Typography Glossary

Back Up To match the vertical position of lines on the opposite sides of a sheet printed on both sides.

Back Ground The field on which a letter or graphic appears; the blank paper or screen on which the image is formed.

Ball Terminal A circular form at the end of the arm in letters such as a, c, f, j, r, and y. Examples of faces which use ball terminals are Bodoni and Clarendon.

Baseline The line on which letterforms rest. (Round letters like "e" and "o" normally dent it, pointed letters like "v" and "w" normally pierce it, and letters with foot serifs like "h" and "l" usually rest precisely upon it.)

Beak Terminal A sharp spur, found particularly on the f, and also often on a, c, j, r, and y in many 20th century Romans. (Examples: Perpetua, Pontifex, Ignatius.)

Bézier Splines A class of third-degree interpolating splines useful for representing letterform shapes.

Bicameral A bicameral alphabet has two alphabets joined. The Latin alphabet, which you are reading, is an example; it has an uppercase and lowercase. Unicameral alphabets (the Arabic and Hebrew alphabets) only have one case.

Bitmap An array of intensity values, normally rectangular, used to create an image, as on a screen or on paper. The bits are mapped onto the screen or paper.

Bitmapped Display An output device that portrays a bitmap image. A raster display is a bitmap display in which the bitmap data are scanned line by line.

Blackletter A general name for a wide variety of letterforms that stem from the north of Europe. Blackletters are generally tall, narrow, and pointed. In architecture, comparable to the gothic style.

Blackness The apparent darkness of type as it appears on the page. Blackness depends on the boardness of the parts of the letter (boldness), as well as on the x-height and set.

Bleed An image that extends to the edge of the paper (after trimming).

Bodoni A modern typeface with unbracketed serifs, veritcal stress and very high contrast.

Body Size The height of the face of the type. Originally, this meant the height of the face of the metal block on which each individual letter was cast. In digital type, it is the height of its imaginary equivalent, the rectangle defining the space owned by a given letter (different from the dimension of the letter itself).

Bold A blacker, heavier variation of a typeface, relative to the roman variation.

Bowl The generally round or elliptical forms which are the basic body shape of letters such as (uppercase) C, G, O, and (lowercase) b, c, e, o, and p. Similar to the space known as an "eye".

Break Deciding how much text shall appear on each line or page of a document.

Brightness The perceived intensity level of light in a visual scene.

Brilliance Property of a typeface related to its typographic contrast. Also referred to as sparkle.

Bullet A mark used to set off items in a list, frequently a filled circle.

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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.

	Back Up	To match the vertical position of lines on the opposite sides of a sheet printed on both sides.
	Back Ground	The field on which a letter or graphic appears; the blank paper or screen on which the image is formed.
	Ball Terminal	A circular form at the end of the arm in letters such as a, c, f, j, r, and y. Examples of faces which use ball terminals are Bodoni and Clarendon.
	Baseline	The line on which letterforms rest. (Round letters like "e" and "o" normally dent it, pointed letters like "v" and "w" normally pierce it, and letters with foot serifs like "h" and "l" usually rest precisely upon it.)
	Beak Terminal	A sharp spur, found particularly on the f, and also often on a, c, j, r, and y in many 20th century Romans. (Examples: Perpetua, Pontifex, Ignatius.)
	Bézier Splines	A class of third-degree interpolating splines useful for representing letterform shapes.
	Bicameral	A bicameral alphabet has two alphabets joined. The Latin alphabet, which you are reading, is an example; it has an uppercase and lowercase. Unicameral alphabets (the Arabic and Hebrew alphabets) only have one case.
	Bitmap	An array of intensity values, normally rectangular, used to create an image, as on a screen or on paper. The bits are mapped onto the screen or paper.
	Bitmapped Display	An output device that portrays a bitmap image. A raster display is a bitmap display in which the bitmap data are scanned line by line.
	Blackletter	A general name for a wide variety of letterforms that stem from the north of Europe. Blackletters are generally tall, narrow, and pointed. In architecture, comparable to the gothic style.
	Blackness	The apparent darkness of type as it appears on the page. Blackness depends on the boardness of the parts of the letter (boldness), as well as on the x-height and set.
	Bleed	An image that extends to the edge of the paper (after trimming).
	Bodoni	A modern typeface with unbracketed serifs, veritcal stress and very high contrast.
	Body Size	The height of the face of the type. Originally, this meant the height of the face of the metal block on which each individual letter was cast. In digital type, it is the height of its imaginary equivalent, the rectangle defining the space owned by a given letter (different from the dimension of the letter itself).
	Bold	A blacker, heavier variation of a typeface, relative to the roman variation.
	Bowl	The generally round or elliptical forms which are the basic body shape of letters such as (uppercase) C, G, O, and (lowercase) b, c, e, o, and p. Similar to the space known as an "eye".
	Break	Deciding how much text shall appear on each line or page of a document.
	Brightness	The perceived intensity level of light in a visual scene.
	Brilliance	Property of a typeface related to its typographic contrast. Also referred to as sparkle.
	Bullet	A mark used to set off items in a list, frequently a filled circle.