B

Background: That portion of a photograph or line art drawing that appears furthest from the eye; the surface upon which the main image is superimposed.

Backslant: Any type that tilts to the left or backward direction; opposite of italic type.

Balance: A term used to describe the aesthetic or harmony of elements, whether they are photos, art or copy, within a layout or design.

Balloon: In an illustration, any line that encircles copy or dialogue.

Banner: The title of a periodical, which appears on the cover of the magazine and on the first page of the newsletter. It contains the name of the publication and serial information, date, volume, number .

Bank paper: A thin uncoated stock used for making carbon copies.

Banker's flap envelope: Also called wallet flap; the wallet flap has more rounded flap edges.

Baseline: Iin typography, the imaginary horizontal line upon which the main body of the letters sits. Rounded letters actually dip slightly below the baseline to give optical balance.

Bastard: Any non-standard or abnormal element, i.e. a font that is different than the set of fonts in which it appears.

Bauhaus: A design school in Germany where the Sans Serif font was originated.

Bevels: Another way in which you can give an object a three-dimensional appearance is by applying a beveled edge to an extrusion. A bevel creates the illusion that an object's extruded edges are cut on an angle. You can specify the angle and depth values of the bevel to control the effect.

Bezier Line: A line drawn one segment at a time by adding nodes with the Bezier tool.
A path defined by the position of the four control points that are located at the ends of the tangents of the vertices. The length and angle of the tangents describe how a path deviates from linear between its vertices.

BF: An abbreviation for boldface, used to determine where boldface copy is to be used. See also boldface.

Bible paper: A thin but strong paper (opaque), used for bibles and books.

Bit Depth: The number of binary bits that define the shade or color of each pixel in a bitmapped image. For example, a pixel in a black-and-white image has a depth of 1 bit, because it can only be black or white. The number of color values that a given bit depth can produce is equal to 2 to the power of the bit depth

Bitmapped Image: An image composed of grids of pixels or dots.

Bit-mapped (mode): The Paint graphics mode describes an image made of pixels where the pixel is either on (black) or off (white).

Black (font): A font that has more weight than the bold version of a typeface.

Bleed: An element that extends to the edge of the page. To print a bleed, the publication is printed on oversized paper which is trimmed.

Blend: An effect created by blending one object with another through a progression of shapes and colors.

Blind emboss: A design or bas relief impression that is made without using inks or metal foils.

Block in: To sketch the primary areas and points of reference of an illustration in preparation for going to final design or production.

Block quote: Along quotation -- four or more lines -- within body text, that is set apart in order to clearly distinguish the author's words from the words that the author is quoting.

Blueline proof: A photographic process whereby flats are exposed to blacklight and processed to create blue lines of copy that are proofread before a project goes to press. Also called "DYLUX.".

BMP: The Windows bitmap file format (.bmp files) was developed as a standard for representing graphic images as bitmapped images. Bitmapped images, also called raster or paint images, are made of individual dots, called pixels (picture elements), that are arranged and colored to form a pattern. Increasing the size of a bitmapped image has the effect of increasing individual pixels, making lines and shapes appear jagged.

Body: The main shank or portion of the letter character other than the ascenders and descenders.

Body copy: Refers to the small type containing the bulk of the message in an ad or a publication.

Body size: The point size of a particular type character.

Body type: Roman -- normal, plain, or book -- type used for long passages of text, such a stories in a newsletter, magazine, or chapters in a book. Generally sized from 9 point to 14 point

Boldface: Any type that has a heavier black stroke that makes it more conspicuous.

Book: A general classification to describe papers used to print books; its standard size is 25x38 inches.

Book: A printed work that contains more than 64 pages.

Brace: A character " }" used to group lines, or phrases.

Break for color: In layout design, the term for dividing or separating the art and copy elements into single color paste-up sheets.

Bristol board: A board paper of various thicknesses; having a smooth finish and used for printing and drawing.

Brochure: A pamphlet that is bound in booklet form.

Brownline proof: A photographic proof made by exposing a flat to UV light creating a brown image on a white background. Also referred to as silverprint.

Bullet: A boldface square or dot used before a sentence to emphasize its importance.

Burn: A term used in plate making to describe the amount of plate exposure time.

Byline: In newsletter/magazine layout, a credit line for the author of an article.