| A | B |
|---|
| Ascender | The part of the letter that extends above the body height or X height |
| x-height | The height of a lowercase “x”. Also called body height. Also called body height. |
| Descender | The part of the letter that extends below the body or base line |
| Point Size | A vertical measurement used to identify or specify the size of a typeface. Measured approximately from the tip of the ascender to the tip of the descender. |
| Kerning | When the space between pairs of letters is tightened to improve appearance and readability |
| Tracking | A feature of typesetting programs that allows djusting the sapcing between all letters in a word or line of type |
| Ligatures | Joined letter combinations, such as fi, ff, fl, ffi, or ffl, found in some typefaces. |
| Text | Words, sentences, paragraphs. Also see “black letter” and “body type”. |
| Body Type | Type sizes that range from a 4-point through 12-point that are used for setting straight matter. |
| Display Type | Type sizes above 12-point, used to emphasize the importance of a message and capture the reader’s attention. |
| Ink Darkness | A factor that affects the contrast of printed materials. |
| Reverse Type | White type (or the color of the paper) on a printed background. |
| Negative Leading | The practice of reducing spacing below the type size, resulting in lines that are set very close together vertically. |
| Weight | The degree of boldness of the printing surface of a letter. Light, Regular, Bold, Extra Bold |
| Typography | The art of expressing ideas in printed form through the selection of appropriate typefaces. |
| Font | A font consists of all the characters that make up a specific typeface. |
| Line Length | The distance from left to right sides of a line or body of copy, ussually measured in picas. (but not really, actually it is usually measured in inches) |
| em space / em dash | Space or dash equal in size to a capital M in the font being used. |
| en space / en dash | Space or dash equal in size to a capital N in the font being used |
| oblique | Simulated italic character / false italic |
