is synonymous
with font style. |
| Type
Style |
Used
to define the design appearance of a font set. |
| Weight |
The
weight of a font refers to the heaviness of the
type and is usually medium or bold. |
| WYSIWYG |
What
You See Is What You Get. Refers to an accurate screen
and printed representation of a font or graphic. |
