| 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 | gallery camera | PRE PRESS, COMPUTER LAYOUT |
| camera sized for print jobs: copyboard and lens board on rails; film holder built into darkroom | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | galley . . . . . . 1 | LETTERPRESS COMPOSING |
| tray for holding composed type before or after printing: metal or wood | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | galley . . . . . . 2 | COLD TYPE COMPOSITION |
| metaphoric term for strip of typeset paper which can be proofread then pasted up | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | galley magnet | LETTERPRESS COMPOSING |
| strong permanent magnet: attaches to galley to hold lines for proofing or storage | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | galley proof | LETTERPRESS COMPOSING |
| proof taken from type on the galley, a rough copy to be read for errors | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | galley rack | LETTERPRESS COMPOSING |
| rack to hold a number of galleys (typically 50) | ||
| VERB | gather | FINISHING & BOOKBINDING |
| place together the sections of a book in correct sequence for binding | ||
| NOUN, UNCOUNTABLE | GEM | PRE PRESS, COMPUTER LAYOUT |
| Graphic Environment Manager (Digital Research). An early graphical user interface | ||
| BRAND NAME | Gestetner | OFFICE SUPPLIES AND EQUIPMENT |
| a leading brand of stencil duplicator | ||
| NOUN, UNCOUNTABLE | glair | EMBELLISHING |
| albumen-based adhesive used on leather to cause gold leaf to adhere | ||
| NOUN, UNCOUNTABLE | gloss ink | PRINTING, ANY PROCESS |
| ink for use on glossy paper with low absorbtion: dry mainly by evap/oxidation | ||
| ADJECTIVE | gothic | TYPE FACE DESIGNS |
| sans serif typeface with even strokes | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | grain direction | PAPER MAKING |
| direction of fibres in sheet: fibres mainly align with machine direction | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | grams per sq.metre | PAPER SPECIFICATIONS |
| measure of density of paper. Standard bond is around 80 gsm | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | graphic | TYPOGRAPHY - GENERALITIES |
| non-text element: sometimes means typesetting other than body text | ||
| NOUN, UNCOUNTABLE | graphic arts | TYPOGRAPHY - GENERALITIES |
| craft and profession of producing visible images for reproduction | ||
| NOUN, UNCOUNTABLE | graphic design | TYPOGRAPHY - GENERALITIES |
| that part of graphic arts concerned with the impact of the product | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | graphic designer | TYPOGRAPHY - GENERALITIES |
| person who designs and specifies the visible details of a graphic product | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | grave accent [gra:v] | CHARACTERS |
| diacritic above letter, usu vowel, to indicate heavy sound. A mark falling from the left. | ||
| NOUN, UNCOUNTABLE | gravure process | PRINTING, ANY PROCESS |
| rotary intaglio process with image engraved onto chrome-plated rollers | ||
| VERB | greeking . . . . . 1 | LAYOUT AND DESIGN |
| render characters illegibly in part of layout, to emphasise design not content | ||
| VERB | greeking . . . . . 2 | COLD TYPE COMPOSITION |
| use of pattern or grey to simulate areas of text on screen, where type is too small for pixels | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | groove | TYPE CASTING |
| where the bottom of sort has been tooled (by hand or machine) to remove the tang | ||
| ADJECTIVE | grotesque | TYPE FACE DESIGNS |
| sans serif typeface similar to gothic | ||
| ABBREVIATION | GSM | PAPER SPECIFICATIONS |
| grams per square metre | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | gutter | LAYOUT AND DESIGN |
| inner margin of book opening, occurring between left and right pages | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | gutter jump | LAYOUT AND DESIGN |
| element of layout that continues across the gutter to the opposite page | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | hair space | LETTERPRESS COMPOSING |
| a letterspace thinner than a thin space: no standard: often cut from leads | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | hairline . . . . . 1 | CHARACTER PARTS AND STROKES |
| the thinnest strokes in design of characters | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | hairline . . . . . 2 | LINOTYPE/INTERTYPE LINECASTER |
| unwanted vertical marks between letters due to worn linecasting matrices | ||
| NOUN, UNCOUNTABLE | hairline register | PRINTING, ANY PROCESS |
| very exact registration where second/multi colour is required | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | hairline rule | LETTERPRESS COMPOSING |
| rule with very fine face, usually on a wider body: hairline on 2pt or 6 pt | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | half-serif terminal | CHARACTER PARTS AND STROKES |
| terminal ending in serif of which one side is suppressed | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | halftone . . . . . 1 | IMAGES, HALFTONES |
| system of representing tones (greys) in image process which knows no grey | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | halftone . . . . . 2 | IMAGES, HALFTONES |
| an image where illusion of shades of grey is achieved by graduated black dots | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | hanging indent | LAYOUT AND DESIGN |
| paragraph style where all lines after the first are indented | ||
| NOUN, UNCOUNTABLE | hanging punctuation | LAYOUT AND DESIGN |
| paragraph style where points at end of flush-right line hang outside margin | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | hardback | FINISHING & BOOKBINDING |
| book with front and back covers made of a stiff board | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | head (margin) | LAYOUT AND DESIGN |
| margin at top of page | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | header | LAYOUT AND DESIGN |
| information that appears at top of every page (also running head) | ||
| BRAND NAME | Headliner | COLD TYPE COMPOSITION |
| phototypesetter with integral processor: output on sprocketed 35 mm paper | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | hickey | PRINTING, ANY PROCESS |
| spot of dirt or dried ink on plate or blanket which shows in printing | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | high space | LETTERPRESS COMPOSING |
| a letterspace of full (shoulder) height, used where kerns need to be supported | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | highlight | IMAGES, HALFTONES |
| lightest area in a tone or half-tone illustration | ||
| NOUN, UNCOUNTABLE | hinting | COLD TYPE COMPOSITION |
| instructions added to digital founts to better fit to raster at low resolution | ||
| VERB | hot foil printing | EMBELLISHING |
| printing with heated type or engraving, transferring pigment from a foil to the paper or plastic | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | house style | LAYOUT AND DESIGN |
| standard of layout, punctuation, grammar, etc. within one organisation | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | hydrophilic area | LITHOGRAPHY INCL OFFSET |
| the non-image parts of a lithographic image: is wettable with water so repelling the oil-based ink | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | hydrophobic area | LITHOGRAPHY INCL OFFSET |
| the image parts of a lithographic image: it repels water so allowing the oil-based ink to build up | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | IBM composer | COLD TYPE COMPOSITION |
| a strike-on typesetter using "golf-ball" typing elements with true proportional spacing | ||
| VERB | impose | LETTERPRESS COMPOSING |
| arrange type matter and illustrations within a chase in position for printing | ||
| NOUN, UNCOUNTABLE | imposition | LAYOUT AND DESIGN |
| arrangement of multiple pages on sheet to appear in correct position for folding | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | impression cylinder | PRINTING, ANY PROCESS |
| large roller which carries paper into contact with type or blanket | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | imprint . . . . . 1 | LAYOUT AND DESIGN |
| details of publishing etc within a document: sometimes required by law | ||
| EQUIVALENT TERM | imprint . . . . . 2 | PRINTING, ANY PROCESS |
| overprint: sometimes by an in-line device in manufacturing, eg date codes | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | indent | LAYOUT AND DESIGN |
| space at beginning of first line of para: often a one-em indent | ||
| EQUIVALENT TERM | indention | LAYOUT AND DESIGN |
| shortened form of indentation | ||
| NOUN, UNCOUNTABLE | ink holdout | PAPER SPECIFICATIONS |
| characteristic of paper that prevents absorbtion of ink | ||
| NOUN, UNCOUNTABLE | intaglio process . 1 | PRINTING, ANY PROCESS |
| printing from a plate which has been engraved, etched, pitted: incl gravure, etching, copperplate | ||
| NOUN, UNCOUNTABLE | intaglio process . 2 | PRINTING, ANY PROCESS |
| the pits or scratches are the image areas: they trap the ink and the flat surface is wiped clean | ||
| BRAND NAME | Intertype | LINOTYPE/INTERTYPE LINECASTER |
| brand of linecaster with keyboard, identical in function to Linotype | ||
| ADJECTIVE | italic | TYPE FACE DESIGNS |
| slanted typeface, often with cursive features | ||
| VERB | italicise . . . . 1 | LAYOUT AND DESIGN |
| put one or more words into an italic typeface to emphasise it | ||
| VERB | italicise . . . . 2 | TYPE FACE DESIGNS |
| produce an italic version of a typeface by computer action: not normally the same as designed ital | ||
| ADVERB | italics | LAYOUT AND DESIGN |
| 'in italics' means typeset in an italic face | ||
| NOUN, UNCOUNTABLE | jaggies | PRE PRESS, COMPUTER LAYOUT |
| stepped effect on diagonal lines seen in low-resolution screens or printouts | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | jaws | LINOTYPE/INTERTYPE LINECASTER |
| left and right jaws, part of the vyce, clamp the mats during casting | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | jigsaw | CUTTING & CREASING |
| mechanical random saw to cut channel in wood block to accommodate steel rules | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | justification scale | MONOTYPE COMPOSITION CASTER |
| the drum, unique for each set-size, which shows the space-size needed to justify | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | justification wedges | MONOTYPE COMPOSITION CASTER |
| pair of wedges in caster: set for each line: determine space size to 0.0005 inch | ||
| ADJECTIVE | justified | COLD TYPE COMPOSITION |
| (lines) so set that left and right margins are flush: also 'justified full-out' | ||
| ADJECTIVE | justified loose | LAYOUT AND DESIGN |
| a line with more slack which when justified has wide interword spaces | ||
| ADJECTIVE | justified tight | LAYOUT AND DESIGN |
| a line with less slack which when justified has small interword spaces | ||
| VERB | justify | MATRICES FOR TYPECASTING |
| remove surplus metal from a strike (new matrix) and finish it to exact size for casting | ||
| VERB | justify (a line) | LETTERPRESS COMPOSING |
| adjust interword spacing so that line exactly makes the measure and is tight | ||
| VERB | justify (a page) | LETTERPRESS COMPOSING |
| adjust spacing between lines so that each page makes exactly the right length | ||
| VERB | keep standing | WORKFLOW |
| hold job (type or plates) after printing to allow for reprints | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | kern . . . . . . . 1 | CHARACTER PARTS AND STROKES |
| part of the face of a type which overhangs the body (handset type) | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | kern . . . . . . . 2 | CHARACTER PARTS AND STROKES |
| part of the face of a type which crosses the boundary of a neighbour (photo typeset) | ||
| VERB | kern . . . . . . . 3 | COLD TYPE COMPOSITION |
| reduce space between a pair of letters for better visual spacing | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | keybar | MONOTYPE COMPOSITION CASTER |
| rod assoc with a key, with pips to operate needed punch bars to cast that letter | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | keybar frame | MONOTYPE COMPOSITION CASTER |
| carries keybars for one typeface arrangement eg Bembo with Bold & Italic 6 - 12pt | ||
| NOUN, COUNTABLE | keyboard | MONOTYPE COMPOSITION CASTER |
| operated by a compositor, produces 31-channel tape to control the caster | ||
| PROPER NOUN | Klischograph | IMAGES, HALFTONES |
| machine for engraving halftone image into plastic plate from scanned original | ||
| BRAND NAME | Kroy | COLD TYPE COMPOSITION |
| strike-on machine (later electronic version): output on self-adhesive strip | ||
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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