| Agate | Small type (usually 5.5 point) used for sports statistics, stock tables, classified ads, etc.
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| Air | White space used in a story design.
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| All caps | Type using only capital letters.
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| Amberlith | Orange acetate that's placed over a finished page and cut into shapes that the printer needs to screen, overprint or print in different colors.
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| Anchor | An image, word or phrase (usually in color and underlined) that, when clicked, connects you to another Web page.
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| Application | A computer software program that performs a specific task: word processing, page layout, illustration, etc.
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| Armpit | An awkward-looking page layout where a story's banner headline sits on top of a photo or another headline.
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| Ascender | The part of a letter extending above the x-height (as in b, d, f, h, k, l, t).
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| Attribution | A line identifying the source of a quote.
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| Banner | A wide headline extending across the entire page.
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| Banner ad | An advertisement stripped across the top or bottom of a Web page.
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| Bar | A thick rule. Often used for decoration, or to contain type for subheads or standing heads.
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| Bar chart | A chart comparing statistical values by depicting them as bars.
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| Baseline | An imaginary line that type rests on.
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| Baseline shift | A software command that allows you to raise or lower the baseline of designated text characters.
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| Bastard measure | Any non-standard width for a column of text.
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| Bleed | A page element that extends to the trimmed edge of a printed page.
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| Blend | A mixture of two colors that fade gradually from one tint to another.
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| Body type | Type used for text (in newspapers, it usually ranges from 8 to 10 points).
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| Boldface | A heavier, darker weight of a typeface; used to add emphasis (the word boldface here is in boldface).
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| Border | A rule used to form a box or to edge a photograph.
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| Box | A ruled border around a story or art.
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| Broadsheet | A full-size newspaper, measuring roughly 14 by 23 inches.
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| Browser | A software program (such as Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator) that enables you to view Web pages.
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| Bug | Another term for a sig or logo used to label a story; often indented into the text.
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| Bullet | A type of dingbat, usually a big dot (·), used to highlight items listed in the text.
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| Bumping/butting heads | Headlines from adjacent stories that collide with each other. Should be avoided when possible. Also called tombstoning.
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| Byline | The reporter's name, usually at the beginning of a story.
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| Callouts | Words, phrases or text blocks used to label parts of a map or diagram (also called factoids).
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| Camera-ready art | The finished page elements that are ready for printing.
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| Caps | Capital or uppercase letters.
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| Caption | A line or block of type providing descriptive information about a photo; used interchangeably with cutline.
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| CD-ROM | Computer disks (CDs) with huge amounts of memory, used for music, photo archives, font libraries, interactive games, multimedia programs, etc.
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| Centered | Art or type that's aligned symmetrically, sharing a common midpoint.
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| Character | A typeset letter, numeral or punctuation mark.
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| Clickable image map | A graphic or photo containing "hot spots" that, when clicked, link you to another Web location.
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| Clip art | Copyright-free images you can modify and print as often as you like.
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| CMYK | An acronym for cyan, magenta, yellow and black – the four ink colors used in color printing.
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| Column | A vertical stack of text; also called a leg.
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| Column inch | A way to measure the depth of text or ads; it's an area one column wide and one inch deep.
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| Column logo | A graphic device that labels regularly appearing material by packaging the writer's name, the column's name and a small mug or drawing of the writer.
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| Column rule | A vertical line separating stories or running between legs within a story.
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| Compressed/condensed type | Characters narrower than the standard set width; i.e., turning this M into M.
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| Continuation line | Type telling the reader that a story continues on another page.
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| Continuous tone | A photo or drawing using shades of gray. To be reproduced in a newspaper, the image must be converted into a halftone.
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| Copy | The text of a story.
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| Copy block | A small chunk of text accompanying a photo spread or introducing a special package.
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| Copyright | Legal protection for stories, photos or artwork, to discourage unauthorized reproduction.
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| Crop | To trim the shape or composition of a photo before it runs in the paper.
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| Cutline | A line or block of type providing descriptive information about a photo.
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| Cutoff rule | A horizontal line running under a story, photo or cutline to separate it from another element below.
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| Cutout | A photo where the background has been removed, leaving only the main subject; also called a silhouette.
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| Deck | A small headline running below the main headline; also called a drop head.
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| Descender | The part of a letter extending below the baseline (as in g, j, p, q, y).
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| Dingbats | Decorative type characters (such as bullets, stars, boxes, etc.) used for emphasis or effect.
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| Display headline | A non-standard headline (often with decorative type, rules, all caps, etc.) used to enhance the design of a feature story, photo spread or news package.
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| Doglegs | L-shaped columns of text that wrap around art, ads or other stories.
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| Dot screen | A special screen used to produce tiny rows of dots, thus allowing newspapers to print shades of gray.
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| Dots per inch (dpi) | The number of electronic dots per inch that a printer can print – or that a digital image contains. The higher the dpi, the more precise the resolution.
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| Double burn | The process by which two different elements are overlapped when printed (for instance, printing type on top of a photo); also called overprinting.
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| Double truck | Two facing pages on the same sheet of newsprint, treated as one unit.
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| Download | To retrieve a document or image from the Web.
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| Downstyle | A headline style that capitalizes only the first word and proper nouns.
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| Drop head | A small headline running below the main headline; also called a deck.
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| Drop shadow | A thin shadow effect added to characters in a headline.
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| Dummy | A small, detailed page diagram showing where all elements go.
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| Duotone | A halftone that uses two colors, usually black and a spot color.
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| Dutch wrap | Text that extends into a column alongside its headline; also called a raw wrap.
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| Ear | . Text or graphic elements on either side of a newspaper's flag.
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| Ellipsis | Three periods (...) used to indicate the omission of words.
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| Em | An old printing term for a squareshaped blank space that's as wide as the type is high; in other words, a 10-point em space will be 10 points wide.
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| En | Half an em space; a 10-point en space will be 5 points wide.
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| Enlarge | To increase the size of an image.
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| EPS | A common computer format for saving scans, especially illustrations (short for Encapsulated PostScript).
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| Expanded/extended type | Characters wider than the standard set width: i.e., turning this M into M.
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| Family | All the different weights and styles (italic, boldface, condensed, etc.) of one typeface.
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| FAQ | Frequently asked questions.
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| Feature | A non-hard-news story (a profile, preview, quiz, etc.) often given special design treatment.
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| Fever chart | A chart connecting points on a graph to show changing quantities over time; also called a line chart.
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| File size | The total number of electronic pixels needed to create a digital image,
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| measured in kilobytes | The more pixels an image uses, the more detail it will contain.
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| Filler | A small story or graphic element used to fill space on a page.
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| Flag | The name of a newspaper as it's displayed on Page One; also called a nameplate.
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| Float | To dummy a photo or headline in an empty space so that it looks good to the designer, but looks awkward and unaligned to everyone else.
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| Flop | To create a backward, mirror image of a photo or illustration by turning the negative over during printing.
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| Flush left | Elements aligned so they're all even along their left margin.
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| Flush right | Elements aligned so they're all even along their right margin.
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| Folio | Type at the top of an inside page giving the newspaper's name, date and page number.
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| Font | All the characters in one size and weight of a typeface (this font is 10-point Times).
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| Four-color | The printing process that combines cyan (blue), magenta (red), yellow and black to produce full-color photos and artwork.
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| Frames | Web design tools that divide pages into separate, scrollable modules.
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| Full frame | The entire image area of a photograph.
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| GIF | Graphic Interface Format, a common format for compressed Web images, especially illustrations and graphics.
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| Graf | Newsroom slang for "paragraph."
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| Graph | Statistical information presented visually, using lines or bars to represent values.
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| Grayscale | A scan of a photograph or artwork that uses shades of gray.
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| Grid | The underlying pattern of lines forming the framework of a page; also, to align elements on a page.
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| Gutter | The space running vertically between columns.
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| H and J | Hyphenation and justification; the computerized spacing and aligning of text.
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| Hairline | The thinnest rule used in newspapers.
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| Halftone | A photograph or drawing that has been converted into a pattern of tiny dots. By screening images this way, printing presses can reproduce shades of gray.
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| Hammer head | A headline that uses a big, bold word or phrase for impact and runs a small, wide deck below.
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| Hanging indent | Type set with the first line flush left and all other lines in that paragraph indented (this text is set with a 10-point hanging indent).
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| Header | A special label for any regularly appearing section, page or story; also called a standing head.
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| Headline | Large type running above or beside a story to summarize its content; also called a head, for short.
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| High-resolution printer | An output device capable of resolution from 1,200 to 5,000 dots per inch.
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| Hit | The term used for counting the number of visitors to a Web page. (Technically, it refers to the number of elements on each Web page; accessing a page with text and three images would count as four hits.)
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| Home page | The main page of a Web site, providing links to the rest of the site.
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| HTML | HyperText Markup Language, the coding used to format all Web documents.
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| Hyperlink | An image, word or phrase (usually in color and underlined) that connects you to another Web page.
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| Hyphenation | Dividing a word with a hyphen at the end of a line (as in these hyphenated lines here).
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| Image | In Web design, any photo, illustration or imported graphic displayed on a page.
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| Image size | The physical dimensions of the final scanned image.
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| Import | To bring an electronic image into a computer software program.
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| Indent | A part of a column set in a narrower width. The first line of a paragraph is usually indented; columns are often indented to accommodate art, logos or initial caps.
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| Index | An alphabetized list of contents and their page numbers.
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| Infographic | Newsroom slang for "informational graphic"; any map, chart or diagram used to analyze an event, object or place.
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| Initial cap | A large capital letter set at the beginning of a paragraph.
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| Inset | Art or text set inside other art or text.
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| ISP | An abbreviation of Internet Service Provider; a company that provides a connection to the Internet.
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| Italic | Type that slants to the right, like this.
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| Java | A programming language that features animation.
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| JPEG | A common format for compressed Web images, especially photos. Created by the Joint Photographic Experts Group and pronounced "jay-peg."
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| Jump | To continue a story on another page; text that's been continued on another page is called the jump.
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| Jump headline | A special headline treatment reserved for stories continued from another page.
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| Jump line | Type telling the reader that a story is continued from another page.
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| Justification | Mechanically spacing out lines of text so they're all even along both right and left margins.
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| K | An abbreviation for "kilobyte," a unit for measuring the size of a computer file.
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| Kerning | Tightening the spacing between letters.
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| Kicker | A small, short, one-line headline, often underscored, placed above a larger headline.
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| Kilobyte | A unit for measuring the size of a computer file equal to 1,024 bytes; abbreviated as "K."
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| Laser printer | An output device that prints computer-generated text and graphics, usually at a lower resolution than professional typesetters.
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| Layout | The placement of art and text on a page; to lay out a page is to design it.
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| Leader | A dotted line used with tab stops.
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| Lead-in | A word or phrase in contrasting type that precedes a cutline, headline or text.
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| Leading | Vertical spacing between lines of type, measured in points.
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| Leg | A column of text.
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| Legibility | The ease with which type characters can be read.
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| Letter spacing | The amount of air between characters in a word.
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| Liftout quote | A graphic treatment of a quotation taken from a story, often using bold or italic type, rules or screens. Also called a pull quote.
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| Line art | An image comprised of solid black and white – no gray tones, as opposed to a grayscale image.
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| Line chart | A chart connecting points on a graph to show changing quantities over time; also called a fever chart.
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| Lines per inch (lpi) | The number of lines of dots per inch in a halftone screen. The higher the lpi, the more precise the image's resolution will be.
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| Logo | A word or name that's stylized in a graphic way; used to refer to standing heads in a newspaper.
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| Lowercase | Small characters of type (no capital letters).
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| Margin | The space between elements.
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| Masthead | A block of information, including staff names and publication data, often printed on the editorial page.
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| Mechanical | The master page from which printing plates are made; also called a paste-up.
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| Measure | The width of a headline or column of text.
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| Modular layout | A design system that views a page as a stack of rectangles.
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| Moire | An eerie pattern that's formed when a previously screened photo is copied, then reprinted using a new line screen.
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| Mortise | Placing one element (text, photo, artwork) so it partially overlaps another.
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| Mug shot | A small photo showing a person's face.
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| Nameplate | The name of a newspaper as it's displayed on Page One; also called a flag.
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| Offset | A printing process, used by most newspapers, where the image is transferred from a plate to a rubber blanket, then printed on paper.
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| Orphan | A short word or phrase that's carried over to a new column or page; also called a widow.
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| Overlay | A clear plastic sheet placed over a pasted-up page, containing elements that the printer needs to screen, overprint or print in another color.
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| Overline | A small headline that runs above a photo; usually used with stand-alone art.
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| Pagination | The process of generating a page on a computer.
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| Paste-up | A page assembled for printing where all type, artwork and ads have been placed into position (usually with hot wax). To paste up a page is to place those elements on it.
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| Photo credit | A line that tells who shot a photograph.
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| Pica | A standard unit of measure in newspapers. There are 6 picas in one inch, 12 points in one pica.
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| Pixel | The smallest dot you can draw on a computer screen (short for "picture element").
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| PMT | A photographic paper used for shooting halftones. Short for photomechanical transfer; also called a velox.
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| Point | A standard unit of measure in printing. There are 12 points in one pica, 72 points in one inch.
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| Pork chop | A half-column mug shot.
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| Process color | One of the four standard colors used to produce full-color photos and artwork: cyan (blue), magenta (red), yellow or black.
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| Proof | A copy of a pasted-up page used to check for errors. To check a page is to proofread it.
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| Pull quote | Another name for liftout quote.
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| Pyramid ads | Advertisements stacked up one side of a page, wide at the base but progressively smaller near the top.
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| Quotes | Words spoken by someone in a story. In page-design jargon, a liftout quote is a graphic treatment of a quotation, often using bold or italic type, rules or screens.
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| Ragged right | Type that is not justified; the left edge of all the lines is even, but the right edge is uneven.
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| Raw wrap | Text that extends into a column alongside its headline; also called a Dutch wrap.
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| Refer (or reefer) | A line or paragraph, often given graphic treatment, referring to a related story elsewhere in the paper.
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| Register | To align different color plates or overlays so they're perfectly positioned when they print.
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| Resolution | The quality of digital detail in an image, depending upon its number of dots per inch (dpi).
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| Reverse | A printing technique that creates white type on a dark background; also called a dropout.
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| RGB | An acronym for Red, Green, Blue – a color format used by computer monitors and video systems.
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| Roman | Upright type, as opposed to slanted (italic) type; also called normal or regular.
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| Rule | A printing term for a straight line; usually produced with a roll of border tape.
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| Runaround | Text that wraps around an image; also called a wraparound or skew.
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| Sans serif | Type without serifs: This is sans serif type.
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| Saturation | The intensity or brightness of color in an image.
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| Scale | To reduce or enlarge artwork or photographs.
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| Scaling | The overall spacing between characters in a block of type.
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| Scanner | A computer input device that transforms printed matter (photos, illustrations or text) into electronic data.
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| Screen | A pattern of tiny dots used to create gray areas; to screen a photo is to turn it into a halftone.
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| Serif | The finishing stroke at the end of a letter; type without these decorative strokes is called sans serif.
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| Server | A computer used for storing and sending users the pages that make up a Web site.
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| Shovelware | A condescending term for dumping information onto your Web site without changing its format or enhancing its content.
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| Sidebar | A small story accompanying a bigger story on the same topic.
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| Sidesaddle head | A headline placed to the left of a story, instead of above it; also called a side head.
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| Sig | A small standing head that labels a regularly appearing column or feature.
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| Silhouette | A photo where the background has been removed, leaving only the main subject; also called a cutout.
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| Site map/storyboard | A visual outline of a Web site showing the page-layout plan.
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| Skew | Text that wraps around a photo or artwork; also called a wraparound or a runaround.
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| Skyboxes, skylines | Teasers that run above the flag on Page One. If they're boxed (with art), they're called skyboxes or boxcars; if they use only a line of type, they're called skylines.
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| Solid | . A color (or black) printed at 100% density.
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| Spot color | . An extra color ink added to a page; also called flat color.
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| Spread | Another term for a large page layout; usually refers to a photo page.
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| Stand-alone photo | A photo that doesn't accompany a story, usually boxed to show it stands alone; also called wild art.
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| Standing head | A special label for any regularly appearing section, page or story; also called a header.
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| Style | A newspaper's standardized set of rules and guidelines. Newspapers have styles for grammar, punctuation, headline codes, design principles, etc.
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| Style sheets | Coding formats (size, leading, color, etc.) that can be applied instantly to selected text in desktop publishing programs.
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| Subhead | Lines of type, often bold, used to divide text into smaller sections.
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| Summary deck | A special form of deck, smaller and wordier than most decks, that capsulizes the main points of a story.
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| Table | A graphic or sidebar that stacks words or numbers in rows so readers can compare data.
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| Tabloid | A newspaper format that's roughly half the size of a broadsheet newspaper.
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| Tab stops | Predetermined points used to align data into vertical columns.
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| Tags | HTML codes, enclosed in brackets, containing formatting information, anchors, etc.
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| Teaser | An eye-catching graphic element, on Page One or section fronts, that promotes an item inside; also called a promo.
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| TIFF | One of the most common computer formats for saving scans (an abbreviation of Tagged Image File Format).
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| Tint | A light color, often used as a background tone, made from a dot screen.
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| Tombstoning | Stacking two headlines side by side so that they collide with each other; also called bumping or butting heads.
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| Trapped white space | An empty area, inside a story design or photo spread, that looks awkward or clumsy.
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| Trapping | A slight overlapping of color plates to prevent gaps from appearing during printing.
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| Tripod | A headline that uses a big, bold word or phrase and two smaller lines of deck squaring off alongside.
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| Typeface | A family of fonts – for instance, the Futura family, which includes Futura Light, Futura Italic, Futura Bold, etc.
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| Underscore | To run a rule below a line of type.
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| Uppercase | Type using capital letters.
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| URL | Uniform Resource Locator; the address used to locate a site on the World Wide Web.
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| Velox | A photographic paper used for shooting halftones. Also called a photomechanical transfer, or PMT.
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| Web | Short for the World Wide Web, or WWW.
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| Web page | A single document, with text and/or images, viewed with a browser.
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| Web site | One or more linked Web pages, accessed via a home page.
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| Weight | The boldness of type, based on the thickness of its characters.
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| Well | Ads stacked along both edges of the page, forming a deep trough for stories in the middle.
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| White space | Areas of a page free of any type or artwork.
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| Widow | A word or phrase that makes up the last line of text in a paragraph. (See orphan.)
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| Wraparound | Text that's indented around a photo or artwork; also called a runaround or skew.
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| WYSIWYG | "What You See Is What You Get"; a phrase used to describe software that shows you exactly how documents should look when printed or viewed on a browser.
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| X-height | The height of a typical lowercase letter.
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