| Melbourne Museum of Printing | Our Glossary of Printing and Typography |
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| SUGGESTION: HOW TO EXPLORE THIS GLOSSARY | ||||||||||
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IF YOU KNOW THE NAME OF A TERM, GO TO THE ALPHABETIC PAGE eg to find PICA choose the Alphabetic Page N-Q. You will find several meanings of this word, and that it is mostly used in TYPE MEASUREMENTS. | ||||||||||
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IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO EXPLORE OTHER TERMS ABOUT TYPE MEASUREMENTS look in the Thematic Glossary about Typecasting and Type Measurements | ||||||||||
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| ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THESE DEFINITIONS INCLUDE: | |||
| usu = usually | cf = compare with | eg = for example | typic = typically |
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | abrupt serif | CHARACTER PARTS AND STROKES |
| serif shape suddenly changing direction from the stem | ||
| NOUN, UNCOUNTABLE | accent . . . . . . 1 | LAYOUT AND DESIGN |
| variation in typeface to provide emphasis for a word, paragraph or article | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | accent . . . . . . 2 | CHARACTERS |
| a mark above, below or through a letter to change its value in the language: same as diacritic | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | accent . . . . . . 3 | TYPE FACE DESIGNS |
| the degree to which some strokes of a face are heavier than others: Bodoni has a strong accent | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | accented character | CHARACTERS |
| character with a mark to indicate a changed value - see Diacritic | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | acute accent | CHARACTERS |
| diacritic above letter, usu vowel, often indicating a sharp sound: a mark rising to the right | ||
| BRAND NAME | Adana | LETTERPRESS PRINTING |
| manuf of tabletop and other small presses, guillotines, thermographs [UK] | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | additive colours | COLOUR WORK, PRINTING INKS |
| colour system which adds colour rays to make other colours: projected light: RGB as in video | ||
| BRAND NAME | Addressograph | OFFICE SUPPLIES AND EQUIPMENT |
| an addressing system for office use until about 1980 [US]: Addressograph-Multigraph (later AM) | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | adnate serif | CHARACTER PARTS AND STROKES |
| serif shape with flowing connection to stem | ||
| NOUN, UNCOUNTABLE | air | LAYOUT AND DESIGN |
| white space: an airy layout | ||
| PROPER NOUN | Albion press | LETTERPRESS PRINTING |
| style of hand operated horizontal platen press: sliding bed: hand inked [UK] | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | alley | LAYOUT AND DESIGN |
| strip of space between columns etc | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | alphabet length | TYPE MEASUREMENTS |
| the length of complete lower case alphabet, measured in absolute or relative units (ems of size). | ||
| BRAND NAME | AM Corporation . . 1 | OFFICE SUPPLIES AND EQUIPMENT |
| Prev Addressograph-Multigraph Corp, became AM to concentrate on litho and photo-composing. | ||
| BRAND NAME | AM Corporation . . 2 | PRINTING, ANY PROCESS |
| After Addressographs and Multigraphs, made MultiLith litho press and Compugraphic typesetter | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | ampersand | CHARACTERS |
| symbol representing Latin word et, meaning and: often elaborately designed | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | angle matrix | LUDLOW TYPOGRAPH SYSTEM |
| unlike Linotype, the Ludlow can accommodate matrices cut at an angle for italics and scripts | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | angle quad | LETTERPRESS COMPOSING |
| spacing unit of triangular section, to facilitate setting lines at an angle | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | anodized plate | LITHOGRAPHY INCL OFFSET |
| offset printing plate, aluminium, with anodised (oxidised) surface for wear resistance | ||
| ADJECTIVE | antiqua | TYPE FACE DESIGNS |
| European term for Roman typefaces | ||
| BRAND NAME | Arab press | LETTERPRESS PRINTING |
| brand of treadle platen press by J. Wade [UK] | ||
| NOUN, UNCOUNTABLE | art paper | PAPER SPECIFICATIONS |
| smooth paper, coated with china clay | ||
| NOUN, UNCOUNTABLE | artwork | LAYOUT AND DESIGN |
| copy (text, images) prepared for photographic reproduction, eg for blockmaking or photolitho | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | ascender | CHARACTER PARTS AND STROKES |
| the rising stem of lowercase letters like b,d,h | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | ascender height | TYPE MEASUREMENTS |
| height from baseline to the top of ascending strokes | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | assembler | LINOTYPE/INTERTYPE LINECASTER |
| parts which bring the descending mats and spacebands together to form a line | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | assembling elevator | LINOTYPE/INTERTYPE LINECASTER |
| the "cage" where the line of mats assembles: the cage lifts the assembled line into the mechanism | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | asterisk | CHARACTERS |
| reference mark in form of a star, usu raised: the most common reference mark | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | author's correction | WORKFLOW |
| change made by an author after typesetting etc: typesetters usu charge extra for "authors" | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | automatic press | LETTERPRESS PRINTING |
| a printing press with a mechanical feeder. Feeders were originally an attachment. | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | automatic stop | LINOTYPE/INTERTYPE LINECASTER |
| device to detect first elevator fully descended to mould before casting otherwise machine will halt | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | back knife | LINOTYPE/INTERTYPE LINECASTER |
| knife, behind the mould wheel: as the mould passes, the foot of slug is trimmed to correct height | ||
| NOUN, UNCOUNTABLE | back matter | LAYOUT AND DESIGN |
| material, such as an appendix, that comes after the main text | ||
| VERB | back up | PRINTING, ANY PROCESS |
| print the second side of a sheet | ||
| ADJECTIVE | backslanting | TYPE FACE DESIGNS |
| slanting the opposite way from italic | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | ball terminal | CHARACTER PARTS AND STROKES |
| terminal ending in a ball shape eg the tail of j in some typefaces | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | balloon | IMAGES, HALFTONES |
| circle or bubble with words as in a cartoon | ||
| BRAND NAME | BANDA | OFFICE SUPPLIES AND EQUIPMENT |
| Block and Anderson: duplicators, esp spirit duplicators | ||
| NOUN, UNCOUNTABLE | bank paper | PAPER SPECIFICATIONS |
| lightweight writing paper | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | banner | LAYOUT AND DESIGN |
| large headline or title usually full width of page | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | baseline | TYPE MEASUREMENTS |
| line on which most characters sit | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | basis weight | PAPER SPECIFICATIONS |
| [US] weight in pounds of a ream of standard size | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | beak terminal | CHARACTER PARTS AND STROKES |
| terminal ending in a spur shape: eg the tops of b, d, h, l in some typefaces | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | bed | LETTERPRESS PRINTING |
| base of press, within which the forme is held: may be horizontal or vertical | ||
| VERB | bind | FINISHING & BOOKBINDING |
| secure leaves or sections into a book | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | bindery | FINISHING & BOOKBINDING |
| that part of a workplace where printed sheets are cut, folded, collated, or bound | ||
| ADJECTIVE | blackletter | TYPE FACE DESIGNS |
| typefaces pre-roman like Old English and Fraktur | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | blanket cylinder | LITHOGRAPHY INCL OFFSET |
| the cylinder which carries the rubber blanket in an offset press | ||
| VERB | bleed [off] | LAYOUT AND DESIGN |
| make an image extend beyond the trim line | ||
| VERB | blind emboss | EMBELLISHING |
| make an embossed impression without ink or foil, usu with engraved die and moulded counter-die | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | block . . . . . . 1 | IMAGES, HALFTONES |
| engraving for letterpress: may be line or halftone: usu mounted type-high on wood | ||
| VERB | block . . . . . . 2 | EMBELLISHING |
| stamp with gold foil or similar, often onto a book cover or spine. A subset of hot foil printing. | ||
| BRAND NAME | Block and Anderson | OFFICE SUPPLIES AND EQUIPMENT |
| maker of BANDA spirit duplicator [UK] | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | blocking press | EMBELLISHING |
| press with heated typeholder and usu foil feed, for blocking onto book covers or other work | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | blueline | PRE PRESS, COMPUTER LAYOUT |
| photographic proof where the type and images are in blue and not suitable for reproduction | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | blurb | LAYOUT AND DESIGN |
| short description or commentary on an article, book or author | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | body . . . . . . . 1 | TYPE CASTING |
| shank of metal supporting the platform and typeface: the "bulky" part of a piece of type | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | body . . . . . . . 2 | LAYOUT AND DESIGN |
| main text of an article, not including headlines | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | body size | TYPE MEASUREMENTS |
| size pointwise of type body: the step, baseline-to-baseline in solid (unleaded) typesetting | ||
| ADJECTIVE | bold | TYPE FACE DESIGNS |
| having strokes thicker than standard or medium | ||
| ADJECTIVE | bolded | TYPE FACE DESIGNS |
| having strokes made more bold by a computer: may differ from a separately designed bold face | ||
| NOUN, UNCOUNTABLE | bond paper | PAPER SPECIFICATIONS |
| sized writing paper typically 70-90. Suitable for printing | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | border | LETTERPRESS COMPOSING |
| line of decoration: unit borders (separate types), patterned slug, or continuous strip border | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | bowl | CHARACTER PARTS AND STROKES |
| round or elliptical element of a character as in C G O b d q p | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | bowler | IMAGES, HALFTONES |
| machine for planing the edge of engravings or stereos including the mount | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | bracketed serif | CHARACTER PARTS AND STROKES |
| serif shape with a wedge or bracket between serif and stem | ||
| BRAND NAME | Brandtjen & Kluge | LETTERPRESS PRINTING |
| US manuf of platen press, handfed and auto, gold foil, continuous. extant 1997 | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | brass circle & oval1 | LETTERPRESS COMPOSING |
| devices to print a circle or oval rule with type in the middle. Often for business seals or stamps | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | brass circle & oval2 | STEREOTYPING, RUBBER STAMPS |
| typesetting device often used by stampmakers for company seals and official-looking stamps | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | brass circle inner | LETTERPRESS COMPOSING |
| strip of brass rule formed into circle to go inside brass circle outer, leaving room for types. | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | brass circle outer | LETTERPRESS COMPOSING |
| square block of brass, circular opening for type, type-high rule machined around opening | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | brass oval | LETTERPRESS COMPOSING |
| oval shaped outer and inner, as for brass circle | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | brass rule | LETTERPRESS COMPOSING |
| rule strips (see rules) made of brass for long wear | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | brass type | EMBELLISHING |
| handset types engraved or cast in brass for long wearing properties | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | breve [breev] | CHARACTERS |
| diacritic above letter, usu vowel, to indicate shorter sound or unstress (like inverted U) | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | broadside | LAYOUT AND DESIGN |
| work printed on one side of a large sheet of paper. | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | bromide | PRE PRESS, COMPUTER LAYOUT |
| photographic print with black and white but no grey tones | ||
| NOUN, UNCOUNTABLE | bronzing | EMBELLISHING |
| golden effect produced by dusting bronze powder onto wet ink | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | bullet | CHARACTERS |
| dot or other character to distinguish items in a list | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | buren | MATRICES FOR TYPECASTING |
| hand-held engraving tool for cutting punches or for engraving plates | ||
Persons wishing to use these are asked to contact the author at Melbourne Museum of Printing.
Comments and suggestions about terms and definitions will be very welcome.
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