- Alignment
- Alignment can be flush left, flush right, justified, or centered. Flush
left and flush right are sometimes referred to as left justified and right
justified.
- Anti-aliasing
- Definition unavailable
- Apex
- The point created by joining two diagonal stems. The peak of the triangle
of an uppercase A.
- Arabic Numbers
- Definition currently unavailable
- Arm
- Short horizontal strokes, as in the letter T or a stroke angled upward as
in the letter K.
- Ascender
- The stroke of lowercase letters (such as b, d, and h) that ascend above
the x-height or meanline.
- Ball Terminal
- A rounded terminal form at the end of a stroke as in letters a, f.
- Barb
- The half-serif finish on some curved strokes, as in the letters C, G, S.
- Baseline
- The imaginary line on which the base of the characters rest.
- Beak Terminal
- A sharp spur-like terminal, found particularly on the capital letters E,
T, and L in serif typefaces.
- Bezier Curves
- Definition currently unavailable
- Bitmap
- A pixelated representation of a character or characters in a typeface. Some
contemporary typefaces are intentionally bitmapped for screen-based display.
- Blackletter
- Definition currently unavailable
- Body Size
- Originally, this was the vertical height of the metal block on which each
letter was cast. In digital type, it is the vertical height of its imaginary
equivalent, and not the vertical height of the actual letters themselves.
(i.e. not the Cap Height.) Body sizes are usually specified in points.
- Body Text
- Typically type set in multiple paragraphs and below 12 pt in size. Also
called Body Copy.
- Boldface
- A heavier version of a regular or roman typeface within the same typeface
family.
- Bowl
- The rounded stroke found in letters such as uppercase C, G, 0 and lowercase
b, c, d, o, p.
- Bracket
- A swelling at the junction between a stem or stroke of a letter and its
serif(s).
- Bullet
- A special character similar to a dot or a box commonly inserted before items
in a list.
- California Job Case
- Definition currently unavailable
- Calligraphy
- Elegant handwriting, or the art of producing such handwriting.
- Cap Height
- The distance from baseline to cap line of an alphabet.
- Capline
- An imaginary line that runs along the tops of the capital letters.
- Capital
- Definition currently unavailable
- Centered
- Text placed at an equal distance from the left and right margins of either
the entire page or the imaginary bounding box containing the text.
- Character
- Each individual letter (either upper or lowercase), individual numbers and
punctuation are all separate characters contained within the a typeface.
- CMYK
- Definition currently unavailable
- Colophon
- Definition currently unavailable
- Composing Stick
- Definition currently unavailable
- Comprehensive
- Definition currently unavailable
- Condensed
- Narrow version of a regular typeface.
- Contrast
- The degree of contrast or variation between the thick and thin strokes of
a given letter. Typographically speaking, modern serif typefaces such as Bodoni
have very high contrast, old style serif typefaces such as Garamond have low
contrast.
- Counter
- The white space completely or partially surrounded by the stroke of a letterform,
as in b, c, d, e, g d or o
- Cross Stroke
- The horizontal stroke in a letterform that intersects the stem as in the
lowercase letters f and t.
- Crossbar
- A horizontal stroke connecting two stems as in A and H.
- Crotch
- The interior space where two strokes meet.
- Curly Quotes
- Definition currently unavailable
- Default
- Definition currently unavailable
- Descender
- The part of lowercase letters (such as g, j, y, p, and q) that descends
below the baseline. In some typefaces, the uppercase J and Q also descend
below the baseline.
- Didot
- Definition currently unavailable
- Dingbat
- A typographical character which is not specifically a letter, number, punctuation
mark, scientific or mathematical character. Bullets are examples of one common
form of dingbats, as are check-boxes and arrows.
- Display Type
- Type used to attract attention, usually above 14 points in size.
- DPI
- Dots per inch
- Drop Cap
- The first letter of a paragraph that is capitalized, set in a larger point
size and often aligned with the top of the first line. Used to indicate the
beginning of a new section of text.
- Ear
- A short stroke attached to the bowl of the lowercase g. often used to describe
the short stroke in the lowercase letter r.
- Egyptian
- Definition currently unavailable
- Ellipsis
- A punctuation character consisting of three dots, or periods, in a row.
It indicates that a word or phrase has been omitted.
- Em Dash
- A dash the length of an Em or Em Space.
- Em Space
- A square space equal to the body size of a given typeface. The width of
the capital letter M is commonly equivalent to the Em Space in most typefaces.
Also called mutton.
- Em, Em Quad
- A block of lead material equivalent to an Em Space used to fill negative
space in letterpress printing. Also called mutton.
- En Dash
- A dash the length of an En or En Space.
- En, En Quad
- A rectangular space not quite as wide as the body size in a given typeface.
The En is commonly equivalent as the width of the uppercase N in given typeface.
- Expanded
- Also called extended. A wide version of a regular typeface.
- Eye
- The enclosed part of the lowercase letter e.
- Face
- One of the styles in a family of faces. For example, the italic style of
the Garamond family is a face.
- Family
- Also known as a font family. A collection of faces that were designed and
intended to be used together. For example, the Garamond family consists of
roman and italic styles, as well as regular, semi-bold, and bold weights.
Each of the style and weight combinations is called a face.
- Fillet
- A contour line which defines the outer edge of a
on a given letter within a old style or transitional typeface.
- Finial
- The rounded non-serif terminal to a stroke.
- Flush Left
- A paragraph or block of text in which is aligned on its left edge and ragged
or ranged on its right edge.
- Flush Right
- A paragraph or block of text in which is aligned on its right edge and ragged
or ranged on its left edge.
- Font
- Complete set of all the characters (uppercase, lowercase, numerals, punctuation
marks and special characters.) Originally, a font was considered to be to
be one typeface at one specific size. Because of digital typography, the contemporary
definition of the term font is not specific to one size, but refers to one
typeface at multiple sizes.
- Font Family
- A collection of individual typefaces that were designed to be used together.
Font family often consists of a roman, italic, bold, and bold italic typefaces.
- Galley Tray
- Definition currently unavailable
- Geometric
- Definition currently unavailable
- Glyph
- The formal shape or mark found within a typeface that corresponded to a
given . The Glyph of the
letter A within the typeface Bodoni is different from the Glyph of the letter
A found within the typeface Garamond, but the character remains the same.
- Golden Rectangle
- Definition currently unavailable
- Gothic
- A commonly used term to describe sans serif typefaces developed in the United
States from the late 19th century through the 20th century.
- Graffiti
- A drawing or inscription made on a wall or other surface, usually so as
to be seen by the public. A rude decoration inscribed on rocks or walls.
- Grid
- Definition currently unavailable
- Grotesque
- A commonly used term to describe sans serif typefaces developed in Europe
from the late 19th century through the 20th century.
- Gutter
- Definition currently unavailable
- H& J
- Hyphenation and justification. A digital method for controlling letterspacing,
word spacing and line breaks found within most multi-page layout applications.
- Hairline
- The thin strokes within a typeface that has strokes of varying weights.
- Handwriting
- Writing done with the hand. The writing characteristic of a particular person.
- Hanging Indent
- A paragraph or block of text in which the first line of type is set or aligned
further to the left then remaining lines of type within that block or paragraph.
Often referred to as outdenting.
- Hot type
- Definition currently unavailable
- Humanist
- A form a penmanship or handwriting developed in the 15th century and used
in Italy. Often considered the basis or model upon which Old Style Serif typefaces
were designed.
- Imposition
- Definition currently unavailable
- Incunabula
- Definition currently unavailable
- Italic
- A sloped version of a Roman typeface within a typeface family. Similar but
not always the same as Oblique
- Justified
- A paragraph or block of text which is aligned on both the left and right
margins or edges.
- Kern
- Typically the removal space between a pair of letters to optically balance
the negative space which surrounds them.
- Kerning
- See Kern. The process of applying Kerning to a line of type.
- Lead
- Traditionally in letterpress typography, a thin strip of lead was used to
separate individual lines of type. In digital typography the term Leading
refers to the amount of space (in points) between each line of copy in a block
of text.
- Leading
- See Lead.
- Leg
- Short stroke off the stem of a letterform, either at the bottom of the stroke
(as in the letter L) or inclinded downward (as in the letters R and K).
- Lettering
- Hand-rendered letters inscribed, as on a sign.
- Letterpress
- Definition currently unavailable
- Letterspacing
- Often a manual process of adjusting the spacing between letter pairs within
a line or block of text.
- Ligature
- Two or more connected letters that form one glyph. Common examples are the
glyphs fi, fl, ffi, and ffl.
- Lightface
- A lighter weight version of a regular typeface.
- Lining Figures
- Definition currently unavailable
- Link
- The short connecting stroke between the bowl and the loop of the lowercase
g.
- Logotype
- A specific name or type arrangement trademarked and used as a company or
corporate identifier. Letterforms found in Logotypes are often modified from
their original typeface form.
- Loop
- The bowl created in the descender of the lowercase letter g.
- Lorem Ipsum
- Definition currently unavailable
- Lowercase
- Definition currently unavailable
- LPI
- Definition currently unavailable
- Majuscules
- Definition currently unavailable
- Master Page
- Definition currently unavailable
- Meanline
- Imaginary line that establishes the height of the body of the lowercase
letters. Generally established by the height of the lwercase letter x.
- Measure
- The width of a paragraph or block of text, usually measured in picas.
- Minuscules
- Definition currently unavailable
- Modern Serif
- Definition currently unavailable
- Monoline
- Definition currently unavailable
- Monospace
- Definition currently unavailable
- Non-lining Figures
- Definition currently unavailable
- Oblique
- A slanting version of a regular typeface. Oblique is similar to italic,
but less script-like in form. The oblique typefaces are more commonly found
in Sans Serif typeface families than Serif typeface families.
- Old Style Figures
- Definition currently unavailable
- Old Style Serif
- Definition currently unavailable
- OpenType
- Definition currently unavailable
- Optical Center
- Definition currently unavailable
- Ornamented
- A typeface that is embellished ornamented or decorated. Generally not used
for setting text or body copy.
- Orphan
- A single word or very short line of type left at the end of a paragraph
that has moved to the top of a new column or a new page of text.
- Pantone Matching System
- Definition currently unavailable
- Paragraph Mark, Pilcrow
- Definition currently unavailable
- Phonogram
- A letter, character, or mark used to represent a particular sound. Phonograms
are of three kinds: (1) Verbal signs, which stand for entire words; (2) Syllabic
signs, which stand for the articulations of which words are composed; (3)
Alphabetic signs, or letters, which represent the elementary sounds into which
the syllable can be resolved.
- Pi Characters
- Definition currently unavailable
- Pica
- Approximately 1/6th of an inch. A pica is equivalent to 12 points.
- Pictograph
- A picture representing a word or idea; a hieroglyph.
- Point
- Standard unit of measure in American typography. Approximately 72 points
are in an inch. 12 points equals a pica.
- Point Size
- The common method of defining the size of a typeface in use. Equivalent
to the Body Size of a typeface.
- PPI
- Pixels Per Inch.
- Prime Marks
- Definition currently unavailable
- Printer Outline Font
- Definition currently unavailable
- Proportional Spacing
- Definition currently unavailable
- Quad
- Definition currently unavailable
- Quoins
- Definition currently unavailable
- Rag, Ragged, Ranged
- In flush-left setting of a column of text the right-hand edge is set ragged
or ranged. (i.e. irregular line lengths from line to line) The optimal setting
of the ragged or ranged edge should display an even but not forced alternation
of long and short lines of type. The ragged edge should not create awkward
or uncontrolled shapes thru the accidental alignment of the line endings.
- Reverse
- White or light-colored text surrounded by a darker background color. While
appropriate for display type this method greatly reduces legibility, especially
with small or text type.
- Rivers
- In a paragraph of text, a series of wordspaces that accidentally align vertically
or diagonally, creating an awkward flow of white space within the column of
text.
- Roman
- Commonly refers to the upright version of a face within a font family, as
compared to the italic version.
- Sans Serif
- A typeface that does not have serifs.
- Screen Font
- Definition currently unavailable
- Script
- A typeface based on handwritten letterforms. Scripts come in formal and
informal styles and in a variety of weights.
- Semantics
- Definition currently unavailable
- Serif
- Small cross-strokes found at the beginning and endings of the primary strokes
on a given letterform.
A category of typefaces which have beginning and ending cross-strokes.
- Shoulder
- A curved stroke that is projecting from the stem, and is not a part of a
bowl.
- Slab Serif
- A classification of typefaces which all have rather thick, heavy serifs.
Typefaces with these heavy serifs can be either bracketed or unbracketed and
still fit into this category.
- Slope
- The angle of inclination of the stems of letters within a given typeface.
- Slug
- Definition currently unavailable
- Small Caps
- Definition currently unavailable
- Sorts
- Definition currently unavailable
- Spine
- The cuved stem or stroke of both the uppercase letter S and the lowercase
letter s.
- Spur
- The extension than articulates the junction of a curved and rectilinear
stroke. As in the letters G, b and q in many serif typefaces.
- Stem
- A main stroke of a letterform. In most cases the stem is either a vertical
or an angled stroke.
- Stress
- The orientation of the letterform, indicated by the thin stroke in round
forms such as o, c and e.
- Stroke
- Any of the linear elements in a letterform; orginally, any mark or dash
made by the movement of a pen or brush in writing.
- Style sheets
- Definition currently unavailable
- Swash
- A decorative flourish added to a basic Roman or Italic letterform.
- Syntax
- Definition currently unavailable
- Tabular Figures
- Numbers within a typeface that all have the same width.
- Tail
- A diagonal or curved stroke at the finish of certain letters such as Q,
j, and R.
- Terminal
- The end of any stroke that does not terminate with a full serif.
- Text Type
- Text meant to be read in long passages. Usually 14 pts or smaller. Also
called Body type.
- Titling Type
- A Typeface specifically designed for headlines or titles. Often only consisting
of capital letters, and intended to be used a specific point sizes.
- Tracking
- A mechanical system for adjusting the letterspacing of a line or block of
text.
- Transitional Serif
- Definition currently unavailable
- TrueType
- One of several digital typeface formats.
- Type 1
- Anther common digital typeface formats. Each Type 1 typeface has two components
a screen font and a printer outline font.
- Type
- A standardized set of letterforms, a formalized system of letterforms based
on handwriting.
- Type Family
- See Font Family
- Type-high
- Definition currently unavailable
- Typeface Family
- See Font Family
- Typeface
- A set of uppercase letters, lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols that
are designed to work together in setting longer passages of text. A single
style within a typeface family.
- Typographic Color
- The optical "grayness" of text type, particularly visible while
squinting when viewing a block of text. The overall typographic color of a
block of type is effected by the weight or boldness of the typeface, as well
as the x-height and the contrast of the typeface used.
- Typography
- The art of designing with type. Originally the composition of printed matter
from movable lead type. Now the art and process of typesetting by any system
or method.
- Vertex
- The point at the points of both the uppercase letters V and W as well as
the lowercase letters v, and w.
- Weight
- The overall lightness or heaviness of a typeface, which is determined by
comparing of the thickness of the strokes to the body size or height of the
letters.
- White Space
- The blank areas on a page. The control of white space or negative space
is a significantly important an element in page design.
- Widow
- A single word or very short line of type left at the end of a paragraph
or column of text
- Width
- Variations in width in typefaces in a typeface family, such as condensed
or extended.
- Woodtype
- Definition currently unavailable
- Word Space
- The negative space between words in a line or block of text. Text set in
flush left or flush right alignment have a fixed word space (i.e. word spaces
are all the same width.) In justified text, words spaces vary considerably
to allow for both the left and right edges of text to align correctly.
- X-Height
- Commonly considered to be the height the a lowercase letter x within a given
typeface or font. Used to define the relationship between the visual height
of the lowercase letters and the visual height of the uppercase letters. Generally
speaking, when comparing two different typefaces at the same point size, the
x-heights of those typefaces will be different.