Glossary:Creating Multimedia Products

Term / Definition
.aac / A digital audio file format that can include copy protection
.gif / A file format for saving simple, small images and animations, e.g. logos; has a reduced colour range which keeps file sizes small
.jpeg / The most commonly used formats for saving bitmap images like photographs; has a lower file size than a .tiff and a greater colour range than a .gif
.mp3 / A common format for digital audio files; lower sound quality than .wav files but smaller file size
.png / A good file format for saving vector graphics and images containing transparent parts (e.g. isolated images with no background)
.tiff / A lossless file format that does not use any form of compression, so produces very high quality images but very large file sizes
.wav / The main digital sound file format used on Windows systems for unedited, uncompressed audio; file sizes are relatively large
.wma / A Windows-specific digital audio file format with relatively small file size but some loss of sound quality
absolute link / A link that can be browsed to from any location, e.g. if you wanted to link to a website on the World Wide Web, you would provide the URL of that website in the link, and it would work from any location (contrast with ‘relative link’)
advertising banner / A usually rectangular, often animated graphic, which tries to entice viewers into clicking on it and visiting a website, or into buying a product
animated / Moving or changing – an image is animated if it changes or moves over time, or when certain actions are applied to it, e.g. a rollover or click of the mouse
animated GIF / A file format for small animated images (also see '.gif')
bitmap / A digital image made up of pixels (tiny squares of colour); tends to lose quality when enlarged
brief / A document that gives information about a the desired design and purpose of a product or piece of work
burn / To transfer data to a writable CD
colour scheme / A selected group of colours used in a particular product or piece of work to give the different parts the same look and feel
complementary colours / Colours that sit opposite each other on the colour wheel and give a striking effect when used together, e.g. purple and yellow, red and green (contrast with 'harmonious colours')
copy / An action available by right-clicking on something, which puts a copy of the selected file, image or portion of text onto the 'clipboard' to use later; shortcut in most applications: Ctrl+C
crop / A tool / function in image editing software that lets you select a rectangular section of an image and discard the rest, e.g. cut off the edges or the right half of a photo
custom animation / A feature of PowerPoint that lets you add entrance and exit animations to objects and text
cut / An action available by right-clicking on something, which moves the selected file, image or portion of text onto the 'clipboard' to use later; shortcut in most applications: Ctrl+X
desktop publishing (DTP) / A type of software that can deal well with both text and images, allows transparency and precise positioning and spacing, but can be relatively complicated to use
edit decision list (EDL) / A plan of what sounds and shots will be included, and at what times, when editing a video
fit for purpose / When something does what it is supposed to do
flip book / A small book with a slightly different image drawn on each page. When you rapidly flick through the pages of the book, the images look like they are animating
font / The style of script, e.g. thick, thin, cartoony, serif, sans serif (see 'serif font / typeface' and 'sans serif font / typeface')
footer / The area at the bottom of a word-processed document where details such as the date, page numbers and titles can be written; appears the same on every page unless the user specifies otherwise
formatting / Changing the physical appearance of a document, especially with regard to the text, e.g. making it bold, changing the font or size, etc
harmonious colours / Colours that sit next to each other on the colour wheel and give a gentle effect when used together (contrast with 'complementary colours')
header / The area at the top of a word-processed document where details such as the date, page numbers and titles can be written; appears the same on every page unless the user specifies otherwise
heat spot / An area of a web page that viewers pay particular attention to – usually the top and left sides of the page
hotspot / A link on a web page, hidden within an image or an area of the screen, which takes you to another page when clicked
house style / A consistent style used throughout a company's products, e.g. a good website should use a set of consistent text styles, colours and graphic styles
HTML / Hypertext markup language – the standard language in which web pages are written
HTML editor / A program specifically designed for the creation and editing of web pages, e.g. FrontPage
HTML tag / Portions of text in HTML code that instruct the webpage editing software to format the page in certain ways, e.g. <b>...</b> is the tag for making text bold
hyperlink / A link on a web page that takes you to another page when clicked; can be a piece of text or an image, but typically appears as blue underlined text
interactive / When two or more things or people act or communicate in a way that has an effect on each other
justify align / A text alignment option that spaces text out horizontally, so that it becomes flush with both margins
kerning / The horizontal spacing of text characters
lasso / A tool / function in image editing software that lets you select an area of an image by drawing it freehand
layout / The arrangement of things in relation to one another to create a whole
magic lantern / A 17th century projector that projected images onto a wall
mail merge / The process by which information (such as addresses and names) from a database or list is automatically inserted into a standard document or letter to produce multiple personalized copies
margin / The space between the text and the edge of a document
marquee / A tool / function in image editing software that lets you select a rectangular section of an image
master slide / A slide in a presentation that acts as a template for all slides in the presentation; can include graphics, e.g. a logo, and text, e.g. slide numbers
navigation bar / A block of graphics with a hyperlink attached to each one
navigation button / A hyperlinked graphic used to navigate around a website
opacity / How opaque (non-see through) something is
page break / An instruction that tells the printer to start a new page at a certain point in a document
paste / An action available by right-clicking on something, which inserts a copy of the file, image or text on the clipboard into the current folder or document; shortcut in most applications: Ctrl+V
phono lead / A cable that lets you plug a device such as an mp3 player or CD player into a computer, in order to transfer sounds from the device onto the computer
proofread / To carefully check written work for mistakes and inconsistencies in spelling, grammar, punctuation and layout
relative link / A link that can only be browsed to from a particular location, e.g. if you have five web pages in one folder, you could link to each page within that folder by just referencing the file name of each page, but the pages being linked from and to would need to stay in the same folder as each other for the link to work (contrast with ‘absolute link’)
resolution / The amount of detail included in a digital image, i.e. how many dots (pixels) per inch (dpi) are present
rollover effect / A change in the look of an image that happens when a cursor hovers over it
sans serif font / typeface / A font with no details on the ends of some of the strokes that make up the letters; often considered more readable when used for on-screen text
serif font / typeface / A font with details on the ends of some of the strokes that make up the letters
static / Not animated – an image is static if it stays the same all the time (contrast with 'animated')
storyboard / A visual outline that shows what a product or piece of work will include and how it will be displayed
subscript / Small text on the same line as, but lower than the normal text on a line, often used for footnotes, e.g. "There is a footnote here1".
superscript / Small text on the same line as, but higher than the normal text on a line, used for powers in maths, e.g. 210
target audience / The type of people something is aimed at, e.g. the target audience for a TV advert for a shampoo might be women aged 20–40
text wrapping / A tool that allows you to fit text around an image, so that the text 'wraps' around it
thaumatrope / A popular toy in Victorian times – a circular piece of card with strings attached to each side and a different picture on both faces. When the card was spun by the strings, the pictures would look like they were combining into one image
thumbnail / A very small version of an image
timeline / Part of the screen in animation software (e.g. Flash) where frames are displayed to show what will happen at each point in time when the animation is played
tone / The 'attitide' of a piece of writing (or a situation, place, etc), e.g. assumptions it makes about the reader, the language it uses, how much depth it goes into about a topic, etc
transition / Moving from one thing to another
tweening / Inbetweening' – a function of Flash and other multimedia technologies which lets you animate images by specifying the start and endpoints, and the technology fills in the gap between them
usability test / A test showing how real users will use a product, and identifying any improvements that need to be made
vector graphics / A digital image made up of shapes (sometimes called objects) made from points connected by mathematically drawn lines; do not lose quality when enlarged
web icon / A graphic that usually represents an action of some sort, e.g. save
word processing / A type of software that is relatively simple to use, and focuses primarily on text, with the ability to perform mail merge
WYSIWYG / What you see is what you get' – true of dedicated web page editing software; HTML is not WYSIWYG
zoetrope / A 19th century cylindrical device for viewing simple animations – a strip of paper with different images on it was positioned inside the cylinder and the cylinder was spun round. A viewer would look through the slits in the side of the device to see the images animating
.aac / A digital audio file format that can include copy protection
.gif / A file format for saving simple, small images and animations, e.g. logos; has a reduced colour range which keeps file sizes small
.jpeg / The most commonly used formats for saving bitmap images like photographs; has a lower file size than a .tiff and a greater colour range than a .gif
.mp3 / A common format for digital audio files; lower sound quality than .wav files but smaller file size
.png / A good file format for saving vector graphics and images containing transparent parts (e.g. isolated images with no background)
.tiff / A lossless file format that does not use any form of compression, so produces very high quality images but very large file sizes
.wav / The main digital sound file format used on Windows systems for unedited, uncompressed audio; file sizes are relatively large
.wma / A Windows-specific digital audio file format with relatively small file size but some loss of sound quality