Appendix C: Web Designers Glossary | Web Designers Guide to Adobe Photoshop (Wordware Applications Library)

Appendix C: Web Designer’s Glossary

The following are key terms associated with the World Wide Web. You’ll probably run into several of these words as you delve into web design.

.aiff: A sound file format.
anchor: A synonym for hyperlink.
archie: A method of searching for files on anonymous FTP servers.
browser: A World Wide Web client. An information retrieval tool.
client: The software that allows users the ability to retrieve information through the World Wide Web.
CMYK: The colors cyan, magenta, yellow, and black. CMYK refers to process color reproduction, usually used in print work.
copy: Words within a document, including headings, subheads, body text, captions, pull quotes, footnotes, etc.
duotone: Image that prints using two halftones of the same image, each printed with a different color.
external viewer: A program used by Mosaic when Mosaic cannot handle a particular type internally, such as .ps or PostScript files. When Mosaic retrieves a .ps file, it will pass the file to a PostScript viewer and the viewer will display the file to the user.
FAQ: A file that contains frequently asked questions and their answers.
font: A general term used to refer to a complete set of type characters.
FTP: File Transfer Protocol. A method of transferring files to and from computers.
GIF: Graphics Interchange Format. A bitmapped graphics file format used by the World Wide Web. GIF supports color and various resolutions. It also includes data compression, but because it is limited to 256 colors, it is more effective for scanned images such as illustrations rather than color photos.
home page: The main page of a website. The home page usually serves as a launching place or index to other pages within a website.
hot spot: An area of a graphic or text that activates a function when selected (such as rolling your cursor over that area or pressing your mouse button). Hot spots may perform such activities as displaying another graphic, running a video, or opening a new window of information.
hotlist: A user-defined list of preferred URLs to a given World Wide Web document.
HTML: Hypertext Markup Language. Used to define various components of a web document.
HTTP: Hypertext Transport Protocol. The protocol used by the World Wide Web.
hyperlink: A link in a given document to information within another document. Highlighted and underlined words or images usually represent hyperlinks.
hypermedia: Richly formatted documents containing various information such as text, images, movies, and audio.
image editing: Process of manipulating photographs and other images with various software programs.
images: Photographs, illustrations, or other graphics used alone or with copy.
in-line media: A graphic image displayed with an HTML document.
Internet: An international computer network of networks that connect government, academic, and business institutions.
JPEG: Joint Photographic Experts Group. JPEG is a compression technique for color images. Although it can reduce file sizes to about 5% of their normal size, some detail is lost in the compression.
kerning: The addition or subtraction of space between characters. Also called letterspacing.
logo: A combination of letters, words, or symbols that, at a glance, identifies the nature of a product or service and defines your attitude about it.
MacTCP: The necessary network software from Apple Computer that allows Macintoshes to interact with other computers by TCP/IP.
MIME: Multiple Internet Mail Extensions. A method of identifying files such as the first packet of information received by a client. MIME contains information about the file the server has sent.
MPEG: Moving Pictures Experts Group. A method of storing movie files in this format.
navigation: Process of moving from page to page within a website by clicking on various buttons or hyperlinks.
page layout: Configuration or flow of information presented through text and graphics on a page.
PNG: Portable Network Graphics. A bitmapped graphics format similar to GIF. In fact, PNG was approved as a standard by the World Wide Web consortium to replace GIF because GIF uses a patented data compression algorithm called LZW. In contrast, PNG is patent free and license free. The most recent versions of Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer now support PNG.
PostScript: A page description language developed by Adobe Systems.
protocol: A planned method of exchanging data over the Internet.
QuickTime: A method of storing movie and audio files in a digital format. Developed by Apple Computer.
raster art: Artwork created from pixels.
RFC: Request for Comments. The agreed-on standards in which the methods of communicating over the Internet are defined.
RGB: The colors red, green, and blue. Television and computer monitors display colors specified as RGB values.
sans serif: Type character that does not have an end stroke, or “foot.”
serif: The end stroke, or “foot,” of a type character.
server: A computer that serves information and software to the Internet computer.
SGML: Standard Generalized Markup Language. An international standard encoding scheme for creating textual information.
TCP/IP: Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol. A set of rules that establish the method by which data is transmitted over the Internet between two computers.
TIFF: Tagged Image File Format. A file format used for storing image files.
TLD: Short for top-level domain, it refers to the suffix attached to Internet domain names. There are a limited number of predefined suffixes, and each one represents a top-level domain.
URL: Uniform Resource Locator. The address to a source of information. A URL contains four distinct parts: the protocol type, the machine name, the directory path, and the file name.
vector art: Artwork created from mathematically defined lines and curves.
WAIS: Wide Area Information Server. A database.
web page: A document on the World Wide Web. Every web page is identified by a unique URL.
website: A site (location) on the World Wide Web. Each website contains a home page, which is the first document users see when they enter the site. The site might also contain additional documents and files. Each site is owned and managed by an individual, company, or organization.
white space: Blank or open areas left on a page.
World Wide Web: A system of Internet servers that support specially formatted documents. The documents are formatted in a markup language called HTML that supports links to other documents, as well as graphic, audio, and video files. This means you can jump from one document to another simply by clicking on hot spots. Not all Internet servers are part of the World Wide Web.