In this section some technical terms of the typesetter and computer worlds are explained. It does not concern itself with complete and exhaustive definitions. This compilation is by no means complete, but it will help you with some of the concepts.
A methodical computing procedure, usually used in the sense of instructions for the solution of a problem with the aid of a computer program.
A text or a graphic can be aligned to a horizontal and/or a vertical line. There are justified alignments (ranged left, ranged right, ranged top and ranged bottom) and centred justification; with the latter, text or graphics are so positioned that they are spaced equally from both left and right (or top and bottom) borders or margins. With texts there is also block setting (commonly referred to as full justification). Here, spacing is inserted between adjacent words or lines so that the text exactly fills the space between left and right (or top and bottom) borders.
A functions that joins a graphic frame to a selected place in a text frame.
Normally, camera-ready pages of a document from which printing plates are made, such as directly printed output from a laser or inkjet printer, or a drawing etc. For professional applications the data is exposed on a sheet of film with an imagesetter. For colour work, separations have to be made for each printing ink colour.
The part of a lower case letter that rises above the main
element or x-height, as in the letters b
and d
.
In graphics, the relationship between width and height. Optionally this can be preserved when scaling a graphic.
An imaginary line on which all letters and numerals sit; > glyphs (character images) with descenders (f, g, j, p, q, y) are printed partially below the baseline.
A Bézier curve consists of an origin, an end-point, and two
magnetic
control points between. The curve runs from the origin
to the end point, with the control points (which are usually not on
the line of the curve itself) influencing the course or shape of the
curve. A Bézier curve provides the smoothest arc between two points,
with no discontinuities.
The smallest information unit in the computer. A bit
corresponds to the states current on
(1) or current off
(0).
Fully justified setting of text (> Alignment).
The majority of text in a document; not headlines and
sub-heads; sometimes called body copy
.
> Grey tone
A mark, such as an arrow or heavy dot, used to highlight items in a list.
A byte consists of eight bits. Thus it can assume the states 0 and 1 eight times, which results in 256 possible combinations. Therefore a byte can assume 256 different states. In the primary storage of a computer (RAM) many bytes can be stored; how many depends on the storage capacity of the computer, which is indicated either in KB (1,024 bytes) or more often in MB (1,048,576 bytes).
The smallest component of written language that has semantic value. Character refers to the abstract idea, rather than a specific shape of letter or numeral etc.; that should be called a > glyph, though in DTP the terms are often used interchangeably.
A list of all the possible characters (letters, numbers, punctuation marks and other symbols) contained in a particular font. Normally this will be the same for all different faces (cuts) of a font (regular, bold, italic...) but this is not always the case.
A print unit of measure. A cicero (cic) corresponds to 4.51
millimeter, and subdivides into 12 points Didot (p) (also called
corps
). In most English-speaking countries > Picas and Pica
points are used instead.
When the mouse cursor is moved onto an icon and then the left
mouse button is pressed, the corresponding icon action is executed or
activated. The same applies to menu and list entries as well as
buttons in dialog boxes. One speaks then of clicking the
icons/entries/buttons. In most cases the item clicked on becomes
selected
and is displayed in inverse video to show that it is
active. One also clicks on editable fields to open a small dialog for
entering new values.
A temporary holding area; a buffer or part of the computer's memory in which text or graphics can be stored until moved, copied, or deleted. Space on the Calamus clipboard is dependent on available RAM.
An acronym for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and blacK – the standard colours used in 4-colour printing.
The DTP operator's main utensil!
The process whereby a document is designed and printed in different layers, each of which is assigned a defined colour. Calamus SL allows colour separation settings to be defined for pages, frames or a whole document.
A vertically-oriented block of text in a text frame; columns are separated by > gutters.
Grey text placeholders
in the text editor that represent
layout information such as page number, index entry, text ruler and
text style. Control codes may be inserted and edited in the Eddie text
editor.
A curve that may be manipulated to adjust the intensity and contrast of tones or colours in an image. Pictures with grey tones (> Greyscale pictures) can be read very easily into the computer (> Scanning). The control curves serve for modifying the greyscale of the image in the computer – you can assign a new brightness to each original grey tone. Thus you can raise or lower the contrast or brightness of a picture (or a section of it), or make a negative of the picture. Basically, careful adjustment of the scanner should take priority over using the control curves to modify the tones of the picture.
Each position on a page can be described by its coordinates.
The coordinates consist of a horizontal (X) and a vertical (Y) number.
The X-coordinate normally indicates the distance of the place from the
left hand side of the page, the Y-coordinate the distance from the top
margin. With double pages, the X-coordinate on the left side is
negative (smaller than 0). It is then the distance from the centre or
reglet
of the double page. However, you can shift the zero
point of the coordinate system
at will.
Also known as cut marks
or trim marks
; short
vertical and horizontal lines that indicate the boundaries of the
finished page area after trimming the edges.
A short horizontal line or rule (also sometimes called a
Divis
). These exist in different lengths: The em-dash is as
wide as a capital M and is normally used to separate subsidiary
clauses in sentences; the en-dash is correspondingly narrower and
usually means to
. Both are longer than a normal hyphen. The
minus
character is longer still.
A tab stop which resides in a text ruler and permits the vertical alignment of decimal points; useful in the creation of numerical and financial tables.
That part of a lower case letter which falls below the
baseline, as in g
and q
.
A measurement unit for the size of glyphs. The designer height is different from font to font, and is determined by the designer.
Abbreviated DTP
. The combination of all the work to
construct artwork (outline, layout, setting) with the help of computer
programs.
Spellchecking and hyphenation functions require that a dictionary be loaded; both functions use the same dictionary in Calamus. However, hyphenation preferences (exceptions) may be defined and saved in their own dictionary.
On diskettes or hard drives this is also called a folder. A collection of several > files under an identifying header. For more details of operation please see your operating system documentation.
Magnetic mass storage device on which data can be stored in a
similar manner to recording sounds on audio tape. Data stored on disk
is preserved when the computer is switched off. The diskette consists
of a round, flexible disk covered in magnetic tape material in a
protective cover. Data is stored in tracks (similar to the grooves of
a record, but not continuous) and sectors (pie slices
). The
disk must be formatted before first use to establish the tracks and
sectors. There are disks in various formats: The 8 (inch) and
5.25
generation is today practically obselete; on the market now
one finds only 3.5 disks. But take care: Here too there are various
capacities!
Another name for a > dash.
Abbreviation for Direct Memory Access. The fastest
possible type of data transfer on microcomputers.
Artwork. What you create and modify with Calamus. A file containing text and/or graphics, saved as a .CDK file. Calamus SL permits the user to work with any number of documents at a time providing there is sufficient memory.
Output device for computers. Such printers have a print head in
which (usually) 9 or 24 needles are placed vertically or staggered.
This print head is moved sideways over the paper and the needles are
propelled against a ribbon at the correct moment to dye the paper
under them. The paper is transported line by line as with a
typewriter. Since the needles can be controlled at will, any graphic
can be printed out with matrix printers. Disadvantages are the fairly
low operating speed printing out a full page of graphics, and the loud
noise during operation. However, matrix printers produce inalterable
documents and can generate multiple (carbon) copies.
Abbreviation for dots per inch, a measure for the
resolution of output devices. Most laser printers have a print density
of 300 dpi. Imagesetters provide a print density of 1270 dpi, 2540 dpi
or greater. The higher the resolution, the finer the detail of
reproduction.
In Calamus, small modules for translating between different
types of data storage. You need drivers to read in and save out this
data in Calamus. See File menu, Import/Export. Other drivers
are required to control a printer or scanner.
The headers of the drop-down menus are displayed at the top edge of the screen. If the mouse cursor is moved onto such a header, the menu unfolds or drops down. Now a menu item (function) can be clicked on (> Clicking).
> Desktop Publishing.
A program for modifying data. Depending upon the data type there are different editors. Examples: Text editor, Raster graphic editor, Vector graphic editor.
If you print all the > glyphs of a font side-by-side and then determine the maximum height of this line, then you will know the em-height of this font. It defines the maximum height of a line that one needs to accomodate any glyph of that font, and is also called the point- or type-size. The name originates from lead composition times, where each glyph was accommodated on an individual metal block.
An em space is a white hard space whose width depends on the
font in use. With lead composition it is also called a quad and
consists of metal spacing that lies below the level of the printing
characters. It has equal width and height, so the width corresponds to
the > Em-height of the font. As a rule an em space has the same width
as a capital
M (hence its name), but fractional sizes like 1/2,
1/3 and 1/4 em are also available, which are correspondingly narrower.
Here, the storing of data from a frame. During this the Calamus data may be converted to a non-Calamus format.
With figure setting the text block is not rectangular but formatted to any desired outline shape. Left and right margins are thus not fixed but can vary from line to line.
A combination of data, which are stored together on a mass storage device like a floppy disk or hard drive. A file can be for example a Calamus document, a font set, a module, or even an address list. Files have a name by which they can be uniquely identified and usually an extender after a point to identify the file type. (The permissible makeup of a filename varies with the file system installed on the computer.)
> Diskette
> Directory
In traditional printing, a font is a set of characters of one
typeface (Times, Helvetica or Univers etc.) at one fixed size and
includes all variants such as italics, bold, underlined and so on. In
the DTP world, the word font is often used interchangeably with
typeface to denote all sizes of a set of characters having a
uniform shape. Fonts are usually available as a family of different
weights or stroke widths (such as regular, light, bold or black),
slants (italic, oblique) and widths (normal, condensed or expanded),
each of which is referred to as a separate font.
During the formatting of a text, the characters and words in the line are positioned to match the set frame width and the > alignment. For this the width of spaces between words may be adjusted in order to achieve an even appearance. How the text is divided depends on the font used, the frame size and – as previously mentioned – the alignment.
Rectangular area in which text or graphics are displayed. The most important layout item in Calamus.
A function group combines in one panel several functions that cover a similar area of work. A module is usually divided into several function groups which can be selected between by switch-icons. These switch-icons are displayed below the Top row at the head of the function panel.
A narrow, fixed-size window that can contain up to 21 function icons combined in a > function group, or colour and size lists, plus the switch-icons for selecting between the groups and the whole thing topped by a normal GEM title bar. Like any GEM window, the panel may be moved on the screen by dragging the title bar with the mouse, and with suitable operating systems the title bar includes a backdrop gadget for putting the window at the back of other opened windows.
GigaByte. A GB corresponds to 1,073,741,824 bytes.
Abbreviation for Graphics Environment Manager, part of
the operating system of your computer.
The actual shape (bit pattern, outline) of a character image. So for example, an italic 'a' and a roman 'a' are two different glyphs representing the same underlying > character. Note that these shapes may vary slightly with the font size due to > hinting.
Brightness information. A grey value of 0% corresponds to the colour black, 100% is white. Accordingly, a grey value of 50% represents a medium grey.
Raster graphics that consist of multiple grey levels per pixel (a grey level can be refered to as a level of intesity). A 256 greyscale image can have up to 256 levels of grey. Example: B/w photograph.
A network of regularly-spaced horizontal and vertical guidelines used to align frames. The user may set the dimensions of the grid. A grid may be visible or invisible and will not appear on the printout.
> Sans serif fonts
An individual vertical or horizontal line used to align frames and objects. The user may place as many guidelines as needed. Guidelines may be visible or invisible and will not appear on the printout.
The space between columns of text; also, the border area which is used for binding pages.
Lines of the smallest possible width, namely one pixel. The actual width depends on the output device. Hairlines may thus be visible on the screen but disappear when output on a high resolution imagesetter.
The principle of the diskette was developed further for the
construction of hard disks. Here, the magnetic disk is rigid and
normally no longer changeable, but the data density and transfer speed
are much higher, some 20-fold or more. The capacity of a hard drive
can vary depending on design between 20 MB and tens of thousands of
MB. Hard drives with the MFM and RLL connections employed formerly
could transfer approximately 300-500 KB of data per second to the
computer, modern IDE and SCSI (say scuzzy) hard drives achieve
between 700 and 2,000 KB per second. Some hard drives with
interchangeable media are also available (> Removable disk drive).
A computer system is made up of hardware and software. The
hardware consists of all the sections that one can touch, like
keyboard, floppy disk drive, display etc. The innards such as
the > microprocessor, memory chips and other electronic components
also belong to the hardware.
Any key, which is used in association with a modifier key – left [Shift], right [Shift], [Control], or [Alternate] – to perform a particular function (> Key binding, > Macro).
Slight change of font outlines of some parts of a > glyph to 'grid fit' the available pixels when scaled to various font sizes. Only relevant when the glyph size to dpi ratio on the output device becomes significant.
The process of dividing long words at the right of a column or
page frame, using a hyphen to indicate that the word continues on the
next line. The position of allowable breaks follows standard
hyphenation rules that vary from language to language, but are always
at the end of a syllable. Exceptions to the suggested hyphenation
point may be made, and saved in a special dictionary file. The
potential hyphenation points may be marked internally with a
dishy – a discretionary hyphen – which is converted
by the DTP program into a real hyphen if the word has to be broken at
the end of a line. When hyphenation is active, it will occur
automatically when a text is imported into a frame. Note that the
actual hyphenation points are likely to change when the text is
reformatted after a change in the frame or font size. As a rule
hyphenation is desirable only when the text is in narrow columns or
uses extremely long words (> Alignment, > Formatting, > Line-breaks)
and it can be switched off if desired.
Pictographic representation of a function or an object. If the icon is clicked (> Clicking), then the corresponding instruction is executed or the object is activated. The results of that action depend on the function or object itself.
Intensity, Hue and Saturation; a colour specification system.
Imagesetters are photo-composition machines that can output very high quality printing masters from graphical input data for both text and images. Their principles have stayed the same, despite having passed through several generations: A film or photo-sensitive paper is exposed, from which printing plates are made later. Whilst in former times this exposure took place via a picture tube that ran over the film, these days a laser beam is used almost exclusively. Only laser imagesetters that work on the raster principle are suitable for linking to a DTP system. With Calamus however, the RIP is omitted because here the imagesetter is driven directly (> Soft-ripping). Imagesetters normally achieve resolutions of 1/133mm or higher.
Here, the reading of data into a frame.
Laying out the page order for printing multi-page documents.
> Grey tone.
If data exchange is to take place between two devices, this must take place over a firmly defined interface. One device processes the data in such a way that it arrives at the interface in the defined format, and the other device receives this data in the standardized format at its interface. Typical interfaces are the Centronics interface for printers and the RS-232C or V.24 interface for modem connections.
An italic font – just like slanted fonts – is
inclined to the right. The font character is however substantially
more flowing than those that are purely slanted from regular
characters. Generally only Antiqua fonts have italic variants.
In order to select or display several similarly-named files,
you can use Joker characters. The operating system of your computer
supports the Joker characters * and
?. For their use,
please refer to the operating system documentation.
Arrangement of text lines on a page (> Alignment).
KiloByte. A KB corresponds to 1,024 bytes.
In traditional lead composition, the > glyphs are stamped out
as mirror-reversed profiles at the ends of metal shanks. These shanks
have a rectangular base, and with proportional fonts their width
depends on the shape of the glyph (character) so as to reduce the
amount of waste space in a line. However there is always a vertical
boundary line between two glyphs. In DTP, glyph boundaries can be
overlapped to some extent to obtain a more even appearance of the
type, which is particularly useful for some character combinations
such as A and V – they can be moved closer together than would
be possible with lead composition. In that case the character-pair is
said to be kerned. Example: AV. In Calamus kerning of
proportional fonts is automatic, but it can be adjusted manually to
move pairs closer together or further apart, which is useful for
headlines and display setting.
The combination of a modifier key – left [Shift],
right [Shift], [Control] or [Alternate] – with any other key
(
hot key) to perform a particular function. For example,
[Alternate]+[P] brings up the Print document dialog box. Key bindings
may also be assigned to a user-definable macro. (> Macro, > Hot key).
Output device for computers. A laser printer operates on
similar principles to a photocopier: An electrostatically charged
light-sensitive roller takes up black or colour powder – the
toner – in certain places and transfers this to the paper. There
it is melted to resist rubbing off. In contrast to the photocopier,
with the laser printer the roller is exposed not by an optical system
but by a laser beam. Laser printers (and photocopiers) do not
generally produce inalterable documents, since even the
melted-in toner can still be scraped off.
The sketched design of a publication for the preparation of the layout. In Calamus: Position and size of all frames on a page.
That part of the screen occupied by the document; does not include the menu bar or areas devoted to icons.
Pronounced ledder; a line, normally dotted or dashed,
used to fill the space between words in a table. Any keyboard
character may be used as a fill character.
Pronounced ledding. The distance between two lines, or
more exactly between the lower edge of one line and the top edge of
the following line. (The term comes from the old typesetting process
of lead composition, where strips of lead were inserted between lines
of type to vary the line spacing.) The line spacing is limited by the
> Em-height. Normally leading is some 20 % greater than the height of
the text line and can be increased to space out the text if desired.
The combination of optically similar characters in printing to a single glyph. Examples: ft, . In lead composition days these were accomodated on a single shank.
If a line of text exceeds the available width of the frame, the
lines have to be broken, with the overmatter > wrapping to the
next line(s). The position of the break depends on the column/page
width, the size and type of font as well as the width of the
characters it contains and their > alignment; it will alter if any of
these parameters are changed. Note that words at the ends of lines may
have to be divided using a hyphen (> Formatting).
A graphic element used to enhance page design; in printing
terms, also known as Rules. Line weight is measured in points
and should be one-tenth of font size.
Small letters (as opposed to capitals).
A shortcut, activated by an assigned > Key binding; Calamus comes with a set of macros. In addition, the user may create new macros with new key bindings or reassign existing key bindings.
A function within the Frame editing module that allows frames to be aligned with other frames; in principle it is similar to the > Snap guidelines function. A border area for attraction and repulsion of magnetic frames may be defined by the user.
The basic page, also known as a Style sheet, that
contains style and layout information that may be applied to other
pages; a non-printed page. Any page must have one and only one master
page. However, each page in a document may have a different master
page.
MegaByte. A MB corresponds to 1,048,576 (1,024x1,024) > bytes.
A panel of functions that drops down from the menu bar at the top of the screen when the mouse cursor is placed over an entry. There are four menus: Calamus, File, Options and Window.
The heart of every microcomputer. A microprocessor can complete
only very simple tasks, such as: Get the value which is located in
the RAM in place X or
Add the number X and the number Y, but
at an almost unbelievable speed. It can thus execute very many of
these instructions per second. Very many simple instructions in the
right sequence one after the other result in a program, which can then
solve problems that are more complex. How the microprocessor accesses
the memory determines amongst other things the operating speed of the
computer. 16-bit processors operate faster than 8-bit microprocessors,
but more slowly than their 32-bit colleagues. Additionally the clock
rate (or processor frequency) and the operating speed of the memory
play a role. In broad application today, two microprocessor series
have become generally accepted. Users who are dependent on
compatibility with IBM personal computers operate with processors of
the 80x86 series. As powerful and more simple to program however, the
microprocessors of the 680x0 line have proved to be efficient and are
used in several other computers.
Program section. With modules, the function range of Calamus SL can be extended at will. Modules can be linked in and released during operation.
An undesirable beat effect resulting from the
superimposition of two or more rasters or screens during printing.
Occasionally also visible on the screen if there are very closely
spaced lines that produce an interference effect with the colour
dot-pattern of the screen.
Picture with only two brightness values (black – or a colour – and white)
> Imposition
A mouse is an approximately cigarette-box sized, graphic input device that can be moved on an underlay (desk, mat). Using a ball at the lower surface, these movements are scanned and passed on to the attached computer. This then moves the mouse cursor on the screen according to the movement of the mouse on the underlay. With the two keys (also called mouse buttons), operations can be executed at the current mouse cursor position (> Icon, > Clicking).
Symbol on the display that is moved with the > mouse. The mouse cursor can take on different shapes appropriate to the current operating condition of the software, to show the user, for example, that for the moment no data input is possible.
An element of a vector graphic; the Vector graphic module allows the manipulation of editable objects and paths.
Planographic printing. Normally uses printing plates produced photographically from film artwork.
If the first line of a new paragraph appears as the last line of a column or page, one speaks of an orphan.
A condition that occurs when there is too much text for a frame
or when the selected font is too large for the frame; an overflow
cursor + appears in the frame.
The partition of a continuous text over several pages and the assignment of page numbers.
Printer unit of measure used in most English-speaking
countries. A pica corresponds to 1/6 (inch), approximately 0.352
mm, and is divided into 12 pica points. 1 pt (point) is therefore
1/72 high.
The process of flowing text through a series of connected text frames which may be located on different pages.
A series of connected text frames on one or more pages.
The smallest possible displayable dots of an output device. The size of a pixel determines the quality of the output. While pixels are recognizable on screen and on the printout of a > matrix printer, with a good > laser printer they shrink to under 0.1 mm. > Imagesetters operate with pixels of 0.01 mm and produce absolutely professional results.
halftone dot). These are made up of several raster pixels that, depending on the > grey tone, will be printed or not. Thus the size of the raster point varies, and the picture appears darker where the raster points are large and/or closely spaced (see also > Raster).
Page description language, understood by some laser printers and imagesetters.
A file which translates computer data into printer data. Calamus offers printer drivers for dozens of printers.
> Artwork used for the preparation of printing plates.
With ragged setting the lines of text are ranged (aligned at) left or right and have different lengths. Ragged setting is easily readable and is specially suited to narrow columns.
Abbreviation for Random Access Memory
. The working or
main memory of a computer. When the computer is switched off, all data
stored in RAM is lost.
A raster consists of raster points (or halftone dots) that have different sizes depending on the density of the printed result. The shape and arrangement of these raster points are adjustable. Raster points are made up of raster > pixels grouped together.
A shape comprised of a definable border and fill pattern which may be edited in the Vector graphic module.
A graphic that consists of raster points (> Point) or raster pixels. Magnifying or reducing the size of raster graphics gives very poor results, but their creation and transfer into the computer is quite simple (> Scanning). Raster graphics can be processed quite simply in the computer. Pictures and photographs are fundamentally stored as raster graphics. Raster graphics may be subdivided into > monochrome and > greyscale pictures. The opposite is a > vector graphic.
Created in the Set layout/Working area function: Marks printed on the page to assist in aligning colour-separated components of a document.
Hard disk with interchangeable magentic medium (normally housed in a cartridge). A removable disk drive thus combines the advantages of diskettes and hard drives, being much faster than the first but somewhat slower than the second.
With resolution one understands the fineness
of the
raster used during a transfer to the computer (digitization). Also
output devices such as printers or imagesetters have a resolution,
namely the smallest representable dot size. With scanners (> Scanning)
one differentiates two resolutions: The smallest spot size and the
number of brightness levels. The higher the resolution of a device is,
the more memory is needed.
Acronym for Red, Green, Blue
, the primary colours used
in colour video display.
Abbreviation for Raster Image Processor
A RIP is an
independent computer, which transfers the data of a page description
language such as PostScript into a raster graphic. This can then be
printed to film by a (laser) > imagesetter. Thanks to the >
Soft-ripping supported by Calamus, no RIP is needed for the output of
Calamus documents to imagesetters.
Fonts in which the glyphs have no > serifs.
The device for the scanning of a picture and the transfer of it into the computer is called a scanner. A scanner measures successively the brightness of very small sections of a picture, so-called raster pixels, turns them into digital number values and then transfers them to the computer. A good scanner supplies 256 different brightness levels; one says that the (brighness-)resolution is 8 bit. With colour scanning this process is executed once for each of the basic colours red, green and blue. Large amounts of data can result, approx. 24 MB for a DIN A4 colour picture.
The scroll bars allow us to move left, right, up or down in lists and in the work window. The white rectangle indicates the position in the list or window that is being displayed. By clicking on the arrows at their ends, the list or window is moved a little (typically a line) in the direction of the arrow. A click in the dotted area between the rectangle and an arrow shifts the window contents by an entire page. Finally, you can click on the rectangle itself with the mouse, and holding the mouse button still pressed move the rectangle. Thus you can display any area of the document very quickly.
Thin, short cross-strokes and twirls on the ends of the glyphs of some fonts. Serifs serve to improve legibility, but were developed originally to reinforce the lead bars.
Artwork for one printing ink, produced by the colour separation process.
A text effect which slants text; this does not mean italic.
Skewed text is regular
text that has been slanted. True italic
fonts are designed in italic shapes and have smoother lines and
greater fineness than skewed text.
Capital letters with the same height as lower case glyphs of the font.
The fast and firm alignment of a frame to a magnetic Guideline or Grid.
Also known as a conditional hyphen
; automatically placed
between syllables in words according to the pattern set in the
Hyphenation dictionary and is the opposite of a hard hyphen
which is set from the keyboard.
For outputting on imagesetters, a DTP document must be transformed into a raster image. Normally a special RIP computer is necessary for this, Calamus can undertake this work itself thanks to the efficient 68000 > microprocessor-based hardware. Additionally, complete consistency is achieved between the screen display and output on the paper, since the data is interpreted only in one place. The name comes about because the conversion does not take place in > hardware (> RIP) but is dealt with in > software.
In contrast to the hardware, software is the part of a computer that can NOT be touched. It includes all the programs which allow the system to work. Apart from actual user programs such as Calamus, the operating system is also software.
A Calamus function that compares word spellings in a document with words in its own Spellchecker dictionary. If Calamus meets a word it does not recognize, it presents the user with options to replace or skip the suggested spelling.
Documents which get along with just a few colours, such as letterheads and visiting cards, but which require a certain colour to be reproduced exactly, avail themselves of so-called spot colours. These are printing inks which fall outside of the normal Yellow-Cyan-Magenta-Black pattern (gold for example). A two-colour letterhead is therefore printed in black and an additional spot colour. Spot colours can also use > rasters to vary their intensity and so produce graduations of shade.
Refers to numbers, letters, or words which may be searched in
the text editor or Eddie. If Replace
is selected, the search
string will be substituted by a replacement string.
A block of text which is marked
and which appears in
inverse video. A number of operations may be applied to a text block
such as Cut, Paste, Copy, Move, Delete, Change text style, Check text
style and Define macro.
The division of a running text over different columns or pages.
More commonly known as a ruler
. A layout function
controlling the appearance and justification of text; appears as a
control code in the text editor and as a bar in the layout window. A
text ruler governs text until the next text ruler is encountered.
The flow of text around objects such as graphics.
The combined characteristics of a block of text. Font type and size may be enhanced by a number of attributes: Underline, Outline, Shadow, Subscript, Superscript, Compressed, Skewed and Kerning. The user may also define colour and fill patterns in a text style. Text styles may be saved in a Text style list.
If a page to be printed is so large that it cannot be printed by the printer or imagesetter on one page, then you can divide the page into several tiles. These are then stuck together after they have been printed. In order to achieve a clean sticking edge, the tiles should overlap. Many road atlases are structured according to this principle.
The bar at the top edge of the working area of your display (underneath the drop-down menus). Here the icons for the modules, the page number and the momentary coordinates are displayed. Additionally the most frequently required functions are in the Top row.
Glyphs of a given shape such as Times, Swiss or Fraktur and thousands of others (> Font).
This refers to a family of typefaces that have the same basic origin; for example the CG Times family may consist of Regular, Italic, Bold and Bold italic.
The art and practive of setting type, affecting the character and appearance of printed matter.
Capital letters
Vector graphics consist of such elements as lines, circles, arcs, curves and areas. They can easily be enlarged, shrunk or rotated, though their calculation is more complex than for > raster graphics. The creation of vector graphics is normally only possible with special computer programs.
This refers to the height of an upper case glyph. Also known as
cap height
.
A method of simulating expanded memory by temporarily storing
currently unneeded data on the hard drive; with virtual memory,
document size is limited only by the space available on the hard
drive. Please see the Computer information display
section.
One speaks of a widow if the last line of a paragraph appears in a new column or as the first line of a new page. This single line looks unpleasant and should be avoided.
The glyph width of a font.
> Joker character.
In the work window the document (or part of it) is displayed and edited. The work window consists of the title bar, the working area and the scroll bars.
The breaking of a line of text that exceeds the available frame width to the next line and, if necessary, page (> Line-breaks).
Refers to the way text and graphics are displayed and printed when the contents of one frame overlap another. The writing mode may be Transparent, Opaque or Inverted.
Abbreviation for What You See Is What You Get.
New
philosophy in working with microcomputers. Efficient hardware permits
the faithful representation of the original on the screen that matches
the later printout. Through historically carried forward
inconsistencies this target was rarely achieved 100 %. The new concept
of Calamus (soft-ripping) allows for the first time the use of the
same, indentical fonts on all output devices.
The x height
defines the height of the main body of
lower case glyphs, without their > ascenders and > descenders.
