Thread: Graphical Terms/Glossary

Most people are confused by some of the terms of which I used around the website when talking about graphics or anything of the sort, so I have compiled a list of terms and their meanings here.

Please thank this post if I helped you!

The white ones are the ones which I generally use the most.

Use CTRL+F if you're looking for something inparticular.
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Acrobat
A product developed by Adobe systems to create PDF (Portable Document Format) files. Acrobat is an independent means of creating, viewing and printing documents.

Alignment
is the adjustment of arrangement or position in lines of a text or an image; left, right, centered, etc.

Alpha Channel
is the process of incorporating an image with a background to create the appearance of partial transparency.Alpha channels are used to create masks that allow you to confine or protect parts of an image you want to apply color, opacity, also to make other changes.

Bleed
When a graphic object extends through another in an unwanted manned. It is then trimmed so there is no chance for a white line on the edges.

Canvas Size
Allows you to change the complete size of the document without adjusting the contents of the document

Clipping Path
A tool that, or shape used to cut out an image.

Contrast
The difference in color found between the light and dark parts of an image.

Copy
Copy refers to editorial text supplied for incorporation into a design or website.

Crop
A tool that removes portions of an image. It is usually used on digital photographs

Ear
The rounded part of the lowercase letters such as ‘g’ and ‘q’.

Element
Any distinct part of a layout, such as the logo, headline, images or borders.

Embedding
Process of transfering all the data of a font or image into the file itself.

Emboss
To give a three dimensional effect to a text or an image by using highlights and shadows on the sides of the illustration.

Engraving
To print designs by cutting the surface of a metal plate.

Feathering
A tool used in graphic design software that makes the edges of an image appear softer.

Fill
A tool used to fill selected parts of an image with a selected color.

Filter
A filter is a pre-created effect that can be applied to images to acquire a certain look.

Folio
This is a single leaf of a manuscript or book and also refers to a page number.

Font
A complete combination of characters created in a specific type of one style and size. The set of characters in a font entail the letter set, the number set, and all of the special characters and marks you get when pressing the shift key or other command keys on your keyboard.

Gradient
A function in graphic software that permits the user to fill an object or image with a smooth transition of colors.

Grid
Is a two-dimensional format made up of a set of horizontal and vertical axis used to structure content.

Layers
A tool within graphic software that permits the user to gather, organize and re-edit their artwork.

Luminosity
The brightness of an area of an image arranged by the amount of light it reflects or diffuses.

Noise
Noise is a term used to describe the development of pixels that contain random colors.

Opacity
The degree of a color or tonal value. The opacity of an image or object can range from transparent (0% opacity) to opaque (100% opacity). The ability to edit the opacity of specific objects allows the designer to create images that seem to flow into and through one another.

Overlay
In photoshop an overlay is usually the same as layer blending, this generally means creating another layer on top of an existing image, then selecting an overlay option to blend it into the next one.

Posterization
The effect produced when an image is displayed or printed with a small number of colors or shades of gray, instead of the maximum available. Example.

PPI
Pixels Per Inch. A measurement of the resolution of a computer display.

Primary Colors
The primary colors are put together to produce the full range of other colors (non-primary colors), within a color model. The primary colors for the additive color model is; Red, Green and Blue. The primary colors for the subtractive color model is; Cyan, Magenta and Yellow.

Rasterize
An image is said to be rasterized when transformed from vector image to a bitmapped image. When opening a vector image in a bitmap-based editing program, you are generally presented with a dialog box of options for rasterizing the image.

Render
A Render is an image in which the focal point (usually a character or object) has been cut out of the background, so that the outer edges are transparent.

Resample
A function accessible in image editing that permits the user to change the resolution of the image while keeping its pixel count in tact.

Resolution
The resolution of an image is an important factor in deciding the attainable output quality. The higher the resolution of an image, the less pixilated it will be and the curves of the image will appear smoother.

Royalty-Free
Intellectual property like photos and graphic images that are sold for a single standard fee. These can be used repeatedly by the purchaser only, but the company that sold the images usually still owns all the rights to it.

Saturation
The Intensity of hue. The quality of difference from a gray of the same lightness or brightness

Stroke
Another word for outline/border.

Stock Image
An image that has a background, the opposite to a render.

Vector Graphic
Vector graphics allows the designer to expand or reduce the vector graphic in size without any loss in quality using curves, points, lines and polygons.

Tint
A color is made lighter by adding white, this is called a tint.

Tolerance
Tolerance is the range of pixels a tool in graphic software functions in. Or the range of shade or color pixels a Magic Wand selects, etc.

Weight
The range of a stroke’s width. Also knows as demibold, light, and bold. Some typeface families have many weights like ultra-bold and extra-light. Associated to the heaviness of the stroke for a specific font, such as Light, Regular, Book, Demi, Heavy, Black, and Extra Bold.

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Please let me know if there are any I have missed and I will add them!

Thanks for reading. ~GP.

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