Glossary of Printing Terms:A

A-PEN

Annealed Polyethylene Naphthalate

A polyester material used as the base on Advanced Photo System film; thinner, stronger and flatter than the acetate base traditionally used in consumer photographic roll films.

A/W

An abbreviation for Artwork.

A4

ISO Paper Size

210mm x 297mm (8 1/4” x 11 11/16), most commonly used for letterheads.

AA

Author’s Alteration

Any change made by the customer after copy or artwork has been submitted to the service bureau, separator or printer.

The change could be in copy, specifications or both.

Also called AA, author alteration and customer alteration.

The cost of making such alterations is charged for, in contrast to printer’s errors or house corrections.

AAA

Association of Authors’ Agents

A body representing the interests of UK literary agents.

AAAA

American Association of Advertising Agencies

Founded in 1917, The American Association of Advertising Agencies is the national trade association representing the advertising agency business in the United States.

Its membership produces approximately 80 percent of the total advertising volume placed by agencies nationwide.

AAAL

American Academy of Arts and Letters

An organization of 250 artists, writers, composers, sculptors and architects elected for life. Maintaining a consistent number of members, replacements occur when members die. The purpose is to foster sustained interest in Literature, Music and Fine Art through awards and prizes, exhibitions, performances and gifts to museums.

The AAAL was founded in 1898 with the name of National Institute of Arts and Letters with the goal of recognizing those Americans of the highest artistic achievement.

Early members were William Dean Howells, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, John LaFarge, Mark Twain and Henry James. Each member was assigned a chair in the order of election. Incorporation of the Institute was 1913 by an Act of Congress, and three years later The Academy was incorporated by Congress and signed by President Woodrow Wilson.

In 1976, the two organizations merged but had two levels of membership and operated as the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters. In 1993, they chose one name—- American Academy of Arts and Letters.

The headquarters are in Manhattan at 633 West 155th Street in a building designed by the architecture firm of McKim, Mead & White—-all three were members. A second building is located near the Headquarters and houses a 730-seat auditorium is for performances.

Both structures are in the Audubon Terrace Historic District. The archives have correspondence among members, original manuscripts and works of art. In 1946, the Academy began a purchase program with the goal of placing works by living American artists in museums across the country.

Many of these purchases are made during their annual exhibitions, held in May. This project was instituted by Maude Hassam, the wife of member Child Hassam, with a bequest of 400 of his works. She stipulated that proceeds from the sale be used to establish a fund to purchase works on paper.

Other bequests were made by members Eugene Speicher, Louis Betts, and Gardner Symons. Academy Awards are given at the May exhibition and include the Award of Merit of $10,000.00, Jimmy Ernst Award of $5,000.00 and the Richard and Hinda Rosethal Foundation for $5,000.00.

AAEA

American Academy of Equine Artists

Organized in 1980 by ten equine artists, the goal of the AAEA is to maintain standards of excellence within the subject matter and “to promote the academic representation of the equine form in drawing, painting and sculpture.”

Patterned somewhat after the Royal Academy of Arts in London, the organization has the purpose of educating the public and creating a broad awareness and appreciation of contemporary equine art as fine art.

Full membership is awarded to artists who meet certain standards in their artwork and also teach others through workshops, classrooms, seminars, etc. In addition, the must show skill not only in equine anatomy but with other subjects that may combine with equine depiction such as the human figure, landscape and backgrounds.

Membership is open to persons of all nationalities. An annual exhibition is held with submissions by guest artists as well as members. At the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, a workshop is held each year each year for drawing, sculpting and painting equine subjects.

The Horse Park is also the site of an Academy Artist in Residence program. Members include Anthony Alonzo, Don Prechtel, Veryl Goodnight, Cammie Lundeen and Carol Peek.

AAP

Association of American Publishers

AAP’s mandate covers both the general and the specific broad issues important to all publishers as well as issues of specific concern to particular segments of the industry.

The Association’s “core” programs deal with matters of general interest:intellectual property; new technology and telecommunications issues of concern to publishers; First Amendment rights, censorship and libel; international freedom to publish; funding for education and libraries; postal rates and regulations; tax and trade policy.

Directed by standing committees of the Association, these programs, along with a host of membership services including government affairs, a broad-based statistical program, public information and press relations, are the “core” activities of the Association.

ABA

American Booksellers Association

Founded in 1900, the American Booksellers Association is a not-for-profit organization devoted to meeting the needs of its core members of independently owned bookstores with retail storefront locations through advocacy, education, research, and information dissemination.

The ABA actively supports free speech, literacy, and programs that encourage reading.

Abbozzo

An Italian word that in English means ‘sketch’.

In fine art, the term refers to the initial drawing or outline on the canvas or the first under-painting; in sculpture the Abbozzo is the material, such as a lump of clay or chunk of wood, that has the rough form of the final piece.

Abbreviation

A shortened form of a word or phrase.

Abhesive

A material having the capability of resisting Adhesion.

Surfaces are coated with abhesive substances to reduce sticking, heat sealing, and the like. Silicone paper is an example of an abhesive material.

Abilene Art League

An art organization of Abilene, Texas dating from 1930 to the end of the 1940s with 24 initial members.

By 1933, it was part of the Abilene Woman’s Club and held continuous exhibitions and lectures.

Ablation

A technique for the imaging of offset plates, by which a thermal erosion layer is removed.

The printing plates then only require mechanical treatment and in some cases can be rinsed with water.

The main disadvantage of this system is that it produces debris which must be removed from the CtP system.

ABM

American Business Media

An association of publishers with business-to-business publications in print and electronic form.

The ABP conducts research, disseminates industry information, conducts educational seminars and classes, and promotes business publications in general on behalf of its members.

Above the Fold

The editorial space visible after the publication has been folded in half.

Is considered top placement for articles.

A mostly newspaper term but also used in trade news tabloids.

Also used on websites to signify the space visible without scrolling, especially on the home page.

Abrasion Resistance

The level of resistance to withstand repeated rubbing and scuffing.

Abrasiveness

The level wear, resulting from friction, that paper, ink and coatings cause on dies, cutting blades, plates, etc.

Absentee Bid

An auction bid by a person not attending the auction. Called an ’Order Bid”, it can be placed by using a printed absentee form at the end of an auction catalogue or by a phone-in or email method or other arrangement, depending upon the way auction house handles this type of transaction.

Absorbency

The ability of paper to absorb or take in liquids.

Absorption

A term used in the adhesive industry to indicate the capillary or cellular attraction of a surface to draw off a liquid adhesive into the substrate.

Abstract Art/Abstraction

Terms with wide-ranging meaning, but always descriptive of artwork in which the realistic depiction of objects ranges from secondary to non-existent. Although it could be argued that the dramatic landscapes of many of the Hudson River painters were exaggerated (abstracted) to emphasize emotion rather than visual reality, Impressionism was the first major step into Abstraction and a critical break with Realism that shocked many viewers and stirred widespread critical commentary in Europe and America.

Of the tension created among many Americans when they first encountered abstraction, Ruth Appledoorn Mead, founder of the Martha’s Vineyard Art Association, said contemporary and realistic art belong together. “Learning to appreciate distortion is like learning to appreciate olives and clams.” (Old Sculplin Gallery) Fauvism, Cubism, Futurism, Constructivism, Surrealism and Abstract Expressionism continued the march of Abstraction into the 20th Century.

Synonymns of Abstraction include Non Objective and Non Representational. Pure Abstraction or Non Objective is any art in which the depiction of real objects has been entirely discarded and whose aesthetic content is expressed in a formal pattern or structure of shapes, lines, and colors. In other words, most Non-Objective artwork is based upon the assumption that a work of art, a painting for example, is worth looking at primarily because it presents a composition or organization of color, line, light, and shade.

The first purely abstract painting in the modern tradition is usually held to be a watercolor produced by Wassilj Kandinsky in about 1910. A major division has existed between between Non-Objective artists and sculptors who attempt to reduce natural objects to their essential forms, such as Brancusi and the Cubists, and those who maintain that shape, line, and color have an aesthetic and emotional value independent of any reference to the natural world.

Abstract Expressionism

A term referring to an art movement in the 1940s an 1950s where the essence of the work was the artist’s personal involvement that was based on emotion and not the desire for realistic depiction.

Many consider Abstract Expressionism the first truly American art movement, although it had roots both in America and Europe. Some European artists who had fled the Hitler regime to America such as Max Ernst, Fernand Leger, Hans Hofmann and Piet Mondrian were involved along with Americans Willem de Kooning, and Jackson Pollock.

There were two aspects. Action Painting and Abstract Image Painting. Art writer Robert Coates first used the term Abstract Expressionism to describe contemporary paintings in the March 30, 1946 issue of “The New Yorker” magazine. Great proponents of the movement were critics Harold Rosenberg and Clement Greenberg.

Abstract Figurative

A style description of an image that implies the shape of a human figure but in a way that is not completely realistic.

The term is somewhat ambiguous because figurative has two meanings, one being a the figure depicted realistically and the other being the figure with abstract elements.

So the wording Abstract Figurative simply clarifies that the figure is not totally recognizable as a figure. However the suggestion of figure as subject is there.

AC

Author’s Correction(s)

Abbreviation for Author’s Correction(s)

Academic Art

Taught according to established rules in official art schools or academies, which began to proliferate from the early 18th century in Europe.

London’s Royal Academy and the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris offered structured curriculums focused on history painting, portraits, landscapes, still lifes, and genre in that order of importance. Instruction progressed from drawing from classical statues or plaster casts to modeling from nudes to applying paint to original work.

Because the 19th-century academies in Europe and America tended to be conservative and dominated by males, the term Academic Art has come to mean that which is traditional and which is the opposite of innovative or creative.

In the 20th century with the advent of abstraction, the term Academic Art has negative connotations suggesting that a work is long on knowledge and technical expertise and lacking in emotional inspiration.

Academician

One who belongs to one of the art academies such as the National Academy of Design in New York

Also the term applies to artists who adhere to academic or traditional styles that are taught in academies.

Academy des Beaux-Arts

Academy of fine arts associated with the Institut de France in Paris.

It is the sponsoring organization of the Ecole des Beaux Arts and of the Paris Salon or annual art exhibition.

Academy of Art

Academy, the Greek word meaning “garden”, specifically the garden where philosopher Plato did his teaching.

From that time, the term has come to reference a variety of state-sponsored teaching institutions. During the Renaissance, art academies began to form in Europe beginning with Italy in the late 16th century, France in the 17th, England in the 18th and the United States in the 19th century.

With these entities, the word Academy took on the meaning of a formal body of artists associated with unified purposes. These shared goals included the promoting of their national art, certain tenants of creating and exhibiting that art, and the conferring of special distinction with election to Academy membership—-hence the word, academician.

Academies are often rebelled against by innovative artists because of tendencies of academy members to embrace status quo or traditional work. Before the early 20th century, artists rebelling against the academies in America and Europe had few places to exhibit their work because museums and galleries were seldom open to rebellious movements.

However, the advent of modernist galleries and museums provided venues for experimental art. In New York City, places welcoming modern art included Gallery 291 operated by Alfred Steiglitz, the Whitney Museum and the Museum of Modern Art.

Today there is coexistence with modernist venues and the more conservative academies including the National Academy of Design in New York, the Royal Academy in England and the Ecole des Beaux Arts in France.

Acanthus

The name given a leaf of the acanthus plant (Acanthus spinosus) introduced as ornamentation in ancient Greek architecture. It has been applied in various modified forms in succeeding styles of architecture. In bookbinding, the acanthus ornamentation is a typical impression of the finishing tool cut to represent two such leaves pointing in different directions. The acanthus decoration was also used as a decorative motif by illuminators of manuscripts, especially Carolingian artists of the 9th century

Accelerated Aging Test

A procedure which is designed to indicate in a relatively short period of time what will happen to materials, such as paper, ink, etc., over a period of years in storage. It commonly involves heating the specimen in an oven under specified controlled conditions. Under ideal circumstances, the material is exposed to an environment which increases the rate of its degradation without changing its nature. It is generally accepted, for example, that heating paper for three days in an oven at 100° C is equivalent in its effect to approximately 25 years under normal library storage conditions.

Although sound in theory, accelerated aging tests are, at this time, of limited usefulness. The reason is that conditions of storage, which vary widely, have a considerable influence on the degree of permanence; also, it is difficult to verify empirically the accuracy of such tests except by experiments conducted over a number of years.

Accent

Emphasis given to certain elements in a painting that allows the work to attract more attention.

Accent can also refer to the details that define an object or piece of art.

Accession

An object of art becoming part of a permanent collection of a museum or other collection.

Accordion Fold

A term for two or more parallel folds that result in the sheet opening like a fan. Accordion folds are used on products such as brochures and maps.

Accordion-Pleated Fold

A method of folding endpapers so that the pleat provides a hinge at the inner joint of the cover. The pleat also provides for expansion to allow the covers to swing open freely and not exert strain on the first and last leaves of the book. In certain cases, however, it can also create a sharp, knife-like fold which, if wide enough, may cause a brittle leaf to bend sharply and crack at that point.

Acetate

A clear, plastic sheet used on mechanicals to prepare an overlay for art or type that, for example, will print in an additional color. Acetate is also used for overhead transparency printing.

Acetate Envelopes

Envelopes, usually made of transparent cellulose acetate. used for the temporary protection of documents, letters, prints, photographs, maps, etc. They are superior to paper envelopes in that they substantially reduce the danger of acid transfer. Their use, however, is declining in favor of polyester envelope

Acetate Ink

An ink with special adhering qualities intended for drawing or printing on such materials as films and acetates.

Acetate Proof

A color proof made on clear acetate material.

Acetone

A very active solvent used mainly in gravure inks.

Achromatic

Having no color or hue. Material that is white, gray and black.

Acid Free

Acid-free papers are manufactured in an alkaline environment, which prevents the internal chemical deterioration of the paper over time.

The addition of calcium carbonate as a buffer also makes the paper resistant to the effects of an external acidic environment.

Acid Resist

An acid-proof protective coating applied to metal plates prior to etching.

Acid-free Paper

Papermade from pulp containing little or no acid so it resists deterioration from age. Also called alkaline paper, archival paper, neutral pH paper, permanent paper and thesis paper. /r/nAcid Resist

Acidity

The amount of acid contained in paper. The acidity is measured by a pH factor from 0 to 14. The neutral point being 7, 0 to 7 is acid and 7 to 14 is alkaline.

ACL

Access Control List/r/n/r/nManaging permission and denial of service to users and hosts.

Acquiring Editor

A person within a publishing house whose primary function is to identify and negotiate to acquire new titles for publication.

Acrobat

Software developed by Adobe for creating and displaying Portable Document Format (PDF) files. It can capture formatting information from many publishing applications. This makes it possible to send a formatted document to a computer screen or printer and have it look exactly the way in which it was created.

Acrobat Capture

An Adobe plug-in which utilizes Optical Character Recognition (OCR) to convert paper originals into a text-searchable PDF document as it is scanned.

Acrobat Distiller

Adobe software which enables a user to create Portable Document Format (PDF) files from desktop publishing and PostScript files.

Acrobat PDF Writer

Adobe software designed to convert documents into Portable Document Format (PDF) files.

Acrobat Reader

Adobe software which allows Portable Document Format (PDF) files to be viewed.

Acronym

A shortened form of a word or compound term usually formed from its initial letters.

Across the Grain

Perpendicular to the direction of the grain in the paper. (Against the Grain)

Acrylate Resins

A copolymer used in the formulation of adhesives, UV inks and coatings.

Acrylic

A water-soluble polymer used in paints to make them dry both tough and flexible.

Acrylic Based Adhesive

A pressure sensitive adhesive that is made up of high strength, acrylic polymers. A solvent or emulsion system can be used in the application of this adhesive.

Acrylic Coating

A thermoplastic resin prepared by polymerizing acrylic acid (C 3 H 4 O 2 ) or methacrylic acid (C 4 H 6 O 2 ), or a derivative of either, especially an ester, e.g., methyl methacrylate. One such acrylic resin, polymethyl acrylate, which is a tough rubbery material, is used, usually as manufactured in emulsion form, for textile and leather finishes, lacquers, and pressure sensitive adhesives, and as a mixture with clay to coat papers used in high gloss printing

Acrylic Emulsion

A water based latex made up of acrylic polymers. Acrylic emulsion is used in making adhesives and coatings.

Acrylic Ink

An ink which contains acrylic polymers. Acrylic ink is used to print on some plastics and other substrates. Works well on applications that are going to be exposed to the outdoors.

Acrylic Paint

A water-resistant paint made by mixing pigment in a solution of polymer resin. These paints or colors are also called Plastic Colors to distinguish them from Polymer Paints, which are dispersed in water.

Acrylic Paints do not yellow nor fade, and they dry quickly, have much durability and adhesive qualities and are easy to remove with turpentine.

These characteristics make them popular with some artists and conservators but unpopular with others because they dry so quickly that subtle mixing of colors cannot occur and they are hard on brushes.

Acrylic Paints are sold commercially as Magna Colors and combined with Magna Varnish, a sealing solution that protects each coat so the highly soluble Magna Colors can be overpainted.

Actinic Rays

Light exposure that affects chemical changes in paper.

Action Painting

A painting style and method calling for vigorous physical activity, it was specifically associated with the New York School of Abstract Expressionism.

Jackson Pollock often used this technique, which was an application of paint with fast, forceful, and impulsive (unplanned) motions. Process dictated the subject matter.

Art critic Harold Rosenberg (1906-1978), first used the words Action Painting relative to American art in an article titled ‘The American Action Painters’ in “ARTnews”, December 1952. He emphasized that he was describing the creative act itself “how it was done” and was not describing a school or movement.

Active Light Lock Door

A lock on the Advanced Photo System film cassette that allows unexposed or partially exposed film to be advanced only when the cassette is properly loaded into any of the system’s equipment, including cameras and photofinishing devices.

Active Matrix Display

In computer monitors, a type of LCD (liquid crystal display) that offers higher quality than a passive matrix display.

Active X Controls

A Microsoft technology that enables animated objects, pop-up menus, interactive objects, and multimedia effects to be easily embedded onto Web pages.

Ad Agency

Advertising Agency

A service business dedicated to creating, planning and any other advertising medium for its clients.

An ad agency is independent from the client and provides an outside point of view to the effort of selling the client’s products or services.

An agency can also handle overall marketing and branding strategies and sales promotions for its clients.

Ad Retention

The likelihood that a reader will remember a particular ad on a magazine page.

It is expressed in a percentage and measured by advertisers.

Addendum

Supplementary material additional to the main body of a book and printed separately at the start or end of the text.

Additive Color

Using the three primary colors of light (red, green and blue) and adding them in combinations to form colored images as viewed on computer and video monitors. By adding red and green light, each at 100% intensity, yellow is created; by adding blue and green light, each at 100% intensity, cyan is created; and, by adding red and blue light, each at 100% intensity, magenta is created. By adding all three colors of light (red, green and blue), each at 100% intensity, white light is created.

Additive Color Mixing

This is the process of producing color through the addition of different colors of light. Computer and television screens use thousands of red, green, and blue phosphor dots, which are so small and close together that the human eye cannot see them individually. Instead, the eye sees the colors formed by the mixture of light.

Additive Color Model

A color model used to describe colors in a way similar to the way a color display works. The color of the transmitted light is the color you see. RGB is an additive color model.

Additive Primaries

In referring to color, the three primary colors of white light (red, green and blue) that when mixed in the various proportions, produce any color. When 100% of the primaries are combined, white light is produced.

Additive Primary Colors

Red, green and blue(RGB)are the three colors used to create all other colours when using light, as with a computer screen.

Additives
  1. Substances added in small proportions to products to improve their performance, or to enhance their attractiveness or value. Additives are also used to prevent bacterial action, drying, staling, as well as to inhibit corrosion, oxidation, decomposition, etc.

  2. All of the nonfibrous raw materials used in making paper. They may be added at any point during the papermaking process or after the paper has been manufactured.

Paper additives are used to color and size paper, control pH, improve physical properties, and increase wet strength.

Address Mapping

The process by which a numeric Internet address is converted into an alphabetic IP address and vice versa.

Adhere

To stick or bond two surfaces together with an adhesive.

Adhesion Test

Any method of tesing the adhesion strength of an adhesive.

Adhesion, Peel

The amount of force required to remove a pressure sensitive material, using a specfic angle and speed, from the surface it was applied.

Adhesive

A substance that is sticky, which when applied to an object it allows that object to adhere to another./r/n/r/nA general term for any of several substances capable of bonding materials to each other by chemical or mechanical action, or both, and which may be activated by water, non-aqueous solvents, pressure, heat, cold, or other means.

Adhesive Binding

Applying a glue or another, usually hot-melt, substance along the backbone edges of assembled, printed sheets; the book or magazine cover is applied directly on top of the tacky adhesive.

Adhesive Coated Paper

Paper that has some type of adhesive applied to one side.

Adhesive Paper

A paper coated with a water-activated, heat-activated, or pressure-activated adhesiv

Adhesive Residue

The adhesive remaining behind on a substrate when a “P.S. label”/p/ps-label is removed.

Also known as Adhesive Deposit or Adhesive Transfer

Adhesive Spitting

Condition where part of the adhesive remains on the face stock and part on the substrate when the label is put under stress or removed.

Adhesive Strike-Through

The penetration of the adhesive through the facestock of a pressure sensitive label.

Adhesive, Cold Temperature

Adhesive that will create a bond when applied to a cold surface in a cold environment.

Adhesive, High Temperature

Adhesive that will hold up when exposed to high temperatures.

Adhesive, Permanent

A label with this adhesive cannot be removed without the label being destroyed or leaving residue on the object that it was applied to.

Adhesive, Pressure Sensitive

It is called pressure sensitive because when the adhesive comes in contact with a surface and pressure is applied to the label, the adhesive will allow the facestock to stick.

Adhesive, Removable

A removable label can be removed from the substrate without pieces remaining on the surface. Depending on its level of tack, a removable label can damage the surface of some materials, such as wood and suede. After a period of time or exposure to weather, the removable label will become permanent.

Adjustable Camera

A camera with manually adjustable settings for distance, lens openings, and shutter speeds.

Adjustable-Focus Lens

A lens that has adjustable distance settings.

ADMT

A definition in two parts; first, AD=air dry which by industry convention means 90% fiber and 10% moisture; second, MT=metric ton which equals 1000 kilograms or 2204.6 lbs. A short ton equals 2000 lbs.

Adobe

Adobe Systems Incorporated

Headquartered in San Jose, California, is a leading software manufacturer in the field of graphics and image editing.

Established in 1982, the company’s products include the image editing program Photoshop, the illustration program Illustrator and the desktop publication programs InDesign and GoLive.. Adobe is also the creator of the page description language “PostScript” and the device-independent data PDF format.

Adobe GoLive

Adobe GoLive is an HTML editor from Adobe Systems.

It replaced Adobe PageMill as Adobe’s primary HTML editor.

The latest version has been given the “CS2” moniker, indicating its integration with the rest of the Adobe Creative Suite.

ADSL

Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line

A form of DSL, a data communications technology that enables faster data transmission over copper telephone lines than a conventional modem can provide.

It does this by utilizing frequencies that are normally not used by a voice telephone call, in particular, frequencies higher than normal human hearing.

This signal will not travel very far over normal telephone cables, so ADSL can only be used over short distances, typically less than 5 km.

Once the signal reaches the telephone company’s local office, the ADSL signal is stripped off and immediately routed onto a conventional internet network, while any voice-frequency signal is switched into the conventional phone network.

This allows a single telephone connection to be used for both ADSL and voice calls at the same time.

Advance

Originated from the phrase “Advance Against Royalties.”

The non-returnable payment to artists, authors and designers, usually at the time a contract is signed

The royalty earnings are offset.

Advance Reading Copy

ARC

A preview or early review copy of a book that is usually sent to book buyers, reviewers, booksellers, book clubs, and/or publisher sales representatives before the book is published.

It could be in a different format, uncorrected, not bound, and/or have a different cover design than the publication issue.

The typical publishing process is proof, advance reading copy, and publication

Advance Sheets
  1. A copy of a book, in sheets or gatherings, for preliminary notices, simultaneous publication in two or more places, or for early cataloging. Advance sheets for review or early cataloging are usually in unbound gatherings.

  2. Generally, sheets of a publication e.g., some serial publications or other documents, printed separately for use before they are issued collectively. In a stricter sense these are more appropriately called “preprints.”

Advanced Photo System

A new standard in consumer photography developed by Kodak and four other System Developing Companies:

  • Canon, Fuji, Minolta and Nikon -

Based on a new film format and innovative film, camera and photofinishing technologies.

Advertainment

Content that provides advertising as well as entertainment.

Advertorial

Advertising supplement that reads like an editorial.

AEG

All Edges Gilt

All three outer edges of the pages of the book have been trimmed smooth and coated with gold leaf.

Aerate

This refers to a manual process whereby an air stream is blown onto paper sheets to reate a riffling effect that seperates the sheets as they fed to the printing press.

Aerial Perspective

A term used in landscape painting that references spatial illusion.

One technique of achieving Aerial Perspective is to depict atmospheric effects so that the earth seems to recede from the viewer. Objects in the distance seem far away while atmospheric conditions such as moisture are dominant.

Aesthetic

The qualities pertaining to the beauty of the image that has been printed.

Aesthetic/Aesthete

Pertaining to that which arouses sensitivity to beauty and emotion, as opposed to the practical, intellectual, or scientific. An aesthetic response is an appreciation of such beauty, and an aesthete is a person who subscribes to this philosophy and regards themselves as having special sensitivity to beauty.

The Aesthetic Movement began in the late 19th century in England with leaders being Walter Pater, Oscar Wilde and Aubrey Beardsley. The slogan was “Art for Art’s Sake” meaning being that conveying a sense of beauty superseded all social and moral considerations.

The word aesthetic is derived from the Greek “aisthetika”, meaning perceptibles.

AF

Autofocus

System by which the camera lens automatically focuses the image of a selected part of the picture subject.

AF & PA

The American Forest & Paper Association.

The national trade association for the forest, paper and wood products industry.

Members grow, harvest and process wood and wood fiber, manufacture pulp, paper and paperboard products from both virgin and recycled fiber and produce solid wood products.

One of AF&PA’s main objectives is to support sound environmental and economic practices in the growth, harvest and use of forests.

AF & PA

AFA

American Federation of Arts

Initially a Washington DC based organization established in 1909 by an act of Congress, the Federation was founded to broaden public awareness and appreciation of the visual arts.

Particular emphasis was placed on touring original works of art throughout the United States.

Eventually the Federation was headquartered in New York City and provides traveling exhibitions to its member museums and galleries

AFA

Affinity Outlets

Retail outlets that offer single-copy sales of a magazine with editorial content that relates to the outlet’s products or services.

Affinity Program

Reference from one web site to another to further “e-commerce’:/glossary-of-printing-terms/ecommerce.

The target web site shares any profits with the referring web site.

Affixed Products

Affixed products are the combination of two products, one attached to the other, which acts as a carrier. The carrier can be either a continuous, unit set, or cut sheet product. The attached product is “blown-on” or “tipped-on” and fastened to the carrier. Some of the types of products that can be affixed are cards, labels, forms, envelopes and coins.

Afilias

Afilias Limited is the operator of the .info and .org generic top-level domains, .mobi mobile phone TLD, .aero aviation TLD, and a provider of domain name registry services for several countries around the world, including .AG (Antigua and Barbuda), .BZ (Belize), .GI (Gibraltar), .HN (Honduras), .IN (India), .LA (Laos), .SC (the Seychelles), and .VC (St. Vincent and the Grenadines).

Afilias also provides ancillary support to other domains, including .SG (Singapore).

Afterword

Part of a book’s back matter in which the author or publisher offers parting remarks to the reader.

Against the Grain

Perpendicular to the direction of the grain in the paper. (Across the Grain)

Agate

Type that is 5 1/2 point, traditionally used for the classified ads in newspapers. 14 agate lines equal an inch.

Agate line

In newspaper classifieds, a measurement denoting 1/4-inch depth by one column width. There are 14 agate lines in one column inch.

Agatine

A marble pattern consisting of black in large spots, green in rivers, scarlet in sprinkles, and blue in small spots. Various designs are made from this combination of colors.

AGC

Association of Graphic Communications

AGC is a member-driven association serving the NY/NJ/CT print and graphic communications industries.

AGC is an $18 billion network for industry information and idea exchange; a provider of graphics arts education and training; a vehicle for industry promotion and marketing; an advocate on legislative and environmental issues.

http://www.agcomm.org/

Aggressive Permanent Adhesive

An adhesive used when a general purpose permanent is not strong enough. It has more initial tack and superior adhesion strength. Also called extra permanent.

Aging
  1. A general term describing the natural degradation of paper, adhesives, leather, and other archival materials, while in storage. With some textiles, aging denotes oxidation by exposure to air. Aging is greatly influenced by the environment in which the materials are stored/r/n/r/n2. The changes that a material or adhesive undergo resulting from the passing of time or exposure to extreme environmental changes.
Agitation

Keeping the developer, stop bath, or fixer in a gentle, uniform motion while processing film or paper. Agitation helps to speed and achieve even development and prevent spotting or staining.

AIEP

Art in Embassies Program

Founded in 1964 to showcase original American artwork in residences of United States ambassadors, the program has become a sophisticated operation.

The idea was laid out in 1961 by Robert h. Thayer, special assistant to the Secretary of State. Thayer saw the program as providing “windows through which the people of foreign countries can see American works of art of all kinds and periods.”

The report lay idle for two years until Deputy Undersecretary of State William A. Crockett brought it to the attention of President John F. Kennedy, whose positive reaction sent the program forward. It is a blend of art, diplomacy, culture and politics and promotes national and regional pride, making it obvious that the American aesthetic identity is vast.

Art in Embassies has become an exhibition venue for several-thousand works of art in many of the 160 United States embassy residences. Ambassadors can choose the artists to be represented in their embassies and quite often select work of an artist from their home state.

Frequently a curator or other art professional serves as an advisor, and the agreement is that artwork will be loaned for a three-year period. Contributors are artists, museums, individual collectors or galleries.

The Department of State of the U.S. government handles shipping and insurance.

AIGA

American Institute of Graphic Arts

AIGA’s mission is to advance designing as a professional craft, strategic tool and vital cultural force.

AIGA, the professional association for design, is the place design professionals turn to first to exchange ideas and information, participate in critical analysis and research and advance education and ethical practice.

AIGA sets the national agenda for the role of design in its economic, social, political, cultural and creative contexts.

AIGA is the oldest and largest membership association for professionals engaged in the discipline, practice and culture of designing.

Founded as the American Institute of Graphic Arts in 1914 as a small, exclusive club, AIGA now represents more than 19,000 designers through national activities and local programs developed by more than 55 chapters and 200 student groups.

AIGA

Air

An amount of white space in a layout.

Air Dry

A condition usually associated with paper (and paper pulp) and leather. Paper is said to be air dry when its moisture content (usually 3 to 9%) is in equilibrium with the atmospheric conditions to which it is exposed.

Air Emissions

Air polluting by-products from combustion or manufacturing activities.

Air-Dried

Handmade- and the better machine-made papers dried in a current of air, either at normal or elevated temperatures, as distinguished from paper which is dried by contact with heated rolls.

Air-Dried Paper -

Paper that is dried by circulating hot air around it with little or no tension or restraint on the paper. This gives the paper a hard cockle finish typical of bond papers.

Airbrush

A compressed air Pen-shaped tool that sprays a fine mist of paint or ink, used in illustration to create continuous-tone and photo retouching.

Airbrush/Airbrushing

An implement slightly larger than a fountain pen. It is a “sophisticated spray gun” that creates a smooth, even toned finish. The device has a barrel that compresses the air and then widens at the end.

At the point where the air expands, it combines with paint fed from an attached container. Airbrushing is considered an illustrators’ technique because the smooth result is dictated by the machine and not the artist’s hand.

The airbrush was patented by Charles Burdick, an Englishman, in 1893. American artists using the Airbrush technique include John Altoon, Larry Bell, Chuck Close, Audrey Flack, James Havard, Raymond Jonson, Jules Olitski and Dean St. Clair.

Airbrushing

A method used to retouch photographs and create continuous tone images by the use of a pen shaped tool that sprays out a fine mist of ink or paint. This type of retouching can also be done electronically on a computer using software that has airbrushing capabilities.

Airmail Paper

A lightweight paper made for printing publications such as newspapers that are to be sent by airmail. It usually contains fillers to improve opacity, and is generally made in a basis weight of 10 pounds.

AIS

American Impressionist Society

Founded by Florida artists William Schultz, Charlotte Dickinson, and Marjorie Bradley, of Vero Beach and Pauline Ney, of Ellenton, the organization remains based in Vero Beach.

The goal of the AIS is to promote the appreciation of the style of Impressionism with exhibitions, workshops and other media.” Membership is open to all Impressionist artists and any other persons who would like to support Impressionism. Member artists enjoy outdoor painting and figure and still life painting in the studio.

“Emphasis is always on capturing light and color, using broken brush strokes and thick impasto spots of color to create a dazzling impression of the subject”. William (Bill) Schultz, co-founder and chairman of AIS, is in his mid 80s and continues to teach Impressionism.

AL

Autographed Letter

A handwritten letter.

ALA

American Library Association

The largest library association in the United States.

Alabaster

A soft, pure white, translucent gypsum or calcium sulfate hydrate that can easily be cut or carved. (Alabaster referenced by ancient civilizations was a hard stone of onyx marble.) Because of its delicacy, objects made from Alabaster can only be kept indoors.

The substance is found primarily in caves, and a major quarry for Alabaster is at Volterra, Italy near the marble quarries of Carrara. Many Florentine sculptors have used Alabaster, and carved Alabaster is one of the most traditional products exported from Italy.

American sculptors using Alabaster include Jose de Creeft, Jacob Epstein, Chaim Gross, Allan Houser, Doug Hyde, Gaston Lachaise and Reuben Nakian.

Alaska Art Project

Begun in 1937, by Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes , it was a Works Progress Administration (WPA) program to organize a project to publicize the territories and possessions of the United States. It originally called for groups of artists to visit four American territories (Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands).

WPA Federal Art Project (FAP) Director Holger Cahill decided to try the project on a six-month experimental basis sending artists to only Alaska. FAP state directors from the northern states chose twelve artists with competent artistic records. Participants included: Chicago artists Edwin Boyd Johnson, Merlin Pollock and John Walley, Massachusetts artists Prescott “Mike” Jones, Karl Saxild and Vernon Smith, Minnesota artist Arthur Kerrick, and New York artists Karl Fortess, Ferdinand Lo Pinto, Antonio Mattei (artist supervisor), Austin Mecklem and Roland Mousseau.

The Alaska Art Project concentrated on both coastal and interior regions. Travel was limited to those areas accessible by road, ship or rail. Where possible, the government provided transportation, e.g., U.S. Forest Service and the Alaska Railroad.

Throughout the project weather hampered outdoor painting. Sketches had to be done in between rain showers, and then reproduced later on canvas or paper in hotel rooms. The artists operated in Alaska from June through November 1937.

Albion Press

A hand-operated printing press made of iron.

Albumen Plate

A surface plate used in the lithography process. It has a photosensitive coating.

Albumin Paper

A coated paper used in photography. The coating is made of albumen (egg whites) and ammonium chloride.

Alchemic Gold

A gold ink composition developed early in the 20th century as a substitute for imitation gold leaf. It was said to be “free from acid,” as well as non-tarnishing. Its principal virtue seems to have been that it eliminated the necessity of sizing, laying-on, and rubbing off

Alcohol/Alcohol Substitutes

Liquids added to the fountain solution of a printing press to reduce the surface tension of water.

ALCS

Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society

The agency for negotiating and redistributing dues payable from licensed photocopying etc to authors.

Algorithm

A computing procedure designed to perform a task, such as encryption or compression.

Aliases
  1. Re-routes browser requests from one URL (Uniform Resource Locator) to another./r/n/r/n2. On the Macintosh, it’s a shortcut to a file or program.
Aliasing

A jagged effect that occurs to a graphic image when the video display resolution is low, resulting in the image being displayed with uneven appearing edges, most notably on diagonals. By selecting anti-aliasing as a software function, the pixels along the edge of the image are created with a shaded or hazy appearance, in order to display smooth and even edges.

Align

To place the material to be cut at the correct position in the machine.

Aligning Edge

The lower edge of a check or scannable document, used for alignment as it goes through the scanning equipment.

Alignment

To line up type or images so that they are along the same horizontal or vertical line. Also, to place copy so that it is positioned in the proper location in regard to other copy on the page, on a following page or on the reverse side of the page.

Alignment Marks

Marks printed on a form used for the purpose of aligning the form in a printer so that entries are positioned in the proper location.

Aliphatic Hydrocarbons

Solvents obtained by fractionation of crude petroleum oil. Examples are textile spirits, VMP Naphtha, gasoline and kerosene.

Frequently used as part of the solvent mixture in “co-solvent” and “polyamide” type flexo inks, in conjunction with Buna-N type plates and rollers; tend to swell natural and butyl rubber.

Alkali

A substance which has the properties of a base, especially a hydroxide or carbonate of an alkali metal, e.g., calcium.

Since all of these substances, when dissolved, increase the hydroxyl ion concentration, the term alkali is synonymous with base.

An aqueous alkaline solution is one with a pH value greater than 7.0. Alkalies are used in conservation work principally in adhesives, and in deacidifying and buffering paper.

Alkali Blue

Also called reflex blue. A pigment used in carbon black inks and varnishes to improve luster.

Alkaline Battery

A non-rechargeable battery which are the most common for digital cameras and the most inexpensive. This type of battery will provide only 15 to 20 minutes of use in a camera.

Alkaline Paper

Acid-free Paper – A paper that lacks acid or acid-producing chemicals and because of the absence of this, the paper is more environmentally sound and is more stable over long periods of time.

Alkaline Process

A method of treating fibrous raw materials with alkaline solutions to liberate fibers or to purify paper pulps. Lime, sodium carbonate, sodium hydroxide, sodium sulfate, and sodium sulfide are used in this process, with sodium hydroxide being used most often. It may be used in both the sulfate and sulfite processes

Alkaline Resistance

Paper’s ability to resist discoloration or staining when it is exposed to an alkaline substance such as adhesive coatings.

Alkyd Resins

Sold under a variety of names that may or may not contain the word alkyd, these mediums are synthetic resins that are excellent for oil painting because they dry quickly.

They work as a binder that encapsulates the pigment and speeds the drying time. Varieties made with safflower, soy beans and tobacco-seed oils hold color better than those made with linseed oil. Some alkyds look thick and tan colored in the container, but they become smooth and transparent when added to paint.

The term alkyd was introduced in 1970 by Winsor & Newton who applauded its virtues of being similar to acrylic paint but drying faster.

Alla Prima

A term derived from Italian, meaning “at the first”.

It references a technique in which the finished painting is completed in one application of the paint, usually oil, and usually in one session or a short period of time. The result tends to be work that is smooth appearing.

Alla Prima is the opposite method of creating a painting by layering coats of paint, with each coat given drying time before the next application

Allegorical/Allegory

In the context of painting and sculpture, an image or images intended by the artist to have underlying meaning or a story line behind the obvious visual arrangement.

Allegorical works are exclusive in that they require education or “information outside the work” (Atkins) in accord with what the artist is trying to convey.

Traditionally Allegorical painting and sculpture creates a tie between the arts and literature”, such as the Bible, respected poets and novelists of English literature, and Greek and Roman mythology.

Allegory in American art had much European influence, especially from England, and was used extensively by late 18th and 19th-century American painters and sculptors, many of them having spent much time in England such as Benjamin West and Washington Allston.

Hudson River School painters including Thomas Cole, Jasper Cropsey and Frederic Church did landscape paintings based on allegorical references to the Bible and the transcendental writings of New England philosophers such as Ralph Waldo Emerson.

The panoramic western mountain scenes of Albert Bierstadt are filled with allegorical expressions of god in nature. Ancient fables and mythological figures appeared frequently in the allegorical sculptures of American sculptors working in Florence, Italy in the mid to late 19th Century—- Thomas Ball, Thomas Crawford, William Couper, Daniel Chester French and Hiram Powers.

Allegorical artwork in its traditional context went out of style in America in the 1940s and 50s, but Post-Modernism has returned to it with historical and figurative images.

Alley

1.On a document that has mutiple columns, it is the space between the columns.

2.The two margins in the middle of a page spread.

Alligatoring

Resembling the hide of an alligator.

The term describes the crackled texturing of a painted surface and can be either intentional for effect or the result of poor preparation and/or conservation.

Alloy

A product resulting from the combination of two or more metals that are melted and fused together.

Alloys tend to be stronger and more corrosion resistant than pure metals.

Alpha Channel

An eight-bit storage segment reserved for masks in an image processing software program; a feature incorporated into image processing software programs and image data formats for storing processing routines and an image’s special properties (for example, background transparency).

Alpha Protein

A soy bean protein used in the manufacture of adhesives that are to be combined with casein glues, or used for coating paper.

Alphabet Length

The measured length (in points) of the lowercase alphabet of a certain size and series of type.

ALS

Autographed Letter, Signed

A handwritten letter signed by the writer.

ALT-Attribute

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.

Altar Fold

Folding a sheet of paper so that two flaps are formed that can be opened from either side.

Altarpiece

Artwork including a painting and carved or painted panels and statuary that is placed on or behind the altar of a place of worship.

The subject is usually religious genre or figures. During the Renaissance, an altarpiece was typically a triptych, meaning three painted hinged panels

Altavista

A Web search engine developed by DEC.

Alterations

Changes in copy or specifications after the copy has been given to the service bureau or printer. Also referred to as customer alterations or author alterations (AA).

Alternative Energy

Alternative energy refers to energy sources that are not based on the burning of fossil fuels or the splitting of atoms.

For example, solar energy, wind power and hydroelectricity.

Alum

A papermaking chemical that imparts water-resistant properties to paper and keeps sheets from sticking to the presses.

Aluminum

A lightweight metallic element with a protective oxide surface making it resistant to corrosion.

Availabe in a wide variety of colors, it can be cast and welded to create a combination of strength and lightness.

Aluminum Leaf

A bright leaf or foil made of aluminum and often substituted for silver in blocking edition bindings. While it tarnishes less rapidly than silver, it lacks the appearance of richness and depth of silver leaf. It is also less expensive.

Aluminum Plate

A metal press plate used for moderate to long runs in offset lithography to carry the image.

Amarillo Art Association

Organized in 1921 in Amarillo, Texas with 39 members, the group was devoted to supporting the artist in that city with exhibitions and lectures and the building of a collection.

Amberlith

A transparent orange material applied to a clear acetate sheet. It photographs as opaque so it can be used to block out areas on a flat that should not appear on a particular negative or plate. It is also used to add cut out areas to a flat that can have an image or halftone negative placed in the cut out to be exposed to the plate. The cut out area is manually cut into the orange transparent material and then the material is peeled off from the acetate sheet, leaving a clear opening. The cut out area can also be used to expose the shape of the cut out, as a solid or with a screen placed behind it, directly to the plate to manually add an image to the plate. Used for such purposes as adding screens to the image or a color to a logo.

Ambient Light

The available light completely surrounding a subject.

Light already existing in an indoor or outdoor setting that is not caused by any illumination supplied by the photographer.

Ambient Temperature

A term used to denote the temperature of the surrounding air.

Ambiguous Enigma

Ambiguous Enigma: A paintings perspective that has been purposely manipulated in such a way that its result is difficult to understand; a contradiction in perspective whereas it is puzzling as to why or how the illusion works.

A painting that has elements of design or structure that seems to move with the viewer; a phenomenon usually found in Trompe l’ Oeil paintings.

The painter uses this technique to enhance the paintings illusion to ‘Fool the Eye.’

American Abstract Artists

A group of artists in the 1930s and 1940s who, reacting against the prevalent Social Realism and American Scene painting, were dedicated to the promotion of abstraction.

Their exhibitions and publications added considerable fuel to the simmering discussion of “What is art?”. The founder and first president was George Lovett Kingsland Morris, and Balcomb Greene was the first chairperson.

The AAA was formed in 1936, following the Whitney Museum’s first exhibition in 1935 of American abstract art. Members of the AAA, including Rhys Caparn, Ilya Bolotowsky, John Ferren, Ad Reinhardt, Burgoyne Diller, Irene Rice Pereira, Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Karl Knaths and David Smith.

Through their efforts, recognition for synthetic cubism, geometric abstraction, neoplasticism, abstract biomorphism, and hard edge was achieved, and the way was paved for the emergence of the New York school of Abstract Expressionism.

American Academy of Arts and Letters

AAAL

An organization of 250 artists, writers, composers, sculptors and architects elected for life. Maintaining a consistent number of members, replacements occur when members die. The purpose is to foster sustained interest in Literature, Music and Fine Art through awards and prizes, exhibitions, performances and gifts to museums.

The AAAL was founded in 1898 with the name of National Institute of Arts and Letters with the goal of recognizing those Americans of the highest artistic achievement.

Early members were William Dean Howells, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, John LaFarge, Mark Twain and Henry James. Each member was assigned a chair in the order of election. Incorporation of the Institute was 1913 by an Act of Congress, and three years later The Academy was incorporated by Congress and signed by President Woodrow Wilson.

In 1976, the two organizations merged but had two levels of membership and operated as the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters. In 1993, they chose one name—- American Academy of Arts and Letters.

The headquarters are in Manhattan at 633 West 155th Street in a building designed by the architecture firm of McKim, Mead & White—-all three were members. A second building is located near the Headquarters and houses a 730-seat auditorium is for performances.

Both structures are in the Audubon Terrace Historic District. The archives have correspondence among members, original manuscripts and works of art. In 1946, the Academy began a purchase program with the goal of placing works by living American artists in museums across the country.

Many of these purchases are made during their annual exhibitions, held in May. This project was instituted by Maude Hassam, the wife of member Child Hassam, with a bequest of 400 of his works. She stipulated that proceeds from the sale be used to establish a fund to purchase works on paper.

Other bequests were made by members Eugene Speicher, Louis Betts, and Gardner Symons. Academy Awards are given at the May exhibition and include the Award of Merit of $10,000.00, Jimmy Ernst Award of $5,000.00 and the Richard and Hinda Rosethal Foundation for $5,000.00.

American Academy of Equine Artists

AAEA

Organized in 1980 by ten equine artists, the goal of the AAEA is to maintain standards of excellence within the subject matter and “to promote the academic representation of the equine form in drawing, painting and sculpture.”

Patterned somewhat after the Royal Academy of Arts in London, the organization has the purpose of educating the public and creating a broad awareness and appreciation of contemporary equine art as fine art.

Full membership is awarded to artists who meet certain standards in their artwork and also teach others through workshops, classrooms, seminars, etc. In addition, the must show skill not only in equine anatomy but with other subjects that may combine with equine depiction such as the human figure, landscape and backgrounds.

Membership is open to persons of all nationalities. An annual exhibition is held with submissions by guest artists as well as members. At the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, a workshop is held each year each year for drawing, sculpting and painting equine subjects.

The Horse Park is also the site of an Academy Artist in Residence program. Members include Anthony Alonzo, Don Prechtel, Veryl Goodnight, Cammie Lundeen and Carol Peek.

American Academy of the Fine Arts

Founded in 1802 in New York City and incorporated in 1808, this entity was originally called the New York Academy of the Fine Arts.

In 1816, exhibitions were begun, and the next year the name was changed to the American Academy of the Fine Arts. John Trumbull served as president from 1817 to 1835. In 1839, fire destroyed the Academy building, and by 1841, the association was terminated.

Mary Bartlett Cowdrey’s book “American Academy of Fine Arts” has a listing of members including Thomas Cole, Eastman Johnson, Martin Johnson Heade, George Caleb Bingham, Sanford Gifford, Thomas Doughty and Henry Inman.

American Academy, Rome

Founded in Rome, Italy shortly after the 1893 World’s Fair Exposition in Chicago to promote talented Americans in the fields of art, music and literature.

Organizers were painters, sculptors and architects who had worked together on the Exposition and included Augustus St. Gaudens, Charles McKim, William Mead and Christopher La Farge. They determined that young Americans should have a similar experience to what they had working together during the Exposition and set up a three-year program.

The focus was on fellowship, and the Academy motto was “Not merely fellowships, but fellowship”. The address of the Academy, which continues to operate today, is 5 Via Angelo Masina, which is an eleven-acre site atop Janiculum Hill.

It attracts students in the arts and humanities including persons skilled in art, literature, music, architecture, historic preservation and landscape architecture. Attendees, through a national juried competition, receive the Rome Prize, (Prix de Rome), which varies in duration from six months to two years—-a difference from the original three-year enrollment.

The Library is extensive and includes access to the Vatican Library. An American office of the Academy is at 7 East 60th Street in New York City. American painters and sculptors who have attended the American Academy in Rome include Paul Manship, Mitchell Siporin, Raymond Saunders, Hermon MacNeil, Russell Cowles, Eugene Savage, Albert Krehbiel, Ana Mendieta, Alan Gussow and Charles Keck.

American Art-Union

An organization devoted to the public distribution by lottery of original paintings.

It is credited with promoting many living American artists, shaping American taste and creating a demand for original art, especially landscapes and genre works.

Founded in 1844, the Art-Union existed until 1852, when the courts declared the organization illegal. By 1849, there were nearly 19,000 subscribers, each paying five dollars for which they got an original steel engraving and an opportunity to one of the 460 paintings offered that year.

American Artists Congress

Formed in 1936 with headquarters at 52 West Eighth Street in New York City.

The purpose was “to take a firm stand against war and fascism, and for the defense of art and artists of all aesthetic persuasions.” The first meeting, February 14-16, was open to the public and had discussions on “all fundamental issues, economic, aesthetic and social, which confront the American Artist today.” Stuart Davis served as Secretary.

The result of the meetings was an endorsement of artists forming a union and the promoting of social realism as a style. However, many artists lost interest in succeeding years because the Congress became closely aligned with the Communist Party.

American Booksellers Association

ABA

Founded in 1900, the American Booksellers Association is a not-for-profit organization devoted to meeting the needs of its core members of independently owned bookstores with retail storefront locations through advocacy, education, research, and information dissemination.

The ABA actively supports free speech, literacy, and programs that encourage reading.

American Federation of Arts

AFA

Initially a Washington DC based organization established in 1909 by an act of Congress, the Federation was founded to broaden public awareness and appreciation of the visual arts.

Particular emphasis was placed on touring original works of art throughout the United States.

Eventually the Federation was headquartered in New York City and provides traveling exhibitions to its member museums and galleries

AFA

American Gothic

Associated with American painter, Grant Wood (1892-1942), the reference derives from Wood’s painting titled “American Gothic”.

This work, in realist style, shows a stern farm couple holding a pitchfork and staring unrelentingly at the viewer. The meaning, devoid of humor, seems to be that life is all hard work, and there is no time for aesthetics or softening emotions.

It is gothic in that it conveys a dark, disturbing message.

American Impressionist Society

AIS

Founded by Florida artists William Schultz, Charlotte Dickinson, and Marjorie Bradley, of Vero Beach and Pauline Ney, of Ellenton, the organization remains based in Vero Beach.

The goal of the AIS is to promote the appreciation of the style of Impressionism with exhibitions, workshops and other media.” Membership is open to all Impressionist artists and any other persons who would like to support Impressionism. Member artists enjoy outdoor painting and figure and still life painting in the studio.

“Emphasis is always on capturing light and color, using broken brush strokes and thick impasto spots of color to create a dazzling impression of the subject”. William (Bill) Schultz, co-founder and chairman of AIS, is in his mid 80s and continues to teach Impressionism.

American Institute of Graphic Arts

AIGA

AIGA’s mission is to advance designing as a professional craft, strategic tool and vital cultural force.

AIGA, the professional association for design, is the place design professionals turn to first to exchange ideas and information, participate in critical analysis and research and advance education and ethical practice.

AIGA sets the national agenda for the role of design in its economic, social, political, cultural and creative contexts.

AIGA is the oldest and largest membership association for professionals engaged in the discipline, practice and culture of designing.

Founded as the American Institute of Graphic Arts in 1914 as a small, exclusive club, AIGA now represents more than 19,000 designers through national activities and local programs developed by more than 55 chapters and 200 student groups.

American National Standards Institute

ANSI

The ANSI Federation’s primary goal is the enhancement of global competitiveness of U.S. business and the American quality of life by promoting and facilitating voluntary consensus standards and conformity assessment systems and promoting their integrity.

The Institute represents the interests of its nearly 1,400 company, organization, government agency, institutional and international members.

ANSI does not itself develop American National Standards (ANSs); rather it facilitates development by establishing consensus among qualified groups.

American Numismatic Society

ANS

Founded in 1858 by a group of collectors sharing their interest in American coins and medals, it became a preservation and documentation organization that has done much to further medallic art in America.

Many of the early members were antiquarians and learned specialists. In 1893, stimulated by the Columbian Exhibition in Chicago, the ANS began the serious production of medals including ones commemorating the dedication of Grant’s Tomb in New York.

Under the leadership of President Andrew Zabriskie, the Society decided to establish a school, but that venture (1900-1905) was not successful. Since 1927, the group has produced only a few medals and has become primarily a research organization.

American Panorama Company

Based in MIlwaukee, Wisconsin, the company was the first large-scale company in the United States to create panoramas. It was formed by Chicago businessman William Wehner in 1885.

He had observed at the 1884 Cotton Exposition in New Orleans the installation of the panorama created in Germany titled “The Battle of Sedan on September 1, 1870”. Wehner’s idea was to bring experienced panorama painters to the United States from Germany to create panoramas of the Civil War.

August Lohr was the first German artist to sign on, and shortly after Franz Biberstien emigrated from Germany to join the company. The first studio of The American Panorama Company was at 628 Wells Street in Milwaukee, and the first two productions were “The Storming of MIssionary Ridge” and “The Battle of Atlanta”.

The company went out of business in 1887, but several successor firms kept the industry alive.

American Paper Institute

An organization that correlates all paper-related information.

American Renaissance

The period in American culture, 1870s to the beginning of World War I, when painting, sculpture, and architecture were united in a “grand flowering” of work by persons who believed that society could be elevated by art.

Underlying expressions were lofty ideals and divine truth and the goal was encouraging people to live virtuous lives, which in turn would elevate the “spiritual life of the nation”. This movement was a revival from the Italian Renaissance when commitments to painting, sculpture and architecture expressed lofty themes and taught high moral values.

The ancient Greeks and Romans, with their emphasis on perfect proportions, were the model exponents. The tradition was continued in the Beaux-Arts style and teaching methods that developed in the second half of the 19th Century in the Ecole des Beaux Arts, the Paris school of fine art. Richard Morris Hunt, Henry Hobson Richardson, and Charles McKim were the first American architects to study at the Ecole des Beaux Arts, and buildings designed by these men including the Boston Public Library were expressions of the American Renaissance.

Sculptor Augustus St. Gaudens and stained glass designer John La Farge were collaborators with these architects. In America, this Renaissance was appealing because it created a sense of continuum from earlier civilizations to the relatively new culture of the United States. It also introduced architecture as a discipline and this, in turn, led to mural painting and sculpture to enhance buildings designed in this Renaissance style.

American Scene Painting

A term broadly applied to an early 20th-century art movement that focused on subjects uniquely American, especially urban and rural America. Usually realist in style, it was an attempt to distance American art from the domination of European influences including abstraction.

The movement ended with the decade of the 1930s and is not easy to define because representative artists did not have a rigidly held single style, but were “committed to the political, cultural and social problems of the moment” . .

American Scene painting had two distinct groups of artists: Regionalists and Social Realists, and some scholars limit the definition to Regionalists only. However, art historian Matthew Baigell wrote: “Because the two groups shared common assumptions about the function of art, I see no reason to maintain rigid distinctions between them—-particularly since neither group ever projected one comprehensive style or even a clearly defined set of sttitudes. . . . quite simply I would like to have it both ways.”

Social Realism was led by Robert Henri and included John Sloan, Reginald Marsh and George Luks, and their subjects often were scenes from New York City.

Regionalism tends to be associated with the Midwest. High-profile Regionalists were Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri, Grant Wood of Iowa and John Steuart Curry of Kansas.

Also known for their regionalism were Dale Nichols of Nebraska, Cameron Booth of Minnesota, Jerry Bywaters and Tom Lea of Texas, and Peter Hurd and Ward Lockwood of New Mexico. East coast American Scene painters include Ben Shahn, Stuart Davis, Charles Sheeler, Edward Hopper, Paul Sample, and Charles Burchfield.

The term, ‘American Scene’ is likely derived from author Henry James’s collection of essays and impressions titled “The American Scene”. Published in 1907, the work focused on James’s own rediscovery of his native land after 21 years as an expatriate. The Whitney Museum, founded in 1931 in New York City to collect only American art, was a result of the American Scene movement.

American Society of Classical Realism

An association of American artists dedicated to the marketing and promotion of traditional representational art .

The Society was founded in 1989, and the headquarters are in Minneapolis where Richard Lack is a key leader and teacher in the Classical Realist style at his Atelier Lack.

The teacher who influenced him in this style was R.H. Ives Gammell of Boston.

American Society of Contemporary Artists

ASCA

An Exhibiting Organization of Painters, Sculptors and Graphic Artists, ASCA has approximately 100 artist members whose work ranges from representational to the non-figurative, from the intensely political to the purely aesthetic.

The group is 100 percent non profit. The members of ASCA are professional painters, sculptors, printmakers, and other graphic artists. They have taken part in group and solo shows both in the United States and abroad, achieving considerable distinction. The Society was founded in 1917 as the Brooklyn Society of Artists.

As its membership expanded to all parts of the United States, the Society restructured itself. In 1963 it adopted its current name and opened its membership to all qualified artists.

The American Society of Contemporary Artists holds annual exhibitions of its members’ works as well as additional shows during any given year. At its annual shows, the Society offers cash awards in recognition of artistic merit.

American Society of Marine Artists

ASMA

A national organization with regional representatives founded in 1978 to recognize and promote marine art and maritime history and to encourage exponents to work together.

Membership is open to anyone interested in the subject matter, and meetings are held annually. ASMA sponsors art exhibitions every couple of years, and exhibition venues include the Fry Art Museum in Seattle, Washington; Cummer Museum of Jacksonville, Florida; Cape Museum in Dennis, Massachusetts; and Vero Beach Museum in Vero Beach, Florida.

Society headquarters are in Ambler, Pennsylvania. Among American artists who belong to the American Society of Marine Artists are Christopher Blossom, Marshall Joyce, Donald Demers, Jack Coggins, and Sally Swatland.

American Society of Miniature Painters

A turn-of-the-century group of artists devoted to a highly exacting technique of “painting in little”, that was a backlash in art against the country’s fascination with technology.

It was an attempt to counteract the ugliness and misery of the burgeoning industrial society, and incorporated a renewed interest in handwork inspired by Englishmen John Ruskin and William Morris.

It culminated in the Arts and Crafts movement that flourished for the last three decades of the 19th century in England, and also in America. William J. Whittemore was one of the founders. Others that were active included Eulabee Dix, Laura Cooms Hills, and Emily Drayton Taylor.

American Society of Portrait Artists

ASOPA

The largest portrait artist organization in the world.

ASOPA, founded in 1987, is headquartered in Montgomery, Alabama and is dedicated “to furthering the fine art of portraiture and supporting the individual artist”.

It is patron supported in 50 states and 34 nations, is non-profit, and is led by an advisory board who oversee a year-long program of events. “The Portrait Signature” is the international journal of the Society.

Each year the Society awards the John Singer Sargent Medal to artists judged to be outstanding portrait painters. Recipients include Andrew Wyeth and Jamie Wyeth.

American painters who hold or have held membership in the American Society of Portrait Painters include Charles Dana Gibson, James Earle Fraser, Leopold Seyffert, Everett Kinstler, Richard Schmid, Daniel Green, M. Stephen Doherty, James Shannon, Albino Hinojosa, Jack Faragasso, Burt Silverman and Richard Whitney.

American Watercolor Society

AWS

The American Watercolor Society began in 1866 when a group of eleven painters met at the studio of Gilbert Burling in the New York University Building to form “The American Painters in Water Color.”

Fellow artist Samuel Colman was elected the first president. Catherine Altvater was the first woman to hold an elected office in the Society. The newly formed society held its first exhibition in the fall of 1867, and these annual exhibitions have continued to the present time. In 1878, the name was changed to its current one, and was incorporated in 1903.

Active members number approximately 500, with approximately 2,000 associates. There is an annual juried exhibition open to anyone.

Amphora

A word descriptive of a two-handled tapering jar made of fired clay and dating back to Greek civilization.

The Amphora, usually decorated with elaborate painting, was used for storage of items such as olive oil, grain or wine.

AMS

Autographed Manuscript, Signed

A manuscript all in the author’s hand.

Analog Representation

Refers to a technique in which a signal is transmitted continuously, but the frequency is modulated (such as with telephones). This differs from a digital representation in which the values are measured at specific levels and are not continuous.

Analog Transmission

A transmitting technique in which the signal is modulated by a continuously varying signal. Voice-grade telephone lines use analog transmission.

Analogous

Colors next to each other on the color wheel.

Analogous Colors

Colors that are closely related, or near each other on the color spectrum, especially those colors that share common hues.

Anamorphic Art

From the term anamorphoses, which is derived from the Greek words “ana” (again), and “morphe” (shape) and means a distorted image.

The observer is first deceived by a barely recognizable image, and is then directed to a viewpoint dictated by the formal construction of the painting. The spectator must play a part and re-form the picture him/herself.

Similar characteristics can be found in illusionistic wall and ceiling painting, and in the use of accelerated and retarded perspective in architecture, theatrical stage design, and urban design.

Anchor Coat

A coating applied to the face material on the side opposite the printed surface to provide increased opacity to the face material and/or to prevent migration between adhesive and the face material and/or to improve anchorage of adhesive to a face material.

Anchor Point

Defines the start or end of a path segment (a path consists of one or more segments). They fix the path at a specific position. The path segments and the shape of the path are changed by moving the anchor points.

Anchor Tags

Hyperlinks in HTML documents that can be clicked to jump from one page to another.

Ancillary Product

Products sold by publishers in addition to magazines, such as trade shows, conferences, books, tapes, special issues, coffee mugs.

Products sold by publishers in addition to magazines, such as trade shows, conferences, books, tapes, special issues, coffee mugs.

Angle Bar

In web-fed printing (printing on rolls of paper as opposed to single sheets), an angle bar is a metal bar that is used to turn paper between two components of the press.

Angle Of View

The area of a scene that a lens covers or sees. Angle of view is determined by the focal length of the lens. A wide-angle lens (short-focal-length) includes more of the scene-a wider angle of view-than a normal (normal-focal-length) or telephoto (long-focal-length) lens.

Aniline

Oil-based solvent (quick drying) used in the preparation process of dyes and inks.

Aniline Ink

An inexpensive volatile printing ink consisting of a dyestuff dissolved in a methylated spirit and bound with a resin. It is considered to be a very fast drying ink.

Aniline inks are considerably inferior in permanence to many other types of ink, and are also subject to smudging by water.

Although all colors are available, they are lacking in color fastness.

Aniline Printing

1.An old term for flexographic printing whose name is derived from the aniline-based inks employed during the process. Printing presses using this process employ rubber rollers as letterpress forms and print with quick-drying, low-viscosity inks. The first presses of this type appeared on the market at the beginning of the 20th century. They were mainly used to print packaging material.

2.Letterpress printing that uses ink that contains solvents that evaporate quickly. The plates used for this process are generally made of rubber. This type of printing is used for gummed tapes, bread wrappers and confec

Anilox Letterpress Printing

A form of printing which uses a very simple ink dispensing system borrowed from gravure printing. An inking roller (“anilox roller”) with small recesses arranged in a grid form is inked to excess and a doctor blade is then used to remove the excess ink. This immediately results in a very uniform film of ink, such that no further rollers are needed in the inking unit for ink distribution. The advantages of this process include the simple design of the inking unit and the ease with which ink feed can be controlled.

Anilox Roll

Anilox rolls generally are steel with ceramic coating. Etched into the ceramic are cells that are used to transfer controlled volumes of ink to the flexographic printing plate. Between print jobs they must be cleaned of ink. Anilox rolls used in narrow web presses typically have face lengths up to around 30 inches. These rolls are often installed and maneuvered by hand, and can approach 100 pounds. Anilox rolls on wide web presses are longer (typically up to 100 inches, but can be much longer) and can weigh several hundred pounds. They are typically moved with cranes or robotically because of their weight and size. Anilox rolls on corrugated presses are also very large and are normally cleaned on-press. The design of corrugated presses allows for separation of print units.

Anilox Sleeves

Anilox sleeves are used as a lighter alternative to anilox rolls. They are also ceramic coated, but are hollow and slide over steel cylinders which remain on-press. They are placed on-press by injecting air pressure into the cylinder. This provides a cushion of air so that the sleeve can slide onto the cylinder face from a shaft on a storage/transport cart. Once in place on the cylinder on the press, the air pressure is released, causing the sleeve to deflate resulting in a total, uniform grip to the cylinder surface.

Anilox System

The inking system commonly employed in flexographic presses consisting of an elastomer covered fountain roller running in the ink pan, adjustable against a contacting engraved metering roll, the two as a unit adjustable to the printing plate roll, elastomer design roll or plain elastomer coating roll as the case may be. Ink is flooded into the engraved cells of the metering roll, excess doctored off by the wiping or squeezing action of the fountain roll or a doctor blade and that which remains beneath the surface of the metering roll is transferred to the printing plates.

Animalier

A French term for an artist whose specialty is depicting animals. Leading French Animaliers were 19th-century sculptors Charles Valton, Antoine Louis Bayre, and Emmanuel Fremiet.

Animated GIF

A file containing a series of GIF graphics or pictures that are displayed in sequence on a Web page, giving the appearance of a moving picture. The timing and looping can be adjusted to created different effects.

Animation

Generic term for the combination of image, text, graphics and moving images (videos) within a file and its presentation on a computer monitor.

Annotation

A feature on many digital cameras that allows the image to contain text such as the date and time, watermarking, image notations, audio notations, and stylus notations. These are a few of the annotation features currently available.

Announcements

Social stationery and announcements that are printed on a folded card that fits into a matching envelope.

Annunciator Window

An annunciator is a device used for signaling the condition or status of a process or machine by means of illuminating the section of a display containing the text and/or graphics associated with the current alarm, fault or other condition. An annunciator window is the piece that can be illuminated in an annunciator, and usually consists of a translucent piece of plastic or glass containing engraved, printed or applied text and/or graphics in a contrasting color.

Anodized

Process by which a protective aluminum oxide layer is applied to an underlying metal using electrolysis. Anodizing can create a variety of colors and special effects while providing a durable surface.

Anodized Plate

Offset

Printing plate having a treated surface in order to reduce wear for extended use.

Lithography

A plate manufactured with a barrier of aluminum oxide which prevents chemical reactions that break down the plate; it provides optimum press performance.

Anonymous FTP

A server that permits users to download files without having to supply a user ID and password.

ANS

American Numismatic Society

Founded in 1858 by a group of collectors sharing their interest in American coins and medals, it became a preservation and documentation organization that has done much to further medallic art in America.

Many of the early members were antiquarians and learned specialists. In 1893, stimulated by the Columbian Exhibition in Chicago, the ANS began the serious production of medals including ones commemorating the dedication of Grant’s Tomb in New York.

Under the leadership of President Andrew Zabriskie, the Society decided to establish a school, but that venture (1900-1905) was not successful. Since 1927, the group has produced only a few medals and has become primarily a research organization.

Anschutz Collection

Founded by Philip Anschutz whose goal was to create a collection of real value that is a survey of American painting in the West.

The collection spans nearly 180 years of American history, and has over 650 paintings and drawings with more than 200 artists represented from early 1800s to the present.

Primary goals are to show how each generation of artists chose to represent the West and how their work impacted succeeding generations. Anschutz made all acquisition and deaccesions decisions himself but had three key advisors. In 1989, the Collection toured the Soviet Union with great acclaim.

Anschutz made his money from oil exploration, real estate, and railroads, and in 1992 purchased the Southern Pacific Railroad. He began the collection in the early 1960s as he was near graduation from the University of Kansas.

He was much influenced by his mother, Marian Pfister Anschutz, who encouraged him to have wide interests.

ANSI

American National Standards Institute

The ANSI Federation’s primary goal is the enhancement of global competitiveness of U.S. business and the American quality of life by promoting and facilitating voluntary consensus standards and conformity assessment systems and promoting their integrity.

The Institute represents the interests of its nearly 1,400 company, organization, government agency, institutional and international members.

ANSI does not itself develop American National Standards (ANSs); rather it facilitates development by establishing consensus among qualified groups.

Anti-Aliasing

In a digitized image, diagonal lines are not a true diagonal line on the monitor, but rather they are a series of horizontal and vertical line segments that simulate a diagonal. At lower resolutions, this will produce a stair-stepped effect known as aliasing. Anti-aliasing reduces this effect, helping to produce smoother diagonal lines by partially filling in or blurring the hard edges.

Anti-art

Term introduced by French-American, Marcel Duchamp (ca. 1914) for a form of art, Dada or in it’s tradition, where conventional forms and theories are rejected.

This may refer to their materials, techniques, or method of display.

Anti-Halation Backing

A protective coating used on film (non-emulsion side) that prevents light from reflecting back, or haloing back into the emulsion.

Anti-Offset Powder

A fine powder that is sprayed on the sheet as it comes off the press to prevent the ink from transferring to the back side of the next sheet.

Anti-Offset Spray

A dry or liquid spray used to prevent wet ink from transferring from one sheet of paper to another.

Antiblocking Agent

A substance used in either a coating mixture or as an overcoating to prevent one sheet of paper from adhering to another, or to any other object, within a specified range of temperature and humidity. Antiblocking agents are usually waxes or synthetic polymers; a light dusting of talcum powder is sometimes used for the same purpose.

Antifoaming Agent

An additive used in ink that prevents or eliminates foaming of a liquid or breaks foam already formed.

Antiquarian Books

A loose term implying collectible books rather than used books.

Refers to old, rare, and out-of-print books.

Antique

Meaning the same as Classical, antique technically references art to the fifth century A.D.

During the Renaissance, Antique/Classical art was studied carefully by aspiring artist

However, the term has come to mean old furniture.

Antique Binding

A modern binding executed in the style of some earlier period, but generally with no intent to deceive.

Antique Book Paper

A book paper generally produced in the United States from bleached chemical wood pulp with a large amount of short-fibered pulp and given a soft, relatively rough finish.
In Great Britain it is produced largely from esparto pulp.

Antique book paper varies from lightweight to relatively heavy weight; 60 pound, basis weight antique bulks approximately 330 pages to the inch. Many books, and particularly novels, are printed on this type of paper, especially those containing only textual matter and/or bold line drawings.

Antique papers generally are not suitable for fine line drawings or half-tone illustrations.

Antique Cover Paper

A cover paper with an antique finish.

Antique Finish

A finish that gives the paper a natural rough surface. This finish is created by pressures being reduced when running on the paper machines and with little or no calendaring being done.

Antiskinning Agent

An antioxidant agent used to prevent inks from skinning over in the can.

Antistatic Coatings

A coating that is applied to one or both sides of a material to reduce the build up of electrostic. Lowering the amount of electrostic in a material aides in the ease of additional posessing.

Anvil

A hardened steel roll upon which the bearers of a rotary die cutter ride which also provides the hardened surface to support the die cutting.

AOC

All Over Coat

Carbon paper that has the carbon coating covering the entire surface. Also referred to as full coated carbon.

AOL

America Online.

A commercial information service with a graphical interface.

AOX

Adsorbable Organic Halogen

A measure of the amount of chlorine that is chemically bound to the soluble organic matter in the effluent.

Aperture

1.The iris of the digital camera which is a circular opening within the lens that opens and closes to permit varying levels of light to enter the camera as the image is exposed in order to record the digital image. The maximum aperture determines how much a lens can be open such as f/1.8 which lets in considerably more light than f/3.2 which opens only slightly. A “wide open iris” is considered to be a large or high aperture setting.

2.Lens opening. The opening in a camera lens through which light passes to expose the film. The size of aperture is either fixed or adjustable. Aperture size is usually calibrated in f-numbers-the larger the number, the smaller the lens opening.

Aperture Priority

1.The digital camera feature that will enable the user to control the depth of field or the clarity of the background by selecting the aperture setting.

2.An exposure mode on an automatic or autofocus camera that lets you set the aperture while the camera sets the shutter speed for proper exposure. If you change the aperture, or the light level changes, the shutter speed changes automatically.

Apex

The point of a character where two lines meet at the top, an example of this is the point on the letter A.

API

Application Program Interface

A set of routines used for application programs to access operating system services.

Most API’s make it easier to develop programs by furnishing all of the necessary building blocks.

Apocryphal

A work whose authenticity or authorship is in doubt.

Appendix

Additional or supplementary material generally found at the end of a book.

Applet

A small Java computer program that can be embedded in an HTML page to add dynamic elements and interactivity.

AppleTalk

A network protocol developed by Apple that allows Apple devices to communicate.

Application
  1. A computer program.

  2. The adhering of a label to a product.

Application Server

A network server in which a group of programs are collectively integrated into a Web server’s environment. Instead of having individually installed programs, network users have access to the server program. These applications are connected to an API which allows higher-level tasks to be performed remotely.

Another advantage of these applications is that licensing requirements can be more easily met, as the users do not usually have their own hard drive, which prevents the installation of so-called pirate copies. It is also possible to install the latest software available on all computers in the network with a single update on the server. This kind of server enables a user to perform sophisticated interactions over the internet, such as querying a database or running other programs loaded on the server.

Application Service Provider

ASP

A business that provides computer-based services to customers over a network.

Software offered using an ASP model is also sometimes called On-demand software.

The most limited sense of this business is that of providing access to a particular application program (such as medical billing) using a standard protocol such as HTTP.
The need for ASPs has evolved from the increasing costs of specialized software that have far exceeded the price range of small to medium sized businesses.

As well, the growing complexities of software have led to huge costs in distributing the software to end-users.

Through ASPs, the complexities and costs of such software can be cut down.

In addition, the issues of upgrading have been eliminated from the end-firm by placing the onus on the ASP to maintain up-to-date services, 24 × 7 technical support, physical and electronic security and in-built support for Business Continuity and Flexible Working.

The importance of this marketplace is reflected by its size.

As of early 2003, estimates of the United States market range from 1.5 to 4 billion dollars.

Clients for ASP services include businesses, government organizations, non-profits, and membership organizations.

Application Software

A subclass of computer software that employs the capabilities of a computer directly to a task that the user wishes to perform.

This should be contrasted with system software which is involved in integrating a computer’s various capabilities, but typically does not directly apply them in the performance of tasks that benefit the user.

In this context the term application refers to both the application software and its implementation.

A simple, if imperfect, analogy in the world of hardware would be the relationship of an electric light (an application) to an electric power generation plant (the system).

The power plant merely generates electricity, itself not really of any use until harnessed to an application like the electric light which performs a service that the user desires.

Application Temperature

The temperature of the environment or product when a label is applied. There are generally minimum and maximum application temperature ratings for the different types of adhesives.

Applicator

A device used to apply labels faster and more accurately. The applicator could be a hand held model or a piece of automated equipment used for high speed application.

Applied Art

Art that decorates utilitarian objects.

The term was introduced during the Industrial Revolution in Britain.

The Arts and Crafts Movement, led by William Morris Hunt, defined applied art as injecting artistic taste into the design and decoration of common objects.

Also see Industrial Design

Appraisal-Art

An evaluation of the fair market value of a work of art; in other words what the work would bring if sold at auction or by other means on the secondary market.

Quite often the purposes of an appraisal are for insurance of the item, for tax purposes for donations and for inheritance.

In order to be valid, the appraisal must be done by a certified appraiser, who usually evaluates the work by using comparables—-other works of art that have similar characteristics.

APR

Automatic Picture Replacement

Scitex’s process in which a low resolution image is automatically replaced by a high resolution version of the image.

Apron

Additional white space allowed in the margins of text and illustrations when forming a foldout.

Aquarelle
  1. The hand application of color, through stencils onto a printed picture.

  2. “Watercolor” in French, referring to the drawing or painting with transparent watercolor.

Aquatint
  1. An intaglio etching and printing process in which areas of a metal plate are dusted with fine, acid-resistant particles such as powdered resin.

The uncovered areas are then bitten away by acid to create a granular surface that produces soft, tonal effects.

  1. An etching or engraving process focused on creating tonal variations rather than linear affects, which gives the appearance of a watercolor. It is often used in conjuction with line etching.

Aquatint is created by acid biting into a metal plate and involves putting granular resin over the plate, creating the design, and then immersing in acid.

Tonality is achieved by repeating the varnishing and immersing.

Aqueous Coating

A water based coating which is applied in the same manner as ink. It is used to protect and enhance the printed piece.

Arabesque

Linear decoration that is interlacing and carved or painted on panels.

Subjects are botanic, animal and human figures.

Arabesque Plates

Solid brass plates cut, usually in intaglio, with a design and imprinted on a leather cover by means of a blocking press, or large fly embossing press.

Arabic Numbering

A type of numbering that uses Arabic numeral characters 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 for its number sequence.

ARC

Advance Reading Copy

A preview or early review copy of a book that is usually sent to book buyers, reviewers, booksellers, book clubs, and/or publisher sales representatives before the book is published.

It could be in a different format, uncorrected, not bound, and/or have a different cover design than the publication issue.

The typical publishing process is proof, advance reading copy, and publication

Arc Light

A light source produced by the passing of electric current between two electrodes; used in the production of plates in photolithography.

Archie

A program for finding files stored on anonymous FTP sites. You need to know the exact file name or a substring of the file name.

Architectural Motif

A form of decoration consisting of a pattern of straight lines running almost the length of the cover and connected alternately at head and tail by heavier horizontal lines.

Architectural Style

A 16th century style of finishing consisting of architectural motifs-porticoes, moldings, columns, pediments, arches, and the like.

The contents of the books bound in the architectural style seldom related to architecture.

The central feature was a pair of columns supporting an arch under which there was a panel for lettering of the title.

Architecture

A framework for the design of a workable computer system.

Archivability

Good quality tape can be relied upon to withstand a wide range of temperature and humidity. If stored properly, the expected lifetime of a video tape should be anywhere from 10 years to beyond 30 years. Tapes should resist shedding and layer-to-layer adhesion; remain flexible; and retain the recorded signals with little loss. Poor performance tape may start shedding over time especially if exposed to extremes of temperature. Also they may develop sticky substances as a result of high humidity exposure and the breakdown of the vinyl binders used to hold the magnetic particles onto the base film.

Archival
  1. Materials that meet certain criteria for permanence, such as lignin-free, pH neutral, alkaline-buffered, stable in light, etc.

  2. Papers specifically made for an extended lifespan which do not discolour or otherwise deteriorate; used in academic texts and other works of permanent value, and particularly favoured by library conservationists and US libraries, which often require their use.

Archival Paper

Acid free paperthat includes a minimum of 2% calcium carbonate to increase the longevity of the paper.

The paper is manufactured to resist deterioration.

Areometer

A device for determining the density of liquids used in printing to measure the concentration of alcohol in water-containing process liquids. The device consists of a sealed glass tube filled with air with a weight at one end. Once the areometer is placed in the liquid being tested, it floats either higher or lower, depending on the density of the liquid. The density can then be read using a scale graduated in special units (B after Baum or Brix). Because the density of liquids changes with temperature, the scale of an areometer is always relative to a specific temperature. To make correct measurements easier to obtain, some areometers also feature a thermometer.

Arfe

A term coined by Francisco Rivera Rosa to describe his “paintings” with coffee on paper (derived from art + café = Arfé)

Armature

A rigid framework, often wood or steel, used to support a sculpture or other large work while it is being made.

Arming Press

A small hand blocking press, at one time used for impressing armorial bearings on the covers of books, but now used for blocking short runs of edition bindings, as well as in miscellaneous binding work.

Armorial Bearings

Solid plates of brass, engraved in relief with family heraldic insignia, and used to block insignia on the covers of books belonging to prominent and/ or royal families

Armorial Binding

Leather or cloth bindings embossed with armorial seals or plaques, frequently in a panel, or embroidered bindings in which the arms were raised in relief and worked in thread

ARPANET

Advanced Research Projects Agency Network

The Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET) developed by ARPA of the United States Department of Defense was the world’s first operational packet switching network, and the progenitor of the global Internet.

Packet switching, now the dominant basis for both data and voice communication worldwide, was a new and important concept in data communications.

Previously, data communications was based on the idea of circuit switching, as in the old typical telephone circuit, where a dedicated circuit is tied up for the duration of the call and communication is only possible with the single party on the other end of the circuit.

With packet switching, a system could use one communication link to communicate with more than one machine by assembling data into packets.

Not only could the link be shared (much as a single mail person can be used to post letters to different destinations), but each packet could be routed independently of other packets.
This was a major advance.

Array

A named, ordered collection of data elements that have identical attributes or identical structures.

Arrears

Issues of a magazine sent after the subscription has expired.

Publications audited by the Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC) may count these subscribers in their circulation for a maximum of three additional months.

Arrowhead

A symbol shaped like an arrowhead that is used in an illustration to direct a leader line.

Art Binding

A term sometimes used to describe a book that has been bound by a master craftsman in the “best manner,” using only the finest materials available. The term is applied only to books bound by hand and covered in leather or vellum, and usually only to those bindings that are unique or at least distinctive in design

Art Brut

Coined in 1945 by French artist Jean Dubuffet (1901-1985), the word is French for “raw art”. It refers to the art of Outsiders-naïve artists, the mentally ill, and the art of children-persons isolated from main society.

Art Brut was often celebrated in the work of Dubuffet who appreciated its being done for its own sake and not for concern of profit. A major collection of Art Brut work is at the Collection de l’Art Brut, founded by Dubuffet in Lausanne, Switzerland and opened in 1976.

The collection is based on European art but is much expanded from that. American artists associated with this style include Ted Gordon, Henry Darger, and Inez Nathaniel Walker.

Art Canvas
  1. A heavy, coarse, closely woven fabric of cotton, hemp, or flax.

  2. A relatively heavy book cloth, usually impregnated, which may be a single or double warp and is sometimes lined with tissue paper to prevent penetration of adhesives.

  3. A piece of such fabric on which a painting, especially an oil painting, is executed.

Art Cloth Cover

Cotton Fabric Fastback Hardcover

This is a bright material ideally suited for art books and professional photography books.

Art Deco

An art style of the 1920s and 1930s based on modern materials such as steel, chrome and glass and “machine-inspired geometry”.

Art Deco influenced American architecture, interior and industrial design, crafts and graphics, painting and sculpture. It was a successor to the popular Art Nouveau, with its flowing, non geometric lines.

With Art Deco, flowers became stylized and formal and much influenced by Egyptian designs. Examples of Art Deco architecture are the Chrysler Building in New York and Radio City Music Hall whose interior design was overseen by Donald Deskey.

Art Deco sculptors include Boris Lovet-Lorski, Alfonso Iannelli and Wilhelm Diederich. Among Art Deco painters are John McCrady and Louis Icart. Edward McKnight Kauffer was known for his boldly colored posters that could be read quickly, and Helen Dryden did fashion illustrations for “Vogue” magazine that reflected a changing era embodying both Art Deco and Art Nouveau.

Romain de Tirtoff is credited with helping define the new Art Deco look because of his cover designs for “Harper’s Bazar”, beginning 1915. The name derives from the 1925 Paris L’Exposition International des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes held in Paris and credited with launching the design rage for Art Deco. In New York, May 2005, “Decophiliiacs” or “Decomaniacs” gathered for “New York Art Deco Week” in honor of the eighth world conference on Art Deco.

Organized by members of the 25 year-old Art Deco Society of New York, special galas were held at the Chrysler Buidling, Rockefeller Center and a Jazz Age Harlem nightclub.

Art Director

Publishing

In publishing, where the term originated, an art director organizes the pages of a magazine or newspaper and in consultation with an editor, chooses or designs accompanying pictures or graphics.

Typically, this art director reports to the editor. At larger books or magazines, there are assistant and associate art directors that report to the art director.

  1. Advertising

Art directors in advertising aren’t necessarily the head of an art department although the title may suggest it. In modern advertising practice, they typically work in tandem with a copywriter.

Together, the art director and copywriter work on a concept for commercials, print advertisements, and any other advertising medium.

Art Engage

Art influenced by political or social significance.

French term meaning “art involved in life”.

Art for Art’s Sake

An expression coined in the early 19th Century, it came to mean experimental or modernist art that was created without traditional social or religious themes.

Art Glass

A late 19th-Century glassware typically hand made, elaborately decorated, having more than one color and expensive.

Art Glass reflected sophisticated technological advancement and was popular because it served Victorian-era taste for fancy, decorative items. Pieces have color shading achieved by heat variations and chemicals.

Colorations include peach, coral, opaque white, pink-to-yellow, rose amber, and blue-grey to pink. Amberina, made by the New England Glass Company from 1883 to 1888 was the earliest shaded glassware.

In 1917, Libbey Glass Company, a successor company, reissued it. The Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, New York, features a wide collection of Art Glass.

Reaction against Art Glass was Art Nouveau Glass made famous in the 1890s by New York jeweler, Louis Comfort Tiffany.

Favrile glass by Tiffany was irridescent, classical in style, and patterned on ancient glasses that were made from being buried for centuries in damp soil.

Art in Embassies Program

AIEP

Founded in 1964 to showcase original American artwork in residences of United States ambassadors, the program has become a sophisticated operation.

The idea was laid out in 1961 by Robert h. Thayer, special assistant to the Secretary of State. Thayer saw the program as providing “windows through which the people of foreign countries can see American works of art of all kinds and periods.”

The report lay idle for two years until Deputy Undersecretary of State William A. Crockett brought it to the attention of President John F. Kennedy, whose positive reaction sent the program forward. It is a blend of art, diplomacy, culture and politics and promotes national and regional pride, making it obvious that the American aesthetic identity is vast.

Art in Embassies has become an exhibition venue for several-thousand works of art in many of the 160 United States embassy residences. Ambassadors can choose the artists to be represented in their embassies and quite often select work of an artist from their home state.

Frequently a curator or other art professional serves as an advisor, and the agreement is that artwork will be loaned for a three-year period. Contributors are artists, museums, individual collectors or galleries.

The Department of State of the U.S. government handles shipping and insurance.

Art Institute of Chicago

The Art Institute of Chicago

The descendant of the Chicago Academy of Design, which was a school started in 1866 that in 1879 became the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts.

Founders of the Academy of Design were artists who wanted to provide a first-class education as well as exhibition facilities. The first quarters were destroyed in a citywide fire in 1871. In 1882, the name was changed to the Art Institute of Chicago, and the building at 111 South Michigan Avenue was erected in 1893.

It contained both a museum and a school and was finished for the World’s Columbian Exposition in 1893. The School of the Art Institute of Chicago has become one of the largest accredited art schools in the United States.

The museum is one of the major art museums in the world and has collections focused on European, Asian, African and American art, photography and textiles. It is especially noted for its French Impressionist and Post Impressionist paintings.

Art Lined Envelope

An envelope that is lined with an extra fine paper; can be colored or patterned.

Art Linen

A relatively heavy cloth of a generally flat and uneven color, and usually impregnated. When art linens are produced with a design, the patterns are usually florid and ornate.

Art Nouveau

A decorative art style, especially associated with sinuous vines and tendril motifs-curving, often-swirling shapes based on flowing organic forms.

It was prevalent between 1895 to 1905, and was an outgrowth of the Arts and Crafts Movement, which emphasized applying art to practical, daily life objects.

The name Art Nouveau originated in France, derived from a modern-design shop of S. Bing, L’Art Nouveau (the New Art) that opened in Paris in 1895. However, the style originated more than a decade earlier, and by the end of the 19th century had various names in a variety of countries: ‘Jugendstil’ in Germany; ‘Stile Liberty’ in Italy; ‘Modernista’ in Spain and ‘Sezessionstil’ in Austria.

Representative French artists including Pierre Bonnard, Edvard Munch, and Henri Toulouse-Lautrec leaned on earlier styles including Rococo, Gothic, and Oriental. The style quickly spread to the United States and other countries. In America, the style of Art Nouveau was reflected in the paintings and illustrations of Edwin Austin Abbey, Louis Comfort Tiffany, Maxfield Parrish and Alfonse Mucha. Louis Sullivan was a leader in architectural design.

Art Nouveau Glass, with classic, simple lines, was a reaction against the heavily decorated Victorian Art Glass and was made popular by Tiffany and Company, New York jewelers, and Steuben Glass Works in Corning, New York.

Art Paper
  1. A good quality paper used by artists and conservators. It has a highly finished, smooth surface produced by supercalendering or by coating. Its principal characteristic is its close formation.

In Great Britain, “art paper” is considered to be a body paper or board coated with a mineral substance, such as barium sulfate or china clay, which gives it a smoothness that is suitable for the printing of fine halftones, and the like.

In the United States, art paper is generally made from chemical wood pulp, while in Great Britain the best art paper is made from 90 to 95% esparto and 5 to 10% chemical wood pulp. Esparto is good because it is less likely to stretch and has a natural affinity for coating materials, which gives it a superior surface for halftone reproductions. Heavily coated art papers are prone to cracking, flaking, and pulling away of the coating

  1. A fancy figured paper used for endpapers in edition binding

  2. A smooth coated paper obtained by adding a coating of china clay compound on one or both sides of the paper.

Art Parchment

A thick, heavy, hard-sized paper manufactured from cotton fiber and/or chemical wood pulps.

Art Prep

Preparation of copy and artwork.

Art Print

A precise reproduction of an artist’s Original Painting, which has captured the stunning and vibrant colours of the Original Artwork

Art Printing

High-quality sheetfed offset printing on high-quality paper typically used for the production of sophisticated illustrated books.

Art Printing Paper

A premium-grade stock for the high-quality reproduction of color prints.

Art printing papers usually have a very smooth, glossy surface, though some have a matte or semi-matte finish. They allow illustrations to be reproduced by offset or letterpress in much finer halftone screens.

Art Students League of New York

ASL

A prestigious ongoing art school in New York City that has had many of America’s most famous artists as enrollees.

The Art Students League began in the fall of 1875 in New York City as a drawing and sketching class by members of the art school of the National Academy of Design, which had closed temporarily.

Although the Academy school reopened in 1877, ASL participants led by Walter Shirlaw continued to operate because of the student demand for independence from the strictures of the Academy.

The next year, 1878, the League gained much stature when William Merritt Chase, a leader in the rebellion against the Academy, opened his painting class at the League.

Closely allied to the establishing of the Art Students League were members of the Society of American Artists. In 1892, League members moved into their newly-constructed building on West 57th Street, and by the end of the 1890s, nearly one-thousand students were enrolled.

Founders of the ASL had the objective of developing professional artists using unorthodox methods. The League continues into the 21st century with the same approaches with which it began: there are no entrance exams, diplomas or examinations.

Students, who serve on the governing board and set fees and appoint instructors, may enter any time during the year and attend classes whenever they wish.

Famous teachers in addition to William Merritt Chase include Robert Henri, Frank DuMond, Kenneth Miller, Thomas Eakins, John Sloan and George Bridgman.

Art Therapy

The treatment using art-related activites of persons with mental and/or physical disabilities. Linking creative art to solving psychological problems is an approach developed by 20th-century mental-health professionals.

It is based on the theory that through drawing, painting and other creative projects, people can communicate fears or other problems of the subconscious, a process that is therapeutic for the person and a provider, hopefully, of the sources of problems that need treatment.

Art Vellum

A relatively thin book cloth, which, although impregnated, has only moderately good wearing qualities. It is a smooth cloth with a textured pattern printed on a white base fabric

Arte Povera

An Italian term applied by art critic Germano Celant in 1967 to a group of Italian artists active in Rome, Genoa, Milan and Turin in the 1960s and 1970s.

They were perceived as radical because they used everyday materials they could acquire easily and cheaply such as rope, iron, sticks, cement, twigs, and newspapers.

However, the term was not intended by Celant to be a value judgment of their artwork, but instead was a reference to the fact that any low-income person could get involved because the method required little or no financial investment.

Metaphorical images were characteristic of “Arte Povera”, especially opposites suggesting the “redemptive power of history and art with a solid grounding in the material world”.

Although many 20th and 21st century artists in western countries use found objects in their artwork, the term “Arte Povera” applies almost exclusively to Italian artists including Giovanni Anselmo, Alighiero Boetti, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Giulio Paolini and Gilbert Zorio.

Artifact or Artifacting

Image distortions caused by corrupt data in compressed or JPEG image files.

Artificial Gold

A metallic composition used as a substitute for gold leaf or foil in the lettering and decorating of printed material.

It is usually made of powdered bronze. It lacks the richness and depth of genuine gold and eventually tarnishes due to oxidation.

Artificial Leather

A coated fabric, rubber, or plastic composition, or absorbent paper, manufactured to resemble genuine leather.

Also known as Imitation Leather.

Artificial Parchment

Wood-free paper with properties similar to those of genuine parchment, above all in its grease resistance, which results from the smeary grinding of the chemical pulp.

Artificial Watermark

An image applied to the paper that is visible when viewed at an angle. Artificial watermarks are applied after the paper manufacturing process. They can be applied by the paper manufacturer or by the printer. An artificial watermark can be seen from one side only. It is generally applied to the back side but can be applied to the front side also. The watermark is achieved by printing the image in opaque white ink, transparent ink or by using varnish. Also referred to as a simulated watermark.

Artificialism

An art movement founded in Czechoslovakia in 1927 to oppose naturalism in art; the movement was short-lived as its members went on to become involved in poetism and eventually surrealism.

Artist’s Representative

Person who handles marketing and other business matters for designers, illustrators, and photographers.

Artist’s Proof

A copy or reproduction that is outside the numbered copies of the limited edition but may be numbered with the prefix AP.

By custom, the artist retains the A/Ps for his personal use or sale and does not put an edition number on them.

Some times an artist’s proof is regarded as having more value, especially if they were the first prints pulled off non-lithographic plates before the plates were worn down.

Arts and Crafts

Practical or useful objects created to have eye appeal or artistic merit as well as utility. In this category are metalwork, fiber art, and woodwork.

As a subject, arts and crafts are often taught as therapy or recreational activiity.

See Arts and Crafts Movement

Arts and Crafts Movement

The Arts and Crafts Movement

A revival lasting from 1861 to 1914 to bring handcrafts to the forefront in a period when industry and mechanization was gaining cultural dominance.

The Arts and Crafts Movement began in England in the last part of the 19th century and in many countries including America, resulted in the dignifying of the private home as a place of creative expression and enjoyment of the freedoms associated with that expression.

The leader was English aristocrat William Morris who asserted that “a work of utility might be a work of art, if we cared to make it so.” Psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud inadvertently gave voice to the movement with his comment, “a chair is rarely just a chair.”

For Morris, the motivation to rebel came from his anger at the harmful effects of the Industrial Revolution on people’s lives. He observed that not only was their health being ruined by air pollution but their creative talents were thwarted by machines replacing domestic tasks such as furniture making, textile design, etc.

Launching a ’do-it-yourself-movement, Morris set out to equate applied art with fine art and to formalize education in the Applied Arts by paying close attention to quality and intended use of materials.

It was an influence whose success not only empowered the middle class generally but dignified the labor of women in that it elevated to an art form domestic tasks such as sewing, quilting, china painting, needle pointing and pottery making.

Indicative of these changes was that needlepoint was exhibited as a fine art along with painting and sculpture at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Morris promoted his ideas through his company of painters, designers and architects named Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Company. He designed wallpapers, fabrics, furniture and books and did weaving and dye staining.

In 1888, the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society held their first show in England, and in 1897, Boston hosted the First American Society of Arts and Crafts exhibition. The movement spread throughout Europe and was a strong influence on Walter Gropius in his founding of the Bauhaus School in Germany.

In America, the Arts and Crafts Movement resulted in academic respect for folk art and public respect for it as a part of fine art. In 2004, the Los Angeles County Museum launched a traveling exhibition titled “The Arts and Crafts Movement in Europe and America”.

Organized by Decorative Arts Curator Wendy Kaplan and focused on the heyday of the movement, 1890 to 1910, it was the first museum exhibition to explore the international impact of the movement.

Exhibited were more than 300 objects, with furniture being dominant but including jewelry, ceramics, textiles, stained glass, book bindings, tapestries and hand-printed wall paper.

In America, leading architectural promoters were architect Frank Lloyd Wright and Henry Hobson Richardson, and strong supporters included furniture maker Gustav Stickley.

American artists who became part of the movement include Arthur Mathews and Lucia Matthews, Birge Harrison, John Fabian Carlson, Hermann Murphy, Blanche Lazzell, Anna and Albert Valentien, Zulma Steele-Parker and Reginald Machell.

Arts for the Parks

A name given to exhibitions of the National Park Foundation, a non-profit group formed in the 1980s to reinvigorate landscape painting as a legitimate subject for artists.

The stated goal has been to identify and promote artists “whose paintings best captured the ‘essence’ of the landscapes, wildlife, and history of the more than 300 units of our National Park System.

The first exhibition was in 1987, and from that time, Arts for the Parks exhibitions became annual events. An initial and ongoing goal of its organizers is to promote landscape as subject matter in American art, which has had a period of domination by abstraction.

However, in 2006, it was announced that the Arts for the Parks exhibition may be terminated as the owners announced that, although they would entertain an offer of buying, they wanted to retire.

Also controversy had arisen because participating artists were required to sign documents that allowed with little control of images of their entries.

The 2006 Arts for the Parks winner, possibly the last one, was Maron Hylton for “One of the Fallen”.

ArtTABLE

ArtTable Mission

A national organization founded in 1980 for professional women active in the visual arts. The goal is to advance greater understanding and appreciation of the visual arts by providing meetings for the exchange of information.

The ArtTable Mission headquarters are in New York and regional chapters are in Washington DC, Northern California, Southern California and Boston.

Each year an annual conference is held in New York City, and Distinguished Service to the Visual Arts Awards are given to women professionals.

Recipients include Elizabeth Baker, Editor of “Art in America”; Agnes Gund, President Emeritus of the Musuem of Modern Art; and Paula Cooper, Director of the Paula Cooper Gallery.

Artwork

1.All illustrated material, ornamentation, photos and charts, etc. that is prepared for reproduction.

2.Materials, such as illustrations, lettering and photographs, used to improve the appearance of the finished printed product.

As New

Refers to the condition of a book; it is either a brand new copy, or in the same new and unblemished condition as when it was first published.

See also Bright Copy.

As to Press

In gravure printing, (recessed areas of plate hold ink), a term used for proofs showing the final position of color images.

As Usual

A favorite term to describe defects which probably occur only on copies of the book the particular dealer handles, such as “lacks endpapers, as usual”.

ASA

A number set by the American Standards Assoc., which is placed on film stock to allow calculation of the length and “F” number of an exposure. See also “F” numbers.

ASCA

American Society of Contemporary Artists

An Exhibiting Organization of Painters, Sculptors and Graphic Artists, ASCA has approximately 100 artist members whose work ranges from representational to the non-figurative, from the intensely political to the purely aesthetic.

The group is 100 percent non profit. The members of ASCA are professional painters, sculptors, printmakers, and other graphic artists. They have taken part in group and solo shows both in the United States and abroad, achieving considerable distinction. The Society was founded in 1917 as the Brooklyn Society of Artists.

As its membership expanded to all parts of the United States, the Society restructured itself. In 1963 it adopted its current name and opened its membership to all qualified artists.

The American Society of Contemporary Artists holds annual exhibitions of its members’ works as well as additional shows during any given year. At its annual shows, the Society offers cash awards in recognition of artistic merit.

Ascenders

On lower case letters, it is the top part that extends above the other letters, such as on the letters b, d, h, and k in comparison to the letters a, c, e, m, and n.

ASCII

American Standard Code for Information Interchange

Used to encode letters and numbers in digital form for electronic storage and processing. Originally binary numbers with seven digits (seven bits) were used, which made it possible to represent a total of 128 characters. The use of 8-bit numbers was later introduced, increasing the total to 256 characters. Unicode notation based on 16-bit numbers has been gaining increasing acceptance in recent years. It can be used to represent 65,536 different characters.

Ash Content

The quantity of anorganic substances in a paper stock that will be converted to ash when burned.

ASL

Art Students League of New York

A prestigious ongoing art school in New York City that has had many of America’s most famous artists as enrollees.

The Art Students League began in the fall of 1875 in New York City as a drawing and sketching class by members of the art school of the National Academy of Design, which had closed temporarily.

Although the Academy school reopened in 1877, ASL participants led by Walter Shirlaw continued to operate because of the student demand for independence from the strictures of the Academy.

The next year, 1878, the League gained much stature when William Merritt Chase, a leader in the rebellion against the Academy, opened his painting class at the League.

Closely allied to the establishing of the Art Students League were members of the Society of American Artists. In 1892, League members moved into their newly-constructed building on West 57th Street, and by the end of the 1890s, nearly one-thousand students were enrolled.

Founders of the ASL had the objective of developing professional artists using unorthodox methods. The League continues into the 21st century with the same approaches with which it began: there are no entrance exams, diplomas or examinations.

Students, who serve on the governing board and set fees and appoint instructors, may enter any time during the year and attend classes whenever they wish.

Famous teachers in addition to William Merritt Chase include Robert Henri, Frank DuMond, Kenneth Miller, Thomas Eakins, John Sloan and George Bridgman.

ASMA

American Society of Marine Artists

A national organization with regional representatives founded in 1978 to recognize and promote marine art and maritime history and to encourage exponents to work together.

Membership is open to anyone interested in the subject matter, and meetings are held annually. ASMA sponsors art exhibitions every couple of years, and exhibition venues include the Fry Art Museum in Seattle, Washington; Cummer Museum of Jacksonville, Florida; Cape Museum in Dennis, Massachusetts; and Vero Beach Museum in Vero Beach, Florida.

Society headquarters are in Ambler, Pennsylvania. Among American artists who belong to the American Society of Marine Artists are Christopher Blossom, Marshall Joyce, Donald Demers, Jack Coggins, and Sally Swatland.

ASME

The American Society of Magazine Editors

The professional organization for editors of consumer magazines and business publications, which are edited, published and sold in the U.S. Among other things, ASME provides an opportunity for magazine editors to meet with their peers for the exchange of information on matters of mutual interest.

ASME also works to defend editors against external pressures and to speak out on public policy issues, particularly those pertaining to the First Amendment.

ASME was organized in 1963 as the successor to the editorial committee of Magazine Publishers of America (MPA).

ASME now has more than 850 members located throughout the country.

http://www.magazine.org/Editorial/About_ASME/

ASOPA

American Society of Portrait Artists

The largest portrait artist organization in the world.

ASOPA, founded in 1987, is headquartered in Montgomery, Alabama and is dedicated “to furthering the fine art of portraiture and supporting the individual artist”.

It is patron supported in 50 states and 34 nations, is non-profit, and is led by an advisory board who oversee a year-long program of events. “The Portrait Signature” is the international journal of the Society.

Each year the Society awards the John Singer Sargent Medal to artists judged to be outstanding portrait painters. Recipients include Andrew Wyeth and Jamie Wyeth.

American painters who hold or have held membership in the American Society of Portrait Painters include Charles Dana Gibson, James Earle Fraser, Leopold Seyffert, Everett Kinstler, Richard Schmid, Daniel Green, M. Stephen Doherty, James Shannon, Albino Hinojosa, Jack Faragasso, Burt Silverman and Richard Whitney.

ASP

Active Server Pages/r/n/r/nA document that contains embedded server-side scripting, usually written in VBScript or JavaScript./r/n/r/nASP-compatible Web servers are needed to execute these scripts, such as Microsoft’’s IIS./r/n/r/nOn the client side, they appear as standard HTML files and can be viewed on any platform using any browser./r/n/r/nThese documents are named with an .asp extension rather than a .html or .htm extension.

ASP

Application Service Provider

A business that provides computer-based services to customers over a network.

Software offered using an ASP model is also sometimes called On-demand software.

The most limited sense of this business is that of providing access to a particular application program (such as medical billing) using a standard protocol such as HTTP.
The need for ASPs has evolved from the increasing costs of specialized software that have far exceeded the price range of small to medium sized businesses.

As well, the growing complexities of software have led to huge costs in distributing the software to end-users.

Through ASPs, the complexities and costs of such software can be cut down.

In addition, the issues of upgrading have been eliminated from the end-firm by placing the onus on the ASP to maintain up-to-date services, 24 × 7 technical support, physical and electronic security and in-built support for Business Continuity and Flexible Working.

The importance of this marketplace is reflected by its size.

As of early 2003, estimates of the United States market range from 1.5 to 4 billion dollars.

Clients for ASP services include businesses, government organizations, non-profits, and membership organizations.

Aspect Ratio
  1. In monitors, the ratio of the number of horizontal pixels to the number of vertical pixels displayed on the screen.

  2. In digital cameras, the image sensor resolution calculation which provides the dimension of the digital image or the image output to print.

3.The ratio of width to height in photographic prints – 2:3 in 35 mm pictures to produce photographs most commonly measuring 3.5 × 5 inches or 4 × 6 inches; Advanced Photo System cameras deliver three aspect ratios as selected by the user.

  1. In postal regulations, the length of the mailing piece divided by the height of the mailing piece, the length being parallel to the mailing address.

  2. In regard to barcode symbols, The ratio of height to width of a bar code symbol. A code twice as high as wide would have an aspect ratio of 2; a code twice as wide as high would have an aspect ratio of 1/2 or 0.5.

Asphalt Coating

Term given to a dark brown/black mixture made of wax, resin and asphalt. It is easy to melt and can be dissolved in organic solvents such as gasoline, petroleum or turpentine. Due to its resistance to acids, asphalt coating serves as a covering layer in the etching processes used for manufacturing printing forms.

Aspherical Lens

A glass camera lens that has a curved surface.

Assembled Negative

Film negatives consisting of line and halftone copy that are used to make plates for printing.

Assembled View

In illustration, a term used to describe a view of a drawing in its assembled or whole format.

Assistant Editor

Senior editorial staff assistant who handles routine work, research, writing/editing “front of the book” or “back of the book” departments and may write/edit features.

Associate Editor

Writes and/or edits features, covers and represents the publication at industry events.

Associate Publisher

Reports to the Publisher and oversees nation-wide advertising sales, supervises Regional Managers and sales staff, recruits and trains sales personnel, sets policy and procedures for the sales department and is responsible for meeting goals and quotas. May also be in charge of marketing and/or promotion.

Association Copy

A book which belonged to or was annotated by the author, someone close to the author, a famous or noteworthy person, or someone especially associated with the content of the work. Should have documentary evidence of its association, such as the author’s bookplate.

Association of American Publishers

AAP

AAP’s mandate covers both the general and the specific broad issues important to all publishers as well as issues of specific concern to particular segments of the industry.

The Association’s “core” programs deal with matters of general interest:intellectual property; new technology and telecommunications issues of concern to publishers; First Amendment rights, censorship and libel; international freedom to publish; funding for education and libraries; postal rates and regulations; tax and trade policy.

Directed by standing committees of the Association, these programs, along with a host of membership services including government affairs, a broad-based statistical program, public information and press relations, are the “core” activities of the Association.

Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line

ADSL

A form of DSL, a data communications technology that enables faster data transmission over copper telephone lines than a conventional modem can provide.

It does this by utilizing frequencies that are normally not used by a voice telephone call, in particular, frequencies higher than normal human hearing.

This signal will not travel very far over normal telephone cables, so ADSL can only be used over short distances, typically less than 5 km.

Once the signal reaches the telephone company’s local office, the ADSL signal is stripped off and immediately routed onto a conventional internet network, while any voice-frequency signal is switched into the conventional phone network.

This allows a single telephone connection to be used for both ADSL and voice calls at the same time.

Asymmetrical Fold

A fold made by folding the original into unequal lengths. This type of fold is used for parallel fold products and concertina folds.

AT

Advanced Technology

Descendant of the XT computer and built on a 80286-Processor from Intel. Introduced by

IBM in 1984, today every PC that works with a 16- or 32-Bit processor is called an AT computer.

Atelier

An intaglio printmaking studio.

Atlas Folio

A book that is up to 25” tall.

ATM

1. Adobe Type Manager

An operating system component which enables Type 1 fonts to be displayed on computer screens in any size.

    1. Asynchronous Transfer Mode

A network standard for the high speed transferral of data using packets or cells of a fixed size.

Attachment

The output of a computer application program, such as a graphics file, that is appended to a mail message.

Auction

A process whereby a title is submitted, particularly by a literary agent, to a number of selected publishers in order to secure the best offer or highest price.

Auctions sometimes run to several “rounds” and may end with the exercise of topping rights.

Audio Frequency Response

This is the measure of relative loudness of high frequencies compared to the playback level of the lower frequencies. It is measured at 7 Khz.

Audio Sensitivity

The playback output level of the audio signal at lower frequencies (measured at 1 Khz). This represents how loud the audio signal will be on playback from conventional linear audio.

AUP

Acceptable Use Policy/r/n/r/nA code of conduct addressing appropriate use of electronic services, such as chat, bulletin boards, etc.

Authentication

The process of establishing the true identity of a person; verifying the source of a message, transmission, or interaction.

Authoring

The process of developing documents for use on the Web.

Authorization

The process of granting or denying access to a user or process.

Auto Focus

A selected area in the center of the lens of a digital camera is used as the target area around which the image is focused.

Auto Sync Mode

A setting for the digital camera’s flash which automatically fires for a determined amount of time when the light sensor gauges lighting conditions that warrant its use.

Autochrome Paper

Coated papers that are regarded as exceptional for multi-colored printing jobs.

Autoclave

Container for sterilizing, i.e. in label application, label must endure a cooking process by superheated steam under pressure.

Autoflow

The flow of text automatically from one page to another, or one column to another.

Autograph

Derived from the Greek (“self-written”), refers to a document handwritten, or at least signed, by an author. There have been collections of the autographs of famous persons, and a corresponding trade in these documents, since the end of the 16th century.

Autographed Letter

AL

A handwritten letter.

Autographed Letter, Signed

ALS

A handwritten letter signed by the writer.

Autographed Manuscript, Signed

AMS

A manuscript all in the author’s hand.

Autolithography

A printing method whereby the image is hand drawn or etched directly onto lithography plates or stones.

Automatic Camera

A camera with a built-in exposure meter that automatically adjusts the lens opening, shutter speed, or both for proper exposure.

Automatic Flash

A flash system that automatically determines whether an image requires a flash and provides the correct amount of light; a typical feature on most digital cameras.

Automatic Image Replacement

A process in which low-resolution FPO (For Position Only) images are automatically replaced by high-resolution images before outputting the final pages

Autopositive

Any photo materials that provide positive images without a negative.

Autotypical Screening

A halftone screening method in which equidistant dots are used, the variation of the size of which produces continuous tone pictures. In combined printing, several colour forms must be arranged at varying, exactly defined screen angles in order to avoid moiré patterns.

Awl

A pointed tool used in bookbinding for piercing holes in paper for fold sewing, side sewing, or for punching holes in boards preparatory to lacing-in.

AWS

American Watercolor Society

The American Watercolor Society began in 1866 when a group of eleven painters met at the studio of Gilbert Burling in the New York University Building to form “The American Painters in Water Color.”

Fellow artist Samuel Colman was elected the first president. Catherine Altvater was the first woman to hold an elected office in the Society. The newly formed society held its first exhibition in the fall of 1867, and these annual exhibitions have continued to the present time. In 1878, the name was changed to its current one, and was incorporated in 1903.

Active members number approximately 500, with approximately 2,000 associates. There is an annual juried exhibition open to anyone.

AZO Dyes

A highly stable dye used in the emulsion of Ilfochrome Classic prints. The purity of these dyes is responsible for the rich, saturated look of the prints. By incorporating them in the emulsion of the paper instead of the chemistry it is processed in, the dyes act as an anti-light scattering layer during exposure, resulting in a sharper image. The dyes are selectively removed in the bleach bath, to a degree determined by the exposure and the processing in the developer.

Azure

The light blue color used in the nomenclature of “laid” and “wove” papers.

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