Dictionary of

Printingand Publishing

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Dictionary of

Printingand Publishing

Michael Barnard John Peacock

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Pira International

The facts set out in this publication are from sources which we believeto be reliable. However, we accept no legal liability of any kind for thepublication contents, nor for the information contained therein, nor conclusions drawn by any party from it.

No part of this publication other than that excluded below may bereproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form orby any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright holder.

First edition Chapman and Hall 1990Second edition Pira International 2000

Pira International 2000

ISBN 1 85802 381 5

Published byPira InternationalRandalls RoadLeatherheadSurreyKT22 7RU

Tel: +44 (0)1372 802080Fax: +44 (0)1372 802079E-mail: publications@pira.co.ukhttp://www.piranet.com

Typeset in the UK by Heronwood Press

Printed and bound in the UK by TJI Digital

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IntroductionThe first edition of this dictionary was published in Chapman and HallsBlueprint list in 1990. Ten years is a long time in the vocabulary of industrieswhich have been subjected to rapid technological progress and we had undoubt-edly reached the sell-by date of The Blueprint Dictionary of Printing and Publishingwhen Pira acquired the Blueprint list towards the end of the millennium.

In this new edition we have tried, as before, to bear in mind two classes ofuser: the newcomer to the trade who needs help with traditional terms and theexperienced printer or publisher who must attempt to keep up with new tech-nical terminology, often originating in the computer industry.

Hence we have included words ranging from archaic mediaevalisms to tech-nocratic jargon although, in an attempt to contain the book to a manageable size,we have in this edition deleted some of the more obscure and obsolete language.

The sources we have consulted are many and various and we have alsoborrowed from some of our own work in particular The Print and ProductionManual. For the new computer-related and multimedia terms which we must allaccommodate in the 21st century we have relied heavily on David Penfoldsexcellent Multimedia and Communications Glossary, from which Pira has allowedus to extract many entries.

This is intended to be a functional, rather than an academic, work. We havenot struggled to achieve any sort of uniformity in selecting parts of speech forheadwords, offering the form in which we believe a word is most often used inpractice. For this reason, we have not followed the dictionary convention ofidentifying parts of speech as this seemed to us unhelpful. Where there has beendebate about the precise definition of a term, we have opted for common usagerather than precision as the criterion, although we have sometimes offeredalternative uses.

Where we considered additional, tabular material would be helpful (forexample, in explaining paper sizes, metric conversions etc) we have includedthis in an appendix at the back of the book to try to avoid the blocks of textwhich can sometimes inhibit reference by interrupting easy visual access toalphabetical sequence.

Despite much scanning by colleagues and comparison with other works, weare no doubt guilty of some obvious omissions, but short-run printing tech-niques will allow us to remedy our errors quite soon in the next edition . . . soplease let us know.

MB and JP

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1-bit, 8-bit and 24-bit colour The number of bitsof information (colour resolution) that can berepresented in the pixels (dots) on the screen.The higher the number of bits, the more coloursor grey scales you can have. In turn, the higherthe number of bits, the more memory isrequired to handle them, so the number ofcolours is limited by the size of the computermemory, rather than the monitor used. 8-bitand 24-bit are the most commonly used. 1-bitcolour is monochrome line. See bilevel coding.

10Base2 A type of Ethernet, in which computersare connected by thin coaxial cable, commonlyknown as thin Ethernet or thinnet. (See alsocheapernet.)

10Base5 The original thick Ethernet cablingstandard, which uses thick yellow cable.

10Base-T A type of 10 Mbps Ethernet, in whichcomputers are connected by twisted pair cable.

16-bit Describes hardware or software that man-ages data, program code and memory addressinformation in words that are two bytes or 16bits wide.

16-bit computer Developed in the mid-1970s, 16-bit computers are capable of handling data inmultiples of 16 bits. See 8-bit computer, 32-bitcomputer.

100Base-FX Part of the 100Base-T standard,requiring fibre-optic connections.

100Base-T A 100 Mbps Ethernet standard, whichis based on CSMA/CD technology, also calledFast Ethernet. Includes 100Base-TX, whichrequires two twisted pairs and 100Base-T4,which requires four pairs (but of lower-qualitycable).

24-bit colour See under 1-bit colour.2B+D See basic rate ISDN.2B1Q See two-binary, one-quaternary.32-bit Describes hardware or software that man-

ages data, program code and memory addressinformation in words that are 4 bytes or 32 bitswide.

32-bit computer A machine capable of handlingdata in multiples of 32 bits. See 8-bit computer,16-bit computer.

3DO A games system including animation,which will also play audio CDs, allow Photo-CD to be viewed and will eventually playvideo CDs using MPEG.

431A The type of plug that fits a standard type600 BT telephone socket.

8-bit colour See under 1-bit colour.8-bit computer Describes computers that employ

an 8-bit data word. See 16-bit computer, 32-bitcomputer.

AA The A series is an international IS0 range of

paper sizes reducing from 4A at 1682 3 2378mmthrough A0 at 841 3 1189mm to A10 at26 3 37mm, with subsidiary RA and SRA sizes.Each size folds in half to preserve the same pro-portions of 1:=2 at each reduction. (See also B,C.) See Appendix.

AA Authors Alteration. See authors corrections.AAL See ATM adaptation layer.A&I Abstracting and indexing: the act of mak-

ing summaries and indexes for books or jour-nal articles.

ABA American Booksellers Associationabbreviated addressing A process which enables

a programmer to use an address that has fewercharacters than the full address, providing afaster means of processing data as the shorteraddress requires less decoding time.

ABI See application binary interface.abort Controlled termination of a processing

activity in a computer system.abrasion resistance Measured resistance of a

material surface (e.g. paper) to abrasion.abridgement The concise version of esp. a book.absolute humidity Quantity of water vapour in

a unit volume of atmosphere. Contrast relativehumidity.

absorbency The degree in which paper takes upcontact moisture measured by a standard test.In optics, a transparent materials degree ofsuppression.

absorption Absorption or penetration is one of thefour principal ways in which inks dry; it isassociated most readily with coldset web-offsetprinting on newsprint. The other three methodsare oxidation, polymerisation, and evaporation.

abstract Short summary of the contents of an aca-demic paper or scientific article.

AC Authors Correction. See authors corrections.accelerated ageing Testing of paper to determine

strength loss or other physical changes causedthrough ageing.

accelerator Chemical, such as borax, used tospeed up the development of photographicfilm.

accelerator card An add-on device which can beinstalled into a computer to speed up certainprocesses, e.g. graphics performance.

accents Marks added to letters in some lan-guages to indicate a stress, e.g. (acute e) inFrench.

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acceptable use policy (AUP) The official policyapplied by networks concerning the use towhich the network may be put. NSFNET, forexample, does not allow commercial use.Different networks have different AUPs.

acceptance testing The process by which a manu-facturer tests a new system to demonstrate thatit is in working order. (See also beta testing.)

access The ability to retrieve data from a com-puter storage medium or peripheral device.

access class In SMDS, the type (or bandwidth)of access. Different types of access line offerdifferent access classes, ranging from 1.17Mbps to 34 Mbps.

access control 1. The control system in computernetworking imposed by hardware and soft-ware controls. 2. The controlled use of databaseinformation in such a way that restrictions maybe imposed on the data items available and theoperations that may be performed.

access control list (ACL) A list giving the ser-vices available on a server, showing whichhosts are permitted to use which service.

access fee Fee charged by a museum or galleryfor the facility of photographing items in itscollection. Also called a facility fee.

accession number Serial number used in alibrary indexing system which shows when thenew book was first acquired.

accessions New books added to a library.access provider See Internet service provider.access time The time taken to retrieve data from

a computer storage medium or a peripheral.accordion fold Parallel folds in paper, opening

like an accordion bellows, each in an oppositedirection from the preceding fold.

accordion insert Periodical insert with accordionfold.

accumulator A computer store location for arith-metical calculation.

Accunet A switched 56 kbps service provided byAT&T in the US. A forerunner of ISDN.

acetate Transparent sheet of film fixed over cam-era-ready artwork used for positioning reproor for marking instructions.

acetate proofs Acetate sheets, available in differ-ent colours, which can be developed and usedas prepress proofs. Also called colour overleafproofs. (See also Cromalin, Matchprint, plasticproof.)

acetone Fast-drying solvent used in printing.achromatic colour An intermediate grey level in

the monochromatic grey scale in computergraphics.

achromatic separations Colour separations pro-duced by CCR (complementary colour

removal). The black printer carries more detailthan with conventional separations and the ter-tiary, or complementary, elements of anycolour hue are removed. Also called ICR (inte-grated colour removal) or GCR (grey compo-nent replacement).

acid-free paper Generic term to describe paperwhich is free from acid-producing chemicalswhich reduce longevity. See permanent paperand neutral sized paper.

acid resist Acid-resisting coat on printing plate.ACK See acknowledge.ACK (acknowledgement) The ASCII character

with code 6. An acknowledgement that a pre-vious transmission has been correctly received.Also an acknowledgement number in a TCPheader giving information about the receiverto the sender.

acknowledge In data communications, a charac-ter transmitted by a device as a response to asignal from another device to acknowledgethat a connection has been achieved.

acknowledgements page Page of a book inwhich the author gives his list of sources andreferences.

ACL See access control list.ACN See Advisory Committee on Networking.acoustic coupler A device that permits data

transmission through a telephone handset overthe public switched telephone network bymodulating audible (analogue) tones.

Acrobat A technology developed by AdobeSystems that allows documents created on onecomputer system to be read and printed on othersystems. The technology uses portable docu-ment format (pdf) files, which are producedeither directly as a print option in the sourceapplication or by running PostScript codethrough a program called Acrobat Distiller. Allformatting information is embedded in the com-pressed file and graphics and font informationcan also be included. If the fonts in the documentare not present on the system where the docu-ment is viewed, Multiple Mastering technologyis used to simulate those fonts. Acrobat can beused for proofing (particularly in conjunctionwith ISDN) and for electronic publishing,although the facsimile of the printed page is notalways an ideal format for viewing on-screen.The latest version (Acrobat 3.0) was described asAmber during development and allows morecapability in viewing documents over the WorldWide Web.

acronym Abbreviation, usually in the form of apronouncable word, made up of the initial let-ters of other words.

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across the gutter Printed over the gutter marginof a book.

acrylic A polymer based on synthetic resin andused for surface coatings among other applica-tions. Acrylic coatings are tough, flexible andwaterproof.

ACs Authors corrections.action cycle The complete set of actions, includ-

ing origination, input, processing, output andstorage, performed on data.

activation The process, in computer networks,by which a component is prepared to perfomits design task.

active document The part of an electronic docu-ment that is displayed in the current windowand is therefore receptive to commands fromthe keyboard or mouse.

active file A file that has an expiry date later thanthe job date.

active matrix A design of liquid crystal display.active vocabulary In speech recognition systems,

the default built-in vocabulary to which addi-tional words can be added by the user.

ActiveX A set of utilities developed by Microsoftas an answer to Java, so as to allow interactivecontent to be run over the Internet. ActiveX isan implementation of OLE and thus limited toapplications running under MicrosoftWindows.

activity loading A method of storing records in afile which allows the most used records to belocated more readily.

AD 1. See administrative domain. 2. See air-drypulp.

adapter In computing, an add-on board or otherplug-in device which provides support foradditional facilities: more memory, more com-munications capabilities, more network facili-ties etc.

adaptive answering The ability of a fax modemto decide whether an incoming call is a fax ordata call.

adaptive digital pulse code modulation(ADPCM) A compression technique in whichthe difference between successive samples isencoded, rather than their values. This increas-es the amount of audio that can be stored on aCD about 16-fold. ADPCM is used on CD-ROM XA and CD-I disks.

ADAR Air-dried all rag paper.ADB See Apple Desktop Bus.ADC See analogue-to-digital converter.ADCCP See advanced data communication con-

trol procedure.A/D conversion See analogue to digital conver-

sion.

add/drop multiplexer A device that can extractcertain specified lower-bandwidth signalsfrom a high-bandwidth signal and insert otherlower-bandwidth signals.

addendum Late addition to book after printing,often as a pasted-in slip.

adder In computer architecture, the device thatcompiles an output from the sum of two ormore input numbers.

additive Substance added to ink to control suchperformance characteristics as covering power,drying, permanence etc.

additive colour The production of colour byblending different colours of light. Colour (RGB)computer monitors and television sets use addi-tive colour. Blending equal amounts of red,green and blue light gives white light and othercombinations give other colours. This should becontrasted with the way in which we normallysee, using white light, when the colour perceivedis made up of the wavelengths reflected by anobject, with those absorbed subtracted.Subtractive colour is used in printing (seeCMYK). It should also be noted that devicesusing additive colours have a colour gamutwhich does not include all the colours that canbe viewed in nature. (See also 1-bit, 8-bit and 24-bit colour.)

additive primaries Red, green and blue, whichwhen added together as light appear as white.Known also as the light primaries. Their com-plements or opposites are known as the lightsecondaries: each one is made up of twocolours out of the three, taken in turn. They arecyan (i.e. minus red), magenta (i.e. minusgreen), yellow (i.e. minus blue).

add-on board An expansion board (or card) thatis inserted into one of the computers expan-sion slots to provide additional features suchas additional memory, communications,graphics etc.

add-on device See peripheral.address The sequence of bits or characters that

identifies the station to which a message orpacket of data must be routed. See electronicmail address, Internet address, MAC mediumaccess control address, memory address, net-work address, SCSI address.

addressability The number of addressablegraphics points within a defined display orimage area.

address checking A security procedure in whichthe router checks the network (IP) address.

address field The particular portion of a com-puter word containing either the address of theoperand (item of information being operated

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upon) or the information required to derive thataddress.

address format The arrangement of the parts ofan address to identify a sector or track on amagnetic disk.

addressing 1. Assignment of addresses to theinstructions in a program. 2. The communica-tions method by which an originating unitselects a device to which to send a message.

address mask Used to identify which bits in an IPaddress correspond to the network address andwhich to the subnet portions of the address. Thismask is also referred to as the subnet maskbecause the network portion of the address canbe determined by the class encoded in an IPaddress.

Addressograph Proprietary name of a machinewhich uses individual plates to print namesand addresses.

address resolution Conversion of an Internetaddress into the corresponding physical(Ethernet) address. See address resolutionprotocol.

Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) The TCP/IPprotocol used to find an Ethernet address froman Internet address. An ARP packet contain-ing the Internet address of a host is transmittedand the Ethernet address will be returned bythat host or by another host. Each host cachesaddress translations to reduce delay. ARPallows Internet addresses to be independent ofEthernet addresses but only if all hosts supportit. Hosts that do not support ARP use constantmapping.

address screening The procedure in SMDSSwitched Multimegabit Data Service by whicha user can control the destinations and/or thesources of information.

address track A track on a magnetic disk con-taining the addresses of files and recordsstored on other tracks of the same disk.

adhesive binding Binding style for books andmagazines involving the application of a hot-melt adhesive to the roughened or groundback to hold the pages and cover together. Alsocalled cut-back binding, perfect binding,thermoplastic binding, threadless binding.

adjacent channel The communications channelin closest proximity, physically or electrically,to the one in use.

adjust An editing feature in wordprocessing bywhich the processing software automaticallyadjusts the right-hand margin for the insertionor deletion of copy during playback and bywhich word wrap is automatically performed.

ADMD See administration management domain.

Administration management domain (ADMD) Apublic X.400 Message Handling System telecom-munications provider. Examples are MCI Mailand ATT Mail in the US and British TelecomGold400 Mail in the UK. Together, the ADMDsin all countries provide the X.400 backbone.

administrative domain (AD) The hosts, routersand network(s) managed by a single adminis-tration.

Adobe Leading graphic arts software developerwith many industry-standard applications.

Adobe Illustrator A drawing program with vec-tor imaging and editing software.

Adobe PhotoShop See PhotoShop.Adobe Systems, Inc. Software development house

responsible for some of the early software whichled to the creation of desktop publishing. Inparticular, the developers of the PostScript pagedescription language which has become the defacto standard. Other programs include:Illustrator, a popular graphics package; AdobeType Manager, which offers high-resolutionfont images on screen; Photoshop, for retouch-ing; and Acrobat, a technology that allows doc-uments created on one computer system to beread and printed on other systems.

Adobe Type Manager (ATM) A program thatuses Type 1 PostScript fonts to display type onthe screen to provide the best on-screen rendi-tion that the resolution of the display screenallows. ATM will also allow output of Type 1fonts to a non-PostScript printer. See fonts,outline fonts.

Adonis A document delivery service based onthe supply of scanned images of the full textand graphics of a large number of biomedicaljournals. The service was initiated by a consor-tium of European scientific publishers.

adopt Include a textbook on the official list ofbooks to be used in State schools.

adoption Approval for a book to be used in Stateschools.

ADPCM See adaptive digital pulse code modu-lation.

ADSL See asymmetric digital subscriber line.advance A prepublication payment by a publish-

er to an author from which royalties based onsales will subsequently be deducted.

advanced data communication control proce-dure (ADCCP) An ANSI-standardised bit-oriented synchronous data link control proto-col equivalent to HDLC (high-level data linkcontrol).

advanced peer-to-peer networking (APPN) AnIBM procedure that routes data in a networkbetween two or more APPC systems.

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advanced program-to-program communications(APPC) An implementation of the IBMSNA/SDLC protocol which allows communi-cation between interconnected systems so thatthe processing of programs is shared betweenthe systems.

Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) Anagency of the US DoD responsible for thedevelopment of new technology for use by themilitary (for some time called DARPA). Itfunded development of ARPANET (whichwas the basis of the Internet) and TCP/IP.

Advanced Research Projects Agency Network(ARPANET) The predecessor of the Internet,funded by ARPA. It became operational in 1968and was used for early networking research, aswell as providing a central backbone duringthe development of the Internet. TheARPANET consisted of individual computersinterconnected by leased lines using packetswitching to communicate. Protocols usedincluded ftp and telnet.

advance feed Sprocket holes in paper tape whichalign with code hole positions to indicate startof tape.

advance sheets Folded and collated sheets forthe publishers approval before binding.

advertorial Magazine article written by an adver-tiser with the aim of boosting a product or prod-ucts.

Advisory Committee on Networking (ACN) Acommittee of the Information SystemsCommittee of the UK Universities FundingCouncil.

aerograph See airbrush.A format paperback Massmarket paperback of

trimmed size 178 3 111mm.AFS See Andrew file system.against the grain Folding or cutting at right

angles to the grain of the paper. Contrast withthe grain.

agate Obsolete term for 5H pt type. Also calledruby. Standard measurement of advertisingcolumns: 14 agate lines = 1 column inch.

agent A program that acts as an intermediary inclient-server computing, preparing informa-tion and handling information exchange onbehalf of client or server. (See also intelligentagent, which implies that the agent is involvedin some decision-making process.)

AGV Abbreviation for automatic guided vehi-cle, a driverless or robot cart which travelsround a factory floor carrying materials, fin-ished products etc. Used extensively in mod-ern newspaper printing plants and in automat-ed warehouses.

AI See artificial intelligence.AIFF See audio interchange file format.air bar Bar on a web-offset press which conveys

the web of paper. Tiny holes in the bar float theweb on a minute cushion of air, preventing set-off. A modern development from the graterroller which transfers the web by physical con-tact (and sometimes leaves smudges and set off).

airbrush Small compressed-air gun for fine manu-al ink spraying on artwork, photographs etc.

air consignment note See air waybill.air-dried paper Paper dried by passing the web

through warm air with only minimum supportrather than on steam-heated cylinders. Usedfor high-quality production.

air-dry pulp Pulp with a standard moisture con-tent of 10%.

air gap The narrow air gap between a magneticread-write head and the disk surface.

air knife coater Device which applies a jet ofcompressed air to the coating on a web of paperto achieve a smooth level film while fluid.

air knife cooling Cooling using jets of com-pressed air.

airmail Lightweight paper, usually below40gsm, used for stationery when postage costis critical. Often coloured pale blue.

air shear burst Break in paper reel caused bytrapped air.

air waybill Air-transport term for the documentmade out on behalf of the sender as evidence ofthe contract of carriage by air freight. Alsocalled an air consignment note.

ALA American Library AssociationAlbert A name given by British Telecom to a

machine intended to combine telephone,wordprocessing, teletext and telex. It has longsince been abandoned.

Albion press An old cast-iron hand press still inuse for producing lithographs and other fineart printing work.

albumen plate Lithographic printing plate coatedwith albumen dichromate.

alcohol damping The use of alcohol as thedamping solution in a litho press.

alcohols Solvents used in some inks.Aldus Software house which led the DTP revo-

lution with the development of PageMaker,the first comprehensive page make-up packagewith PostScript output.

ALGOL Algorithmic Language. A computerhigh-level language used mainly for scientificand mathematical applications.

algorithm An arithmetical computer routine inthe form of programmed instructions whichperforms a recurring task.

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algorithmic language A language designed forexpressing algorithms such as ALGOL.

alias A method of allocating an easily rememberedname to an email address (if perhaps the actualaddress is hard to remember, e.g. CompuServeemail addresses); alternatively, if the mail soft-ware allows, a group of addresses, so that youcan send a message to a group of people whileapparently only using one address.

aliasing A possible undesirable result of display-ing or printing an analogue or continuousimage in a digital format, so that the image issplit into cells. This can create a jagged or pixel-lated image and is particularly noticeable onlow-resolution devices and in fine detail. (Seealso anti-aliasing, moir.) Aliasing also occursin the conversion of digital sound to analoguesound using a sound card. If the samplingrate, i.e. the frequency of extraction from thedigital sample, is too low, the sound is distort-ed. To avoid aliasing, a sound card with a sam-pling rate of around 40kHz is required.

align To line up type, horizontally or vertically,using a typographical criterion, e.g. base align-ment.

aligning numerals See lining figures.alignment The lining-up of printed characters,

with appropriate spacing.alignment pin Any pin or key that will ensure

correct connection of components.alkali resistance Quality in paper which resists

staining or discolouration by alkaline materials.alley Space between columns of type on a page

(US).allotter Computer device which directs files to

specific peripherals.alloy Composition of several metals.all rag paper Paper made from rag pulp.ALOHA A system of contention resolution

devised at the University of Hawaii (aloha is aHawaiian greeting). Packets are broadcast andthe sending system listens to see if they collideand, if so, re-transmits after a random time.Slotted ALOHA forces packets to start at thebeginning of a time slot. Basic ALOHA is par-ticularly appropriate for networks with longpropagation times, e.g. those including satel-lites.

alphabet A set of all the characters, digits andsymbols used in a language or work. A set ofthe characters used in a code language such asASPIC.

alphabetic character set One which contains let-ters, but not digits, but may contain controland special characters.

alphabetic shift The key or control for selecting

an alphabetic character set on an alphanumerickeyboard.

alphabetisation The sorting of words or phrasesinto alphabetical order. The alphabetisation ofindividual words is normally straightforwardenough, but alphabetising compound wordsand phrases requires rather more care. Thereare two broad schemes: word-by-word, wherecompound words and phrases are countedonly as far as the first word break (compoundwords are normally treated as two wordsunless the hyphenated prefix cannot stand onits own); or letter-by-letter, where compoundwords and phrases are counted all the waythrough to the first comma if there is one or ifnot to the end, ignoring all hyphens and word-breaks on the way. The first is the more tradi-tional (and in some ways the more intuitive)and is commonly used for general indexes; thesecond is the more explicit and eliminates anysubjective judgements, and is often used forglossaries or technical indexes.

alphabet length Length of a lower-case typefont.

alpha channels A feature used in the storage of24-bit images on the Macintosh, which uses32-bit QuickDraw. The remaining eight bitsare used by the alpha channels to hold infor-mation on other aspects of the image, such asmasks and layering effects, for use by bitmapeditors such as Adobe PhotoShop, in muchthe same way as in drawing programs. Theeffect is that different parts of the image can behandled independently.

alphanumeric Relating to the full alphabetic andnumeric character set of a machine.

alphanumeric data Data displayed using bothaphabetical and Arabic numerical symbols.

alphanumeric sort A computer sort of items intoalphabetical order.

alphasort To sort data into alphabeticalsequence.

alpha testing The testing of a software package ata first preliminary stage prior to a beta testing.

alt A Usenet newsgroup category, which standsfor alternative and includes many unconven-tional or controversial, topics.

AltaVista A search engine for the World WideWeb and for Usenet newsgroups. AltaVistawas mounted by DEC to demonstrate thepower of the alpha chip, on which it runs.

alum Aluminium sulphate. One of the maincomponents in papermaking size.

AM See amplitude modulation.Amber The development name for Adobe

Acrobat version 3.0, especially designed for

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transmitting and accessing Acrobat pdf files viathe World Wide Web. With this version it is pos-sible to view a document page by page as it isdownloaded, whereas previously, with earlierversions of Acrobat, it was necessary to down-load the whole document before any of it couldbe viewed.

amberlith Proprietary name for an orange acetatesheet with a peelable coating, used to makelight-proof masks when assembling films.

ambient conditions Those conditions pertainingto the surrounding medium (temperature,noise etc.).

ambient noise level A random and uncontrol-lable noise level in a circuit or at a location. Seenoise.

American National Standards Institute (ANSI)Creates standards for a wide variety of indus-tries, including computer programming lan-guages.

American Standard Code for InformationInterchange (ASCII) An agreed method of rep-resenting alphanumeric characters by 7-bit bi-nary numbers. ASCII represents the charactersthat can be keyed on a standard PC keyboard,plus some characters which provide certainfunctions, such as Bell, which produces a bell orbleep. 7-bit ASCII consists of 128 characters, andis sometimes called basic ASCII, plain ASCIIor flat ASCII. Although there has been no for-mal agreement, 8-bit characters are oftendescribed as extended or high-level ASCII andinclude many of the commonly used accentedcharacters and some other characters. ExtendedASCII consists of 256 characters. Note that thevalues for individual high-level characters differfrom the ANSI character set, which is used byMicrosoft Windows. (See also EBCDIC.)

America Online (AOL) A US online serviceprovider based in Vienna, Virginia, US. AOLoffers electronic mail, interactive newspapersand magazines, conferencing, software libraries,computing support, online classes and servicessuch as hotel and plane reservations and shop-ping. (See also Prodigy, CompuServe.)

ampersand Symbol (&) for the word and.amplitude modulation (AM) A form of trans-

mission in which the amplitude level of a car-rier frequency is changed to determine theencoded information. (See also frequencymodulation.)

amplitude modulation (AM) screening Tra-ditional screening method where the variation insignal (defining different shades of grey) gener-ates dots of different sizes positioned over a reg-ularly spaced cell structure (screen ruling).

Contrast FM screening, also called stochasticscreening, where the dots generated are all thesame or very similar minuscule size (microdots)but are spread over an area to lesser or greaterdegrees to give the shades of grey required.

AM screening See amplitude modulationscreening.

analogue Information that can vary in a continu-ous fashion (e.g. loudness of sound), containingno discontinuous elements. (Contrast digital.)The conventional telephone system uses ana-logue signals and thus modems are required toconvert digital signals for transmission overtelephone lines. Newer methods, such as ISDN,frame relay and asynchronous transfer modeare digital.

analogue computer A computer which repre-sents numerical data by analogous physicalvariables such as speed, length or voltagerather than by digital representation. Contrastdigital computer.

analogue loopback A self-test for modems tocheck the frequencies they are using.

analogue proof Proof produced by mechanicalmeans from physical materials, (e.g. a Cromalinproof produced from film) as distinct from a dig-ital proof produced from a computer file (e.g. anIris proof generated from a colour file).

analogue-to-digital conversion Conversion ofinformation from analogue form (such as theloudness of a sound) to digital (so that it can berepresented in a computer). (See also sam-pling, digital modulation.)

analogue-to-digital converter (ADC) A devicewhich produces digital output from an ana-logue input. Compare digital-to-analogueconversion.

analyse scanner or analyse unit The input half ofa colour scanner which scans the original andtakes the scanning signals into memory. As dis-tinct from the output scanner, which is the halfthat records the scanned signals onto film cre-ating the separations.

analyst A person who defines problems and sug-gests procedures for their solution.

anamorphic scaling Scaling in which one dimen-sion of a subject is reduced/enlarged to a dif-ferent proportion from the other dimension:e.g. a half-tone reduced 30% across the widthand retained at original size in the depth.

ancestral file A file back-up system (son to fatherto grandfather file), where the son is the cur-rent working file.

anchor A marker for the beginning or the end ofa hypertext link. Also used within wordpro-cessing and DTP processes to indicate where

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graphic or other imported information islinked to the main document text flow.

anchor point In DTP systems, a fixed pointwhich remains anchored to its original positionwhile the cursor moves other elements into dif-ferent positions.

AND A logical operation in which e.g. A AND Bhas a true result only if both of the variables Aand B are true.

AND gate Computer function interpreting theconcept AND in program code.

Andrew file system (AFS) The distributed file sys-tem developed in the Andrew Project, a distrib-uted system project at Carnegie MellonUniversity, subsequently adopted by the OSF(Open Software Foundation) as part of the DCE(Distributed Computing Environment) archi-tecture.

angle cutting In web sheeting, when the the webis cut at an angle rather than horizontally to themachine direction.

aniline ink Volatile ink which dries very quickly.Used in flexography, a relief printing processusing flexible, deformable plates.

aniline printing Obsolete name for flexography.anilo roller Roller used in flexography which

applies aniline ink.animal-sized paper Paper treated by passing it

through a bath of animal size (gelatine).animation Displaying a series of images with

slight differences between them, at a speed thatis fast enough to create the illusion of smoothmovement. (See also cel animation, Gouraudshading, morphing, Phong shading, tweening.)

anisochronous data channel A communicationschannel in which data, but not timing informa-tion, is transmitted. Also called an asynchro-nous data channel.

annotation In hypertext, a new node linked to anexisting node. If the software allows it, thisprovides both authors and readers with theopportunity to add additional information,which can be text, graphics, audio or video.

annotation symbol A symbol used by a pro-grammer to append messages or notes to aflowchart.

anodised plate Printing plate used for offsetlitho and specially coated to prevent oxida-tion.

anonymous ftp The facility to transfer documents,files, programs and other archived data over theInternet by ftp to a standard guest account withlogin name anonymous or ftp and the userselectronic mail address as password. Access isthen provided to a special directory hierarchycontaining the publicly accessible files, typically

in a subdirectory called pub. It is not possible toaccess other directories on the system.

ANSI See American National StandardsInstitute.

ANSI character set The character set adopted byANSI as the standard for computers; also thecharacter set used by Microsoft Windows.Unlike the ASCII character set, ANSI uses all 8bits, so that the character set comprises 256characters. The printable characters of theASCII character set have the same code in boththe ANSI and ASCII character sets. ANSI char-acters that are not displayed on the keyboardare accessed using the alt key on a PC key-board and the option key on a Macintosh key-board. In Windows, the characters can also beaccessed using the Character Map utility.

ansi.sys A configuration file needed in MS-DOS tobe able to display block graphics and othereffects.

answer Response of publishers computer sys-tem to a query about availability of a book.Usually indicated in code form, e.g. NYP (NotYet Published).

answer-only modem A modem (usually a verycheap one) which can receive messages but notsend them.

anthology A published collection of poems orstories by one author or several, usually select-ed by an editor.

anti-aliasing Ways of improving the display ofanalogue or continuous images in digital for-mats by reducing the pixellated appearance orreducing the creation of artefacts when thecolour resolution is low. Can use either dither-ing or grey levels. (See also aliasing, jaggies,hinting.)

anti-halation backing Coating on the back ofphotographic film which prevents halation.

antimony A metallic element forming part of thealloy used in metal type.

anti-oxidant Ingredient in an ink which extendsthe open time of an ink on press.

antique A printing paper with a rough finish butgood printing surface valued in book printingfor its high-volume characteristics. Also calledantique wove.

anti-rust paper Paper with additives which pro-tect metal surfaces against rusting.

anti set-off spray Fine spray sometimes appliedon printing machines at the final stage to pre-vent set-off.

anti-tarnish paper Paper with additives whichprotect bright metals against tarnishing.

AOL See America Online.APDU See application protocol data unit.

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aperture Lens opening on a camera, expressed asan F number.

API See application program interface.APL A powerful algorithmic language employ-

ing an extensive set of data structures andoperators.

apochromatic Lenses which focus blue, greenand red in the same plane.

Apogee Digital workflow and production sys-tem produced by Agfa using the pdf format forstandardising and controlling pages.

apparent density Weight of paper per unit ofvolume.

apparent specific gravity See apparent density.APPC See advanced program-to-program com-

munications.appearing size The physical size of a type, as

opposed to its nominal point size. Two type-faces of the same point size can have very dif-ferent appearing sizes.

appendix Addition to a book or document fol-lowing the main text.

Apple Popular make of computer widely used inthe graphic arts industries.

Apple Computer, Inc. Manufacturer of theMacintosh range of personal computers aswell as the earlier Apple I, Apple II and Lisa.Founded in 1983 by Steve Jobs and SteveWozniak.

Apple Desktop Bus A system for connectinginput devices to the Macintosh.

Apple File Exchange A utility that allows aMacintosh to write disks in IBM-PC format.

AppleLink An electronic mail and informationservice reserved for Apple employees, devel-opers, universities, user groups, dealers etc.,which provides product announcements andupdates (for third-party products as well as forApple products) and technical information.

AppleShare File server software from Apple forhandling networked or connected Macintoshcomputers.

applet See Java applet.AppleTalk A proprietary local area network

protocol developed by Apple Computer, Inc.for communication between Apple products,principally the Macintosh, and other com-puters. AppleTalk is built into the Macintoshand is independent of the network layer onwhich it is run. EtherTalk is an implementationof AppleTalk on an Ethernet LAN. (See alsoLocalTalk.)

application Software such as a wordprocessor orspreadsheet that is used to perform a specifictype of work.

application binary interface (ABI) The interface

via which an application program accesses theoperating system. Binary-compatible appli-cations should run on any system with theappropriate ABI. (See also API.)

application icon In Windows, a graphic that rep-resents a running application: it appears afterthe application has been started but then mini-mised.

application layer The top layer of the ISO seven-layer model, which handles aspects such as net-work transparency and resource allocation. Theapplication layer is concerned with the usersview of the network, areas such as electronic mail,directory services and file transfer. The presenta-tion layer (the next layer) provides the applica-tion layer with a local representation of data thatis independent of the format used on the network.

application-level gateway A filter or series of fil-ters specially written to permit or prevent thetransmission of specific applications through asecurity gateway or firewall. Provides a highlevel of security as it also allows all traffic to bemonitored.

application program interface (API) The interfacethat an application program uses to requestoperating system and other services. An API canalso provide an interface between a high-levellanguage and lower-level utilities and services.For Windows, the API also helps applicationsmanage windows, menus, icons and other GUIelements. For a local area network and on theInternet, an API provides applications withroutines for requesting services from lower lev-els of the network or from communication pro-tocol stacks. (See also ABI.)

application protocol data unit (APDU) A packetof data exchanged between two applicationprograms across a network. This is at theapplication layer of the OSI seven-layermodel and may actually be transmitted as sev-eral packets at a lower layer including extrainformation for routing etc.

application service element (ASE) Software inthe presentation layer of the OSI seven-layermodel, which provides an interface to handleAPDUs. Because applications and networksvary, ASEs are split into common services andspecific services.

applications package A suite of computer pro-grams used to solve problems specific to a par-ticular application, e.g. business, financial,scientific.

applications program A program written toaccomplish a specific task (such as wordprocess-ing), as opposed to administrative or utility pro-grams.

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applications software Programs which areapplied to solve specific problems, such asbusiness systems.

APPN See advanced peer-to-peer networking.APR Asahi Photosensitive Resin. Proprietary

Japanese product for the manufacture ofphotopolymer plates.

aquatint Type of print using mottled areasdesigned to resemble water-colour painting.

aquatone Form of collotype printing using afine-screen gelatine-coated plate and offsetprinting.

AR Aspect ratio.arabic figures The numerals 1, 2, 3, 4 etc. as dis-

tinct from the Roman I, II, III, IV. Evolved fromArabic symbols. Arabic figures can be typesetas lining or non-lining figures.

Arachnophilia A Windows freeware HTML edi-tor, available from ZDNet, that can also beused to create Web pages from RTF docu-ments.

archetype Document or book written about thetypical themes and motifs of a particular timeand subject.

Archie A system to automatically gather, indexand serve information on the Internet. Theinitial implementation provided an indexeddirectory of filenames from all anonymous ftparchives. Later versions provide other collec-tions of information. (See also archive site,Gopher, Prospero, wide area informationservers.)

architecture The design or arrangement of com-ponents in a microprocessor.

archival paper A paper with long-lasting quali-ties, usually with good colour retention. (Seealso permanent paper.)

archive To store data economically offline forfuture use in a computer system.

archive site An Internet host where files arestored for public access via anonymous ftp,Gopher, World Wide Web or other file-han-dling tools. There may be several archive sitesfor, say, a Usenet newsgroup, where one maybe recognised as the main one and the othersact as mirrors. Archive sites are also known asftp sites and ftp archives. (See also Archie.)

arc lamp Lamp that produces light by a currentwhich arcs across two electrodes, usually ofcarbon (thus, carbon arcs). Used as a lightsource in photography or plate-making.

ARCnet See Attached Resource ComputerNetwork.

area composition See page make-up.area make-up Bringing together text and graph-

ics into a page or area layout.

area storage A buffer of storage reserved for livedata en route between a peripheral and itsstorage destination in a computer.

arithmetic unit Computer unit which performscalculations.

ARP See Address Resolution Protocol.ARPA See Advanced Research Projects Agency.ARPANET See Advanced Research Projects

Agency Network.ARQ See automatic repeat request.array A series of items arranged in a meaningful

pattern. In many programming applications,the term is taken to refer simply to an area setaside to store program data.

arrow Printing sign used to indicate direction.arrowhead Printed sign which usually refers

to a cross-reference.art See artwork.artboard Woodfree board coated to a high finish

for fine printing of half-tones.art canvas Loose wove, strong cotton with a tis-

sue lining. Used in bookbinding.artificial intelligence (AI) The development of

processors that can perform functions normal-ly identified with human intelligence such asreasoning, learning and self-improvement insuch a way that a device can improve its ownoperation.

artificial parchment A paper which simulatesparchment.

art paper Paper coated with china clay and pol-ished to a high finish.

art platen Platen printing machine used forproofing or printing half-tones.

artwork 1. Original illustrative copy or typesettingready for reproduction at pre-film stage. 2. Illus-trations, designs or photographs used in print-ing.

Artype Proprietary name for a make of transfertype.

AS See autonomous system.ascender The part of a letter extending above the

x-height, as e.g. in b, d, h, k and l. (See alsodescender.)

ASCII See American Standard Code forInformation Interchange.

ASCII coding See American Standard Code forInformation Interchange.

ASDL See asynchronous digital subscriber loop.ASE See application service element.A series See A.ash or ash content Residue of paper after incin-

eration, gauged by standard test. Representsthe amount of loadings and fillers (mineralcontent) that there are in the paper.

ASN See autonomous system number.

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ASN.1 Abstract Syntax Notation One. The OSIlanguage for describing abstract syntax, usedin the presentation layer of the OSI seven-layer model to describe the sort of informationbeing exchanged.

aspect ratio The ratio of width to height.Common uses are to describe a pixel, a displayscreen or a graphic. Although square pixels(1:1) are considered preferable, most displaysuse aspect ratios of about 5:4. The aspect ratioof graphics will not always appear to be thesame on paper as it does on screen (partlybecause the pixel aspect ratio is not 1:1). Whengraphics are transferred from one softwarepackage to another, care needs to be taken topreserve aspect ratios.

ASPIC Acronym for Authors Symbolic PrepressInterfacing Codes: an early generic coding sys-tem.

ASR Answer Send and Receive. Machine whichcan send to and receive from a computer bypaper tape.

assembler A computer program which convertsa low-level language into machine code.Compare compiler, which converts a high-level language into machine code.

assembler box Part of a Linotype composingmachine in which the line is assembled.

assembly Bringing together pieces of film tomake up rows of pages and produce finalimposed foils for platemaking. Also calledplanning.

assembly language A low-level computer lan-guage which needs an assembler to translate itinto machine code.

assigned numbers The RFC in which the cur-rently assigned values used in network proto-col implementations are documented. ThisRFC is updated periodically and current infor-mation can be obtained from the IANA(Interernet Assigned Numbers Authority).The IANA assigns numbers to new protocols,ports, links etc.

asterisk Star-shaped symbol (*) often used as afootnote reference mark.

asymmetrical modulation A scheme in whichthe use of a communications line is maximisedby giving a larger share of the bandwidth tothe modem which is transmitting the mostinformation.

asymmetric digital subscriber line (or loop)(ADSL) A digital telecommunications protocolthat allows transmission of VHS quality videoover standard telephone lines. This means thatVCR-quality video could be delivered to homeswithout the need for rewiring. (See video on

demand.) Uses the principles of asymmetricalmodulation with upstream bit rates measuredin kbps and downstream bit rates of up to 9Mbps. Will also effectively provide a greaterbandwidth for access to the Internet to thoseusing dial-up connections over modems. Notethat this provides an alternative to ISDN. In theUS, provides part of the National InformationInfrastructure (NII).

asynchronous Not synchronous (or synchro-nised). Most often refers to data communi-cations in which the sending and receivingdevices do not have to be synchronised andthus the data is sent in groups or blocks, ratherthan as a steady stream, between two devices.The data must include start and stop bits toindicate the beginning and end of each groupor block. Asynchronous can also refer to eventsthat occur at different times rather than concur-rently, e.g. email communication is asynchro-nous. Similarly, a telephone conversation isasynchronous, in that signals are recognised,equivalent to start and stop bits, which indicatewhen to transfer control of the conversation.

asynchronous assignment In asynchronoustransfer mode, the manner in which individualcells are allocated to different users in responseto the varying demands of the traffic.

asynchronous computer A digital computer inwhich automatic progress from one operation tothe next is controlled by signals indicating thatthe previous operation has been completed.

asynchronous data channel See anisochronousdata channel.

asynchronous multiplexer A device which pro-vides an interface for up to 16 communicationsdevices (terminals, printers, keyboards).Programmable functions include parity check-ing.

asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) A high-bandwidth method of transporting informa-tion in short, fixed-length cells, designed tointegrate the transport of all services on a sin-gle network. Defined by the ITU-T for publicbroadband-ISDN. Also known as fast packetand generally associated with a fast packetswitching technology called cell relaying, inwhich information is handled in fixed celllengths of 53 octets.

AT&T American Telephone and Telegraph, Inc.One of the largest US telecommunicationsproviders. The Unix operating system and theC and C++ programming languages weredeveloped at AT&T Bell Laboratories. Until1983, AT&T had a monopoly on the supply oftelephone services in the US.

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AT command set A set of commands developedby Hayes Microcomputer Products for softwarecontrol of modems. This set was emulated inHayes-compatible modems and is now regard-ed as standard for modems used with PCs.

ATM See asynchronous transfer mode, auto-matic teller machine, Adobe Type Manager.

ATM adaptation layer (AAL) The interfacebetween services and the ATM (asynchronoustransfer mode) switching protocol. AAL 1 pro-vides a constant bit rate at source and destina-tion, thus emulating a private circuit or leasedline. AAL 2 emulates a variable bit rate service(e.g. voice). AAL 3 emulates a connection-oriented service. AAL 4 emulates a connec-tionless service (e.g. SMDS). AAL 5 is a nulladaptation layer.

ATS (Animal Tub Sized) Paper sized after man-ufacture with animal gelatine.

Attached Resource Computer Network(ARCnet) Originally a proprietary networkdeveloped by DataPoint; now no longer propri-etary. Uses a star topology and a token-passingprotocol. Slower than Ethernet at 2.5 Mbps butallows different kinds of transmission media(twisted pair, coaxial cable and fibre-optic cable)to be mixed in the same network. A revisedspecification called ARCnet Plus supports bitrates of up to 20 Mbps (see bits per second).

attachment A file sent with an email message.May be compressed or encoded using BinHexor uuencoding. In most cases uses MIME(Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) toenable the attachment.

attribute Property or characteristic. Within a DTD(document type definition), attributes may bedefined for SGML (Standard GeneralisedMarkup Language) (and HTML (HypertextMarkup Language)) tags or elements, as well aspossible values for an attribute. Within a docu-ment instance, a tag may include a particularvalue for an attribute. Within typography,attribute is used to mean type style, such as ital-ic or bold, while in paint and draw programs,attribute refers to line weights, colours andstyles, as well as to the colours and styles of fills.(See also element, entity.)

audio Sound on computers (and on audio com-pact discs and digital audio tape). This is han-dled by storing a sequence of discrete samples.The continuous (analogue) sound waveform ofthe original is sampled tens of thousands oftimes a second. Each sample represents theintensity of the sound pressure wave for eachfrequency at that instant. The quality of the dig-ital encoding is also affected by the number of

bits used. The encoding may be linear, logarith-mic or mu-law. Audio is replayed through asound card which converts the digital file backinto an analogue waveform. Sound is one com-ponent of multimedia. (See also audio IFF,audio interchange file formats and aliasing.)

audio bridge A way of connecting a small num-ber of telephone lines in order to provide anaudio conference. Audio bridges over ISDNare more effective than those over the PSTNbecause there are fewer problems with varyingaudio levels and background noise conditions.

audioconferencing A multi-party telephone con-versation. (See also computer conferencingand videoconferencing.)

audiographic teleconferencing Use of an elec-tronic whiteboard or shared screens as part ofteleconferencing.

audio IFF See audio interchange file format.audio interchange file format (AIFF, audio

IFF) A sound format developed by AppleComputer for storing high-quality sampledaudio and musical instrument information. Itis now also used by Silicon Graphics and someprofessional audio packages.

audiotex A system in which it is possible toaccess a database of audio messages using atouch-tone telephone. Is widely used as part ofvoice mail systems.

audio-visual (AV) Information provided onmedia that use both sight and sound, such assound tapes and slides.

audio-visual interleaved (avi) A video formatused within Windows. Files using this formatcan be replayed using the Windows MediaPlayer.

audit trail In workflow management, the facilityto keep track of all successive versions of doc-uments with information on when changeswere made and by whom.

AUP See acceptable use policy.authentication Verification of the identity of a

person or process. In a communication system,authentication verifies that messages reallycome from their stated source. (See also digitalsignature, encryption.)

authors corrections Corrections made by theauthor on proofs and changing the originalcopy, as distinct from printers error or literalsmade by the typesetter. Authors correctionsare by convention marked in blue; printerserrors or literals are marked in red.

author-date A bibliographical reference systemcomprising the authors name and date of pub-lication, e.g. Brown, 1984.

author-date system See Harvard system.

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authoring Creating a hypertext or hypermediadocument. There are a number of authoringlanguages, such as Apples HyperCard, as wellas an ever-increasing number of Web author-ing tools for creating HTML documents for theWorld Wide Web.

Authorware Interactive Studio Software fromMacromedia for developing interactive multi-media applications. Takes a more structuredapproach than the same companysMacromedia Director. (See also Shockwave.)

auto-answer A feature supported on manymodems and all fax machines which allowsincoming calls to be answered automatically,even if the user is not present.

auto-dial A feature of advanced modems, usual-ly used for call-back, so that the modem cancall automatically without human interven-tion.

autoflow In DTP systems, a facility which allowstext to flow automatically into a preset layoutor template.

autograph Written words in the authors hand-writing.

autographic transfer Method of reproducinghand-written material from a special hard-sized transfer paper by lithography.

autokerning See automatic kerning.autoleading In DTP, automatic leading set at

120% of the body type size.auto-lithography Drawing of original artwork

on a lithographic printing plate.automatic bootstrap loader Allows system start-

up from a variety of peripheral devices withoutthe need to enter commands from a keyboard.

automatic dialling unit A device (typically amodem) that is capable of automatically gener-ating signals which correspond to the dialleddigits of a call.

automatic error correction Referring to thedetection and correction (usually involvingretransmission) of transmission errors. Thedegree of correction will be dependent on theerror checking codes employed and equipmentconfiguration.

automatic feeder Device on a printing or foldingmachine which draws paper into the machine.

automatic guided vehicle See AGV.automatic heading The positioning of a heading

on consecutive pages by means of a genericinstruction at the start of a project, common onmodern page make-up systems.

automatic imposition equipment See projectionplatemaking equipment.

automatic kerning or autokerning The ability ofsome typesetting systems automatically to

adjust the letter fit of certain character combi-nations in text so that spacing is kept visuallyeven.

automatic pile delivery System on modernprinting machines which jogs printed sheetsinto an orderly pile and gradually lowers theaccumulating stack.

automatic programming Any technique em-ployed to simplify program writing such as theuse of an assembler to translate a programmerssymbolic code into machine language.

automatic repeat request (ARQ) An error controlprotocol used in modems, in which the receiverasks the transmitter to resend corrupted data.

automatic teller machine (ATM) Cash dispenserwhich uses credit or debit cards, authenticatedby the use of a PIN number.

automatic transfer press A web-fed press whichallows make-ready to proceed on one set ofplates while a job is still running on a second set.There is then no press stop when the new jobstarts.

autonomous system (AS) A collection of routersunder a single administration using a commonInterior Gateway Protocol for routing packets.

autonomous system number (ASN) Used forrouting on Internet. See autonomous system.

autopaster See flying paster.autoplate Machine for producing curved print-

ing plates.autopositive film Photographic material which

produces a positive image from a positive orig-inal without an intermediate.

auto-redial A feature supported on manymodems which allows redialling until a connec-tion is made. The redial time can usually be setto a value to suit the user. This is a particularlyuseful feature for dial-up connection to bulletinboards and Internet points of presence.

autoreversal film Type of film used for makingcontact film duplication without requiring anintermediate stage of negative or positive, i.e. will give a negative from a negative or posi-tive from a positive. Also known as direct-duplicating film.

autosplice See flying paster.autotracing The conversion of a bitmap to a vector

or outline image. Most autotracing programsare able to trace images in TIFF or pcx formatand output as Encapsulated PostScript.Autotracing is useful for converting imageswhich have been scanned to images which canbe manipulated using a draw program.

auxiliary storage See backing store.AV Audio-visual.avatar A computer-generated figure, intended to

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represent a human on a computer screen. In theearly days of videoconferencing, it was suggestedthat such an approach might be used to reducebandwidth requirements.

avi See audio-visual interleaved.a/w See artwork.azerty Keyboard arrangement used in France as

alternative to the standard qwerty keyboardarrangement of characters. Accommodatesaccents.

azure laid Blue-tinted laid paper, usually usedfor stationery.

azure wove As azure laid but without character-istic laid lines.

BB The B series is an international ISO range of

sizes designed for large items (wallcharts,posters) and falling between the A series sizes.(See also A, C.) See Appendix.

BA Booksellers Association.BABT approval Approval by the British

Approval Board for Telecommunications, indi-cated by a green circle. Any equipment, mostcommonly modems, requires this approvalbefore it can be legally connected to the UKtelephone system. A red triangle means thatapproval has not (yet) been obtained.

back 1. The binding edge of a book. The backmargin is the space between the type and boundedge. 2. In binding, to form a shoulder on eachside of the spine. See backing, rounding andbacking.

backbone The primary connectivity mechanismof a hierarchical distributed system. All stuband transit networks which have connectivityto an intermediate system on the backbone areassured of connectivity to each other.

backbone site A key Internet site, whichprocesses a large amount of third-party traffic,especially if it is the home site of any of theregional co-ordinators for the Usenet maps.(See also rib site, leaf site.)

back-edge curl Distortion of the back edge of asheet of paper usually caused by heavy solidstoo close to the back edge. Also, tail-end hook.

backer card Display card fixed to back of dumpbin or stand.

background Computer processing mode whichcan occur concurrently with the main use of the

machine, e.g. hyphenation and justification ofa text file while other material is being input.

background processing Low-priority tasks, in amultitasking environment, that are performedwhen higher-priority programs are inactive. Inwordprocessing, performance of a task such asprinting while the operator completes othertasks.

background program One which does notdepend on interaction with the user.

backing In binding, the operations which form ashoulder on each side of the spine. Also knownas jointing. In paper the carrier sheet for apeel-off stock.

backing store Mass storage medium on a com-puter, e.g. floppy disk, magnetic tape etc.

backing-up See back-up.back lining Strip of paper or fabric glued to the

spine of a book to give reinforcement strength.(See also first and second linings.)

back link A link back to the point from whichthe last link was made.

backlist Publishers list of those books publishedbefore the current date and still in print.

back margin The margin of a book nearest thespine.

back number Copy of a previous issue of a peri-odical.

back-of-book Pages in a periodical following theeditorial; often classified advertising.

backoff Where a host that has experienced acollision on a network waits for a (random)amount of time before attempting to retrans-mit.

backplane The wiring and connecting units that allow a computer to be connected to itsperipherals.

backplaning (or back planing) Method of reduc-ing the thickness of newly cast stereos (seestereotype) by trimming the reverse side on aplaning machine.

backs Combined back margins of a book.backslant Backward sloping typeface, i.e. oppo-

site to italic.backslash The slash character (\). It is used to

separate subdirectories in DOS commands.Note, however, that Unix uses the forwardslash command for this purpose and, as mostInternet hosts run on Unix machines, it is nec-essary for DOS users to remember this whenusing such programs as ftp.

backspace The movement of the cursor of aVDU or a printing head in a backwards direc-tion along a line.

back-step collation See black-step collation.backstrip A strip of paper or linen which is glued

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down the spine of a book after the pages havebeen sewn and rounded, prior to the case beingadded.

back swell A build-up of thread or glue at thespines of books during binding causing thespines to swell undesirably.

backup MS DOS command for saving selectedgroups of files held on from disk, usually thehard disk, to a back-up disk. (See also Restore.)

back-up The act of duplicating data for securitypurposes.

back-up ad Advertisement published in conjunc-tion with an insert or editorial announcement.

Backus-Naur form (BNF) A grammar of gram-mars (or metasyntax) for specifying the syntax ofprogramming languages, command sets etc.SGML and HTML Document Type Definitionscan be regarded as BNF grammars.

backward read A technique which allows a mag-netic tape to be read while the tape is runningbackwards.

backwater Liquid containing dissolved ingredi-ents in papermaking process, which is passedthrough the wire when stock is deposited. Alsoknown as whitewater.

BackWeb A push technology that enables Website owners to create their own controlledInternet channels to deliver targeted and per-sonalised content directly to end users. This israther like PointCast, except that PointCastsends only public information. BackWebspatented Polite Agent unobtrusively monitorsan Internet users online activity and, whenbandwidth is available, BackWeb incremental-ly downloads user-requested informationusing UDP (User Datagram Protocol). Becausethe downloads take place when data-transferlevels are otherwise low, they do not affect ausers other activities and real-time delaysappear shorter. Users are able to schedule dead-lines by which time files should be available.(See also Castanet and Netscape Netcaster.)

bad break Undesirable end-of-line hyphenationof a word.

bagasse Fibre sometimes used in papermakingobtained from sugar cane.

baggy paper Loosely wound web.BAK A filename extension used by several oper-

ating systems to identify backup copies of files.band A group of tracks on a magnetic disk. A

communications frequency range between twodefined limits.

Banda A type of duplicator, which draws theimage onto a sheet of special paper which isthen attached to a drum. The drum rotates andprints onto paper passing under it.

banding An effect seen on low-resolution print-ers when graduated fills are printed, in thatthe transition is shown in distinct, contrastingbands rather than in one continuous flow. Thehigher the resolution of the printer, the lessbanding will be visible. It is also possible toobserve banding on-screen, depending on thescreen resolution, but this does not mean thatthe bands will necessarily print.

band strapping Enclosing a stack of printedmaterial with a strong, thin plastic band tosecure it. The machine is a band strapper.

bandwidth Technically, the difference, in hertz(Hz), between the highest and lowest frequen-cies of a transmission channel or the range offrequencies required to transmit a signal.However, as typically used, the rate at whichdata can be sent through a given communica-tions circuit: e.g. voice over the telephone net-work requires a bandwidth of 3kHz whileuncompressed video requires a bandwidth of6MHz. See broadband, voice band, wideband.

bandwidth top-up The opening up of an ISDNchannel when a private circuit becomes con-gested. The channel is closed again when thetraffic subsides.

bang path A way of describing a UUCP elec-tronic mail address naming a sequence ofhosts through which a message must pass toget to the addressee. So called because eachhop is signified by a bang sign (or exclamationmark !). Now that Internet addressing isavailable, this notation is rarely used, althoughthe terminology is used to described thesequence of hosts through which a messagemay pass before it is delivered to the intendedrecipient.

bank Grade of lightweight writing and printingpaper used for correspondence, multi-part setsetc. Weights over 60gsm are known as bonds.

banner 1. Large headline on advertisement ornewspaper story. 2. Poster or cloth strip con-taining an advertising message.

barcode A horizontal strip of vertical bars of vary-ing widths, groups of which represent charac-ters. There are various different standards buteach symbol typically contains a leading quietzone, start character, data character(s) includingan optional check character, stop character and atrailing equate zone. In addition to convention-al barcodes, there are also radial and two-dimensional coding systems, which are used forspecialised applications such as automaticwarehousing. Barcode readers usually use visi-ble red light with a wavelength between 632.8and 680 nanometers.

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barcode reader See optical wand.baryta Heavy grade of coated paper sometimes

used for reproduction proofs.BAS A filename extension common to several

operating systems denoting BASIC sourceprogram files.

base alignment Aligning characters of differentsizes on the same line. See baseline, align.

baseband A transmission method through whichdigital signals are sent without modulation. Ingeneral, only one communication channel isavailable at any given time. Most local areanetworks are baseband networks, e.g. Ethernet.

baseboard artwork or baseline artwork Artworkpresented on a stiff base with a tissue overlayindicating colour splits.

base-level synthesizer The minimum capabilityrequired by the Microsoft MPC specificationfor a music synthesizer within MicrosoftWindows. It must be capable of playing at leastsix simultaneous notes on three melodic instru-ments, together with three simultaneous noteson percussion instruments. (See also MIDI.)

baseline The line on which characters are based,i.e. the line along the bottom of characters, suchas a, b and c, which do not have descenders (asin j, p, q and y). Line spacing is measuredbetween baselines. Leading is extra spacingadded, based on the strips of lead (the metal)which compositors used to add between blocksof type.

base paper Paper to which a coating is to beadded. Also called body paper or body stock.

BASIC Beginners All-purpose SymbolicInstruction Code. A widely used high-levelcomputer programming language.

basic bandwidth unit (BBU) The smallest unit ofbandwidth which can be allocated.

basic rate interface (BRI) See basic rate ISDN.basic rate ISDN (BRI) This is a UK version of

ISDN which consists of two 64 kbps channels(B bearer channels) for speech or data, plusa 16 kbps channel (D delta channel) usedfor signalling and control purposes. The aggre-gate data rate is thus 2 3 64 + 16 = 144 kbps.Basic rate ISDN is often referred to as 2B + D.BRI is the kind of ISDN interface most likely tobe found in a residential service.

basic size American paper term for the specifiedsheet size used to define basis weight.Different papers have different basic sizes: thebasic size applied to book papers is 25 3 380.

basil Grade of leather produced from sheepskinand used in the production of account bookbindings.

basis weight or substance 1. The weight of a

material, usually paper, defined in grams persquare metre. 2. (US) Weight in pounds perream of paper cut to basic size. Typical USweights for book papers are 50lb (equivalent to74gsm), 55lb (equivalent to 81gsm), 60lb(equivalent to 89gsm). See Appendix.

Baskerville Typeface designed by John Baskervillein the 18th century and still widely used.

bastard progressives Set of progressive proofsshowing every possible colour combination ofthe four process colours.

bastard size Non-standard size of any materialor format.

bastard title See half title.BAT An operating system filename extension

that denotes a batch file.batch Method of computer processing where

input data is collected into batches before pro-cessing, as distinct from real time or interactiveoperation. A batch pagination program is onewhere the machine operator sets up the specifi-cation parameters by using a menu, and thenallows the program to make up the text intopages with no further intervention. Contrast aninteractive page make-up program, whichrequires continuous dialogue with the operator.

Bath Information and Data Services (BIDS) Adata provision service at the University ofBath, providing bibliographic and electronicdocument delivery services to the UK highereducation sector.

batter Broken or damaged type, blocks or plates.battered Damaged printing surface.battery-backed RAM A form of non-volatile

storage in which power is permanently sup-plied to memory modules even when power tothe computer is removed.

baud The information-carrying capacity of a com-munication channel in terms of the number ofchanges of state or level per second, i.e. the fre-quency of electrical oscillation. This is the sameas the bit rate only for two-level modulationwith no frame or stop bits. Many people con-fuse bit rate and baud, probably because mostlower-speed modems have the bit rate and baudrate (also called symbol rate) identical. It istherefore less ambiguous to use the term bitsper second (bps) when describing modem ratesof transmission. The term baud was originally aunit of telegraph signalling speed, set at oneMorse code dot per second and named afterEmil Baudot (1845-1903), the French engineerwho constructed the first successful teleprinter.

baud barf The apparently random characterswhich appear on a monitor when a modem con-nection is used with some protocol setting (espe-

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cially line speed) incorrect, when voice commu-nication occurs on the same line, or when thereis really bad line noise. Baud barf is not com-pletely random, and experienced hackers (inboth the good and bad senses) can extract infor-mation from it about the sending modem.

Baudot code Five-bit code developed by theFrench engineer Emil Baudot in the 1870s (seebaud); still used for telex.

baud rate See baud.baudy language A graphical language for con-

veying feelings, also described as emoticonsand smileys. Obviously a pun on baud (and ofcourse body language) e.g. : ) = smile, ; ) =wink, : ( frown. The possibilities are limited onlyby imagination and the ASCII character set.

bboard See bulletin board system.BBS See bulletin board system.BBU See basic bandwidth unit.BCC See block check character.B-channel The main type of component channel

of ISDN services, used for carrying data orvoice. B stands for bearer. See basic rate ISDN.

BDG Binding.BDG/ND Binding/no date.beard Distance from the bottom of the x-height of

a piece of type to the bottom edge of the body.bearers 1. Type-high metal strips, surrounding

the type for protection when moulding stereo-types. 2. Flat surfaces at the end of printingpress cylinders.

beater (beating engine) Large vat used midwaythrough the papermaking process to refine liq-uid pulp. Replaced in modern papermaking bythe cone refiner.

beater-sized pulp Papermaking furnish to whichthe size is added during beating rather than ata later stage in the process. See internal-sizing,engine-sizing, sizing.

beating Part of the papermaking process wherefibres are mechanically treated in a cone-refin-er (beater) to modify their characteristics tothose required by the desired paper quality inmanufacture. Also, refining.

Because Its Time NETwork (BITNET) A wide-area academic computer network in the USbased originally on IBM mainframe systemsconnected via leased 9600 bps lines. Operatesas a single network with EARN in Europe andother networks in different parts of the world.

bed The flat metal part of a printing machinewhich holds the type form during printing.

beeper See pager.Bekk smoothness Measurement of smoothness

of paper surface using the Bekk instrument.bell A control character originally employed to

ring a bell on teletype equipment. Now morecommonly used to permit more codes than ispossible from the TTS six-level coding structure.

Bell 103 The variant of V.21 created by AT&Twhen it had a telephone system monopoly inthe US.

bell code Code permitting more commands thanis possible on the TTS six-level coding structure.

belt press Printing press using two continuousbelts for printing books in-line from a paperweb to a delivered book, ready for binding atthe end of the press. See Cameron belt press.

benchmark test A routine designed to evaluatethe performance of a device under typical con-ditions.

Ben Day Mechanical process of tint layingsuperseded by photographic screen tints.Named after its developer, Ben Day.

BER See bit error rate.Berkeley Internet Name Domain (BIND) An

implementation of a Domain Name Serverdeveloped and distributed by the University ofCalifornia at Berkeley. Many Internet hostsnow run BIND.

Berkeley Network (B-NET) Unix Ethernet soft-ware developed at the University of Californiaat Berkeley, which is regarded as the de factostandard and distributed by Unisoft.

Berne Convention International copyrightagreement signed in Berne in 1886.

Berners-Lee, Tim The leading developer of theWorld Wide Web at CERN in the early 1990s.

bespoke software Software written for a specificapplication for a single customer. Also, customsoftware.

best effort A classification for low-priority net-work traffic, used with reference to theInternet. Different kinds of traffic have differ-ent bandwidth requirements and therefore dif-ferent priorities: e.g. certain types of real-timecommunication, such as videoconferencing,need a certain minimum guaranteed band-width and latency and thus need a high prior-ity. Electronic mail, on the other hand, has noreal-time need and is classified as a best-effortservice.

beta ray gauge Device which uses radio isotopesto measure the weight of paper.

beta testing The stage at which software is testedunder real conditions, prior to general release.See acceptance testing and alpha testing.

bevel 1. Sloping surface of a piece of typebetween the face and the shoulder. 2. Outeredges of letterpress printing plate which arebelow type height and by which the plate issecured. Also known as a flange .

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Beyond Press Software package which allowsQuarkXPress files to be repurposed in HTMLfor the Web.

Bzier curve Geometric curve whose shape canbe defined through a series of intermediatepoints called control handles.

bf Bold face. See bold.B format paperback Massmarket paperback of

trimmed size 198 3 126.bible paper Very thin, strong, opaque printing

paper used where low bulk, or weight, is need-ed. Originally made for bibles and prayerbooks, also used for dictionaries and air mailedpublications.

Bibliographic Retrieval Service (BRS) Anonline information service providing indexedaccess to scholarly, scientific and technicalpublications. Two leading suppliers are BRSInformation Technologies and DIALOGInformation Services.

bibliography List of books and articles relatingto a written work, usually given at the end ofthe work. Each item in the list may includedetails of author, title, publisher etc.

biblio page Reverse of title page; the page whichgives bibliogrphical details about the book. Seecopyright page.

bibliophile A collector or lover of books.bi-directional printing Movement both from left

to right and right to left in a line printingmachine (e.g. daisywheel printer) thus increas-ing output.

BIDS See Bath Information and Data Services.biff To notify someone that they have incoming

mail. Named after a Unix utility, which was inturn named after a golden Labrador at theUniversity of California at Berkeley whichbarked when the post arrived.

bilevel bitmap, bilevel coding A black-and-white bitmap, in which each pixel is either onor off. Thus the two levels of a bilevel bitmapare black or white. Bilevel coding is used in faxwhere each pixel in a scan is represented aseither black or white with no representation ofa degree of greyness. Grey levels can be simu-lated on output by a mixture of black andwhite pixels in appropriate proportions.

bill Poster.bill of exchange A common payment instrument

for exporters, defined as an unconditionalorder in writing, addressed by one person toanother, signed by the person giving it, requir-ing the person to whom it is addressed to payon demand or at a fixed and determinablefuture time, a sum certain in money to theorder of a specified person, or to bearer.

bill of lading A statement of goods being carriedby sea, used as a document of title by the con-signor, and as a receipt by the shipping line.

bimetal plate Lithographic plate where theprinting image area base is usually brass orcopper, and the non-printing area is usuallyaluminium, stainless steel or chromium. Usedfor long runs.

binary See binary system.binary-coded decimal A numeric representation

system in which each decimal digit is repre-sented by four binary digits.

binary counter A computer component compris-ing a series of bistable devices, or flip flops,each storing one bit of a byte.

binary file Any file that is not ordinary text, i.e.one which contains more than just standard (7-bit) ASCII characters. This includes spread-sheet files, databases, executable programs andmost wordprocessing files.

binary synchronous communications (BSC,bisync(h) or bisynchronous communications)A protocol developed by IBM for half-duplexlinks and widely used in networks on main-frames. Bisynch communications need theclocks on the computers sending and receivingthe information to be synchronised before trans-mission begins. (See also asynchronous trans-mission.)

binary system (base two) A method of workingwith numbers based on only two digits, 1 and0. Used in all digital computing systemsbecause 1 and 0 can represent on and off, orconnected and disconnected. All data inputinto computer systems and transferred overcommunications links is therefore convertedfrom the everyday decimal system to binary.Octal and hexadecimal systems (based on 8and 16) are also widely used in computing.

binary transfer A File Transfer Protocol whichallows binary files to be transferred betweencomputers.

BIND See Berkeley Internet Name Domain.binder 1. Device for holding loose-leaf sheets.

2. Person who does bindery work.bindery Place where binding is carried out.binding 1. The process of fastening printed

sheets together and securing them in a cover. 2. The bound part of a publication, i.e. cover,stitching etc.

binding board or binders board Board used inthe covers of a case-bound book. Usually goodquality and single-ply. See case board, greyboard, millboard, unlined chipboard.

BinHex A Macintosh format for representing abinary file using only printable (i.e. ASCII)

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characters. Because BinHex files are simplytext, they can be sent through most electronicmail systems and stored on most computers,although it is necessary to obtain appropriatesoftware for non-Macintosh computers inorder to read and use these files. The suffix hqxusually indicates a BinHex format file. (Seealso BinHex 4.0, uuencode.)

BinHex 4.0 A 7-bit-wide representation of aMacintosh file with CRC error checking.BinHex 4.0 files are designed for communica-tion of Mac files over long paths. SomeMacintosh mailing systems will put attach-ments into BinHex 4.0 automatically, whichcan cause problems if the receiving machine isnot also a Macintosh.

BIOS Basic Input Output System: that part of anoperating system that controls the interfacewith computer hardware.

bipolar signal An electrical line signallingmethod used in digital communication, wherethe signal alternates between positive and neg-ative polarities.

B-ISDN See broadband ISDN.bisync, bisynch See binary synchronous com-

munications.bisynchronous communications See binary

synchronous communications.big-endian The ordering of the components of a

hierarchical name in which the domain nameis specified first.

bit An acronym for binary digit, the smallestitem of information which a computer canhold, being either 1 or 0, essentially represent-ing a switch being open or closed. More mean-ingful information is handled by using combi-nations of bits, called bytes. In serial commu-nications, bits are transferred one at a time.

bit bang Serial data transmission by rapidlychanging, in software, a single output bit atappropriate times. Bit bang was used on cer-tain early computers. The technique is nowbeing used again on some RISC architecturesbecause it takes very little pr