Ashley Soltis - Typographic Definitions B & H

Baseline

An imaginary horizontal line upon which the base of each capital letter rests.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bezier curves

A type of curve with nonuniform arcs, as opposed to curves with uniform curvature, which are called arcs. A Bezier curve is defined by specifying control points that set the shape of the curve, and are used to create letter shapes and other computer graphics. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Binary code

Number system using two digits: zero and one.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bit

Contraction of binary digit, which is the smallest unit of information that a computer can hold. The value of a bit (1 or 0) represents a two-way choice, such as yes or no, on or off, positive or negative.

 

 

 

 

Bitmap

A computerized image made up of dots. These are “mapped” onto the screen directly from corresponding bits in memory (hence the name). Also referred to as paint format. 

Bitmapped font 

A font whose letters are composed of dots, such as fonts designed for dot-matrix printers. Compare outline font and screen font. 

 

 

 

Body size

Depth of a piece of metal type, usually measured in points.

Body type

Text material, usually set in sizes from 6 to 12 points. Also called text type.

 

 

 

 

Boldface

Type with thicker, heavier strokes than the regular font. Indicated as “BF” in type specifications. 

 

 

 

Boot

A computer’s start-up procedures; coined from “pulling yourself up by your bootstraps.”

 

Bounding box

In drawing or page-description languages, a bounding box is an imaginary box within which an image is located. It represents the rectangular area needed to create the image. 

 

 

 

 

 

Backslant

Letterforms having a diagonal slant to the left.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hairline

Thinnest strokes on a typeface having strokes ofvarying weight.

 

 

 

 

 

Hand composition

Method of setting type by placingindividual pieces of metal type from a type case into acomposing stick. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hanging indent

In composition, a column format in which thefirst line of type is set to a full measure while all additional linesare indented. 

 

 

 

Hanging punctuation

Punctuation set outside the column measure to achieve an optical alignment.

 

 

 

Hard copy

Computer output printed on paper.

 

 

 

 

 

Hard disks

Large rigid disks having large storage capacity, fast operating speed, and permanent installation within the computer or a separate case.

 

 

 

 

 

Hardware

The physical equipment of a computer system,such as the CPU, input/output devices, and peripherals.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Header

An identifying line at the top margin of a document. A header can appear on every page and can include text, pictures, page numbers, the date, and the time. Headersrepeated throughout a document are called running headersor running heads. 

 

 

Headline

The most significant type in the visual hierarchy of a printed communication.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hot type

Type produced by casting molten metal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

HTML

See Hypertext markup language.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hyphenation

The syllabic division of words used when theymust be broken at the end of a line. In electronic typesetting,hyphenation can be determined by the operator orautomatically by the computer.