Friday 11 February 2011

useful typography vocab.

Words I thought I should know when learning about typography. I wanted to learn about the basics so than I can understand fully what is being described when reading more into typography.
Bitmap font: a font consisting of a bitmap for each letter, figure, or character comprising the font. A bitmap font is drawn to one size only and cannot be scaled (i.e. made larger or smaller) without severe degradation. Macintosh bitmap fonts also containing kerning information.
Font medium: the form a font takes – metal, photographic, or digital.
Glyph: the components of a font outline or shape (a stroke, an accent, etc.).
Kerning (noun): the portion of a letter that extends beyond the letter’s width; i.e., the letter shapes that overhang.
Kerning (verb): to adjust the spacing between characters in words to improve their appearance.
Punchcutting: cutting the master image of a typographic letter at its actual size on a blank of steel. The blank is used to make a matrix; molten lead flows into a matrix, producing a single piece of type.
Scalable font: a font that is mathematically defined so that it can be rendered at any requested size. Opposite of a bitmapped font.
Type designer: a person who designs letterforms intended for eventual manufacture as fonts. Includes designing new faces and redrawing existing faces.
Typeface: the features by which a character’s design is recognized. Six forms comprise the graphic shapes for Latin languages: uncial, black letter, serif, sans serif, script and decorative; each form contains a number of designs. For example, the serif form contains four designs – Old Style, Transitional, Modern and Slab Serif.
Type foundry: a manufacturer of metal type.
Typesetter: a person who sets type using either hot lead or digital type.
Typographer (modern sense):  a person with knowledge of typefaces, typography and printing methods. Typographers determine what typefaces will be used for books and other printing at publishing houses.

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