Typography Glossary

DDL A page-description language developed by Imagen Corporation.

Decode In reading, to identify letters and words.

DECpage A document-formatting system developed by Digital Equipment Corporation.

Demand publishing Creation of printed documents in small runs or even in single copies, as needed.

Demerits A point system used to rate the quality of a particular arrangement of type, for example, when line breaking in TEX. Lines receive demerits for faults such as being -too loose or tight; paragraphs, for defects such as consecutive hyphenations.

Dentation The manipulation of the edges of graphic images so as to minimise the effects of aliasing and reconstruction errors. Also called half-bitting.

Depth The vertical extent on the page of a block of print.

Descender That portion of a letter that falls below the baseline, as in 'j', 'g', 'q', 'p' and 'y'.

Desktop publishing Direct printing of typeset material using small, relatively inexpensive computers and printers under the direct control of the creator of the material.

Diacritical mark An accent or other three. ancillary mark added to a letter to distinguish it or change its pronunciation.

Diaresis The accent used to separate the pronunciation of two consecutive vowels, as in coördinating. Similar to the umlaut.

Didot point Unit of type measurement in Europe (except Britain); 1 Didot point = 0. 3 759 mm.

Digital halftoning The simulation of continuous-tone pictures by the algorithmic arrangement of bivalued picture elements. Also called spatial dithering.

Digital typography The technology of using computers for the presentation of text, in which the letters themselves are created and positioned under digital control.

Digitisation error The loss of information in the sampling of a signal. The broader class of errors of which aliasing is an example.

Digitise To sample an analogue signal and represent the results in a numeric form.

Dingbat A special symbol not a part of any particular typeface, including arrows, mathematical signs such as square root, and bullets.

Direct manipulation Style of user interface in which the user modifies or moves parts of the document using a pointing device such as a mouse.

Display. (typography) Large sizes of type, for use as headlines, titles, and so forth.

Display Type General term for type set larger than surrounding text as in headings or advertisements. Usually 14-point or larger.

Displayed formulas Sequences of lines of mathematical notation included within running text.

Dithering Spatial dithering, the method of creating digital halftones.

Document model An external myth that presents textual and graphical information as (simulated) paper documents.

Document Any "printed" image stored in a computer or realised on a piece of paper.

Dots per inch (dpi) Measure of the resolution of input and output devices.

Double Storey Seen in the lower case "g" with the closed tail and lower case upright finial "a".

Download The process of transferring information from one device to another. This transferral is called downloading when the transfer flows from a device of (relatively) more power to one of (relatively) less power. Sending new fonts to your printer so that it learns how to print characters in that font is called downloading.

Draft printing Printing a test copy of a document before printing it in final form.

Drop Cap A large initial capital in a paragraph that extends through several lines.

Drop Folio A folio (page number) dropped to the foot of the page when the folios on other pages are carried at the top. Drop folios are often used on chapter openings.

Dyslexia A perceptual aberration, one form of which causes confusion of mirror-image letter pairs, especially 'p-q' and 'b-d'.

INDEX
PREVIOUS NEXT TOP INDEX TYPOGRAPHY HOME HOME EMAIL
A BRIEF HISTORY OF TYPE
TYPE CLASSIFICATION
THE FONT POOL
PAGE LAYOUT GUIDE
LOGO TYPE GUIDE
MIXING TYPE
TYPOGRAPHY SOFTWARE
TYPE CHOICE

Sources:

Rubinststein, Richard. [1988] Digial Typography: An Introduction to Type and Composition for Computer System Design. Addison-Wesley Publishing Company.
Blue Dot's typoGRAPHIC.
The comp.fonts FAQ.

There have been .
© Kevin Woodward 1997.

	DDL	A page-description language developed by Imagen Corporation.
	Decode	In reading, to identify letters and words.
	DECpage	A document-formatting system developed by Digital Equipment Corporation.
	Demand publishing	Creation of printed documents in small runs or even in single copies, as needed.
	Demerits	A point system used to rate the quality of a particular arrangement of type, for example, when line breaking in TEX. Lines receive demerits for faults such as being -too loose or tight; paragraphs, for defects such as consecutive hyphenations.
	Dentation	The manipulation of the edges of graphic images so as to minimise the effects of aliasing and reconstruction errors. Also called half-bitting.
	Depth	The vertical extent on the page of a block of print.
	Descender	That portion of a letter that falls below the baseline, as in 'j', 'g', 'q', 'p' and 'y'.
	Desktop publishing	Direct printing of typeset material using small, relatively inexpensive computers and printers under the direct control of the creator of the material.
	Diacritical mark	An accent or other three. ancillary mark added to a letter to distinguish it or change its pronunciation.
	Diaresis	The accent used to separate the pronunciation of two consecutive vowels, as in coördinating. Similar to the umlaut.
	Didot point	Unit of type measurement in Europe (except Britain); 1 Didot point = 0. 3 759 mm.
	Digital halftoning	The simulation of continuous-tone pictures by the algorithmic arrangement of bivalued picture elements. Also called spatial dithering.
	Digital typography	The technology of using computers for the presentation of text, in which the letters themselves are created and positioned under digital control.
	Digitisation error	The loss of information in the sampling of a signal. The broader class of errors of which aliasing is an example.
	Digitise	To sample an analogue signal and represent the results in a numeric form.
	Dingbat	A special symbol not a part of any particular typeface, including arrows, mathematical signs such as square root, and bullets.
	Direct manipulation	Style of user interface in which the user modifies or moves parts of the document using a pointing device such as a mouse.
	Display. (typography)	Large sizes of type, for use as headlines, titles, and so forth.
	Display Type	General term for type set larger than surrounding text as in headings or advertisements. Usually 14-point or larger.
	Displayed formulas	Sequences of lines of mathematical notation included within running text.
	Dithering	Spatial dithering, the method of creating digital halftones.
	Document model	An external myth that presents textual and graphical information as (simulated) paper documents.
	Document	Any "printed" image stored in a computer or realised on a piece of paper.
	Dots per inch (dpi)	Measure of the resolution of input and output devices.
	Double Storey	Seen in the lower case "g" with the closed tail and lower case upright finial "a".
	Download	The process of transferring information from one device to another. This transferral is called downloading when the transfer flows from a device of (relatively) more power to one of (relatively) less power. Sending new fonts to your printer so that it learns how to print characters in that font is called downloading.
	Draft printing	Printing a test copy of a document before printing it in final form.
	Drop Cap	A large initial capital in a paragraph that extends through several lines.
	Drop Folio	A folio (page number) dropped to the foot of the page when the folios on other pages are carried at the top. Drop folios are often used on chapter openings.
	Dyslexia	A perceptual aberration, one form of which causes confusion of mirror-image letter pairs, especially 'p-q' and 'b-d'.