To someone new to the graphic design world, it may sound as though we have a language that sounds like we made it up. Because, well…we did. But if you’re working with a graphic designer, you’ll have to understand DesignerSpeak. To be helpful, I’ve provided here some terms you’ll need to know:

• DPI (Dots per inch)/PPI (Pixels per inch) – We’re talking about measuring resolution here, meaning how fine or grainy an image appears, which is determined by how many pixels of resolution it is rendered in. The more pixels per inch, the finer and more clear the image. Print resolution is minimum 300 DPI at the required size or you will end up with a blurry or bitmapped image. 72 is the minimum web resolution. These are general numbers, and there are certain situations where more or fewer DPI/PPI are needed.
• Pixels – These are most often represented using squares, and are single points of a raster image, or the smallest portion of a screen display (such as a computer monitor).

• Raster vs. Vector – Raster images are made of pixels with resolutions measured using DPI/PPI. (Common file extensions include – JPG, TIF, etc.) Vector images are created using points and lines that connect them, and are scalable without any loss of quality. (File extensions like .EPS, .AI, etc.) There are pros and cons to both of these and they should be used based on the specifications of the project. Generally, vector files are larger because they carry more information, which makes them better for print. Raster images tend to be smaller files and so work better for screen and web.
• FTP (File Transfer Protocol) – This is the process allowing users to upload files to or download files from their web server. There are many options that allow this capability, from standalone apps to server-hosted solutions. Most hosts provide a file manager accessible through your web browser. There are standalone FTP programs such as DreamWeaver, Filezilla, Fetch, and more.
• CMS (Content Management System) – This is an essential for most modern websites. These systems (I prefer WordPress and PulseCMS) allow a website owner to sign in from their web browser and update their content without ever messing around with the site’s structural template files. This allows users the confidence that they can update content easily and quickly without worrying about messing up their site’s structure or navigation.
• PDF (Portable Document Format) – A file format that maintains the same look from one computer to another. Download the free Adobe Acrobat Reader or a similar app to be able to view PDFs.
• .JPG, .GIF, .TIF, .PNG – These files suffixes indicate different types of image formats. The circumstances for using each one varies, but if you find you need to save an image in one of these formats, there are lots of programs that will allow you to do so. By default, your computer may even have one of those programs already. (Mac OSX has Preview, Windows has MSPaint, etc.)
• CMYK and RGB – Without going to go into a lesson about how we see colors right now (If you’re interested in that, there’s a great article here), let it suffice to say these letters symbolize two different color spaces. Print images are rendered with four different color inks: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and BlacK. (The K is used to indicate Black, because using a “B” might have confused some people with Blue). Screen color is rendered with a combination of light rays from three color beams: Red, Green and Blue. So, the rule is that you use the CMYK color mode for print and RGB for the web. If you don’t, colors might not render as expected.
• Screenshot/Printscreen – This is a snapshot taken by your computer of the items displayed on your screen at the time you click. This can be a helpful function if you need to troubleshoot issues with the help of someone in another location. You’ll be able to simply take a screenshot of the issue/error message and send it to that person. Click for instructions on how to take a screen shot.
• Bleed – The printed area extending past the trim size (edge) of a document. This is essential if you have a color or image flowing off the edge of the page. Paper can shift during the printing process and without a bleed, when the document is trimmed, you might end up with an area of blank, unprinted paper.

• Trim Size – The final size of a printed document after the bleed has been cut or trimmed off.
• Typography – This is the treatment of all type in any design, accomplished by manipulating typefaces/fonts, point size, line length, leading (line spacing), tracking (the space between words) and kerning (the space between pairs of letters), and ligatures (pairs of letters that physically touch with no space in between), color and value,
• Typeface – A set (“family”) of fonts designed to have similar characteristics. (example: Goudy Old Style is a typeface with roman, boldface and italic fonts)
• WYSIWYG – “What You See Is What You Get.” Originally, a concept in graphical user interface design pioneered by Apple with the introduction of Macintosh computers, in which the screen mimicked a printed page in showing a very close approximation of all elements on a page. In web design, WYSIWYG is a visual code editor that allows you to see the rendered web page while coding, instead of having to view it in a web browser.
• ZIP – A compressed version of a file or a folder containing one or more files, referred to as an “archive.” There are a few different extensions generated by ZIP utilities, but the most common is .zip. For free software allowing you to ZIP a file or extract the contents of a ZIP file, try download.com. (I use YemuZip and The Unarchiver, but there are lots of options available.)

Are there any terms you’ve heard and want to know about? Leave a comment below.