terms for Creative Professionals

A collection of key terms and definitions used by Creative Professionals. Learn more about them from Yes Im a Designer courses!

contiguous

rule of
thirds

master
page

Gutter

slug

rulers

drop
shadow

Bleed

Psd

rasterize

spread

pixel
font

sans
serif

stroke

negative
space

swatch

RGB

trace

value

cmyk

widow

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layout

dominance

vector

vibrance

rhythm

bezier
curve

scale

tiff

emboss
saturation

soft
proof

CROP

proportion

vector
mask

hierarchy

balance

emphasis

trim
mark

grayscale

composition
wire
frame

shape

unity

line

artboard

adjustment

texture

PNG

alpha

half
tone

selection

lossy

tracking

CMS

style
guide

invert

thumbnail

gradient

DTP

contour

layers

pantone

color

orphan

pixel
mask

contrast

alias

spot
color

mockup

leading

guide

FPO

kern

hsb

sharpening

hue

stock
photo

ppi

text
wrap

margin

histogram

process
color

cmyk

GIF

feather

baseline
shift

jpeg
body
copy

design

head

pdf

noise

responsive

lorem
ipsum

Masthead

smart
object

entry
point

resample

mood
board

canvas

DPS

blend
mode

filter
brigthness

action

opacity

greeking

grid

terms for Creative Professionals

A collection of key terms and definitions used by Creative Professionals. Learn more about them from Yes Im a Designer courses!

Graphic Design
Glossary
Action Recorded series of steps in
Adobe Photoshop for simplifying
repetitive tasks.
Adjustment Powerful tools in Adobe
Photoshop. They can enhance, repair,
and correct the color and tonality
(lightness, darkness, and contrast)
of an image. They can
be used nondestructively
as Adjustment
Layers.
Alias The
jagged edges
on curves
and diagonal
lines in a bitmap
image are known as aliasing. Aliasing
can be minimized with a smoothing
process called anti-aliasing which adds
additional pixels to make the edges
appear less jagged.
Alpha A fourth color component in
the RGB color model that represents
opacity. By changing Alpha values,
images can be rendered completely
transparent to completely opaque.
Artboard In Adobe Illustrator you can
use Artboards to organise your artwork
and save or print them out.

Balance One of the principles of design,

balance places elements on the page
so that text and graphic elements are
evenly distributed. In layouts with
an even balance the graphics dont
overpower the text and the page
doesnt seem to tilt to one side or the
other.
Baseline Shift The baseline is an
invisible line onto which all type
characters sit. Moving characters up
or down in relation to the baseline and
using it effectively can make a huge
difference to the professional look of
your type.
Bevel Raised effect created by applying
highlight and shadow colors to the
inside and outside edges of the border
of an image or text area in order to
create the illusion that the image or
text area has three dimensions. Also
see at Emboss.
Bezier curve Mathematically defined
curve used in two-dimensional graphic
applications. The curve is
defined by four points:
the initial position
and the terminating
position (which are
called anchors)
and two separate
middle points
(which are called
handles).

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Blend mode Blending modes determine

how the pixels in a layer blend with
pixels on underlying layers. Most
commonly used modes are Normal,
Multiply, Screen and Overlay.
Bleed When an image or
printed color extends
beyond the trimmed
edge of a page, it is
called a bleed.
Bleeding ensures
that the print
extends to the
edges of the
paper. The paper is
usually trimmed to
the desired size after
printing.
Body copy Main text
part of an advertisement
or any printed matter (as distinct from
the logo, headline, subheadings, and
graphics) that provides the meat
of the communication. Usually a
professional copywriter writes the body
copy.
Brightness The brightness (light/
dark) of an image, the intensity
of a light source or color
luminance.
Canvas Working area in Adobe
Photoshop, which can be
extended or reduced to fit more
image content into the document.

CMS Color management is the

controlled conversion between the
color representations of various
devices, such as image scanners, digital
cameras, monitors, TV screens, film
printers, computer printers, offset
presses, and corresponding
media. The primary goal
of color management is
to obtain a good match
across color devices
CMYK The CMYK
color model (process
color, four color) is
a subtractive color
model, used in color
printing, and is also used
to describe the printing
process itself. CMYK refers
to the four inks used in some
color printing: cyan, magenta,
yellow, and key (black).
Color Colors are the life of any type of
graphic designing. Without effective
colors it is nearly impossible to design
a winning brand identity. Every color
has its own meaning and each color
describes different purpose and idea.
One must take care of the selection
of the color that it should exactly
communicate about the brand and
companys mission and vision. Color
can aid organization so develop a color
strategy and stay consistent with those
colors. Color can give emphasis to
create a hierarchy.
2

terms for Creative Professionals

A collection of key terms and definitions used by Creative Professionals. Learn more about them from Yes Im a Designer courses!

Composition In the visual arts

in particular painting, graphic
design, photography and sculpture
composition is the placement or
arrangement of visual elements or
ingredients in a work of art, as distinct
from the subject of a work. It can also
be thought of as the organization of
the elements of art according to the
principles of art.
Compression There are two types of
image file compression algorithms:
lossless and lossy. Lossless
compression algorithms reduce file size
while preserving a perfect copy of the
original uncompressed image. Lossy
compression algorithms on the other
hand allow for variable compression
that trades image quality for file size.
Contiguous is a term used in Adobe
Photoshop for a couple of tools
(like the Magic Wand). It means
neighbouring, adjacent or connected.
If this option is checked then the
Magic Wand will only sample from
neighbouring areas with similar colours
and will stop at the edges. When turned
off the selection can spread freely.
Contour/silhouette The image of a
person, object or scene represented as
a solid shape of a single colour, usually
black, its edges matching the outline of
the subject. The interior of a silhouette
is featureless, and the whole is typically
presented on a light background,

usually white, or none at all

Contrast A principle of art, contrast
refers to the arrangement of opposite
elements (light vs. dark colors, rough
vs. smooth textures, large vs. small
shapes, etc.) in a piece so as to create
visual interest, excitement and drama.
The colors white and black provide the
greatest degree of contrast.
Complementary colors
also highly contrast
with one another. An
artist can employ
contrast as a tool,
to direct the viewers
attention to a particular
point of interest within the
piece.
Crop One basic way to modify images
is to crop them remove some part
of the image. Cropping changes the
appearance of images in order to
better fit the layout, make a statement,
or improve the overall appearance of
the design.
Dominance Dominance is created by
contrasting size, positioning, color,
style, or shape. The focal point should
dominate the design with scale and
contrast without sacrificing the unity
of the whole.
DPS Digital Publishing includes the
digital publication of e-books, EPUBs,
Digital Magazines (also sometimes
known as electronic articles), and the

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development of digital libraries and

catalogues.

Font In typography, a set of all

characters in a typeface.

Drop shadow A commonly used visual

effect consisting of drawing that looks
like the shadow of an object, giving the
impression that the object is raised
above the objects behind it.

FPO For Position Only is to indicate

that the image (as seen) has only been
added to the design to indicate its
position on the layout and thus is not
indicative of the appearance of the
final printed image.

DTP Desktop publishing is the creation

of documents using page layout skills
on a personal computer.
Emboss Embossing an image, gives it
a three dimensional (3-D) quality. The
3-D effect is created with highlights
and shadows on the edges of the
image. Also see at Bevel.
Emphasis Something that is singled out
or made more prominent has emphasis.
An element of a design that dominates
or becomes the center of interest has
emphasis.
Entry point Point or points on the
layout where the reader can start
reading. The designer has to help
readability by adding entry points.
Feather Feathering is a technique
used to smooth or blur the edges of a
feature.
Filter A filter is applied to
images or art works to easily
create special effects or to
achieve a look that would be
too difficult to create manually.

GIF GIF images display up to 256

colors. GIF images generally have very
small file sizes and are the most widely
used graphic format on the web. The
low quality resulting from compression
makes them unsuitable for
professional printing.
Gradient Allows the
user to fill an object/
image with a smooth
transition of colors.
Grayscale Grayscale
images contains black, white and 254
shades of gray.
Greeking In computing, a means of
speeding up the display redraw rate of
a computer monitor by representing
text characters below a certain size as
gray lines, boxes, or illegible dummy
type.
Grid An underlying structure
of columns, rows, margins,
and lines, that dictate
the way information is
organized on a page.
3

terms for Creative Professionals

A collection of key terms and definitions used by Creative Professionals. Learn more about them from Yes Im a Designer courses!

Guide Guides help you position images

or elements precisely. Guides appear
as nonprinting lines that float over
the image. You can move and remove
guides. You can also lock them so that
you dont move them by accident.
Gutter In typography, the term refers
to the space between columns of type,
usually determined by the number and
width of columns and the overall width
of the area to be filled.
Halftone Any image--such as a
photograph--that exists as a series
of small dots of varying size and
color density, which serve to
simulate the appearance of
continuous gradations
of tone. Halftones
are necessary in
the reproduction
of photographic
images; most
printing presses
cannot print
continuous tones, so
photographic images
must first be converted to a
series of dots in order to be effectively
printed.
Hierarchy A good design contains
elements that lead the reader
through each element in order of its
significance. The type and images
should be expressed starting from
most important to the least.

Head The top of a book, page, or

column. In typography, the term head
is also an abbreviation for the term
heading.
HSB Hue, Saturation and Brightness is
a color model used to desrcibe colors
with three values.
Hue The primary value of a color and
how the color red, green, blue, purple,
etc. is perceived through the eye.
Invert Changing the colors of an image
or a layer mask to the opposite colors
on the color wheel.
JPEG A common compression method
that shrinks a files storage size
by discarding non-important
picture detail. Excessive jpeg
compression can cause poor
image quality.
Kerning In typography, the
reduction of letterspacing
between certain character
combinations in order to
reduce the space between them,
performed for aesthetic reasons.
Layers Layers are like sheets of
stacked acetate. You can see through
transparent areas of a layer to the
layers below. You move a layer to
position the content on the layer, like
sliding a sheet of acetate in a stack.
You can also change the opacity of
a layer to make content partially

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transparent. They allow the user to

assemble, organize and re-edit their
artwork with ease.

to provide allowances for trimming,

binding, and other post-press
operations.

Layout Master plan or blueprint of a

printed or published work (such as
an advertisement, book, magazine,
newspaper, or website) that lays
out the arrangement of its different
graphic elements (such as body copy,
colors, headlines, illustrations, scale).
It establishes the overall appearance,
relative importance, and relationships
between the graphic elements to
achieve a smooth flow of information
(message) and eye movement for
maximum effectiveness or impact.
Often alternative layouts (called
roughs) are prepared to explore
different arrangements before the
final layout is made for printing or
production.

Master page A master is like a

background that you can quickly
apply to many pages. Objects on a
master appear on all pages with that
master applied. Changes you make to
a master are automatically applied to
associated pages. Masters commonly
contain repeating logos, page numbers,
headers, and footers.

Leading (pronounced led-ding) In

typography, an alternate and more
popularly used term for line spacing.
Line The visual path that enables the
eye to move within the design.
Lorem Ipsum Used as placeholder
text because it approximates a typical
distribution of characters in English.
Margin Any deliberately unprinted
space on a page, especially surrounding
a block of text. Margins are used
not only to aid in the aesthetics and
the readability of a page, but also

Masthead In newspaper and

magazine publishing, the listing of
the publications staff, management,
address, etc., commonly printed toward
the beginning of the publication.
Mock-up Mock-ups are used by
designers mainly to acquire feedback
from users about designs and design
ideas early in the design process. Mockups are very early prototypes.
Mood board A mood board is a type
of collage that may consist of images,
text, and samples of objects in a
composition of the choice of the mood
board creator. Designers and others use
mood boards to develop their design
concepts and to communicate to other
members of the design team.
Negative space The space not occupied
by the text or images. Negative or
white space has the same importance
as the text and images on the layout.
4

terms for Creative Professionals

A collection of key terms and definitions used by Creative Professionals. Learn more about them from Yes Im a Designer courses!

Without proper use of negative

space the design will look messy and
crowded.
Noise Image noise is random (not
present in the object imaged) variation
of brightness or color information in
images, and is usually an aspect of
electronic noise. It can be produced by
the sensor and circuitry of a scanner or
digital camera.
Opacity A layers overall opacity
determines to what degree it obscures
or reveals the layer beneath it. A
layer with 1% opacity appears nearly
transparent, whereas one with 100%
opacity appears completely opaque.

colors match without direct contact

with one another.

PPI Pixels Per Inch. A measurement of

the resolution of a scanned image.

PDF Portable Document Format (PDF)

is a file format used to represent
documents in a manner independent
of application software, hardware,
and operating systems. Each PDF file
encapsulates a complete description of
a fixed-layout flat document, including
the text, fonts, graphics, and other
information needed to display it.

Process color The printing of full

color images utilizing a photographic
color separation process in which each
of three primary colors (cyan, magenta,
and yellow, plus black) are separated
from the original art and given their
own printing plate.

Pixel The smallest picture element

(used to display an image on a
computer), that can be independently
assigned a color.

A word, part of a word, or very short

line that appears by itself at the end
of a paragraph. Orphans result in too
much white space between paragraphs
or at the bottom of a page.

Pixel mask Pixel masks determine

opacity values based on a raster image
with grayscale values that correspond
pixel for pixel to the original layer.
This makes them ideal for masking
complex photographic imagery (e.g. the
hair on a model or leaves on a tree).
Pixel masks allow 100 shades of gray,
which correspond directly to opacity
percentages.

Pantone The Pantone Color Matching

System is largely a
standardized color
reproduction system.
By standardizing
the colors, different
manufacturers in
different locations can
all refer to the Pantone
system to make sure

PNG Portable Network Graphics

format. PNG (usually pronounced
ping), is used for lossless
compression. The PNG format
displays images without jagged
edges while keeping file sizes
relatively small, making them
popular on the web. PNG files are
however generally larger than GIF
files. PNG supports transparency.

Orphan A paragraph-opening line that

appears by itself at the bottom of a
page/column.

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Proportion Proportion refers to the

relative size and scale of the various
elements in a design. The issue is the
relationship between objects, or parts,
of a whole.
PSD Photoshop document, the default
file extension of the proprietary file
format of Photoshop.
Rasterize Rasterisation (or
rasterization) is the task of taking an
image described in a vector graphics
format (shapes) and converting it into a
raster image (pixels or dots).
Resample Resampling is changing
the amount of image data
as you change either the
pixel dimensions or the
resolution of an image.
When you downsample
(decrease the number
of pixels), information is
deleted from the image.
When you resample up
(increase the number of pixels,
or upsample), new pixels are added.

Resolution The resolution of an image

is an important factor in determining
the attainable output quality. The
higher the resolution of an image, the
less pixilated it will be.
Responsive design Responsive web
design (RWD) is a web design approach
aimed at crafting sites to provide
an optimal viewing experienceeasy
reading and navigation with a minimum
of resizing, panning, and scrolling
across a wide range of devices (from
desktop computer monitors to mobile
phones).
RGB (Red, Green, Blue) is the model
used to project color on a computer
monitor. By mixing these three colors,
a large percentage of the visible color
spectrum can be represented.
Rhythm Rhythm in design is also called
repetition. Rhythm allows your designs
to develop an internal consistency that
makes it easier for your customers to
understand. Once the brain recognizes
the pattern in the rhythm it can relax
and understand the whole design.
Rule of thirds The rule of thirds
states that an image is most
pleasing when its subjects or
regions are composed along
imaginary lines which divide the
image into thirds both vertically
and horizontally. It is a powerful
compositional technique for making
designs more interesting and dynamic.
5

terms for Creative Professionals

A collection of key terms and definitions used by Creative Professionals. Learn more about them from Yes Im a Designer courses!

Rulers Rulers help you position images

or elements precisely. When visible,
rulers appear along the top and left
side of the active window. Markers in
the ruler display the pointers position
when you move it.
Sans Serif In typography, a sans-serif,
sans serif, gothic, san serif or simply
sans typeface is one that does not have
the small projecting features called
serifs at the end of strokes. The term
comes from the French word sans,
meaning without. Sans-serif fonts
tend to have less line width variation
than serif fonts. In print, sans-serif
fonts are used for headlines rather
than for body text.
Saturation Saturation is the overall
intensity of the color, any color
that appears dull is referred to as
desaturated.
Selection Selection refers to an
area of an image that is selected
(isolated) so it can be edited
while the rest of the image is
protected.
Serif In typography,
a serif is a small line
trailing from the edges of
letters and symbols, such
as when handwriting is
separated into distinct units
for a typewriter or typsetter.
A typeface with serifs is called a
serif typeface.

Shape Areas defined by edges within

the design, whether geometric or
organic.
Sharpening An image enhancement
technique in which the contrast
between specific pixels is enhanced.
Scale is relative. A graphic element can
appear larger or smaller depending on
the size, placement, and color of the
elements around it. When elements are
all the same size, the design feels flat.
Contrast in size can create a sense of
tension as well as a feeling of depth
and movement.
Slug Slugs hold printing information,
customized color bar information,
or displays other instructions and
descriptions for other information in
the document. Objects (including text
frames) positioned in the slug area are
printed but will disappear when the
document is trimmed to its final page
size.
Smart object Smart Objects
are layers that contain
image data from raster
or vector images,
such as Photoshop or
Illustrator files. Smart
Objects preserve an
images source content
with all its original
characteristics, enabling
you to perform nondestructive
editing to the layer.

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Soft proof Soft proofing is simply a

mechanism that allows you to view
on your computer monitor what your
print will look like when it is on paper.
A specific paper. That paper and ink
combination has been defined by the
profile that you or someone else has
made for your printer / paper and ink
combination. To get an accurate soft
proof your monitor has to be calibrated.
Spot color Refers to a method of
specifying and printing colors in which
each color is printed with its own ink.
In contrast, process color printing
uses four inks (cyan, magenta, yellow,
and black) to produce all other colors.
Spot color printing is effective when
the printed matter contains only
one to three different colors, but it
becomes prohibitively expensive for
more colors. There are a number of
color specification systems for
specifying spot colors, but
Pantone is the most widely
used.
Spread A spread is the
joining of two facing
pages that are created
to work as a unit in a
double-sided document.
Stock photo Stock photos
(stock photography) are
professional photographs of common
places, landmarks, nature, events or
people that are bought and sold on

a royalty-free basis and can be used

and reused for commercial design
purposes.
Stroke A Stroke is basically the outline
of an element. You could also call it a
Border. Stroke is not limited to only
shapes, but can also be used on line
segments.
Style guide A style guide or style
manual is a set of standards for the
writing and design of documents,
either for general use or for a specific
publication, organization or field.
The implementation of a style guide
provides uniformity in style and
formatting within a document and
across multiple documents.
Swatch A sample of a specific color,
either printed or stored digitally, used
to describe a particular printing ink
or combination of printing ink
colors.
Text wrap Text wrap is the
spatial relationship that
exists amongst graphics
and blocks of text (or
amongst two blocks of
text). Usually a text wrap
is rectangular in shape.
However, a text wrap may also
be arbitrary or irregular in shape.
Texture Surface qualities which
translate into tactile illusions.

terms for Creative Professionals

A collection of key terms and definitions used by Creative Professionals. Learn more about them from Yes Im a Designer courses!

Thumbnail A small drawing on

paper (usually part of a group) used
to explore multiple ideas quickly.
Thumbnail sketches are similar to
doodles, but may include as much
detail as a small sketch.
TIFF A common graphic file format
used for saving bitmapped images such
as scans, photographs, illustrations and
logos. Supports multiple layers.
Tracing is when you use an image
that you recreate by drawing over
it on another layer. Live trace is an
automated tracing feature in Adobe
Illustrator.
Tracking In typography, the adjusting of
the letterspacing throughout a piece of
typeset copy.
Trim mark Lines drawn or printed on a
photograph, overlay, or printed product
to indicate the proper cropping of the
image or print in question.
Unity To achieve visual unity is a
main goal of graphic design. When all
elements are in agreement, a design is
considered unified. No individual part
is viewed as more important than the
whole design. A good balance between
unity and variety must be established
to avoid a chaotic or a lifeless design.

the background color and other items

on the page.
Vector A vector graphic is created in
paths. The paths permit a person to
change an images size easily without
pixilated edges.
Vector mask Vector masks pick up
where pixel masks fall short. By
defining the masks shape using paths,
vector masks provide a superior level
of finesse and flexibility. Theyre ideal
for defining shapes with clean, crisp
lines, such as interface elements.
Vibrance Vibrance is a smart-tool which
cleverly increases the intensity of the
more muted colors and leaves the
already well-saturated colors alone.
Widow A paragraph-ending line that
falls at the beginning of the following
page/column, thus separated from the
rest of the text.
Wireframe Wireframes are an important
design tool used in Web development.
It is a visualization tool for presenting
proposed functions, structure and
content of a Web page or Web site.

Value Value is present in all design. It is

the lightness or darkness of an object,
regardless of color. Value is relative to
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