What printers’ terms mean
ascender
The part of a lower-case
letter (b,d,f, h, k, l, t) that goes up above the main body of the letter
body
The main text of a story
or article
centred
Typeset so that everything
lines up with the middle of the column
condensed
Type that is squashed horizontally,
so you can fit a lot into one line
cross-head
A sub-head within the text
descender
The part of a lower-case
letter (g, j, p, q) that goes below the main body of the letter
expanded
Type that is stretched
horizontally, so it takes a lot of space on a line
font
A single typeface
imposition
The way pages are arranged
to print, so that when the publication is put together, they read in the
right order. In an an eight page folded publication, pages 8 and 1, 2 and
7, 3 and 6, and 4 and 5 would print together.
justified
Type set so that both edges
of the column are straight
leading
The distance between lines
of text
lower
case
Non-capital letters
masthead
The main logo on the cover
with the publication's name
point
The unit used to measure
type, leading and rules - one point is .351mm, or 1/72"
ranged left
Typeset so that the left
hand side of the column is straight and the right side is uneven
ranged right
Typeset so that the right
hand side of the column is straight and the left side is uneven
readthrough
A quotation from an article
or story, printed as a block in bigger type
reversed out
Printed so that the
letters are white and the background is black (or whatever colour ink is
being used)
rule
A printed straight line
sans-serif
Typefaces without serifs
(tabs on the ends of the letters)
serif
The small tabs on letters;
typefaces with tabs on the letters
strokes
The lines that make up
a letter
tint
A paler version of a colour,
made by printing small dots rather than solid colour
typeface
The style of the letters.
Usually a typeface will be part of a family of similar faces
typography
The way in which type is
used
upper case
Capital letters
weight
How thick the strokes
of a letter are
x-height
How high the lower
case x is, compared to the total height of the typeface from the bottom
of the descender to the top of the ascender.
If a typeface has a large x-height it will take up more space at the same
point
size.
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