P

PAL (Phase Alternation Line) system

The video standard for television used in Western Europe, Australia, Japan, and other countries .

PANTONE

A brand name of spot color inks. The PANTONE Matching System is a group of inks used to print spot colors. PANTONE inks are solid colors used to print solid or tinted areas. The PANTONE system is recognized all over the world.

Paragraph palette

The Photoshop palette that contains settings that apply to entire text paragraphs, such as alignment and hyphenation.

path

A vector object that mathematically defines a specific area on an image. Vector objects are composed of anchor points and line segments known as Bezier curves. Paths enable you to create straight lines and curves with precision. If a path s two end points are joined, it encloses a shape. A path can be filled with color, stroked with an outline, or stored in the Paths palette or the Shape library for later use. A path also can be converted into a selection.

Paths palette

The Photoshop palette that contains controls for working paths, including creating and deleting paths, filling paths, stroking paths, and saving work paths.

PDF

Portable Document Format (PDF) is a flexible, cross-platform, cross-application file format that can contain raster and vector data, including embedded fonts.

PDF Presentation

A Photoshop CS command that can create a multipage PDF document or a PDF slide show with transition effects between each image.

perspective

In Photoshop, a transformation that squeezes or stretches one edge of a selection, slanting the two adjacent sides either in or out. This produces an image that mimics the way you perceive a picture slanted at a distance.

Photo Filter

A Photoshop CS image adjustment that mimics the traditional technique of using a colored gel on a camera lens to alter color balance and/or temperature.

Photomerge

A Photoshop CS automation for creating a single, seamless, panoramic image from multiple source images.

pixel

An individual square of colored light, which is the smallest editable unit in a digital image. The pixels (short for picture elements ) in a digital image are usually so small that, when seen, the colors blend into what appears to be a continuous-tone image.

pixels per inch (ppi)

The number of pixels that can be displayed per inch, usually used to refer to pixel resolution from a scanned image or on a monitor.

plug-in

A modular mini program or filter, usually developed by a third-party vendor, that adds functions to Photoshop.

PNG-8

A lossless-compression file format that supports 256 colors and transparency. PNG-8 is not supported by older Web browsers.

PNG-24

A lossless file format that supports 24-bit color, transparency, and matting . PNG-24 combines the attributes of JPEG and GIF. PNG-24 is not supported by older Web browsers.

point

A measurement system for type. There are traditionally about 72 points in 1 inch.

ppi

See pixels per inch .

preferences

In Photoshop, settings that affect the appearance and behavior of the program, which are stored in the preferences file.

Preset Manager

A library of palettes that can be used by Photoshop. As you add or delete items from the palettes, the currently loaded palette in the Preset Manager displays the changes. You can save the new palette and load any of the palettes on the system.

printer resolution

The number of dots that can be printed per linear inch, measured in dots per inch (dpi). These dots compose larger halftone dots on a halftone screen or stochastic (random pattern) dots on an ink-jet printer.

process color

The four color pigments used in color printing: cyan, magenta , yellow, and black (CMYK).

progressive JPEG file

A file that displays a low-resolution version of the image while the full image is downloading.

Proof Colors

A Photoshop control that enables the on-screen preview to simulate a variety of reproduction processes without converting the file to the final color space. This feature takes the place of the Preview In CMYK feature in earlier Photoshop versions.