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Discussion Board -> Non-art Website Issues -> Glossary Of Terms
Glossary Of Terms
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Photography terms - (also see Photography Rules)
Composition --------- the placement of the elements in a photograph
Focal point --------- the main object in the photograph that the eye is supposed to be drawn to
I'll be back with more this afternoon!
Composition --------- the placement of the elements in a photograph
Focal point --------- the main object in the photograph that the eye is supposed to be drawn to
I'll be back with more this afternoon!
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Live like there was no tomorrow | When you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything - Doc Brown | My Gallery
Thanks Noor !
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Ask Not For Whom The Bell Tolls .......Let The Machine Get It ........
MY GALLERY
i think that the descriptions need to be a little more expansive especially when they are generic terms such as gradient or palette that can apply to any number of disicplines but for now I think its fine to gather together a list of terms and they can be fleshed out later if need be.
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Okay, no problem. Feel free to add anything you want Phil, in order to flesh out the descriptions. I'm the first to admit I probably might need help . :o)
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[?]
Ask Not For Whom The Bell Tolls .......Let The Machine Get It ........
MY GALLERY
DOF --------- depth of field / range of acceptable focus
ISO { ISO SPEED / numeric indication of sensitivity to light
ISO { ISO SPEED / numeric indication of sensitivity to light
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The Voting Booth is your friend..........:)
ok there are plenty of resources out on the web for terms to be researched and collated, I've compiled some of the more relevant ones here - feel free to add to or expand on these...
Aberration: The inability of a lens to produce a perfect, sharp image, especially at the edge of the photo.
Achromatic Lens: A term which describes a lens system which is corrected for chromatic aberration.
Ambient Light (Existing light): The available light already existing in an indoor or outdoor setting which is not caused by any illumination created by the photographer.
Angle of coverage: Concerning Large Format lenses: The maximum image area of usable quality which a certain lens can produce (the image circle), known as the angle of coverage.
Angle of view: Angle of view is determined by the focal length of the lens. A wide-angle lens includes more of the scene than a normal (standard lens) or telephoto lens.
Aperture (f-stop): The opening in a lens through which light passes to expose the film. Aperture size is usually calibrated in f-numbers, the larger the number, the smaller the lens opening, therefore the slower the shutter must be!
Apochromatic (APO) lens: Lens corrected for chromatic aberrations in all three primary colours. Many manufactures use different names.
ASA (American Standards Association): An old film speed rating system. Now superseded by ISO.
Artificial light: Light not originating from a natural source. The commonest artificial light sources in photography are flash, and tungsten bulbs.
B ("Bulb"): Shutter setting on which the shutter will stay open as long as the release is depressed. Used for exposures longer than the numbered shutter speed settings.
Backlighting: Light from behind the subject, and towards the camera lens, so that the subject stands out against the background. This sometimes can produce a silhouette effect.
Balanced Fill Flash: When a modern camera with a multi-segment exposure meter (Matrix) is used with a dedicated flashgun the correct exposure can be obtained for both the subject and background using 'Automatic Balanced Fill Flash'. Balanced Fill Flash can also be achieved manually using a little knowledge and technique.
Barrel distortion: Lens aberration (distortion) where straight lines are formed as curved lines in the image. These barrel shaped lines are most noticeable along the edges of the photo.
Bayonet: All modern 35mm SLR cameras now use a "bayonet" lens fitting (a quarter turn clockwise or anti-clockwise will remove or attach the lens). Each camera manufacturer has its own type of fitting, therefore as an example a Canon lens cannot be attached to a Nikon camera body.
Bokeh: Bokeh describes the rendition of out-of-focus points of light. Differing amounts of spherical aberration alter how lenses render out-of-focus points of light, and thus their bokeh. The word "bokeh" comes from the Japanese word "boke" (pronounced bo-keh) which literally means fuzziness or dizziness
Bounce: Flash or tungsten light bounced off a reflector (such as the ceiling, walls or brolly) to give the effect of natural light.
Bracketing: The technique of taking a number of pictures of the same subject at different levels of exposure. At half and one stop differences, depending on subject and film type.
Brollies: Photographic white or silver Umbrellas used to bounce flash light off of.
Buffer: Memory in a digital camera that stores the photos before they are written to the removable storage card.
Cable release: Flexible cable for firing a camera shutter. Useful for long exposures where touching the camera release by hand could cause camera-shake blur.
Camera movements: Mechanical Systems most common on large format cameras (and some Medium Format) which provide the facility for lens and film plane movement from a normal standard position. The movements can create greater or lesser depth of field, and correct or distort image shape.
CC filter: Abbreviation for colour compensating filter. CC filters are designed primarily for correcting colour bias in colour photo printing. CC2OY, for example, indicates a yellow filtration of 0.2 density.
CCD: Charge Coupled Device (CCD). The Digital camera's 'film'; a CCD converts light into a digital photograph of pixels. When a picture is taken the CCD is struck by light coming through the camera's lens; each of the millions of tiny pixels that make up the sensor converts this light into electrons.
Centre Weighted: A camera metering system which concentrates the light reading mostly to the central portion of the viewfinder and feathering out to the edges. Although in the hands of an inexperienced photographer a 'Matrix' style meter will achieve more correct results many professionals still prefer to use their cameras in manual mode with the meter set to 'Centre weighted'! Now regarded as a 'classic', this metering system is included in all quality 35mm SLR cameras.
Chromatic Aberration: The inability of a lens to focus different colours on the same focal plane, appearing as a 'colour fringe' around objects, especially at the edges of the photograph.
Circle of confusion: Disc of light in the image where a point on the subject is not perfectly brought into focus. The eye cannot distinguish between a very small circle of confusion and a true point.
Clean & tight: A phrase often used by photographers when describing a well composed (clean) photo which eliminates all inconsequential items from the photo (tight).
CMOS: Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS). An image sensor used in some digital cameras. Its basic function is the same as the CCD.
Colour correction: Filters which help balance the colour rendition of a scene to match the colour response of the eye.
Colour temperature: Measured in Kelvin, expressed on a scale (i.e.3400K) this indicates the colour content and quality of a light source light such as a lamp.
Coma: A lens defect which results in points of light appearing in the image not as points but as discs with comet-like tails.
Compact Flash: The removable CF card is a popular Digital Camera photo storage system. Although they are larger than SD, Smart Media, XD Picture Card and Memory Sticks 'Professional' use has made them widely available and in very large sizes, currently up to 8 Gigabytes. A Compact Flash memory card can contain either flash memory or a miniature hard drive. The flash memory type is more common.
Compound lens: Lens system consisting of two or more elements.
Concave lens: Simple lens, or lens shape within a compound lens, whose surfaces curve inward. Such a lens causes light rays to diverge.
Condenser: A simple lens system which concentrates light from a source into a beam. Condensers are used in equipment such as slide projectors,spotlights and enlargers.
Contrast: A subjective judgment of the difference in brightness and density between shadow and highlight areas in an image. Contrast is affected by lighting, lens flare, film type, degree of development, enlarger type and quality of printing.
Converging angles: This occurs when the camera is not held or supported vertically. The vertical lines will seem to run together at the top or the bottom of a photo. Most noticeable with photographs of tall buildings.
Converter: Supplementary lenses that can double the length of a telephoto lens (e.g.:2x converter). Usually fitted between lens and camera body.
Convex lens: Simple lens, or lens shape within a compound lens, whose surfaces curve outward. Such a lens causes rays of light passing through it to converge.
Correction filter: A filter which alters the colour rendition of a scene to suit the colour response of the eye.
Covering power: The maximum area of usable image quality which a lens will produce. Known as the angle of coverage.
Curvature of field: Lens aberration causing the plane of sharp focus to be curved.
CMYK: A colour system based on the four colours used in colour printing: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black. Can also be a colour mode used to define colours in a digital image. All Digital cameras & scanners are RGB devices, a colour method based on combinations of the primary colours Red, Green & Blue this is the same as your TV and PC monitor. CMYK is primarily used when preparing digital images that will be printed using the process colours by a printer or publisher on a four colour printing press.
EOS: A popular auto focus 35mm SLR camera system made by Canon. "EOS" (Electro Optical System) is also the name of the goddess of dawn in Greek mythology
EF lens: The lens of the Canon EOS auto focus camera system.
E-TTL (Evaluative-Through The Lens) flash metering: A Canon EOS flash exposure system that uses a brief pre-flash before the main flash in order to obtain a more correct exposure.
EXIF data (Exchange image file format): This is a standard that allows information stored with the digital photograph (camera setting and exposure information) to be used to achieve a balanced colour when the photo is output on a EXIF data-compliant printer. Many programs can also read and display this information.
Existing Light: Available light, includes all natural lighting from moonlight to sunshine; and for photographic purposes, existing light is also the light that is already on the scene. Therefore it takes in: room lamps, fluorescent lamps, neon signs, candles, daylight through windows, and artificially illuminated night scenes.
Exposure: The quantity of light allowed to act on a photographic material; the lens aperture controls intensity or amount of light, and the shutter speed (or the enlarger timer in printing) controls the time.
Exposure compensation: To obtain the best results with certain subjects it may be necessary to alter the exposure from the value suggested by the camera. An exposure compensation button [+/-] is now found on most modern auto cameras. Positive compensation may be needed when the main subject is darker than the background and negative compensation may be needed for a subject lighter than the background.
Exposure latitude: The amount by which you can over or under expose a light-sensitive material with standard processing, and still achieve an acceptable result.
Exposure meter: An instrument for measuring the amount of light (available or flash) falling on or being reflected by a subject, and converting this measurement into usable information: shutter speed and f stop.
Extension tubes: Metal tubes added to 35mm or medium format cameras, to extend the lens film distance, enabling a magnification greater than x 1(life size).
f- Stop: A number that indicates the size of the lens opening . The common f-numbers on 35mm cameras are f1.4, f2, f2.8, f4, f5.6, f8, f11, f16, and f22. The larger the f-number, the smaller the lens opening, f22 is the smallest in this series. Also called the aperture, they work in conjunction with shutter speeds to indicate exposure settings. The number sequence is printed on the lens barrel, each higher f number halves the exposure of the preceding one. The f-number itself is effectively the number of times the aperture diameter will divide into the lens focal length. For example, f4 aperture diameter is one quarter the focal length (i.e. 25mm aperture diameter in a 100mm focal length lens).
File size: The size of an image in digital photography, measured in kilobytes (K), megabytes (MB), or gigabytes (GB). File size is proportional to its pixel dimensions; images with more pixels may produce more detail at a given printed size, but they require more disk space to store and are slower to edit, print and e-mail as an attachment.
Fill-in: Light from an additional lamp, flash, or reflector; used to soften or 'fill in' the shadows caused by the brighter main light, often the Sun. Called fill-in flash when flash is used.
Film Speed: The sensitivity of a film to light, indicated by a number such as ISO 100. The higher the number, the more sensitive or faster the film. (ISO stands for International Standards Organization.)
Filters: A piece of glass or other transparent material used over the lens which alters the nature, colour or quality of the light passing through it.
Finder: Also known as a viewfinder. A viewing aid in a camera, used for composing, and usually focusing the subject. It would normally also display exposure information in smaller formats.
Fisheye: Extreme wide-angle lens with an angle of view exceeding 100 degrees and sometimes in excess of 180 degrees Depth of field is practically infinite. It produces highly distorted images.(Note: lines are not drawn square!)
Flare: Non-image-forming light scattered by reflections within a lens or enlarger/camera interior which reduces image contrast and detail.
Flare can affect film by causing a lowering of image contrast.
Flash range: The distance over which a flash unit can give adequate illumination.
Flash sync.(synchronization): Method of making a flash light fire at the correct moment, exactly when the shutter is fully open. Normally a camera's flash sync. speed is quoted as the highest speed that a given camera can synchronize with a flash unit (e.g.:1/125th. sec.).
Flat Lighting: Soft lighting that produces very little contrast on the subject plus a minimum of shadows.
Floodlight: General term for an artificial light source which provides a constant and continuous light. Usually a tungsten-filament lamp mounted in a reflector.
Focal length: The distance between the film plane and the focal point (optical centre of the lens) when the lens is focused at infinity. The focal length of the lens is marked in millimetres on the lens mount. The principal focal point is the position of best focus for infinity. There are two principal focal points, if a lens is turned around a second focus is obtained. 'Reversed' lenses are often used in close-up Macrophotography because using a lens reversed allows a closer focusing distance.
Focal plane: Plane on which a given subject is brought to a sharp focus, where the film is positioned.
Gels: Large coloured sheets of a transparent medium which are used over any type of light to add colour.
Gobos: Shapes made from either card or metal which when added to a suitable light source can be projected onto "a photographic subject" e.g. a shuttered window effect onto a table. Usually the gobo is used inside a Focusing Spot Light, but an ordinary 35mm projector can be used on smaller scenes.
Grain: The sand-like, granular appearance of a negative, print or trannie. Graininess becomes more noticeable with fast film speeds and increased size of enlargement.(Granularity: The amount of grain clumping that has occurred within an emulsion. Also referred to as graininess.)
Guide number: The number which indicates the effective power of a flash unit. For a given film speed, the guide number divided by the distance between the flash and the subject gives the appropriate f stop to use.
High key: Term describing a photograph which contains large areas of light tones, with few mid-tones or shadows.
Highlights: The brightest areas of the subject or photograph.
Hood: A tube, usually made of metal or rubber, that prevents unwanted light from falling on the lens surface.
Hyperfocal Distance: The Hyperfocal Distance or point is the nearest point to the camera which is regarded as acceptably sharp when the lens is focused at infinity. So when the lens is focused on the hyperfocal point, depth of field extends from infinity back to a distance halfway between the camera and the hyperfocal point. This method is used in fixed focus viewfinder and 'box' cameras to obtain a photo that would perhaps include both a far away mountain range and a close group of people in acceptable focus.
Image resolution: The number of pixels displayed per inch of printed length in an image, usually measured in dots per inch (dpi) or pixels per inch (ppi) The amount of detail in an image depends on its pixel dimensions, while the image resolution controls how much space the pixels are printed over. You can modify an image's resolution without changing the actual pixel data in the image all you change is the printed size of the image.
Incident light: Light falling on a surface (as opposed to reflected by it).
Infinity: Focusing point at which the lens gives a sharp image of very distant objects, such as the far horizon.
ISO (International Standards Organization): The modern speed rating for photographic materials used instead of ASA or DIN*. The scale is identical to ASA (American Standards Association) where the rating is based on an arithmetical progression, using an average gradient system. Therefore ISO 200 film is twice as fast as ISO 100 film but only half as fast as ISO 400 film.
JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group): A file compression method used in Digital Photography that shrinks a file's storage size, but which can also cause image degradation as a result of data loss.
Kelvin (K): Unit of temperature in the SI (Système International) system of units. Kelvin is used to measure the colour temperature of light. Daylight films are designed for colour temperatures between 5200K and 5800K.
Lens shade: A Bellows or Hood at the front of a lens that keeps unwanted light from striking the lens and causing image flare. Should be sized to the particular lens to avoid vignetting.
Lens Speed: The largest lens opening, e.g. f2 not f16. A fast lens transmits more light and has a larger opening than a slow lens.
Long lens: Term describing a lens in which the focal length is much greater than the diagonal of the film format (or standard lens) with which it is used. e.g. 300mm on 35mm format where the standard is just 50mm.
Lossy: Many file formats use compression to reduce the file size of bitmap images (digital photo). Lossless techniques compress the file without removing image detail or colour information; lossy techniques remove detail. JPEG is the most common file format in digital photography but this is a "Lossy" file format. TIFF with LZW (Lemple-Zif-Welch) compression is the most popular lossless file format.
Low key: Term describing a photograph in which the tones are mostly dark and there are few highlights.
Lumen: Measurement of "candle power" or light output, a unit of light falling on a surface.
Macro lens: A lens that provides continuous focusing from infinity to extreme life-size 1:1 close-ups. Also used as a copy lens because of its highly corrected design and close-focusing. Macro lenses can also be used at ordinary subject distances
Macrophotography: Close-up photography in the range of magnification between life-size 1:1 and about ten times 10:1.
Megapixel: The manufacturers way of describing the resolution of a Digital camera; a 6 megapixel camera has a resolution of 6 million pixels.
Memory Stick: A Sony memory card. Like Compact Flash and Smart Media it is a flash memory based storage system for use in digital cameras.
Meter: An instrument with a light-sensitive cell that measures the light reflected from or falling onto a subject. Some types can also measure Flash light.
Micro Drives: Very small Hard Drives (HD) designed for Digital cameras. Compact 'flash memory' cards are now available in similar sizes.
Micro lens
The Micro-Nikkor is the Nikon Corporation's name for their close-up 'Macro' lens.
Mirror (Mirror lens): A long lens that uses mirrors within its construction. This allows an extremely long focal length lens to fit within a relatively short barrel. Also known as reflex or catadioptric (cat).
Modelling light: A high powered bulb in a Mains Flash unit which is used to help judge what effect the flash light will have on the subject. It also describes a light used to enhance a three-dimensional effect.
Multicoating: Modern lenses are made up of many individual glass elements, these elements improve the overall image quality compared with a simple 'single' or 'double' element lens, however, extra elements can reduce the performance by absorbing incoming light. A transparent lens 'Coating' (single or multi) aids the passage of light, reduces 'flare' and also improves contrast.
Neutral density filter: A neutral grey camera filter which is used to reduce the amount of light entering the camera when a slow shutter speed or wide aperture is needed.
Open flash: Method of using numerous flash firings to build-up 'flash power'. During which time the shutter is kept open, this method can only be used when the shutter speed is unimportant because of poor existing lighting.
Over exposed: A situation in which too much light reaches the film, which produces a dense negative or a very light transparency.
Panning: Technique for photographing a moving subject. While the shutter is open, the camera is swung following the moving subject. This creates a blurred background, but a sharp subject. The technique works best with slower shutter speeds.
Pentaprism: Optical device, found on SLR cameras, which corrects the image (reversed by the lens), allowing eye-level viewing and focusing via the viewfinder.
Photoflood: Bright tungsten filament bulb used as an artificial light source. The bulb is over -run and so has a short life.
Photomicrography: Sometimes called Microphotography. The technique of taking extreme close-up photos through the lens of a microscope; it is used to achieve magnifications greater than those obtainable using a Macro lens.
Photoshop: Best known and well used Image manipulation computer program (by Adobe Systems); which has gradually entered the photographers vocabulary with words like: 'Photoshoped' meaning retouched or manipulated.
Pincushion effect: Lens aberration (distortion) causing parallel, straight lines at the edge of the image to curve inwards.
Pixel: A single picture element of a digital photo. Digital Bitmap images (raster images) use a grid of colours known as pixels to represent images. Each pixel is assigned a specific location and colour value. The whole image would contain millions of individual pixels.
Plug-in: A software module that can be used by Photoshop (and other image editing applications) to provide additional functions including: import of RAW camera files, file format conversions and creative image filters.
Processing: The sequence of steps in which the latent photographic image is converted into a visible, permanent image.
Rangefinder: A device included on many direct vision cameras as an aid in focusing. It assesses subject distance (usually by comparing two images), and displays this information in the viewfinder. This device may be linked directly to the lens focus control, to give a coupled rangefinder
RAW: An unprocessed digital file direct from the camera. Not a 'standard' file format like TIFF or JPEG. Usually the camera manufactures software or 'plug-in' must be used to open a RAW image file. RAW files are usually used to obtain the best theoretical quality from a given camera.
Recycling time: Time taken by flash unit to recharge, between firings.
Reflector: Any surface from which light can be reflected. Used to reflect light from a main source into the shadow areas.
Reticulation: Fine, irregular pattern appearing on the surface of an emulsion which has been subjected to a sudden and severe temperature change during development.
Retouching: After-treatment carried out on negatives, trannies, prints or Digital files to remove blemishes or change tonal values. Now, carried out by 'Photoshop' rather than by hand.
RGB: The way that the colours are recorded in Digital imaging. A large percentage of the visible spectrum can be represented by mixing Red, Green and Blue coloured light in various proportions and intensities.
Ring Flash: Type of flash unit which fits around the lens to produce flat and shadow less lighting.
Secure Digital: Secure Digital (SD). A small memory card which uses flash memory as a base for storing digital photos.
Shutter: Blades or a curtain that controls the time during which light reaches the film.
Shutter speed: The time in which the shutter stays open to light, measured in fractions of seconds, (1/8000th a second is a very fast shutter speed and 1/2 second is very slow).
Slave: A photo-electric cell which fires additional flash units simultaneously when it is activated by the light from another flash source set by the camera.
SLR (Single Lens Reflex): A Camera in which you view the scene through the same lens that takes the picture thanks to a system of mirrors and prisms.
Smart Media: A wafer-thin sized memory card which uses flash memory as a base for storing digital photos.
Soft box: A 'framed' diffuser that fits over the Light and creates a more natural soft light.
Soft Lighting: Lighting that is low in contrast, such as on an overcast day.
Speed: Sensitivity of a photographic emulsion to light. Films are given ISO numbers which denotes its speed. The term is also used to denote the maximum aperture of a lens.
Spot meter: Narrow-angle exposure meter used to take accurate reflected light readings from a small area of a subject; can also be used from some distance away.
Stop down: Changing the lens aperture to a smaller opening; for example, from f4 to f5.6. This increases depth of field.
Stroboscopic Flash: Stroboscopic or Repeating Flash is a 'mode' available on some flashguns where under certain lighting conditions it can produce multiple exposures in a single frame. A good use of this feature would be 'the swing of a golfer' or the movement of a bouncing ping pong ball .
T Setting: A 'Time' setting mark found on some shutter controls. This setting is used for shutter speeds that are longer than the specified timed settings. The first press on the shutter leaves the shutter open, and it stays open until the shutter is pressed for a second time.
Tele (telephoto): A telephoto lens has a longer focal length and narrower field of view than a normal lens and enlarges distant subjects. Depth of field decreases as focal length increases. (Telephoto lens construction: this allows a long focal length with short back focus, making for relative compactness).
TIFF (Tagged Image File Format): A common file format used in Digital Photography. This high quality file (which is lossless compared with a JPEG) can also contain colour management profiles and be colour separated.
TTL: Through The Lens: A metering system in which a light meter within the camera body measures exposure from the image-forming light that has passed through the lens.
Tungsten light: Artificial light from either tungsten filament or tungsten halogen lamps.
Ultraviolet (UV): A Band of wavelengths within the electromagnetic spectrum invisible to the human eye which are shorter than the blue end of the spectrum. All films are sensitive to some ultraviolet radiation. It shows as increased haze, particularly in distant views and at high altitudes, and may give a blue cast to a photograph.
Under exposed: A condition in which too little light reaches the film, producing a thin negative, a dark trannie, or a muddy-looking print.
Uprating (up rated): A technique in which the suggested film speed is deliberately exceeded, by setting a higher speed on the camera, so causing underexposure, and then balanced by overdevelopment. Also known as "pushing". The opposite, shooting at an ISO rating below that suggested, and underdeveloping, is known as "pulling".
USM (Ultra Sonic Motor): A Canon devised Autofocus SLR lens motor system. USM lenses are usually quicker to focus, more compact, with greater operational simplicity and virtually silent compared to their earlier 'Arc Form Drive'(AFD) cousins. USM lenses only work with the Canon 'EOS' camera system, introduced in March 1987.
UV filter: Filter which may be used to absorb UV radiation, to reduce its effect.
Vignetting: Fall-off in illumination at the edges of an image. This can be caused by poor lens design, using a hood not matched to the lens, or using too many filters at the same time.
Wide-angle lens: A Short focal length lens which takes in a greater angle of view than a standard lens. Depth of field increases as focal length decreases.
White Balance: Depending on the lighting conditions, a pure white in a photograph may appear slightly yellow or blue. The white balance control settings on a "Digital Camera" will help to eliminate unwanted colour bias by actually controlling the camera's colour temperature response. C.C. filters or a specially balanced film must be used when a film camera is utilized under the same lighting conditions!
XD Picture Card: A very small memory card which uses flash memory as a base for storing digital photos.
Zone system: A system of 'relating exposure readings to tonal values' in picture-taking, development and printing, popularized by the American photographer Ansel Adams.
Zoom: A Lens which is constructed to allow a continuously variable focal length; in effect, this gives you many lenses of different focal lengths in one unit. (e.g. 80-200 mm).
Aberration: The inability of a lens to produce a perfect, sharp image, especially at the edge of the photo.
Achromatic Lens: A term which describes a lens system which is corrected for chromatic aberration.
Ambient Light (Existing light): The available light already existing in an indoor or outdoor setting which is not caused by any illumination created by the photographer.
Angle of coverage: Concerning Large Format lenses: The maximum image area of usable quality which a certain lens can produce (the image circle), known as the angle of coverage.
Angle of view: Angle of view is determined by the focal length of the lens. A wide-angle lens includes more of the scene than a normal (standard lens) or telephoto lens.
Aperture (f-stop): The opening in a lens through which light passes to expose the film. Aperture size is usually calibrated in f-numbers, the larger the number, the smaller the lens opening, therefore the slower the shutter must be!
Apochromatic (APO) lens: Lens corrected for chromatic aberrations in all three primary colours. Many manufactures use different names.
ASA (American Standards Association): An old film speed rating system. Now superseded by ISO.
Artificial light: Light not originating from a natural source. The commonest artificial light sources in photography are flash, and tungsten bulbs.
B ("Bulb"): Shutter setting on which the shutter will stay open as long as the release is depressed. Used for exposures longer than the numbered shutter speed settings.
Backlighting: Light from behind the subject, and towards the camera lens, so that the subject stands out against the background. This sometimes can produce a silhouette effect.
Balanced Fill Flash: When a modern camera with a multi-segment exposure meter (Matrix) is used with a dedicated flashgun the correct exposure can be obtained for both the subject and background using 'Automatic Balanced Fill Flash'. Balanced Fill Flash can also be achieved manually using a little knowledge and technique.
Barrel distortion: Lens aberration (distortion) where straight lines are formed as curved lines in the image. These barrel shaped lines are most noticeable along the edges of the photo.
Bayonet: All modern 35mm SLR cameras now use a "bayonet" lens fitting (a quarter turn clockwise or anti-clockwise will remove or attach the lens). Each camera manufacturer has its own type of fitting, therefore as an example a Canon lens cannot be attached to a Nikon camera body.
Bokeh: Bokeh describes the rendition of out-of-focus points of light. Differing amounts of spherical aberration alter how lenses render out-of-focus points of light, and thus their bokeh. The word "bokeh" comes from the Japanese word "boke" (pronounced bo-keh) which literally means fuzziness or dizziness
Bounce: Flash or tungsten light bounced off a reflector (such as the ceiling, walls or brolly) to give the effect of natural light.
Bracketing: The technique of taking a number of pictures of the same subject at different levels of exposure. At half and one stop differences, depending on subject and film type.
Brollies: Photographic white or silver Umbrellas used to bounce flash light off of.
Buffer: Memory in a digital camera that stores the photos before they are written to the removable storage card.
Cable release: Flexible cable for firing a camera shutter. Useful for long exposures where touching the camera release by hand could cause camera-shake blur.
Camera movements: Mechanical Systems most common on large format cameras (and some Medium Format) which provide the facility for lens and film plane movement from a normal standard position. The movements can create greater or lesser depth of field, and correct or distort image shape.
CC filter: Abbreviation for colour compensating filter. CC filters are designed primarily for correcting colour bias in colour photo printing. CC2OY, for example, indicates a yellow filtration of 0.2 density.
CCD: Charge Coupled Device (CCD). The Digital camera's 'film'; a CCD converts light into a digital photograph of pixels. When a picture is taken the CCD is struck by light coming through the camera's lens; each of the millions of tiny pixels that make up the sensor converts this light into electrons.
Centre Weighted: A camera metering system which concentrates the light reading mostly to the central portion of the viewfinder and feathering out to the edges. Although in the hands of an inexperienced photographer a 'Matrix' style meter will achieve more correct results many professionals still prefer to use their cameras in manual mode with the meter set to 'Centre weighted'! Now regarded as a 'classic', this metering system is included in all quality 35mm SLR cameras.
Chromatic Aberration: The inability of a lens to focus different colours on the same focal plane, appearing as a 'colour fringe' around objects, especially at the edges of the photograph.
Circle of confusion: Disc of light in the image where a point on the subject is not perfectly brought into focus. The eye cannot distinguish between a very small circle of confusion and a true point.
Clean & tight: A phrase often used by photographers when describing a well composed (clean) photo which eliminates all inconsequential items from the photo (tight).
CMOS: Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS). An image sensor used in some digital cameras. Its basic function is the same as the CCD.
Colour correction: Filters which help balance the colour rendition of a scene to match the colour response of the eye.
Colour temperature: Measured in Kelvin, expressed on a scale (i.e.3400K) this indicates the colour content and quality of a light source light such as a lamp.
Coma: A lens defect which results in points of light appearing in the image not as points but as discs with comet-like tails.
Compact Flash: The removable CF card is a popular Digital Camera photo storage system. Although they are larger than SD, Smart Media, XD Picture Card and Memory Sticks 'Professional' use has made them widely available and in very large sizes, currently up to 8 Gigabytes. A Compact Flash memory card can contain either flash memory or a miniature hard drive. The flash memory type is more common.
Compound lens: Lens system consisting of two or more elements.
Concave lens: Simple lens, or lens shape within a compound lens, whose surfaces curve inward. Such a lens causes light rays to diverge.
Condenser: A simple lens system which concentrates light from a source into a beam. Condensers are used in equipment such as slide projectors,spotlights and enlargers.
Contrast: A subjective judgment of the difference in brightness and density between shadow and highlight areas in an image. Contrast is affected by lighting, lens flare, film type, degree of development, enlarger type and quality of printing.
Converging angles: This occurs when the camera is not held or supported vertically. The vertical lines will seem to run together at the top or the bottom of a photo. Most noticeable with photographs of tall buildings.
Converter: Supplementary lenses that can double the length of a telephoto lens (e.g.:2x converter). Usually fitted between lens and camera body.
Convex lens: Simple lens, or lens shape within a compound lens, whose surfaces curve outward. Such a lens causes rays of light passing through it to converge.
Correction filter: A filter which alters the colour rendition of a scene to suit the colour response of the eye.
Covering power: The maximum area of usable image quality which a lens will produce. Known as the angle of coverage.
Curvature of field: Lens aberration causing the plane of sharp focus to be curved.
CMYK: A colour system based on the four colours used in colour printing: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black. Can also be a colour mode used to define colours in a digital image. All Digital cameras & scanners are RGB devices, a colour method based on combinations of the primary colours Red, Green & Blue this is the same as your TV and PC monitor. CMYK is primarily used when preparing digital images that will be printed using the process colours by a printer or publisher on a four colour printing press.
EOS: A popular auto focus 35mm SLR camera system made by Canon. "EOS" (Electro Optical System) is also the name of the goddess of dawn in Greek mythology
EF lens: The lens of the Canon EOS auto focus camera system.
E-TTL (Evaluative-Through The Lens) flash metering: A Canon EOS flash exposure system that uses a brief pre-flash before the main flash in order to obtain a more correct exposure.
EXIF data (Exchange image file format): This is a standard that allows information stored with the digital photograph (camera setting and exposure information) to be used to achieve a balanced colour when the photo is output on a EXIF data-compliant printer. Many programs can also read and display this information.
Existing Light: Available light, includes all natural lighting from moonlight to sunshine; and for photographic purposes, existing light is also the light that is already on the scene. Therefore it takes in: room lamps, fluorescent lamps, neon signs, candles, daylight through windows, and artificially illuminated night scenes.
Exposure: The quantity of light allowed to act on a photographic material; the lens aperture controls intensity or amount of light, and the shutter speed (or the enlarger timer in printing) controls the time.
Exposure compensation: To obtain the best results with certain subjects it may be necessary to alter the exposure from the value suggested by the camera. An exposure compensation button [+/-] is now found on most modern auto cameras. Positive compensation may be needed when the main subject is darker than the background and negative compensation may be needed for a subject lighter than the background.
Exposure latitude: The amount by which you can over or under expose a light-sensitive material with standard processing, and still achieve an acceptable result.
Exposure meter: An instrument for measuring the amount of light (available or flash) falling on or being reflected by a subject, and converting this measurement into usable information: shutter speed and f stop.
Extension tubes: Metal tubes added to 35mm or medium format cameras, to extend the lens film distance, enabling a magnification greater than x 1(life size).
f- Stop: A number that indicates the size of the lens opening . The common f-numbers on 35mm cameras are f1.4, f2, f2.8, f4, f5.6, f8, f11, f16, and f22. The larger the f-number, the smaller the lens opening, f22 is the smallest in this series. Also called the aperture, they work in conjunction with shutter speeds to indicate exposure settings. The number sequence is printed on the lens barrel, each higher f number halves the exposure of the preceding one. The f-number itself is effectively the number of times the aperture diameter will divide into the lens focal length. For example, f4 aperture diameter is one quarter the focal length (i.e. 25mm aperture diameter in a 100mm focal length lens).
File size: The size of an image in digital photography, measured in kilobytes (K), megabytes (MB), or gigabytes (GB). File size is proportional to its pixel dimensions; images with more pixels may produce more detail at a given printed size, but they require more disk space to store and are slower to edit, print and e-mail as an attachment.
Fill-in: Light from an additional lamp, flash, or reflector; used to soften or 'fill in' the shadows caused by the brighter main light, often the Sun. Called fill-in flash when flash is used.
Film Speed: The sensitivity of a film to light, indicated by a number such as ISO 100. The higher the number, the more sensitive or faster the film. (ISO stands for International Standards Organization.)
Filters: A piece of glass or other transparent material used over the lens which alters the nature, colour or quality of the light passing through it.
Finder: Also known as a viewfinder. A viewing aid in a camera, used for composing, and usually focusing the subject. It would normally also display exposure information in smaller formats.
Fisheye: Extreme wide-angle lens with an angle of view exceeding 100 degrees and sometimes in excess of 180 degrees Depth of field is practically infinite. It produces highly distorted images.(Note: lines are not drawn square!)
Flare: Non-image-forming light scattered by reflections within a lens or enlarger/camera interior which reduces image contrast and detail.
Flare can affect film by causing a lowering of image contrast.
Flash range: The distance over which a flash unit can give adequate illumination.
Flash sync.(synchronization): Method of making a flash light fire at the correct moment, exactly when the shutter is fully open. Normally a camera's flash sync. speed is quoted as the highest speed that a given camera can synchronize with a flash unit (e.g.:1/125th. sec.).
Flat Lighting: Soft lighting that produces very little contrast on the subject plus a minimum of shadows.
Floodlight: General term for an artificial light source which provides a constant and continuous light. Usually a tungsten-filament lamp mounted in a reflector.
Focal length: The distance between the film plane and the focal point (optical centre of the lens) when the lens is focused at infinity. The focal length of the lens is marked in millimetres on the lens mount. The principal focal point is the position of best focus for infinity. There are two principal focal points, if a lens is turned around a second focus is obtained. 'Reversed' lenses are often used in close-up Macrophotography because using a lens reversed allows a closer focusing distance.
Focal plane: Plane on which a given subject is brought to a sharp focus, where the film is positioned.
Gels: Large coloured sheets of a transparent medium which are used over any type of light to add colour.
Gobos: Shapes made from either card or metal which when added to a suitable light source can be projected onto "a photographic subject" e.g. a shuttered window effect onto a table. Usually the gobo is used inside a Focusing Spot Light, but an ordinary 35mm projector can be used on smaller scenes.
Grain: The sand-like, granular appearance of a negative, print or trannie. Graininess becomes more noticeable with fast film speeds and increased size of enlargement.(Granularity: The amount of grain clumping that has occurred within an emulsion. Also referred to as graininess.)
Guide number: The number which indicates the effective power of a flash unit. For a given film speed, the guide number divided by the distance between the flash and the subject gives the appropriate f stop to use.
High key: Term describing a photograph which contains large areas of light tones, with few mid-tones or shadows.
Highlights: The brightest areas of the subject or photograph.
Hood: A tube, usually made of metal or rubber, that prevents unwanted light from falling on the lens surface.
Hyperfocal Distance: The Hyperfocal Distance or point is the nearest point to the camera which is regarded as acceptably sharp when the lens is focused at infinity. So when the lens is focused on the hyperfocal point, depth of field extends from infinity back to a distance halfway between the camera and the hyperfocal point. This method is used in fixed focus viewfinder and 'box' cameras to obtain a photo that would perhaps include both a far away mountain range and a close group of people in acceptable focus.
Image resolution: The number of pixels displayed per inch of printed length in an image, usually measured in dots per inch (dpi) or pixels per inch (ppi) The amount of detail in an image depends on its pixel dimensions, while the image resolution controls how much space the pixels are printed over. You can modify an image's resolution without changing the actual pixel data in the image all you change is the printed size of the image.
Incident light: Light falling on a surface (as opposed to reflected by it).
Infinity: Focusing point at which the lens gives a sharp image of very distant objects, such as the far horizon.
ISO (International Standards Organization): The modern speed rating for photographic materials used instead of ASA or DIN*. The scale is identical to ASA (American Standards Association) where the rating is based on an arithmetical progression, using an average gradient system. Therefore ISO 200 film is twice as fast as ISO 100 film but only half as fast as ISO 400 film.
JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group): A file compression method used in Digital Photography that shrinks a file's storage size, but which can also cause image degradation as a result of data loss.
Kelvin (K): Unit of temperature in the SI (Système International) system of units. Kelvin is used to measure the colour temperature of light. Daylight films are designed for colour temperatures between 5200K and 5800K.
Lens shade: A Bellows or Hood at the front of a lens that keeps unwanted light from striking the lens and causing image flare. Should be sized to the particular lens to avoid vignetting.
Lens Speed: The largest lens opening, e.g. f2 not f16. A fast lens transmits more light and has a larger opening than a slow lens.
Long lens: Term describing a lens in which the focal length is much greater than the diagonal of the film format (or standard lens) with which it is used. e.g. 300mm on 35mm format where the standard is just 50mm.
Lossy: Many file formats use compression to reduce the file size of bitmap images (digital photo). Lossless techniques compress the file without removing image detail or colour information; lossy techniques remove detail. JPEG is the most common file format in digital photography but this is a "Lossy" file format. TIFF with LZW (Lemple-Zif-Welch) compression is the most popular lossless file format.
Low key: Term describing a photograph in which the tones are mostly dark and there are few highlights.
Lumen: Measurement of "candle power" or light output, a unit of light falling on a surface.
Macro lens: A lens that provides continuous focusing from infinity to extreme life-size 1:1 close-ups. Also used as a copy lens because of its highly corrected design and close-focusing. Macro lenses can also be used at ordinary subject distances
Macrophotography: Close-up photography in the range of magnification between life-size 1:1 and about ten times 10:1.
Megapixel: The manufacturers way of describing the resolution of a Digital camera; a 6 megapixel camera has a resolution of 6 million pixels.
Memory Stick: A Sony memory card. Like Compact Flash and Smart Media it is a flash memory based storage system for use in digital cameras.
Meter: An instrument with a light-sensitive cell that measures the light reflected from or falling onto a subject. Some types can also measure Flash light.
Micro Drives: Very small Hard Drives (HD) designed for Digital cameras. Compact 'flash memory' cards are now available in similar sizes.
Micro lens
The Micro-Nikkor is the Nikon Corporation's name for their close-up 'Macro' lens.
Mirror (Mirror lens): A long lens that uses mirrors within its construction. This allows an extremely long focal length lens to fit within a relatively short barrel. Also known as reflex or catadioptric (cat).
Modelling light: A high powered bulb in a Mains Flash unit which is used to help judge what effect the flash light will have on the subject. It also describes a light used to enhance a three-dimensional effect.
Multicoating: Modern lenses are made up of many individual glass elements, these elements improve the overall image quality compared with a simple 'single' or 'double' element lens, however, extra elements can reduce the performance by absorbing incoming light. A transparent lens 'Coating' (single or multi) aids the passage of light, reduces 'flare' and also improves contrast.
Neutral density filter: A neutral grey camera filter which is used to reduce the amount of light entering the camera when a slow shutter speed or wide aperture is needed.
Open flash: Method of using numerous flash firings to build-up 'flash power'. During which time the shutter is kept open, this method can only be used when the shutter speed is unimportant because of poor existing lighting.
Over exposed: A situation in which too much light reaches the film, which produces a dense negative or a very light transparency.
Panning: Technique for photographing a moving subject. While the shutter is open, the camera is swung following the moving subject. This creates a blurred background, but a sharp subject. The technique works best with slower shutter speeds.
Pentaprism: Optical device, found on SLR cameras, which corrects the image (reversed by the lens), allowing eye-level viewing and focusing via the viewfinder.
Photoflood: Bright tungsten filament bulb used as an artificial light source. The bulb is over -run and so has a short life.
Photomicrography: Sometimes called Microphotography. The technique of taking extreme close-up photos through the lens of a microscope; it is used to achieve magnifications greater than those obtainable using a Macro lens.
Photoshop: Best known and well used Image manipulation computer program (by Adobe Systems); which has gradually entered the photographers vocabulary with words like: 'Photoshoped' meaning retouched or manipulated.
Pincushion effect: Lens aberration (distortion) causing parallel, straight lines at the edge of the image to curve inwards.
Pixel: A single picture element of a digital photo. Digital Bitmap images (raster images) use a grid of colours known as pixels to represent images. Each pixel is assigned a specific location and colour value. The whole image would contain millions of individual pixels.
Plug-in: A software module that can be used by Photoshop (and other image editing applications) to provide additional functions including: import of RAW camera files, file format conversions and creative image filters.
Processing: The sequence of steps in which the latent photographic image is converted into a visible, permanent image.
Rangefinder: A device included on many direct vision cameras as an aid in focusing. It assesses subject distance (usually by comparing two images), and displays this information in the viewfinder. This device may be linked directly to the lens focus control, to give a coupled rangefinder
RAW: An unprocessed digital file direct from the camera. Not a 'standard' file format like TIFF or JPEG. Usually the camera manufactures software or 'plug-in' must be used to open a RAW image file. RAW files are usually used to obtain the best theoretical quality from a given camera.
Recycling time: Time taken by flash unit to recharge, between firings.
Reflector: Any surface from which light can be reflected. Used to reflect light from a main source into the shadow areas.
Reticulation: Fine, irregular pattern appearing on the surface of an emulsion which has been subjected to a sudden and severe temperature change during development.
Retouching: After-treatment carried out on negatives, trannies, prints or Digital files to remove blemishes or change tonal values. Now, carried out by 'Photoshop' rather than by hand.
RGB: The way that the colours are recorded in Digital imaging. A large percentage of the visible spectrum can be represented by mixing Red, Green and Blue coloured light in various proportions and intensities.
Ring Flash: Type of flash unit which fits around the lens to produce flat and shadow less lighting.
Secure Digital: Secure Digital (SD). A small memory card which uses flash memory as a base for storing digital photos.
Shutter: Blades or a curtain that controls the time during which light reaches the film.
Shutter speed: The time in which the shutter stays open to light, measured in fractions of seconds, (1/8000th a second is a very fast shutter speed and 1/2 second is very slow).
Slave: A photo-electric cell which fires additional flash units simultaneously when it is activated by the light from another flash source set by the camera.
SLR (Single Lens Reflex): A Camera in which you view the scene through the same lens that takes the picture thanks to a system of mirrors and prisms.
Smart Media: A wafer-thin sized memory card which uses flash memory as a base for storing digital photos.
Soft box: A 'framed' diffuser that fits over the Light and creates a more natural soft light.
Soft Lighting: Lighting that is low in contrast, such as on an overcast day.
Speed: Sensitivity of a photographic emulsion to light. Films are given ISO numbers which denotes its speed. The term is also used to denote the maximum aperture of a lens.
Spot meter: Narrow-angle exposure meter used to take accurate reflected light readings from a small area of a subject; can also be used from some distance away.
Stop down: Changing the lens aperture to a smaller opening; for example, from f4 to f5.6. This increases depth of field.
Stroboscopic Flash: Stroboscopic or Repeating Flash is a 'mode' available on some flashguns where under certain lighting conditions it can produce multiple exposures in a single frame. A good use of this feature would be 'the swing of a golfer' or the movement of a bouncing ping pong ball .
T Setting: A 'Time' setting mark found on some shutter controls. This setting is used for shutter speeds that are longer than the specified timed settings. The first press on the shutter leaves the shutter open, and it stays open until the shutter is pressed for a second time.
Tele (telephoto): A telephoto lens has a longer focal length and narrower field of view than a normal lens and enlarges distant subjects. Depth of field decreases as focal length increases. (Telephoto lens construction: this allows a long focal length with short back focus, making for relative compactness).
TIFF (Tagged Image File Format): A common file format used in Digital Photography. This high quality file (which is lossless compared with a JPEG) can also contain colour management profiles and be colour separated.
TTL: Through The Lens: A metering system in which a light meter within the camera body measures exposure from the image-forming light that has passed through the lens.
Tungsten light: Artificial light from either tungsten filament or tungsten halogen lamps.
Ultraviolet (UV): A Band of wavelengths within the electromagnetic spectrum invisible to the human eye which are shorter than the blue end of the spectrum. All films are sensitive to some ultraviolet radiation. It shows as increased haze, particularly in distant views and at high altitudes, and may give a blue cast to a photograph.
Under exposed: A condition in which too little light reaches the film, producing a thin negative, a dark trannie, or a muddy-looking print.
Uprating (up rated): A technique in which the suggested film speed is deliberately exceeded, by setting a higher speed on the camera, so causing underexposure, and then balanced by overdevelopment. Also known as "pushing". The opposite, shooting at an ISO rating below that suggested, and underdeveloping, is known as "pulling".
USM (Ultra Sonic Motor): A Canon devised Autofocus SLR lens motor system. USM lenses are usually quicker to focus, more compact, with greater operational simplicity and virtually silent compared to their earlier 'Arc Form Drive'(AFD) cousins. USM lenses only work with the Canon 'EOS' camera system, introduced in March 1987.
UV filter: Filter which may be used to absorb UV radiation, to reduce its effect.
Vignetting: Fall-off in illumination at the edges of an image. This can be caused by poor lens design, using a hood not matched to the lens, or using too many filters at the same time.
Wide-angle lens: A Short focal length lens which takes in a greater angle of view than a standard lens. Depth of field increases as focal length decreases.
White Balance: Depending on the lighting conditions, a pure white in a photograph may appear slightly yellow or blue. The white balance control settings on a "Digital Camera" will help to eliminate unwanted colour bias by actually controlling the camera's colour temperature response. C.C. filters or a specially balanced film must be used when a film camera is utilized under the same lighting conditions!
XD Picture Card: A very small memory card which uses flash memory as a base for storing digital photos.
Zone system: A system of 'relating exposure readings to tonal values' in picture-taking, development and printing, popularized by the American photographer Ansel Adams.
Zoom: A Lens which is constructed to allow a continuously variable focal length; in effect, this gives you many lenses of different focal lengths in one unit. (e.g. 80-200 mm).
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Thanks bunches Terri !
And a big thanks to you Phil for gathering all that together !
And a big thanks to you Phil for gathering all that together !
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Ask Not For Whom The Bell Tolls .......Let The Machine Get It ........
MY GALLERY
Whoa, I don't think I know all those terms myself as I use a digital camera. Maybe we could also have a page about colors, combos, warm vs. cool colors, etc.?
And, uhh...Lauren? It's spelt "glossary" not "glossery" =)
And, uhh...Lauren? It's spelt "glossary" not "glossery" =)
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Live like there was no tomorrow | When you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything - Doc Brown | My Gallery
Colour could be addressed in a variety of areas including colour spaces, colour modes, gamut, colour filters etc. Warm & cool are covered by colour temperature I guess. general photographic terms apply whether you are using digital or conventional cameras. not sure what you mean by combos exactly.
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You go Phil!! Dang, you ain't gonna be able to flip over your steak on the grill tonight due to all the typing!! 8~D Sweet posting!!
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I noticed alot of canon terms in there phil. You need to add some nikon ones like CLS, ED glass, DX lenses:P.
Here is a link to some more. Im not sure what should be added, and its easier to give a link then copy and paste a bunch of redundant terms.
Here is a link to some more. Im not sure what should be added, and its easier to give a link then copy and paste a bunch of redundant terms.
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No one wanted to pay to say something in my sig, so i will have to try and think of something creative now...
Could that huge list be categorised into topics somehow? Not that I'm volunteering.
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-Everyone is entitled to my opinion- rescope.com.au
DPreview.com = Glossary
consider providing a brief explanation and then linking to online sources for the coup-de-grace
consider providing a brief explanation and then linking to online sources for the coup-de-grace
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im not sure directing people away from the site achieves the object of helping them make comment here...
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i was thinking that we are trying to compile a list that a page could be made from. That way this thread doesn't stick around forever and the glossory isn't lost. So for that purpose a link isn't really a bad thing.
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No one wanted to pay to say something in my sig, so i will have to try and think of something creative now...
I think this thread is just to compile input .. somebody (hopefully a .. + or = .. ) .. will be tasked with making sense of it all .. the creaming and condensing, if you will
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a correction for gradient: it represents the scale of a specific hue of color found on a palette.
palette: a collection of hues with predetermined gradient,tinting,shading.
palette: a collection of hues with predetermined gradient,tinting,shading.
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Lauren's use of gradient was Apophysis based and was an attempt, however feeble, to explain the most likely use of the word that a new user would come across in the commentary herein .. (*whew.. inhale*) .. .. she also still believes the world is flat
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Ok - here's a starting point of Photoshop and colour terms for you all to build on and add to.....
Airbrushing: A colloquialism used most commonly to describe the process of altering an image by either removing or adding elements to an image. The term is most often associated with the alteration of images for the fashion industry and has spawned newer terminology in the same field such as body carving.
Alpha channel: Alpha channels are basically saved selections. They do not affect how your image will be printed.
Anti-aliasing: Smoothing the edge of an otherwise hard-edged object by adding partially transparent pixels. These pixels help to blend the edge of the object into the surrounding image, making it harder to see the edge of the pixels and therefore avoiding a jaggy edge.
Baseline: The invisible rule that a line of text sits on. Letters that drop below the baseline (such as lowercase j, g, q, and y) are known as descenders.
Bitmap: A confusing term, because Photoshop uses it in an unusual way. Adobe has decided to reserve the term to describe images that contain only pure black and pure white (no greys or colour).
Camera Raw File Format: A special file format that contains the raw data that was captured with a digital camera’s sensor. RAW files allow you to change important settings - like White Balance - at the time you open the image. JPEG and TIFF images have those settings locked into the image so they can’t easily be changed after the photo is taken.
Channel: The components that an image is made out of. Most photographic images are composed of red, green and blue light, or cyan, magenta, yellow and black ink. The Channels palette is where Photoshop keeps track of exactly how much of those primary colours are needed to create your full-colour image.
Chromatic Aberration: An effect that causes small halos of different colours on the edges of objects. This happens when a wide-angle lens focuses different colours of light in different places on the image.
Clipping: An indication of where an image is potentially losing detail by becoming too bright and therefore blowing out any detail.
Clone: The Clone Stamp tool paints with a specified sample of an image, which you can use to duplicate objects, remove image imperfections, or paint over objects in your photo.
CMYK: A model for reproducing RGB colours using cyan, magenta, yellow, and black inks. (Black is abbreviated “K” for Key.) Any time you print an image you will be using CMYK inks. Ideally, cyan ink would absorb only red light, magenta ink would absorb only green light, and yellow ink would absorb only blue light; you could therefore reproduce an RGB image by absorbing the light falling on a sheet of paper instead of creating the light directly. CMYK inks (also known as process colours) cannot reproduce all the colours that can be created using RGB light.
Colour Cast: An unwanted colour that contaminates an image.
Colour channel: When you edit an image in Photoshop, you are really editing the colour channels. These channels break your image into one or more colour components. The mode of the document will determine how many colour channels will be present: RGB mode will have three channels (red, green, and blue); CMYK mode will have four channels (cyan, magenta, yellow, and black); and greyscale will contain only one channel (called grey).
Colour management: A system used to achieve consistent colour between scanner, monitor and printer.
Colour space: A system for describing colour numerically. Also known as a "colour model," the most widely used colour spaces are RGB for scanners and displays, CMYK for colour printing and YUV for video and TV. Prior to the proliferation of electronic displays, colour spaces were developed that were closer to the way people perceive colour. For example, the HSB model uses hue, saturation and brightness, while the CIE Lab model uses lightness (L) and values on red-green (a) and blue-yellow (b) axes.
Contiguous: An area that is uninterrupted by obstructions that would divide a colour or brightness region into multiple independent regions.
Contrast: The range between the brightest and darkest areas of an image (or a portion of the image).
Cropping: The process of reducing the dimensions of an image; by removing unneeded space from the edge of the document. Also used to remove data outside of the visible artboard.
DCS: Desktop Colour Separation (DCS) is a special version of the EPS file format that allows channels to be saved as special colours, such as Pantone references, rather than RGB or CMYK colour channels.
Dither Simulate colour by using a pattern of two solid colours (for example, adding a pattern of red dots to a yellow area to create orange). This term also refers to adding a pattern of noise to a sharp transition to make the edge less noticeable.
Dots per inch (dpi): Determines the size of the dots an output device will use when printing an image. A 300-dpi laser printer uses black dots that are 1/300 of an inch. This term is often used incorrectly to describe the resolution of an image (which should be measured in pixels per inch).
Down sample: To reduce the number of pixels that makes up the width and/or height of an image without changing its general appearance (no cropping, or adding white space).
Dye sub: Short for dye sublimation. A type of output device that produces a continuous-tone result by heating CMY dyes until they turn into a gas (without first becoming a liquid). The output of a dye-sub printer has a continuous-tone glossy look that resembles a photographic print.
EPS: Encapsulated PostScript (EPS): A file format used to transfer PostScript-language page descriptions between programs and output devices. EPS files should be used only with PostScript-aware printers; otherwise, the resulting images will appear with a low-resolution “jaggy” appearance because they only print the onscreen preview.
Feather : The process of converting a hard-edged selection into one that blends into the underlying image as you move closer to its edge.
Gamut: The range of colours that is reproducible on a particular device.
Histogram: A bar chart that indicates which brightness levels are present in the image and how prevalent each shade is within the image.
HSB: A method of manipulating RGB or CMYK colours by separating the colour into components of hue, saturation, and brightness. Hue is the pure form of the colour (red is the pure form of pink, maroon, and candy-apple red). Saturation is the intensity or vibrancy of the colour (pink is a not very saturated red; candy-apple red is a very saturated red). Brightness is how bright or dark a colour appears (pink is a bright, just not vibrant, tint of red; maroon is a dark shade of red). So, when talking about the hue of a colour, you are not describing how bright and vibrant (saturated) the colour appears. When talking about saturation of a colour, you do not reveal its basic colour (hue), or how bright or dark it appears (brightness). When talking about the brightness of a colour, you are not describing the basic colour (hue) or how vibrant it appears (saturation).
Hue: The pure form of a colour without considering how dark or how vivid the colour is. Maroon and pink are both based on a red hue.
ICC profile: A standard file format used to describe the unique characteristics of a scanner, monitor, or printer.
Inkjet: A type of output device that sprays CMYK, RGB or combinations of both inks onto special paper. Modern 8 colour inkjets produce long lasting results virtually indistinguishable from lab photos.
Interpolation: The processes of adding or removing pixels to an image to either change the image’s dimensions, or to change how large the pixels will be when the image is printed. When interpolation is done, the cropping of the image will not change.
JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group): A committee of experts that develops algorithms for compressing computer image files. Also, any graphic file to which a JPEG algorithm is applied. JPEG is the format generally used to share photographs over the web. When you save in JPEG format, you can specify quality of image; the greater the quality, the lower the compression and the larger the file. The higher the compression, the greater the loss of image data. JPEG 2000 improves on JPEG and also supports transparency but is not available for some images.
Kerning: The (lost) art of removing space between letters, to create consistent letter spacing. In Photoshop, the kerning increases (positive setting) or decreases (negative setting) the space between two letters.
LAB: A scientific method of describing colours by separating them into three components called Lightness, A, and B. The Lightness component describes how bright or dark a colour appears. The “A” component describes colours ranging from red to green. The “B” component describes colours ranging from blue to yellow. Lab colour is the internal colour model used in Photoshop for converting between different colour modes (RGB to CMYK, etc.) and is the most accurate method of mixing and preparing colour for output and matching specified targets.
Layers: One of several on-screen "drawing boards" for creating elements within a picture. Layers can be manipulated independently, and the sums of all layers make up the total image. Layered files are saved as native Photoshop formats or PSD files
Leading: The line spacing of a paragraph of text measured from one baseline to the next. It’s named after the strips of lead that were used to increase line spacing in hot metal typography. In order to make sure the lines of text don’t overlap, you’ll usually want to use a leading setting larger than the point size of the text.
Line art: Any artwork that consists of pure black lines on a pure white background. Line art images always contain extremely crisp edges and no shades of gray or colour.
Lines per inch (lpi): Determines the spacing of halftone dots and therefore their maximum size. The higher the lines-per-inch setting, the more apparent detail you can reproduce.
Lock Transparency: A function in Photoshop that “freezes” the transparency of a layer. While Lock Transparency is in effect, you cannot increase or decrease how transparent an area will appear.
Luminance: Another word for brightness. When someone talks about the luminance of an image, they usually ignore all issues relating to colour and just concentrate on what’s happening to the brightness of the image.
Marquee: Like the rectangular marquees (signs) used at movie theatres to display the movies that are currently showing. In Photoshop, the Marquee tools are used to create selections.
Mask: Anytime you view a selection as a greyscale image (as opposed to a “marching ants” selection), it is also called a mask. That means it’s OK to call a channel a mask if you’d like. When you see features like Quick Mask and Layer Masks mentioned in Photoshop, those are things that will also be stored in the Channels palette.
Maximum shadow dot : The largest halftone dot that will not combine with the surrounding halftone dots to become pure black. This is usually measured as a percentage and reflects the highest percentage of ink that could be used without losing detail when printed. The type of paper usually determines what the Maximum Shadow Dot setting will be.
Minimum highlight dot: The smallest halftone dot that is reproducible using a particular printing process. This is usually measured as a percentage and reflects the lowest percentage of ink that will not lose detail when printed.
Monochrome: Something that contains no colour and therefore only contains brightness levels. A greyscale photo.
Neutral gray: A pure gray that does not have any hint of colour cast.
Neutralize: Unwanted colour casts are easy to spot when you look at objects that should be gray. When a shade of gray is not bluish-gray, or yellowish-gray and doesn’t have a hint of any other colour in it, it’s known as being neutral gray. You can neutralize a colour cast by adjusting the entire image based on an area that should be gray. In essence, you measure how strong a colour cast is by measuring how much colour is showing up in an area that should be gray and then use that info to remove the colour cast from the entire image. That will effectively neutralize it.
Noise: A pattern of dots that resembles the static that appears on some televisions when no station is tuned in. This pattern is often used to break up crisp transitions between two colours by replacing a straight-line transition with one that has more of a random edge.
Opacity: The Opacity setting determines how opaque (the opposite of transparent) the information on a layer will appear. An Opacity setting of 100% will not allow you to see the underlying image. A setting below 100% will allow the underlying image to partially show through the current layer.
PANTONE: A brand of ink commonly used when printing with fewer than four inks, or when colours are needed that cannot be reproduced using CMYK inks (metallic colours, fluorescent colours, deep blues, and bright greens cannot be accurately simulated using CMYK inks). PANTONE inks are commonly referred to as spot colour inks.
Pixels per inch (ppi): Determines how small the pixels in an image will be when printed. A setting of 150 ppi means that pixels will be 1⁄150 of an inch when printed. The higher the setting, the smaller the pixels.
Point: A unit of measurement, used in the publishing industry, that is 1⁄72 of an inch (there are 12 points to a pica, and 6 picas per inch). Most programs measure text in point sizes because it is much more friendly than using fractions of an inch. But there is very little consistency in the size of text. For example, 12-point Times is taller than 12-point Helvetica, so you can think of the point size as a general (not exact) measure of the size of your text.
Posterization: The process of breaking up a smooth transition into visible steps of solid colour. This is often called stair-stepping, or banding, when referring to a gradient.
Resample: The process of changing the total number of pixels in an image without cropping or adding empty space.
RGB: A model for creating colour using red, green, and blue light. You are able to see colour because your eye contains cones in its retina that are sensitive to red, green, and blue. Scanners capture information by measuring how much RGB light is reflected off the original image. Computer monitors display information by shining RGB light into your eyes. All the colours you have ever seen with your eyes have been made from a combination of red, green, and blue light.
S curve: A generic curve used to exaggerate the detail in the midtones of an image by suppressing the detail in the highlights and the shadows.
Samples per inch (spi) : Determines the area a scanner will measure to determine the colour of a single pixel. You can figure out the samples-per-inch setting that you need by multiplying the desired image resolution (ppi) by the amount the image will be scaled.
Saturation: How colourful a colour is without considering the specific colour or how dark it is.
Specular highlight: An intense reflection that contains little or no detail. You’ll find specular highlights in jewellery, metallic objects, and very shiny surfaces.
Spot channel: Spot channels are a special variety of colour channels that allow you to construct your image out of inks other than, or in addition to, cyan, magenta, yellow, and black. Spot channels are usually used when printing with PANTONE inks.
Thermal wax: A type of CMYK output device that bonds a waxy substance to a special type of paper. If you scratch the output of a thermal-wax printer with your fingernail, you will usually be able to scratch off some of the waxy substance.
Threshold: An adjustment that converts all shades of gray to pure black or pure white. Any shades of gray brighter than the threshold value will become white, and any shades darker than the threshold value will become black.
TIFF (Tagged Image File Format): A digital image format widely used for images that are to be printed or published. TIFF images can be compressed losslessly.
Tracking: The act of increasing or reducing the space between all the letters in a range of text. Often used with uppercase text to increase readability.
Unsharp Mask: A term used to describe the traditional process of sharpening an image by combining a blurry (unsharp) version of the image with a normal version. The idea behind Unsharp Mask is to increase contrast and therefore detail. CS2’s Smart Sharpen is a far more effective method of sharpening as it achieves comparable results without the destructive borders added to pixels with traditional Unsharp masking.
Upsample: To increase the number of pixels that makes up the width and/or height of an image without changing its general appearance (no cropping, or adding of white space).
Vector Images: Either Raster data, Vector data, or a combination of both. Raster images are made out of a grid of pixels, which makes them inherently jaggy when viewed up close and causes them to appear blurry or jaggy when enlarged. Vector images on the other hand are made out of smooth curves and straight lines (known as paths) which can be scaled to any size without degrading the quality of the image. The most common program used for creating vector images is Adobe illustrator although this vector data can be used in raster images as smart objects.
Vignetting: Two meanings here…Vignetting can either refer to the process of blending either once colour from light to dark or two colours into each other in a smooth transition or it can refer to the darkening of the corners and edges of an image due to light falloff in the lens of the camera.
Airbrushing: A colloquialism used most commonly to describe the process of altering an image by either removing or adding elements to an image. The term is most often associated with the alteration of images for the fashion industry and has spawned newer terminology in the same field such as body carving.
Alpha channel: Alpha channels are basically saved selections. They do not affect how your image will be printed.
Anti-aliasing: Smoothing the edge of an otherwise hard-edged object by adding partially transparent pixels. These pixels help to blend the edge of the object into the surrounding image, making it harder to see the edge of the pixels and therefore avoiding a jaggy edge.
Baseline: The invisible rule that a line of text sits on. Letters that drop below the baseline (such as lowercase j, g, q, and y) are known as descenders.
Bitmap: A confusing term, because Photoshop uses it in an unusual way. Adobe has decided to reserve the term to describe images that contain only pure black and pure white (no greys or colour).
Camera Raw File Format: A special file format that contains the raw data that was captured with a digital camera’s sensor. RAW files allow you to change important settings - like White Balance - at the time you open the image. JPEG and TIFF images have those settings locked into the image so they can’t easily be changed after the photo is taken.
Channel: The components that an image is made out of. Most photographic images are composed of red, green and blue light, or cyan, magenta, yellow and black ink. The Channels palette is where Photoshop keeps track of exactly how much of those primary colours are needed to create your full-colour image.
Chromatic Aberration: An effect that causes small halos of different colours on the edges of objects. This happens when a wide-angle lens focuses different colours of light in different places on the image.
Clipping: An indication of where an image is potentially losing detail by becoming too bright and therefore blowing out any detail.
Clone: The Clone Stamp tool paints with a specified sample of an image, which you can use to duplicate objects, remove image imperfections, or paint over objects in your photo.
CMYK: A model for reproducing RGB colours using cyan, magenta, yellow, and black inks. (Black is abbreviated “K” for Key.) Any time you print an image you will be using CMYK inks. Ideally, cyan ink would absorb only red light, magenta ink would absorb only green light, and yellow ink would absorb only blue light; you could therefore reproduce an RGB image by absorbing the light falling on a sheet of paper instead of creating the light directly. CMYK inks (also known as process colours) cannot reproduce all the colours that can be created using RGB light.
Colour Cast: An unwanted colour that contaminates an image.
Colour channel: When you edit an image in Photoshop, you are really editing the colour channels. These channels break your image into one or more colour components. The mode of the document will determine how many colour channels will be present: RGB mode will have three channels (red, green, and blue); CMYK mode will have four channels (cyan, magenta, yellow, and black); and greyscale will contain only one channel (called grey).
Colour management: A system used to achieve consistent colour between scanner, monitor and printer.
Colour space: A system for describing colour numerically. Also known as a "colour model," the most widely used colour spaces are RGB for scanners and displays, CMYK for colour printing and YUV for video and TV. Prior to the proliferation of electronic displays, colour spaces were developed that were closer to the way people perceive colour. For example, the HSB model uses hue, saturation and brightness, while the CIE Lab model uses lightness (L) and values on red-green (a) and blue-yellow (b) axes.
Contiguous: An area that is uninterrupted by obstructions that would divide a colour or brightness region into multiple independent regions.
Contrast: The range between the brightest and darkest areas of an image (or a portion of the image).
Cropping: The process of reducing the dimensions of an image; by removing unneeded space from the edge of the document. Also used to remove data outside of the visible artboard.
DCS: Desktop Colour Separation (DCS) is a special version of the EPS file format that allows channels to be saved as special colours, such as Pantone references, rather than RGB or CMYK colour channels.
Dither Simulate colour by using a pattern of two solid colours (for example, adding a pattern of red dots to a yellow area to create orange). This term also refers to adding a pattern of noise to a sharp transition to make the edge less noticeable.
Dots per inch (dpi): Determines the size of the dots an output device will use when printing an image. A 300-dpi laser printer uses black dots that are 1/300 of an inch. This term is often used incorrectly to describe the resolution of an image (which should be measured in pixels per inch).
Down sample: To reduce the number of pixels that makes up the width and/or height of an image without changing its general appearance (no cropping, or adding white space).
Dye sub: Short for dye sublimation. A type of output device that produces a continuous-tone result by heating CMY dyes until they turn into a gas (without first becoming a liquid). The output of a dye-sub printer has a continuous-tone glossy look that resembles a photographic print.
EPS: Encapsulated PostScript (EPS): A file format used to transfer PostScript-language page descriptions between programs and output devices. EPS files should be used only with PostScript-aware printers; otherwise, the resulting images will appear with a low-resolution “jaggy” appearance because they only print the onscreen preview.
Feather : The process of converting a hard-edged selection into one that blends into the underlying image as you move closer to its edge.
Gamut: The range of colours that is reproducible on a particular device.
Histogram: A bar chart that indicates which brightness levels are present in the image and how prevalent each shade is within the image.
HSB: A method of manipulating RGB or CMYK colours by separating the colour into components of hue, saturation, and brightness. Hue is the pure form of the colour (red is the pure form of pink, maroon, and candy-apple red). Saturation is the intensity or vibrancy of the colour (pink is a not very saturated red; candy-apple red is a very saturated red). Brightness is how bright or dark a colour appears (pink is a bright, just not vibrant, tint of red; maroon is a dark shade of red). So, when talking about the hue of a colour, you are not describing how bright and vibrant (saturated) the colour appears. When talking about saturation of a colour, you do not reveal its basic colour (hue), or how bright or dark it appears (brightness). When talking about the brightness of a colour, you are not describing the basic colour (hue) or how vibrant it appears (saturation).
Hue: The pure form of a colour without considering how dark or how vivid the colour is. Maroon and pink are both based on a red hue.
ICC profile: A standard file format used to describe the unique characteristics of a scanner, monitor, or printer.
Inkjet: A type of output device that sprays CMYK, RGB or combinations of both inks onto special paper. Modern 8 colour inkjets produce long lasting results virtually indistinguishable from lab photos.
Interpolation: The processes of adding or removing pixels to an image to either change the image’s dimensions, or to change how large the pixels will be when the image is printed. When interpolation is done, the cropping of the image will not change.
JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group): A committee of experts that develops algorithms for compressing computer image files. Also, any graphic file to which a JPEG algorithm is applied. JPEG is the format generally used to share photographs over the web. When you save in JPEG format, you can specify quality of image; the greater the quality, the lower the compression and the larger the file. The higher the compression, the greater the loss of image data. JPEG 2000 improves on JPEG and also supports transparency but is not available for some images.
Kerning: The (lost) art of removing space between letters, to create consistent letter spacing. In Photoshop, the kerning increases (positive setting) or decreases (negative setting) the space between two letters.
LAB: A scientific method of describing colours by separating them into three components called Lightness, A, and B. The Lightness component describes how bright or dark a colour appears. The “A” component describes colours ranging from red to green. The “B” component describes colours ranging from blue to yellow. Lab colour is the internal colour model used in Photoshop for converting between different colour modes (RGB to CMYK, etc.) and is the most accurate method of mixing and preparing colour for output and matching specified targets.
Layers: One of several on-screen "drawing boards" for creating elements within a picture. Layers can be manipulated independently, and the sums of all layers make up the total image. Layered files are saved as native Photoshop formats or PSD files
Leading: The line spacing of a paragraph of text measured from one baseline to the next. It’s named after the strips of lead that were used to increase line spacing in hot metal typography. In order to make sure the lines of text don’t overlap, you’ll usually want to use a leading setting larger than the point size of the text.
Line art: Any artwork that consists of pure black lines on a pure white background. Line art images always contain extremely crisp edges and no shades of gray or colour.
Lines per inch (lpi): Determines the spacing of halftone dots and therefore their maximum size. The higher the lines-per-inch setting, the more apparent detail you can reproduce.
Lock Transparency: A function in Photoshop that “freezes” the transparency of a layer. While Lock Transparency is in effect, you cannot increase or decrease how transparent an area will appear.
Luminance: Another word for brightness. When someone talks about the luminance of an image, they usually ignore all issues relating to colour and just concentrate on what’s happening to the brightness of the image.
Marquee: Like the rectangular marquees (signs) used at movie theatres to display the movies that are currently showing. In Photoshop, the Marquee tools are used to create selections.
Mask: Anytime you view a selection as a greyscale image (as opposed to a “marching ants” selection), it is also called a mask. That means it’s OK to call a channel a mask if you’d like. When you see features like Quick Mask and Layer Masks mentioned in Photoshop, those are things that will also be stored in the Channels palette.
Maximum shadow dot : The largest halftone dot that will not combine with the surrounding halftone dots to become pure black. This is usually measured as a percentage and reflects the highest percentage of ink that could be used without losing detail when printed. The type of paper usually determines what the Maximum Shadow Dot setting will be.
Minimum highlight dot: The smallest halftone dot that is reproducible using a particular printing process. This is usually measured as a percentage and reflects the lowest percentage of ink that will not lose detail when printed.
Monochrome: Something that contains no colour and therefore only contains brightness levels. A greyscale photo.
Neutral gray: A pure gray that does not have any hint of colour cast.
Neutralize: Unwanted colour casts are easy to spot when you look at objects that should be gray. When a shade of gray is not bluish-gray, or yellowish-gray and doesn’t have a hint of any other colour in it, it’s known as being neutral gray. You can neutralize a colour cast by adjusting the entire image based on an area that should be gray. In essence, you measure how strong a colour cast is by measuring how much colour is showing up in an area that should be gray and then use that info to remove the colour cast from the entire image. That will effectively neutralize it.
Noise: A pattern of dots that resembles the static that appears on some televisions when no station is tuned in. This pattern is often used to break up crisp transitions between two colours by replacing a straight-line transition with one that has more of a random edge.
Opacity: The Opacity setting determines how opaque (the opposite of transparent) the information on a layer will appear. An Opacity setting of 100% will not allow you to see the underlying image. A setting below 100% will allow the underlying image to partially show through the current layer.
PANTONE: A brand of ink commonly used when printing with fewer than four inks, or when colours are needed that cannot be reproduced using CMYK inks (metallic colours, fluorescent colours, deep blues, and bright greens cannot be accurately simulated using CMYK inks). PANTONE inks are commonly referred to as spot colour inks.
Pixels per inch (ppi): Determines how small the pixels in an image will be when printed. A setting of 150 ppi means that pixels will be 1⁄150 of an inch when printed. The higher the setting, the smaller the pixels.
Point: A unit of measurement, used in the publishing industry, that is 1⁄72 of an inch (there are 12 points to a pica, and 6 picas per inch). Most programs measure text in point sizes because it is much more friendly than using fractions of an inch. But there is very little consistency in the size of text. For example, 12-point Times is taller than 12-point Helvetica, so you can think of the point size as a general (not exact) measure of the size of your text.
Posterization: The process of breaking up a smooth transition into visible steps of solid colour. This is often called stair-stepping, or banding, when referring to a gradient.
Resample: The process of changing the total number of pixels in an image without cropping or adding empty space.
RGB: A model for creating colour using red, green, and blue light. You are able to see colour because your eye contains cones in its retina that are sensitive to red, green, and blue. Scanners capture information by measuring how much RGB light is reflected off the original image. Computer monitors display information by shining RGB light into your eyes. All the colours you have ever seen with your eyes have been made from a combination of red, green, and blue light.
S curve: A generic curve used to exaggerate the detail in the midtones of an image by suppressing the detail in the highlights and the shadows.
Samples per inch (spi) : Determines the area a scanner will measure to determine the colour of a single pixel. You can figure out the samples-per-inch setting that you need by multiplying the desired image resolution (ppi) by the amount the image will be scaled.
Saturation: How colourful a colour is without considering the specific colour or how dark it is.
Specular highlight: An intense reflection that contains little or no detail. You’ll find specular highlights in jewellery, metallic objects, and very shiny surfaces.
Spot channel: Spot channels are a special variety of colour channels that allow you to construct your image out of inks other than, or in addition to, cyan, magenta, yellow, and black. Spot channels are usually used when printing with PANTONE inks.
Thermal wax: A type of CMYK output device that bonds a waxy substance to a special type of paper. If you scratch the output of a thermal-wax printer with your fingernail, you will usually be able to scratch off some of the waxy substance.
Threshold: An adjustment that converts all shades of gray to pure black or pure white. Any shades of gray brighter than the threshold value will become white, and any shades darker than the threshold value will become black.
TIFF (Tagged Image File Format): A digital image format widely used for images that are to be printed or published. TIFF images can be compressed losslessly.
Tracking: The act of increasing or reducing the space between all the letters in a range of text. Often used with uppercase text to increase readability.
Unsharp Mask: A term used to describe the traditional process of sharpening an image by combining a blurry (unsharp) version of the image with a normal version. The idea behind Unsharp Mask is to increase contrast and therefore detail. CS2’s Smart Sharpen is a far more effective method of sharpening as it achieves comparable results without the destructive borders added to pixels with traditional Unsharp masking.
Upsample: To increase the number of pixels that makes up the width and/or height of an image without changing its general appearance (no cropping, or adding of white space).
Vector Images: Either Raster data, Vector data, or a combination of both. Raster images are made out of a grid of pixels, which makes them inherently jaggy when viewed up close and causes them to appear blurry or jaggy when enlarged. Vector images on the other hand are made out of smooth curves and straight lines (known as paths) which can be scaled to any size without degrading the quality of the image. The most common program used for creating vector images is Adobe illustrator although this vector data can be used in raster images as smart objects.
Vignetting: Two meanings here…Vignetting can either refer to the process of blending either once colour from light to dark or two colours into each other in a smooth transition or it can refer to the darkening of the corners and edges of an image due to light falloff in the lens of the camera.
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it's to over compensate for the apparent board wide apathy attack....
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I was about to get there after the tutorials when you hit the 2nd post! I didn't wanna overshadow all your hard work *grin*
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SMURF SOLIDARITY - THE FIESTY TAVERN SMURFS! 8•D
That sounds like a dull show. I imagine it would just sort of paw at the victim and then give up and wander off.
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-Everyone is entitled to my opinion- rescope.com.au
I will go through all your the above entries, organize 'em and hopefully have them posted by this weekend. Thank you for your prolific efforts on this.
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The work of art may have a moral effect, but to demand moral purpose from an artist is to make him ruin his work.
(Johann Wolfgang von Goethe - 1832)
(*bows*) .. my post was the longest one .. I sent it to phil to look over .. ;o)
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The Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything = T42
I'll start us off .....
Abstract Terms
Gradient --------- The colors used to make an abstract image
Palette --------- The colors used to make an abstract image
Render -------- When making fractals, CG Images, or other abstracts this is the actual process of the computer creating what the artist has designed. As a compliment, you will oftern see the term " Great render", meaning Great design, Great image.
*note* Feel free to correct & refine any terms or language, especially my own, *grin* as we want this to be right.
Thanks all !