A Terms

Acrobat

Acrobat is part of a set of applications developed by Adobe to create and view PDF files. Acrobat is used to create the PDF files, and the freeware Acrobat Reader is used to read the PDF files.

Alt Tag

Part of the image source tag in HTML. A good web designer will always include text in all of your image sources for two reasons: (1) if any of your visitors choose not to view graphic images on your web pages, the alternative text will be shown; and (2) if your visitors use Internet Explorer as their browser and they leave the mouse over any graphic image, they will view the text in your ALT-attribute. Screen readers used by the vision impaired also use Alt Tags to determine the type of content on a web page.

Animated GIF

A GIF graphic file, which consists of two or more images shown in a timed sequence to give the effect of motion.

Animation

Animation is the creation of a timed sequence or series of graphic images or frames together to give the appearance of continuous movement.

ASP (Active Server Page)

A dynamically generated web page, generally using ActiveX scripting. When a browser or a search engine spider requests an ASP page from a server, the server generates the web page with HTML code and gives it to the browser or spider.

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B Terms

Bandwidth

Bandwidth is the amount of information your connection to the Internet can carry. On average, typical telephone lines can carry 1K of information per second.

Banner

A banner is a graphic image (static, animated, or rich media) that is placed on web sites as an advertisement. Banners are commonly used for brand awareness and generating sales.

Bevel

Adding a beveled effect to a graphic image gives the image a raised appearance by applying highlight colors and shadow colors to the inside and outside edges.

Bitmap graphic

A graphic imange which is composed of a pattern of dots. The individual dots are stored as data on a computer. An example of an animation that is a bitmap graphic is a GIF animation.

Bitmap Image (bmp)

A graphic image stored as a specific arrangement of screen dots, or pixels. Web graphics are bitmap images. A graphic which is defined by specifying the colors of dots or pixels which make up the picture. Also known as raster graphics. Common types of bitmap graphics are GIF, JPEG, Photoshop, PCX, TIFF, Macintosh Paint, Microsoft Paint, PNG, FAX formats, and TGA.

Bleed or Bleeding Edge

When a page or a cover design extends to and off the edge of the paper it is called a "bleed". In print design, the artwork or block of color must extend off the edge of the page. The artwork or block of color is then printed on larger-size paper. Then the printed page is trimmed to the desired size. (add an illustration)

Bookmark

Just as a paper bookmark is used as a reminder of the page you are on in a book, electronic bookmarks are used to bring you back to a web site or other site you may want to return to. The Netscape browser lets you bookmark any site and save the bookmarks in a file you can recall at any time. Microsoft Internet Explorer uses the term "favorite" instead of bookmark for the same concept.

Browser

The software used to view, manage, and access web pages by interpreting hypertext and hyperlinks. The two most common browsers are Netscape and Microsoft Internet Explorer. Web pages often appear differently depending on the brand and version of the browser intended to view them in.

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C Terms

CMYK

Stands for the colors Cyan-Magenta-Yellow-Black. In print design, colors are defined as a percentage of each of these 4 colors. For example, the CMYK abbreviation for the color black would be 0-0-0-100. In contrast, display devices (i.e. computer monitors) typically define colors using RGB.

Compression

A method of packing data in order to save disk storage space or download time. JPEGs are generally compressed graphics files. Compression is a technique to make a file or a data stream smaller for faster transmission or to take up less storage space. Concerning images, most graphics used on the Web are compressed using software that reduces as many colors in the color palette as possible, while still retaining the maximum quality of the image.

Cookie

A cookie is a small file placed on your computer/web browser (such as Netscape or Explorer) by a web server. The purpose of cookies is to identify web site users/visitors and possibly prepare customized web pages for them.

CSS

Abbreviation for Cascading Style Sheet, a feature of HTML developed by the W3C. With Cascading Style sheets, both web designers and end users can create style templates (sheet) that specifies how different text elements (paragraphs, headings, hyperlinks, etc.) appear on a web page. Currently, not all browsers express CSS formatting in the same manner. A Cascading Style Sheet allows you to put all your page styles (colors, fonts, layout, etc.) into one external file, rather than manually formatting each individual page and clogging the HTML code with hundreds of lines of excess coding.

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D Terms

Database

A collection of information stored in one central location. Many times, this is the source from which information is pulled to display products or information dynamically on a website.

DHTML

Stands for Dynamic Hypertext Mark-up Language. DHTML is an extended form of HTML that allows web pages to react to the end users' input, such as displaying a web page based on the user's type of browser or computer. DHTML allows for advanced techniques that common HTML cannot perform.

Directory

A directory (such as Yahoo, commonly mistaken for a search engine) depends on people for listings. The main difference between a search engine and a directory is that a directory does not make use of a spider or robot. One of the defining characteristics of a directory is that it is usually divided into categories and is manuall updated by a human, not a computer.

Dithered/Dithering

In order to display a full-color graphic image on a 256-color monitor, computers must simulate the colors it cannot display. They do this by dithering which is combining pixels from a 256-color palette into patterns that approximate other colors. At a distance, the human eye merges the pixels into a single color. Up close, the graphic image will appear pixelated and speckled.

DNS

Stands for Domain Name System. The DNS translates URL text addresses (such as avtecmedia.com) into a numeric Internet address (such as 201.214.12.6).

Doorway Page

Web pages created specifically for search engine positions. Also known as gateway page or a bridge page.

DPI

Stands for dots per inch. DPI specifies the resolution of an output device, such as a printer or printing press machine. Print resolution usually runs from 300-1200 dots per inch on a Laser Printer and 125-225 dots per inch for photographic images on a print brochure. (For information on input device measurements see ppi.)

Drop Shadow

A drop shadow gives an image depth by creating a shading offset behind a selected image.

Drop-Down Menu

A drop-down menu (also known as a pull-down menu) is a navigation menu that "drops down" when you click it with a mouse or roll the mouse over it.

Duotone

The application of two colors to provide richer tones than a monotone (single-color image, usually grayscale) can provide. A good duotone image can simulate a wider range of the color spectrum than two colors used separately. Duotones also use a hue (color) to set the mood for a photo in a more stunning way than a full-color image can.

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