MARKS AND MEASURES · VOLUME 2 OF 2 · 330 TERMS
Proofs and pixels
Decks, charts, design process, print production, sign-off, editorial marks, publishing and interface components.
Instruments and Moves names what happens in the words. This companion names what happens around them: the letters, the space, the page, the slide and the file. It is a glossary of words you’ll hear or need, not a style guide, so practices such as “one idea per slide” are left out.
MARKS AND MEASURES IN TWO VOLUMES
Where this volume sits
- VOL 1 Glyphs and Grids · A1–A5 · B1–B6 Words for judging a page, and for its letters, lines, layout, images and colour
- VOL 2 Proofs and Pixels · B7–B14 · this volume Decks, charts, design process, print production, sign-off, editorial marks, publishing and interface components
- INDEX The phrasebooks glossary · every term in the four toolkits, A to Z, with the volume that holds it
Marks and Measures runs to two volumes so that each stays short enough to read in one sitting. Every volume holds whole sections in the toolkit’s own order, with the appendices for its own entries. The findings and the explanation of how the toolkit works open volume one. The toolkit closes with the defects checklist and the last pass, at the end of this volume.
The phrasebooks glossary lists every term in all four toolkits and opens it in the volume that holds it.
HOW TO READ A PLATE
Terms, a drawing and where you’ll meet them
- 01 The heading says what the terms on the plate have in common, or how to tell them apart
- 02 Each term carries its definition and its kind, in the same colour everywhere
- 03 The drawing shows the terms on a page, a slide, a chart or a letter
- 04 The panel says where you’ll meet each term, and how to keep them apart
- 05 The longform adds the full row from the glossary for every term
Part one works differently. Each judging word has its own slide: the definition, the line it usually arrives as in a review, and a drawing of the page as found and as mended. The panel says how to see the quality and how to fix it.
Part two of two
Words for things
519 terms in fourteen families, from the single letter to the printed file, the editor’s marks and the finished book. Like the moves, they name what you see.
- ONE Words for judging
- TWO Words for things
Fourteen families, from the letter to the printed file and the finished book. Each slide is a plate: a handful of related terms, defined, and one drawing that shows them, so that a word can be matched to the thing it names.
Every term carries one of eight kinds. Forty-six are defects, and the checklist at the end collects them by the moment they need catching.
B7
SLIDES AND DECKS
Part two of two
B7
The trade of deck-making
Some of these words come from presentation software and some from consulting firms, which turned deck-making into a trade. Both sets turn up in any organisation that runs on slides.
Twenty-seven terms on six plates: 18 parts, one measure, three formats, two stages and three defects.
The defects to watch for here: slideument, wall of text and jumping. All of them are collected in the checklist at the end.
In the field guides.
B7 · SLIDES AND DECKS FOUR TERMS
The machinery behind every slide
A deck is built on a hierarchy most authors never open: theme, master, layouts, slides.
Deck
Part
Where you’ll meet it “Send me the deck”
Theme
Part
Where you’ll meet it PowerPoint, Keynote, Google Slides.
Slide master
Part
Where you’ll meet it Fixing forty slides in one place.
Layout
Part
Where you’ll meet it “Title and Content”, “Two Content”
FIG 01 — THEME, MASTER, LAYOUTS, SLIDES
The theme sets fonts, colours and effects for the whole deck. The slide master is the parent slide that controls them, and its layouts are the reusable arrangements (“Title and Content”, “Two Content”) with placeholders. Fixing forty slides one at a time is a sign the fix belonged on the master. A deck rebuilt on its layouts stays consistent when it changes.
B7 · SLIDES AND DECKS FOUR TERMS
Slides with a structural job
Four kinds of slide that carry the shape of the deck rather than its content.
Title slide
Part
Where you’ll meet it Every deck.
Agenda slide
Part
Where you’ll meet it Longer presentations.
Section divider
Part
Where you’ll meet it Decks over about fifteen slides.
Appendix, backup slides
Part
Where you’ll meet it Senior briefings.
FIG 02 — FOUR SLIDES THAT SHAPE A DECK
The title slide carries the title, presenter and date. An agenda slide lists what is coming, and section dividers mark each part, which helps any deck longer than about fifteen slides. The appendix holds backup slides after the end, for questions and detail, which is how a senior briefing stays short without leaving anything out.
B7 · SLIDES AND DECKS SIX TERMS
An action title says the finding. A topic title only names the subject.
The furniture of a slide as consulting firms built it, and the measure that keeps it on screen.
Action title
Part
Where you’ll meet it Consulting and policy decks.
Topic title
Part
Where you’ll meet it Most decks. The weaker choice.
Takeaway box
Part
Where you’ll meet it Analysis slides.
Tracker, breadcrumb
Part
Where you’ll meet it Consulting decks.
Sticker
Part
Where you’ll meet it Work-in-progress decks.
Safe area
Measure
Where you’ll meet it Projectors that crop edges.
FIG 03 — A CONSULTING SLIDE, PART BY PART
“Usage fell 30% after the update” is an action title: a reader of the titles alone gets the argument. “Usage data” is a topic title, and the weaker choice. The takeaway box states the slide’s “so what”, the tracker shows which section you are in, and a sticker flags “Draft”. Keep everything inside the safe area, because projectors crop edges.
B7 · SLIDES AND DECKS FIVE TERMS
What the presenter sees, and what moves
The tools of presenting: the private screen, the overview, and the two kinds of motion.
Speaker notes
Part
Where you’ll meet it Scripts and talking points.
Presenter view
Part
Where you’ll meet it Delivering a talk.
Slide sorter
Part
Where you’ll meet it Reordering and checking flow.
Transition
Part
Where you’ll meet it Slide software menus.
Animation
Part
Where you’ll meet it Slide software menus.
FIG 04 — THE PRESENTER’S SCREEN
Speaker notes sit under each slide and only the presenter sees them, in presenter view, alongside the next slide and a timer. The slide sorter shows every slide as a thumbnail, which is the quickest place to check flow and catch jumping. A transition plays between slides and an animation plays on objects within one. Both are best used rarely and for a reason.
B7 · SLIDES AND DECKS FIVE TERMS
A deck before the room, and after it
Five words for the documents around a presentation, which are often more important than the slides.
Storyboard
Stage
Where you’ll meet it Early planning.
Ghost deck
Stage
Where you’ll meet it Planning a deck’s storyline.
Pre-read
Format
Where you’ll meet it Committee and EXCO papers.
Leave-behind
Format
Where you’ll meet it Handouts after a meeting.
Handout
Format
Where you’ll meet it Workshops and talks.
FIG 05 — BEFORE AND AFTER THE ROOM
A storyboard sketches the sequence and a ghost deck drafts it as titles and empty boxes, before the analysis is done, so the storyline can be argued while it is still cheap to change. A pre-read is sent ahead of the meeting. A leave-behind is written to be read without a presenter, and a handout is the printed version given to the room. They are different documents and want different decks.
B7 · SLIDES AND DECKS THREE TERMSTHREE DEFECTS
Three ways a deck fails in the room
Three named faults of slides, two of density and one of consistency.
Slideument
Defect
Where you’ll meet it Decks used as both pre-read and presentation.
Wall of text
Defect
Where you’ll meet it Slides copied from a paper.
Jumping
Defect
Where you’ll meet it Visible when clicking through quickly.
FIG 06 — THREE FAULTS IN THE ROOM
A slideument is a document pasted onto slides: too dense to present, too broken up to read (Reynolds, 2008). It is what happens when one deck has to be both the pre-read and the presentation. A wall of text is a slide of paragraphs. Jumping is titles, logos or page numbers that shift between slides, visible the moment you click through quickly.
B8
CHARTS
Part two of two
B8
Charts and data graphics
A chart has its own furniture, much like a page. Knowing the parts lets you ask for exactly what’s missing, such as a source line or a direct label, instead of saying the chart is “confusing”.
Forty-one terms on nine plates: 12 parts, two measures, 22 formats and five defects.
The defects to watch for here: chartjunk, truncated axis, dual axis, 3D chart and spaghetti chart. All of them are collected in the checklist at the end.
In the field guides.
B8 · CHARTS FIVE TERMS
The frame of a chart, and the one line that must start at zero
Five words for the structure every bar, line and scatter chart is drawn on.
Chart title
Part
Where you’ll meet it Every chart.
Axis
Part
Where you’ll meet it Bar, line and scatter charts.
Axis label, tick mark
Part
Where you’ll meet it “Add units to the y-axis”
Zero baseline
Part
Where you’ll meet it Bar charts.
Gridlines
Part
Where you’ll meet it Usually lightened or removed.
FIG 07 — A BAR CHART, PART BY PART
The axes carry the scale: x along the bottom, y up the side, each with a label naming the measure and its unit, and tick marks along it. The zero baseline is where the value axis starts at zero, which a bar chart must show because bars are read by their length. Gridlines help a reader estimate values and should be the lightest thing on the chart. The strongest chart titles state the finding.
B8 · CHARTS SIX TERMS
Label the data where it is, and say where it came from
Six words for the text on a chart: what each line is, what each value is, what to notice and where the numbers came from.
Series
Part
Where you’ll meet it Multi-line charts.
Legend, key
Part
Where you’ll meet it Charts with several series.
Data label
Part
Where you’ll meet it Bar ends and pie slices.
Direct label
Part
Where you’ll meet it Line charts.
Annotation
Part
Where you’ll meet it “Policy change here”
Source line
Part
Where you’ll meet it Every chart in a paper or deck.
FIG 08 — A LINE CHART, LABELLED
A series is one set of related values, such as one line. A legend matches colours to series, and a direct label puts the series name on the data itself, which saves the reader a trip to the legend and back. Data labels print values. An annotation points out the feature that matters. Every chart in a paper or deck needs a source line.
B8 · CHARTS FOUR TERMS
Charts for comparing amounts
Four forms for comparing quantities, from the plain bar to the consultant’s quarter-filled circle.
Bar chart, column chart
Format
Where you’ll meet it Comparing categories.
Stacked bar
Format
Where you’ll meet it Parts of a whole across groups.
Waterfall chart
Format
Where you’ll meet it Budget and headcount bridges.
Harvey ball
Part
Where you’ll meet it Comparison tables.
FIG 09 — COMPARING AMOUNTS
Bars compare categories by length, which the eye judges well. A stacked bar shows parts of a whole across groups, though only the bottom segment is easy to compare. A waterfall shows how a starting value rises and falls to an end value, and is the standard way to explain a budget or headcount bridge. Harvey balls show a rating in a comparison table.
B8 · CHARTS FOUR TERMS
Charts for change and for relationships
Four forms for how values move over time, or move together.
Line chart
Format
Where you’ll meet it Change over time.
Slopegraph
Format
Where you’ll meet it Before-and-after comparisons.
Scatter plot
Format
Where you’ll meet it Relationships between two measures.
Sparkline
Format
Where you’ll meet it Tables and dashboards.
FIG 10 — CHANGE AND RELATION
A line chart shows change over time. A slopegraph shows only two points in time, joined, which makes before-and-after comparisons across many items easy to read. A scatter plot places points by two values and shows whether they move together. A sparkline is a word-sized line chart set inline in a table or sentence (Tufte, 2006).
B8 · CHARTS SIX TERMS
Shares, patterns, plans, and many charts at once
Six more forms, each with one job it does well.
Pie chart, donut chart
Format
Where you’ll meet it Shares of a total, best with few slices.
Heat map
Format
Where you’ll meet it Patterns across two dimensions.
Gantt chart
Format
SAY
GANT CHAHT
/ˈɡænt ˌtʃɑːt/
Where you’ll meet it Project plans.
2x2 matrix
Format
Where you’ll meet it Prioritisation and strategy slides.
Small multiples
Format
Where you’ll meet it Comparing many groups at once.
Dashboard
Format
Where you’ll meet it Monitoring and management reports.
FIG 11 — SIX FORMS, SIX JOBS
Pie and donut charts show shares of a whole and work only with a few slices. A heat map colours a grid by value to show patterns across two dimensions. A Gantt chart lays tasks along a timeline. The 2x2 matrix sorts items into four quadrants. Small multiples repeat one small chart with shared axes (Tufte, 2001), and a dashboard gathers several charts to track performance.
B8 · CHARTS FOUR TERMS
How results spread, and how two values compare
Four chart types for questions an average can’t answer: how scores are spread, and how far things moved.
Histogram
Format
Where you’ll meet it Score distributions.
Box plot
Format
Where you’ll meet it Comparing distributions.
Dot plot, dumbbell chart
Format
Where you’ll meet it Before-and-after comparisons.
Diverging stacked bar
Format
Where you’ll meet it Likert survey results.
FIG 12 — SPREAD, AND CHANGE BETWEEN TWO POINTS
A histogram shows the distribution of one measure as adjoining bars. It isn’t the camera histogram of Shots and Cues B7, though both count how often values occur. A box plot puts the median, the middle half and the outliers in one small figure, which makes it good for comparing several groups. A dot plot shows values as dots, and a dumbbell chart joins two values for each item, such as before and after. A diverging stacked bar centres Likert responses on the midpoint, agreement one way and disagreement the other.
B8 · CHARTS FIVE TERMS
Flows, parts, places, targets, and a chart to avoid
Five specialised charts. Each answers one kind of question well and most others badly.
Sankey diagram
Format
Where you’ll meet it Student pathways and budgets.
Treemap
Format
Where you’ll meet it Spending by category.
Choropleth
Format
SAY
KORR·oh·pleth
/ˈkɒrəʊplɛθ/
Where you’ll meet it Regional comparisons.
Bullet chart
Format
Where you’ll meet it Dashboards.
Radar chart
Format
Where you’ll meet it Competency profiles.
FIG 13 — FIVE SPECIALIST CHARTS
A Sankey diagram shows flows between stages, with each band as wide as its volume, which suits student pathways and budgets. A treemap shows parts of a whole as nested rectangles sized by value. A choropleth shades a map by value, and should show rates, not raw counts, or it becomes a map of population. A bullet chart is a compact bar measured against a target and bands, built for dashboards. A radar chart puts values on spokes from a centre, and is usually harder to read than the bar chart it replaces.
B8 · CHARTS THREE TERMSTWO DEFECTS
Most of the ink on a default chart carries no data
Tufte’s measure of how much of a chart is doing work, and two of the things that lower it.
Data-ink ratio
Measure
Where you’ll meet it “Raise the data-ink ratio”
Chartjunk
Defect
Where you’ll meet it 3D effects, gradients, clip art.
3D chart
Defect
Where you’ll meet it Default chart styles.
FIG 14 — RAISE THE DATA-INK RATIO
The data-ink ratio is the share of a chart’s ink that shows data (Tufte, 2001). Chartjunk is decoration that carries none: 3D effects, gradients, heavy gridlines, clip art. A 3D chart adds false depth, which distorts the very lengths and angles the reader is trying to compare. Raising the ratio is mostly deletion.
B8 · CHARTS FOUR TERMSTHREE DEFECTS
Four ways a chart can mislead without a false number
A measure of how much a graphic exaggerates, and three common ways it happens.
Lie factor
Measure
Where you’ll meet it Misleading charts.
Truncated axis
Defect
Where you’ll meet it Bar charts in persuasive decks.
Dual axis
Defect
Where you’ll meet it Invites false correlations.
Spaghetti chart
Defect
Where you’ll meet it Charts with more than five or six lines.
FIG 15 — MISLEADING WITHOUT A FALSE NUMBER
The lie factor is the size of an effect in the graphic divided by its size in the data (Tufte, 2001): a 5% rise drawn as a bar twice as tall has a lie factor of about 20. A truncated axis does this to bar charts. A dual axis puts two scales on one chart and invites false correlations. A spaghetti chart has more lines than anyone can follow.
B9
PROCESS AND SYSTEMS
Part two of two
B9
Working with designers
These are the words for working with designers rather than doing the design yourself. Most misunderstandings between a commissioning team and a designer come from mixing up stages, such as treating a wireframe as a finished design.
Thirty-two terms on seven plates: 10 parts, five measures, one format, 14 stages and two defects.
The defects to watch for here: design debt and version sprawl. All of them are collected in the checklist at the end.
B9 · PROCESS AND SYSTEMS FIVE TERMS
The early stages: what it is for, how it feels, where things go
The first stages of a design job, each low in fidelity on purpose.
Brief
Stage
Where you’ll meet it The start of any design job.
Mood board
Stage
Where you’ll meet it Early visual direction.
Thumbnail sketch
Stage
Where you’ll meet it The first round of ideas.
Wireframe
Stage
Where you’ll meet it Web, app and report planning.
Lo-fi, hi-fi
Measure
Where you’ll meet it “Show me a lo-fi version first”
FIG 16 — FROM BRIEF TO WIREFRAME
The brief sets out purpose, audience, content and constraints, and most bad design starts with a bad brief. A mood board sets the visual direction. Thumbnail sketches explore layouts quickly, and a wireframe fixes structure with no styling at all. Fidelity runs from lo-fi to hi-fi, and asking for a lo-fi version first is how to get honest comments on structure before anyone argues about colour.
B9 · PROCESS AND SYSTEMS SIX TERMS
The late stages: how it looks, how it works, how to build it
The stages where a design becomes finished, testable and buildable.
Mockup
Stage
Where you’ll meet it Design reviews.
Comp
Stage
Where you’ll meet it Agency and print work.
Prototype
Stage
Where you’ll meet it Apps and interactive tools.
Redline, spec
Stage
Where you’ll meet it Developer handover.
Handoff
Stage
Where you’ll meet it The end of a design cycle.
Pixel-perfect
Measure
Where you’ll meet it Developer and designer reviews.
FIG 17 — FROM MOCKUP TO HANDOFF
A mockup is a static, styled picture of the final design, and a comp is a near-final one for sign-off. A prototype can be clicked and tested. The redline, or spec, marks every size, space and colour for the people who will build it, and handoff passes it to them. Pixel-perfect means built to match exactly, which is worth asking for only where it matters.
B9 · PROCESS AND SYSTEMS THREE TERMS
Templates, style guides and design systems are three sizes of rulebook
Three words often used interchangeably, which describe very different investments.
Template
Part
Where you’ll meet it Report and deck templates.
Style guide
Part
Where you’ll meet it Organisations and publications.
Design system
Part
Where you’ll meet it Large platforms and their teams.
FIG 18 — THREE SIZES OF RULEBOOK
A template is one reusable file with layout and styles set up in advance. A style guide is a document of rules for type, colour, layout and voice. A design system is larger: shared components, styles and rules for building consistent products, maintained by a team. A deck template is not a design system, and a design system is not a document.
B9 · PROCESS AND SYSTEMS FOUR TERMS
The parts a design system is built from
Four words for the pieces of a design system, which also describe how a good template is organised.
Component
Part
Where you’ll meet it Design systems.
Variant
Part
Where you’ll meet it Design systems.
Pattern library, component library
Part
Where you’ll meet it Figma libraries and code repositories.
Design token
Part
Where you’ll meet it “Use the spacing-md token”
FIG 19 — A COMPONENT, ITS VARIANTS, ITS TOKENS
A component is a reusable building block such as a button, a card or a header. Variants are its versions: primary, secondary, disabled. The pattern library is where the components live. A design token is a named value, such as a colour or a spacing step, shared between design and code, so that “use the spacing-md token” means the same thing to everyone.
B9 · PROCESS AND SYSTEMS FIVE TERMS
Five ways design teams find out what users need
The methods of UX research. For the product metrics that track use after launch, see Stacks and Sprints B11.
Usability test, think-aloud
Stage
Where you’ll meet it Testing prototypes.
Heuristic evaluation
Stage
Where you’ll meet it Quick reviews before testing.
Card sorting, tree testing
Stage
Where you’ll meet it Designing navigation.
Contextual inquiry, diary study
Stage
Where you’ll meet it Discovery research.
Affinity mapping
Stage
Where you’ll meet it Synthesis workshops.
FIG 20 — WATCH, REVIEW, SORT, OBSERVE, CLUSTER
A usability test watches real users attempt real tasks, and in a think-aloud they say what they’re thinking as they go. A heuristic evaluation is an expert review against a list of usability principles, quicker than a test and no substitute for one. Card sorting shows how users group content, and tree testing checks whether they can find things in a proposed structure. Contextual inquiry observes people in their own setting, and a diary study has them log experiences over days or weeks. Affinity mapping clusters the notes into themes.
B9 · PROCESS AND SYSTEMS FIVE TERMS
What research produces, and the numbers it reports
Three artefacts that carry findings into design, and two measures that say whether a design works.
Persona
Part
Where you’ll meet it Design briefs.
Jobs to be done (JTBD)
Part
Where you’ll meet it Framing problems.
Journey map, service blueprint
Part
Where you’ll meet it Service design.
SUS (System Usability Scale)
Measure
Where you’ll meet it Usability benchmarks.
Task success rate, time on task
Measure
Where you’ll meet it Usability testing.
FIG 21 — THREE ARTEFACTS, TWO MEASURES
A persona is a composite profile of a type of user, built from research. Without the research, it is fiction. Jobs to be done frames what a user is trying to get done, independent of any product. A journey map follows a user’s experience over time, and a service blueprint adds the behind-the-scenes processes below a line of visibility. The System Usability Scale is a ten-question survey scored from 0 to 100, where about 68 is average. Task success rate and time on task are the two basic numbers of a usability test.
B9 · PROCESS AND SYSTEMS FOUR TERMSTWO DEFECTS
A standard to meet, and two kinds of decay to prevent
One international standard, the quality it measures, and two faults that pile up over time.
WCAG
Format
SAY
WUH·kag
/ˈwʌkæɡ/
Where you’ll meet it Accessibility reviews.
Accessibility, a11y
Measure
Where you’ll meet it Reviews and compliance checks.
Design debt
Defect
Where you’ll meet it Mature products and long-lived templates.
Version sprawl
Defect
Where you’ll meet it Shared drives everywhere.
FIG 22 — A STANDARD, AND TWO KINDS OF DECAY
WCAG is the international standard for accessible digital content (W3C, 2018), and accessibility is how usable a design is for people with disabilities. The shorthand “a11y” counts the eleven letters in between. Design debt is the pile of inconsistencies left when quick fixes bypass the system. Version sprawl is its cousin on the shared drive.
B10
FILES AND PRINT
Part two of two
B10
The last mile
The last mile, and the most expensive place to discover a mistake. These are the words a printer or developer will use when something you sent them doesn’t work.
Forty terms on eight plates: 13 parts, six measures, 13 formats, five stages and three defects.
The defects to watch for here: missing bleed, missing links, missing fonts and misregistration. All of them are collected in the checklist at the end.
B10 · FILES AND PRINT SIX TERMS
Four image files for screens, and how to choose between them
The common image formats, sorted by what each one is good at.
SVG
Format
Where you’ll meet it Icons and diagrams on the web.
PNG
Format
Where you’ll meet it Screenshots, logos for screens.
JPEG, JPG
Format
Where you’ll meet it Photos everywhere.
GIF
Format
Where you’ll meet it Short looping animations.
Lossy, lossless
Measure
Where you’ll meet it Choosing JPEG vs PNG.
Transparent background
Part
Where you’ll meet it Logos placed on coloured slides.
FIG 23 — WHICH FILE FOR WHICH IMAGE
SVG is vector, so use it for icons and diagrams on the web. PNG is raster with sharp edges and can have a transparent background, which suits logos and screenshots. JPEG compresses photos well but is lossy: each save throws detail away, and text and lines go blotchy. GIF has few colours and loops simple animations.
B10 · FILES AND PRINT FIVE TERMS
Files that look the same everywhere
The formats and file habits that make a document survive leaving your computer.
Format
Where you’ll meet it Sharing and printing almost anything.
PDF/X
Format
Where you’ll meet it Files sent to a commercial printer.
EPS, AI
Format
Where you’ll meet it Logo files from brand teams.
Embedded fonts
Part
Where you’ll meet it PDFs and decks sent outside the team.
Outlines
Part
Where you’ll meet it Logos and print artwork.
FIG 24 — FILES BUILT TO TRAVEL
A PDF looks the same on any device, provided its fonts are embedded. PDF/X is a print-ready standard that also locks colour and bleed, and is what a commercial printer will ask for. EPS and AI are vector formats used by brand teams for logos. Converting text to outlines turns letters into shapes, so the font is no longer needed, and the text can no longer be edited.
B10 · FILES AND PRINT FOUR TERMS
A document that a screen reader can follow
Four things that decide whether a document works for someone who can’t see it. None of them shows on the page.
Reading order
Part
Where you’ll meet it PDFs and slides.
Tagged PDF
Format
Where you’ll meet it Published reports.
Heading structure
Part
Where you’ll meet it Word documents and web pages.
Link text
Part
Where you’ll meet it Emails and web pages.
FIG 25 — INVISIBLE ON THE PAGE, ESSENTIAL TO A SCREEN READER
Reading order is the order a screen reader follows, and in a PDF or slide it can differ from the order the eye follows, so a caption may be read before its heading. A tagged PDF has its structure marked up, so assistive technology knows which text is a heading, a paragraph or a figure. Heading structure means real heading styles, not bold text, so readers can jump between sections. Link text should say where a link goes: “Click here” tells a screen-reader user nothing.
B10 · FILES AND PRINT FIVE TERMSONE DEFECT
A layout is a file that points at other files
The words for keeping a layout and everything it depends on together.
Linked image, embedded image
Part
Where you’ll meet it InDesign files that break when moved.
Package
Stage
Where you’ll meet it Sending files to a printer or designer.
Export
Stage
Where you’ll meet it “Export as PDF”
Missing links, missing fonts
Defect
Where you’ll meet it Files moved between computers.
Preflight
Stage
Where you’ll meet it The last step before sending to print.
FIG 26 — A LAYOUT AND EVERYTHING IT POINTS AT
A linked image is referenced from outside the file and an embedded one is stored inside it. Layout files usually link, which keeps them small and breaks them when moved: missing links and missing fonts. Packaging collects the layout, fonts and images into one folder. Preflight checks the file before it goes, and exporting saves it out to the format the recipient needs.
B10 · FILES AND PRINT FIVE TERMSONE DEFECT
Print runs past the edge, then gets cut
Printers print on a larger sheet and cut it down. These five words describe that edge.
Trim size
Measure
Where you’ll meet it Print specifications.
Bleed
Measure
Where you’ll meet it Covers and full-bleed pages.
Crop marks
Part
Where you’ll meet it Print-ready PDFs.
Slug
Part
Where you’ll meet it Print-ready PDFs.
Missing bleed
Defect
Where you’ll meet it Files made in Word or PowerPoint.
FIG 27 — TRIM, BLEED, CROP MARKS AND SLUG
The trim size is the final page after cutting. Bleed is artwork extended past the trim, usually by 3 mm, so a slightly imperfect cut leaves no white edge. Crop marks show where to cut, and the slug beyond the bleed holds job notes. Files made in Word or PowerPoint rarely have bleed, which is why their full-bleed images come back with white slivers.
B10 · FILES AND PRINT FIVE TERMSONE DEFECT
Ink, dots and plates
Five words for what happens on the press: how fine the image is, how black the black is, and how well the plates line up.
DPI, PPI
Measure
Where you’ll meet it Aim for about 300 ppi at final printed size.
Rich black
Part
Where you’ll meet it Black backgrounds in print.
Overprint, knockout
Part
Where you’ll meet it Printer queries about text on colour.
Registration
Part
Where you’ll meet it Fine text and thin rules in colour.
Misregistration
Defect
Where you’ll meet it Cheap or rushed print jobs.
FIG 28 — DOTS, BLACKS AND PLATES
PPI is an image’s pixels per inch and DPI a printer’s dots: aim for about 300 ppi at the final printed size. Rich black adds the other three inks under black for a deeper large area. Overprint lays one ink on top of another and knockout leaves a gap for it. Registration is how precisely the plates line up, and misregistration leaves coloured fringes on fine text.
B10 · FILES AND PRINT FOUR TERMS
Paper is chosen by weight, coating and finish
Four words for what a job is printed on.
Stock
Part
Where you’ll meet it Print quotes.
GSM
Measure
Where you’ll meet it Choosing cover and page stock.
Coated, uncoated
Format
Where you’ll meet it Brochures vs letterheads.
Matte, gloss, lamination
Format
Where you’ll meet it Covers and posters.
FIG 29 — WEIGHT, COATING AND FINISH
Stock is the paper or card. Its weight is given in grams per square metre: office paper is about 80 gsm, a decent report cover 250 or more. Coated paper keeps colour bright and sharp, and uncoated paper feels warmer and takes a pen. Matte and gloss are surface finishes, and lamination lays a protective film over the print.
B10 · FILES AND PRINT SIX TERMS
How a job is printed, bound and cut
The words in a print quote, and the step that explains why booklets come in multiples of four.
Offset, digital printing
Format
Where you’ll meet it Print quotes.
Print run
Measure
Where you’ll meet it Print quotes.
Saddle stitch, perfect binding
Format
Where you’ll meet it Booklets vs thicker reports.
Die cut
Format
Where you’ll meet it Folders and special covers.
Imposition
Stage
SAY
im·puh·ZISH·un
/ˌɪmpəˈzɪʃən/
Where you’ll meet it Why booklet page counts come in multiples of four.
Proof
Stage
Where you’ll meet it Sign-off before printing.
FIG 30 — PRINTED, BOUND AND CUT
Offset printing uses plates and is economical for large runs. Digital prints direct from the file and suits small ones, so the print run decides. Saddle stitching staples through the fold and perfect binding glues a flat spine. A die cut is a custom shape. Imposition arranges pages on a press sheet so they fold into order. A proof is the test copy before the run.
B11
SIGN-OFF
Part two of two
B11
Sign-off and production
Each of these words marks a handover: the point where responsibility for the work moves from one person to another. That makes them useful well beyond print, since most work communication fails at handovers.
Thirty-four terms on seven plates: 13 parts, four measures, 10 stages and seven statuses.
No defects in this family. Its words name stages and states rather than faults, which is why they matter at handovers.
B11 · SIGN-OFF SEVEN TERMS
Seven proofs, in the order they arrive
A proof is a test copy, and each stage of production has its own. Each one moves the question from “is the text right” towards “is the print right”.
Galley proof, galleys
Stage
SAY
GAL·ee PROOF
/ˈɡæli ˌpruːf/
Where you’ll meet it Books and long reports.
Page proof
Stage
Where you’ll meet it Any designed document.
Soft proof, hard proof
Stage
Where you’ll meet it Every print job.
Revise, second proof
Stage
Where you’ll meet it Multi-round sign-off.
Contract proof
Stage
Where you’ll meet it Colour-critical jobs.
Wet proof
Stage
Where you’ll meet it High-value print runs.
Press check
Stage
Where you’ll meet it Brand-critical print.
FIG 31 — FROM THE TEXT TO THE PRESS
Galleys check the typeset text before layout, and page proofs check it in its final pages. Either can be soft (on screen) or hard (printed). A revise shows that the last corrections were made. A contract proof defines what correct colour means, a wet proof is printed on the real press and paper, and a press check is the client at the press before the full run.
B11 · SIGN-OFF FOUR TERMS
The words that say the work is finished
Four words for finished artwork and the approval that releases it.
Camera-ready
Status
Where you’ll meet it “Is the file camera-ready?”
Pass for press, PFP
Status
Where you’ll meet it Printer sign-off forms.
Final art, artwork
Part
Where you’ll meet it Agency and printer handovers.
Mechanical, paste-up
Part
Where you’ll meet it Older printers and agencies.
FIG 32 — FINISHED, AND RELEASED
Camera-ready means final, needing no further changes, from the days when artwork was photographed to make printing plates. The mechanical, or paste-up, was that physical board. Final art is the finished file set for reproduction, and in print “artwork” includes the text. Pass for press is the signature that moves the risk from the author to the printer.
B11 · SIGN-OFF FIVE TERMS
Five ways to stop a piece of work
Five statuses, each stopping something different: changes, content, publication, or the piece itself.
Locked
Status
Where you’ll meet it Final rounds of papers and decks.
Content freeze
Status
Where you’ll meet it Websites and app releases.
Embargo
Status
Where you’ll meet it Press releases and announcements.
Kill, spike
Status
Where you’ll meet it Newsrooms and editorial calendars.
Hold
Status
Where you’ll meet it Editorial planning.
FIG 33 — FIVE STAMPS
Locked means no further changes of any kind. A content freeze stops the words while design and build continue. An embargo stops publication until a set date and time. Kill, or spike, drops the piece entirely, and hold keeps it back for later. Saying which one you mean avoids the commonest late surprise: a “final” paper that someone is still editing.
B11 · SIGN-OFF SIX TERMS
Every late change has an owner, and someone pays for it
Six words for changes after proof: who made them, how they are shown, and the version with them all accepted.
AA (author’s alteration)
Part
Where you’ll meet it Printer and agency invoices.
PE (printer’s error)
Part
Where you’ll meet it Proof corrections.
EA (editor’s alteration)
Part
Where you’ll meet it Publishing workflows.
Markup
Part
Where you’ll meet it Every review round.
Redline, blackline
Part
Where you’ll meet it Contract drafts and policy papers.
Clean copy
Part
Where you’ll meet it Final submission.
FIG 34 — WHO MADE THE CHANGE, AND WHO PAYS
An author’s alteration is a change the client asks for after proof, and the client pays. A printer’s error is the printer’s mistake, and the printer pays. An editor’s alteration is the editor’s own change. Markup is the corrections written on a proof, a redline or blackline compares two versions, and the clean copy has every change accepted and the markup removed.
B11 · SIGN-OFF FOUR TERMS
Planning the pages before they exist
Four words for planning a printed piece: where everything goes, what it will be like to hold, and what the printer needs.
Flatplan
Stage
Where you’ll meet it Magazines, reports and long decks.
Dummy
Stage
Where you’ll meet it Booklets and brochures.
Print spec, spec sheet
Part
Where you’ll meet it Print quotes.
Pre-press
Stage
Where you’ll meet it Printer queries.
FIG 35 — A FLATPLAN FOR A SIXTEEN-PAGE REPORT
A flatplan maps a publication page by page, and is just as useful for a long deck: it shows the storyline at a glance and where the weight falls. A dummy is a rough physical mock-up for size, folding and binding. The print spec lists size, stock, colours, quantity and finish. Pre-press is everything between the final file and the printing plate.
B11 · SIGN-OFF FOUR TERMS
Time and copies
Four measures in a production schedule, and why a short run costs more per copy.
Copy deadline
Measure
Where you’ll meet it Production schedules.
Turnaround
Measure
Where you’ll meet it Printer quotes.
Makeready
Measure
Where you’ll meet it Why short runs cost more per copy.
Overs
Measure
Where you’ll meet it Print invoices.
FIG 36 — A PRODUCTION SCHEDULE
The copy deadline is when final text is due to the designer, and missing it moves every later date. Turnaround is the time from submitting a file to delivery. Makeready is press set-up time and the sheets wasted during it, which a short run still pays in full. Overs are copies printed beyond the order, usually invoiced.
B11 · SIGN-OFF FOUR TERMS
Four treatments of an image
Production words for what is done to an image so text can work with it.
Reversed out, reverse type
Part
Where you’ll meet it Covers and section dividers.
Knocked back, ghosted
Part
Where you’ll meet it Backgrounds behind titles.
Cut-out
Part
Where you’ll meet it Product shots and portraits.
Hero shot
Part
Where you’ll meet it Covers and web pages.
FIG 37 — FOUR TREATMENTS
Reversed-out type is light text on a dark ground. Knocking back, or ghosting, fades an image so text can sit over it legibly, which is the honest fix for text lost in a photograph. A cut-out has its background removed, and the hero shot is the lead image of a piece. All four are older names for things slide software now does in one click.
B11 · SIGN-OFF SIX IDIOMS
Print words that became office idioms
- BOILERPLATE Text cast in metal and sent ready-made to newspapers.
- STEREOTYPE A printing plate cast from set type. Cliché was the French printers’ word for the same plate.
- UPPER CASE The case holding the capitals. Lower case held the small letters.
- TYPECAST Cast in type: fixed and unchangeable.
- HOT OFF THE PRESS Just printed, still warm.
- STOP PRESS Late news, for which the press is halted.
Several everyday words started as literal printing terms. They are a reminder that the trade’s vocabulary has been leaking into office speech for two centuries, and that the words in this companion are the next batch.
B12
EDITORIAL MARKS
Part two of two
B12
Marks inside the text
These marks let editors flag a text’s fidelity or change its status inside the text itself, without rewriting it.
Forty-one terms on eight plates: 10 parts, two statuses and 29 marks.
No defects in this family. Its words name stages and states rather than faults, which is why they matter at handovers.
The newsroom shorthand is spelt wrong on purpose. Hed, dek, lede and graf look like typos, so an instruction can never be mistaken for copy and printed. TK works the same way: the letter pair is rare in English, so a search for it finds every gap.
B12 · EDITORIAL MARKS FOUR TERMS
Four marks that say what was changed in a quotation
Fidelity marks tell the reader what was changed in a quotation and what was left exactly as found.
sic, [sic]
Mark
SAY
SIK
/sɪk/
Where you’ll meet it Quotations. Used to mock a source, it reads as a sneer.
Square brackets [ ]
Mark
Where you’ll meet it “She said [the minister] agreed”
Ellipsis in brackets [...]
Mark
Where you’ll meet it Shortened quotations.
Emphasis added, emphasis in original
Mark
Where you’ll meet it Papers that quote policy text.
FIG 38 — A QUOTATION, MARKED
Square brackets hold words the editor inserted, and an ellipsis in brackets marks words left out. Sic says the error is in the original, not the editor’s: used to mock a source, it reads as a sneer. “Emphasis added” says who made the italics, which matters in any paper that quotes policy text and then leans on one phrase of it.
B12 · EDITORIAL MARKS SIX TERMS
Shorthand for citing
The abbreviations of references and footnotes, and which ones APA still uses.
et al.
Mark
Where you’ll meet it APA uses it for three or more authors.
ibid., op. cit.
Mark
SAY
IB·id, OP SIT
/ˈɪbɪd, ˌɒp ˈsɪt/
Where you’ll meet it Older and Chicago-style footnotes. APA doesn’t use them.
passim
Mark
SAY
PASS·im
/ˈpæsɪm/
Where you’ll meet it Indexes and footnotes.
n.d.
Mark
Where you’ll meet it APA references.
ff.
Mark
Where you’ll meet it “pp. 12ff.”
§, ¶
Mark
Where you’ll meet it Legal and policy citations.
FIG 39 — CITATION SHORTHAND
APA uses et al. for three or more authors and n.d. for a work with no date, and does not use ibid. or op. cit., which belong to older and Chicago-style footnotes. Passim says a topic runs throughout a work, and ff. means “and following pages”. The section and paragraph signs turn up in legal and policy citations.
B12 · EDITORIAL MARKS FIVE TERMS
Five pieces of Latin, and the pair everyone swaps
Abbreviations that sit in ordinary prose, each with a precise job.
cf.
Mark
SAY
said “compare”
Where you’ll meet it Academic papers. Often misused to mean “see”
i.e., e.g.
Mark
Where you’ll meet it Often swapped by mistake.
viz.
Mark
SAY
said “namely”
Where you’ll meet it Formal and legal writing.
NB
Mark
Where you’ll meet it Briefing notes.
c., ca.
Mark
Where you’ll meet it “c. 1890”
FIG 40 — LATIN IN THE PROSE
I.e. means “that is” and restates. E.g. means “for example” and gives instances. Swapping them changes the meaning: “the leaders, i.e. the principals” says all of them, and “the leaders, e.g. the principals” says only some. Cf. means “compare”, not “see”. Viz. introduces a complete list, NB flags something not to miss, and c. or ca. marks an approximate date.
B12 · EDITORIAL MARKS SIX TERMS
The marks that change the words on a proof
Proofreading marks are made twice: once in the line, once in the margin, so nothing is missed.
Dele
Mark
SAY
DEE·lee
/ˈdiːli/
Where you’ll meet it Proofreading.
Caret (^)
Mark
SAY
KARR·it
/ˈkærɪt/
Where you’ll meet it Proofreading.
Close up
Mark
Where you’ll meet it Proofreading.
tr, trs
Mark
Where you’ll meet it Proofreading.
sp
Mark
Where you’ll meet it Proofreading.
Stet
Mark
SAY
STET
/stet/
Where you’ll meet it Proofs.
FIG 41 — A LINE OF PROOF, MARKED
A dele loop deletes. A caret marks where something goes in. Close up removes a space, and tr transposes, swapping the order. Sp asks for a number or abbreviation to be spelt out. Stet, “let it stand”, cancels a correction already marked, with dots under the words that should survive.
B12 · EDITORIAL MARKS FOUR TERMS
The marks that change the type, not the words
Proofreading marks for case, style, font and paragraphing.
lc, uc, sc
Mark
Where you’ll meet it Proofreading.
ital, rom, bf
Mark
Where you’ll meet it Proofreading.
wf
Mark
Where you’ll meet it Proofreading.
Run on, new para
Mark
Where you’ll meet it Proofreading.
FIG 42 — MARKS FOR THE TYPE
Lc, uc and sc ask for lowercase, capitals or small caps. Ital, rom and bf ask for italic, upright (roman) or bold. Wf flags a wrong font: a character set in a different face from its neighbours, which pasted text often brings in. Run on joins a paragraph to the one before, and new para starts one.
B12 · EDITORIAL MARKS FIVE TERMS
Newsroom shorthand, spelt wrong on purpose
Notes left inside a draft, designed so that they can never be mistaken for copy.
TK, TKTK
Mark
Where you’ll meet it Drafts. Search for it before sign-off.
CQ
Mark
Where you’ll meet it Newsroom copy.
AQ, query
Mark
Where you’ll meet it Copyedited manuscripts.
Hed, dek, graf
Part
SAY
HED, DEK, GRAF
/hed, dek, ɡræf/
Where you’ll meet it Newsroom notes.
-30-, ###
Mark
Where you’ll meet it Wire copy and press releases.
FIG 43 — A DRAFT WITH ITS NOTES LEFT IN
TK means “to come”: content still missing. The letter pair is rare in English, so one search finds every gap before sign-off. CQ tells the copy desk an odd spelling is intentional, and is never printed, unlike sic. AQ is a question for the author. Hed, dek and graf are headline, deck and paragraph, and -30- or ### ends the copy.
B12 · EDITORIAL MARKS FOUR TERMS
Four words from the newsroom’s planning meeting
The words a newsroom uses to plan an edition, all useful for planning a newsletter or a series of papers.
Slug
Part
Where you’ll meet it Editorial systems and print files.
Budget
Part
Where you’ll meet it Editorial meetings.
Jump
Part
Where you’ll meet it “Continued on p. 6”
Evergreen
Status
Where you’ll meet it Web and newsletter planning.
FIG 44 — AN EDITION’S BUDGET
The slug is a story’s short working label, and in print also the job-notes area beyond the bleed (B10). The budget is the list of stories planned for an edition. A jump is where a story continues on a later page, “Continued on p. 6”. Evergreen content doesn’t date, and is what fills a quiet week.
B12 · EDITORIAL MARKS SEVEN TERMS
Seven ways to fix a piece after it is published
Corrections are named by what went wrong and whose fault it was.
Correction
Part
Where you’ll meet it News and reports.
Clarification
Part
Where you’ll meet it News and reports.
Erratum, errata
Part
SAY
eh·RAH·tum, eh·RAH·tuh
/eˈrɑːtəm, eˈrɑːtə/
Where you’ll meet it Journals and books.
Corrigendum
Part
SAY
korr·ih·JEN·dum
/ˌkɒrɪˈdʒendəm/
Where you’ll meet it Journals.
Addendum
Part
SAY
uh·DEN·dum
/əˈdendəm/
Where you’ll meet it Reports and contracts.
Retraction
Status
Where you’ll meet it Journals and news.
Editor’s note
Part
Where you’ll meet it Updated online articles.
FIG 45 — WHAT WENT WRONG, AND WHOSE ERROR
A correction fixes a factual error and a clarification fixes something accurate but misleading. In journals, an erratum corrects the publisher’s error and a corrigendum the author’s: the editorial version of AA against PE. An addendum adds material after publication. A retraction withdraws the whole piece, and an editor’s note explains any change to an online article.
B13
AUTHORING AND PUBLISHING
Part two of two
B13
Manuscripts, publishers and journals
The words of manuscripts, publishers and academic journals. Book anatomy already covered in B3 (front matter, epigraph, colophon) and the proof stages in B11 aren’t repeated here.
Seventy-one terms on 15 plates: 27 parts, seven measures, 16 formats, two stages, four statuses, one mark, nine roles and five defects.
The defects to watch for here: purple prose, head-hopping, filter words, vanity press and predatory journal. All of them are collected in the checklist at the end.
In the field guides.
B13 · AUTHORING AND PUBLISHING GROUP 1 OF 6
The manuscript
Sixteen terms on four plates, from manuscript (MS) to creative Commons licences.
The source glossary groups this family’s terms under six headings, and the plates follow them. This group’s plates:
1. What an author sends, and how long it is 2. Who tells the story, and how the writer gets there 3. Three faults an editor marks in a draft 4. Three ways to use someone else’s work
B13 · AUTHORING AND PUBLISHING FIVE TERMS
What an author sends, and how long it is
The documents that go to an agent or a publisher before there is a book.
Manuscript (MS)
Part
Where you’ll meet it Submission.
Word count, extent
Measure
Where you’ll meet it Contracts and proposals.
Book proposal
Format
Where you’ll meet it Approaching publishers.
Query letter
Format
Where you’ll meet it Fiction and trade non-fiction.
Sample chapters
Part
Where you’ll meet it Submissions.
FIG 46 — WHAT GOES TO A PUBLISHER
The manuscript is the text before it is typeset. A non-fiction book is usually sold on a proposal (argument, audience, competing titles, outline) with sample chapters, often before it is finished. A query letter is the one-page pitch that opens the door. Word count is the length of the text, and extent the length of the finished book in pages, which is what the contract and the price depend on.
B13 · AUTHORING AND PUBLISHING FIVE TERMS
Who tells the story, and how the writer gets there
Words from writing workshops and editorial letters, most of them about narrative.
Point of view: first person, third limited, omniscient
Format
Where you’ll meet it Fiction and narrative non-fiction.
Voice
Part
Where you’ll meet it Editorial letters and reviews.
Scene break, dinkus
Mark
SAY
DING·kus
/ˈdɪŋkəs/
Where you’ll meet it Long-form writing.
Plotter, pantser
Role
SAY
PANT·ser
/ˈpæntsə/
Where you’ll meet it Writing workshops.
Kill your darlings
Stage
Where you’ll meet it Revision advice.
FIG 47 — NARRATIVE, FROM THE WRITER’S SIDE
Point of view decides whose eyes the reader sees through: “I”, one character in the third person, or a narrator who knows everything. Voice is what makes a writer recognisable. A scene break is a gap inside a chapter, often marked with a dinkus of three asterisks. Plotters plan first and pantsers find the shape by writing. Either way, revision means killing some darlings.
B13 · AUTHORING AND PUBLISHING THREE TERMSTHREE DEFECTS
Three faults an editor marks in a draft
Three named faults of the writing itself, all common in first drafts and all fixed by cutting.
Purple prose
Defect
Where you’ll meet it Overwritten drafts.
Head-hopping
Defect
Where you’ll meet it Fiction drafts.
Filter words
Defect
Where you’ll meet it Line editing.
FIG 48 — THREE FAULTS, MARKED ON THE PAGE
Purple prose is writing so ornate that the reader notices the writing instead of the thing described. Head-hopping moves between characters’ points of view inside one scene, so the reader loses track of whose experience it is. Filter words (she saw, he felt, they noticed) put the character between the reader and the experience. The repair for all three is usually deletion.
B13 · AUTHORING AND PUBLISHING THREE TERMS
Three ways to use someone else’s work
Quoting a passage, reproducing a figure or reusing a photograph needs one of three things.
Permissions
Part
Where you’ll meet it Quotations, figures and photos.
Fair dealing, fair use
Part
Where you’ll meet it Quotation in criticism and teaching.
Creative Commons licences
Part
Where you’ll meet it Open publications.
FIG 49 — ASK, RELY ON AN EXCEPTION, OR CHECK THE LICENCE
Permissions are written consent from whoever holds the rights, and publishers expect them for long quotations, figures and photographs. Fair dealing (in Singapore and the UK) and fair use (in the US) are legal exceptions for limited uses such as criticism and teaching, and they differ by country. A Creative Commons licence grants reuse in advance, on stated terms such as attribution.
B13 · AUTHORING AND PUBLISHING GROUP 2 OF 6
Roles
Eight terms on two plates, from literary agent to volume editor.
The source glossary groups this family’s terms under six headings, and the plates follow them. This group’s plates:
1. The people between a manuscript and a reader 2. The editors, in the order they arrive
B13 · AUTHORING AND PUBLISHING FOUR TERMS
The people between a manuscript and a reader
Four roles in trade publishing, each with a different interest in the same book.
Literary agent
Role
Where you’ll meet it Trade publishing.
Commissioning editor, acquisitions editor
Role
Where you’ll meet it Proposals and contracts.
Ghostwriter
Role
Where you’ll meet it Memoirs and leaders’ books.
Publicist
Role
Where you’ll meet it Launch.
FIG 50 — FROM AUTHOR TO LAUNCH
A literary agent represents the author, sells the book to a publisher and negotiates the contract. The commissioning editor (acquisitions editor in American usage) signs books for the publisher. A ghostwriter writes a book that appears under someone else’s name, common for memoirs and leaders’ books. The publicist promotes the finished book to media and readers around launch.
B13 · AUTHORING AND PUBLISHING FOUR TERMS
The editors, in the order they arrive
Editing happens in passes, from the shape of the book down to the last comma, and each pass has its own person.
Developmental editor
Role
Where you’ll meet it Early drafts.
Copyeditor, proofreader
Role
Where you’ll meet it Late stages.
Indexer
Role
Where you’ll meet it Non-fiction.
Volume editor, series editor
Role
Where you’ll meet it Academic publishing.
FIG 51 — FROM STRUCTURE TO INDEX
The developmental editor works on structure in early drafts. The copyeditor works on sentences, consistency and house style. The proofreader checks the typeset pages. Instruments and Moves (family C4) says what each pass covers, so the definitions here point to it rather than repeat it. The indexer builds the index from the final proofs. A volume or series editor assembles a collection or oversees a series.
B13 · AUTHORING AND PUBLISHING GROUP 3 OF 6
Publishing and rights
Seventeen terms on three plates, from slush pile to subsidiary rights.
The source glossary groups this family’s terms under six headings, and the plates follow them. This group’s plates:
1. Routes to publication, and the one to avoid 2. The contract, from delivery to earning out 3. A book’s life after launch
B13 · AUTHORING AND PUBLISHING SIX TERMSONE DEFECT
Routes to publication, and the one to avoid
Where a book can be published, and the words for how it gets there.
Slush pile
Part
Where you’ll meet it Agencies and publishers.
Imprint
Part
Where you’ll meet it Copyright pages.
Trade, academic, educational publishing
Format
Where you’ll meet it Choosing a publisher.
Self-publishing, hybrid publishing
Format
Where you’ll meet it Independent authors.
Vanity press
Defect
Where you’ll meet it A warning sign.
Monograph, edited volume
Format
Where you’ll meet it Academic presses.
FIG 52 — SIX WORDS ON THE WAY TO PRINT
Unsolicited manuscripts wait in the slush pile. Publishers issue books under imprints, brand names for lines of books. Trade, academic and educational publishers serve different markets, and academic presses publish monographs and edited volumes. Self-publishing puts cost and control with the author, and hybrid publishing adds paid services. A vanity press charges authors and gives little editing or distribution in return.
B13 · AUTHORING AND PUBLISHING FIVE TERMS
The contract, from delivery to earning out
Dates and money in a publishing contract, in the order they happen.
Advance
Measure
Where you’ll meet it Contracts.
Royalties, earn out
Measure
Where you’ll meet it Royalty statements.
Delivery date
Measure
Where you’ll meet it Contracts.
Editorial letter
Part
Where you’ll meet it After first submission.
Publication date, pub date
Measure
Where you’ll meet it Launch planning.
FIG 53 — ROYALTIES AGAINST THE ADVANCE
The delivery date is when the final manuscript is contractually due, and the editorial letter is the editor’s overall response to it. The publication date is the official release. The advance is paid before publication, against future royalties, the author’s share of each sale. A book earns out when its royalties pass the advance, and only then do further royalty payments begin.
B13 · AUTHORING AND PUBLISHING SIX TERMS
A book’s life after launch
What happens to a book once it is published, from the new-titles list to the rights coming home.
Frontlist, backlist
Status
Where you’ll meet it Publishers’ catalogues.
Reprint, new edition
Format
Where you’ll meet it Copyright pages.
Print-on-demand (POD)
Format
Where you’ll meet it Self-publishing and older titles.
Returns, remainders
Part
Where you’ll meet it Sales reports.
Out of print, reversion of rights
Status
Where you’ll meet it Contracts.
Subsidiary rights
Part
Where you’ll meet it Contracts.
FIG 54 — FROM NEW TITLE TO RIGHTS REVERTED
A new book sits on the frontlist, and if it keeps selling it joins the backlist. Another printing of the same text is a reprint, and a substantially revised text is a new edition. Print-on-demand keeps slow sellers available. Unsold copies come back as returns, and surplus stock is remaindered. When a book goes out of print, the rights can revert to the author. Subsidiary rights are sold separately throughout.
B13 · AUTHORING AND PUBLISHING GROUP 4 OF 6
Anatomy of a book
Twelve terms on two plates, from half-title to case binding.
The source glossary groups this family’s terms under six headings, and the plates follow them. This group’s plates:
1. The pages around the text, and the four openings people confuse 2. The book as an object
B13 · AUTHORING AND PUBLISHING SEVEN TERMS
The pages around the text, and the four openings people confuse
The front and back matter of a book in detail. B3 covers the furniture shared with reports.
Half-title, title page
Part
Where you’ll meet it Front matter.
Copyright page
Part
Where you’ll meet it Front matter.
Dedication, acknowledgements
Part
Where you’ll meet it Front and back matter.
Foreword, preface, introduction, prologue
Part
Where you’ll meet it Often confused in proposals.
Afterword, epilogue
Part
Where you’ll meet it Back matter.
Glossary, index
Part
Where you’ll meet it Non-fiction.
Bibliography vs reference list
Part
Where you’ll meet it Academic writing.
FIG 55 — A BOOK, FRONT TO BACK
A foreword is written by someone else, a preface by the author about the book, an introduction opens the content itself, and a prologue is a scene set apart in time. Proposals mix them up more than any other terms here. At the back, an afterword comments on the book and an epilogue continues the story. A bibliography lists works consulted. A reference list holds only works cited.
B13 · AUTHORING AND PUBLISHING FIVE TERMS
The book as an object
The physical parts of a printed book, and how its pages are bound.
Spine, jacket, endpapers
Part
Where you’ll meet it Hardbacks.
Blurb, endorsements
Part
Where you’ll meet it Covers and marketing.
Hardback, paperback
Format
Where you’ll meet it Formats and pricing.
Signatures
Part
Where you’ll meet it Print production.
Case binding
Format
Where you’ll meet it Hardbacks.
FIG 56 — A JACKET, OPENED FLAT, AND WHAT IS INSIDE
The spine is the bound edge, the jacket the removable paper cover, and endpapers the sheets pasted inside the covers. The blurb is the description on the back, and endorsements are praise quoted from others, though Americans often call the praise the blurb. Pages are printed in signatures, folded groups that are sewn or glued together. Case binding fixes them into a hard cover.
B13 · AUTHORING AND PUBLISHING GROUP 5 OF 6
Identifiers and formats
Eight terms on two plates, from ISBN to DRM (digital rights management).
The source glossary groups this family’s terms under six headings, and the plates follow them. This group’s plates:
1. How a book is identified, catalogued and kept 2. Copies before print, and copies that are not print
B13 · AUTHORING AND PUBLISHING FOUR TERMS
How a book is identified, catalogued and kept
The identifiers and records that let shops, libraries and the national collection find a book.
ISBN
Part
Where you’ll meet it Every published book.
CIP data
Part
Where you’ll meet it National libraries.
Legal deposit
Part
Where you’ll meet it Publishing in Singapore and elsewhere.
Book metadata, subject codes
Part
Where you’ll meet it Distribution.
FIG 57 — THE COPYRIGHT PAGE, AND WHAT TRAVELS WITH IT
Every edition and format gets its own ISBN, a 13-digit number. Cataloguing in Publication data, printed on the copyright page, gives libraries the catalogue record in advance. Legal deposit requires publishers to give copies to the national library, which in Singapore is the National Library Board. Metadata (title, contributors, keywords, subject codes) is what makes a book findable online.
B13 · AUTHORING AND PUBLISHING FOUR TERMS
Copies before print, and copies that are not print
An early copy for reviewers, and three formats that are not a printed book.
ARC (advance reader copy)
Format
Where you’ll meet it Launch.
EPUB: reflowable, fixed-layout
Format
SAY
EE·pub
/ˈiːpʌb/
Where you’ll meet it Ebooks.
Audiobook
Format
Where you’ll meet it Subsidiary rights.
DRM (digital rights management)
Part
Where you’ll meet it Ebook distribution.
FIG 58 — BEYOND THE PRINTED COPY
An advance reader copy goes to reviewers before publication, usually marked not for sale. EPUB is the standard ebook format: reflowable text adapts to any screen, while fixed-layout keeps the printed page design, which suits picture books and heavily designed layouts. Audiobooks are usually sold as subsidiary rights. DRM restricts copying of ebooks and audiobooks.
B13 · AUTHORING AND PUBLISHING GROUP 6 OF 6
Academic publishing
Ten terms on two plates, from preprint to predatory journal.
The source glossary groups this family’s terms under six headings, and the plates follow them. This group’s plates:
1. A paper’s path through a journal 2. Access, identifiers and standing
B13 · AUTHORING AND PUBLISHING FOUR TERMS
A paper’s path through a journal
Academic publishing names every stage a paper passes through, and every version it exists in.
Preprint, accepted manuscript, version of record
Format
Where you’ll meet it Sharing research.
Peer review: single-blind, double-blind, open
Stage
Where you’ll meet it Journal submissions.
Desk reject
Status
Where you’ll meet it Journal submissions.
Revise and resubmit (R&R), major and minor revisions
Status
Where you’ll meet it Journal decisions.
FIG 59 — FROM PREPRINT TO VERSION OF RECORD
A preprint is shared before review. A desk reject comes from the editor, without review. Peer review can be single-blind (reviewers anonymous), double-blind (both sides anonymous) or open. Revise and resubmit, with major or minor revisions, is the commonest good outcome. The accepted manuscript is the version before typesetting, and the version of record is the final published one.
B13 · AUTHORING AND PUBLISHING SIX TERMSONE DEFECT
Access, identifiers and standing
The words that decide who can read a paper, how it is found and cited, and whether the journal is worth it.
Open access: gold, green, diamond
Format
Where you’ll meet it Funding requirements.
APC (article processing charge)
Measure
Where you’ll meet it Budgets.
DOI, ORCID
Part
SAY
DEE·oh·EYE, OR·kid
/ˌdiːəʊˈaɪ, ˈɔːkɪd/
Where you’ll meet it Citations and profiles.
Impact factor
Measure
Where you’ll meet it Choosing journals.
Citation style: APA, Chicago, MLA
Format
Where you’ll meet it Every reference list.
Predatory journal
Defect
Where you’ll meet it A warning sign.
FIG 60 — READ, FIND, CITE, AND TRUST
Open access is free to read: gold on the journal’s site, often for an article processing charge, green in a repository, and diamond free to readers and authors alike. A DOI is a permanent link to a publication and an ORCID a permanent identifier for a researcher. The impact factor is widely used and widely criticised. A predatory journal charges fees without real review.
B14
INTERFACE COMPONENTS
Part two of two
B14
The named parts of apps and websites
Product teams use these words with precision, and a brief that says “a pop-up” could mean any of five different components. Where a component already appears elsewhere, the entry points there.
Forty-four terms on 12 plates: 38 parts, one format, three statuses and two defects.
The defects to watch for here: dark pattern and mystery meat navigation. All of them are collected in the checklist at the end.
In the field guides.
B14 · INTERFACE COMPONENTS SIX TERMS
Six things that open on top of a page, and how much they block
“A pop-up” could mean any of these. They differ in what they cover and whether the page behind still works.
Modal, dialog
Part
Where you’ll meet it Confirmations and short forms.
Drawer
Part
Where you’ll meet it Filters and navigation on mobile.
Popover
Part
Where you’ll meet it Extra options and short explanations.
Tooltip
Part
Where you’ll meet it Icon buttons and unfamiliar terms.
Lightbox
Part
Where you’ll meet it Galleries.
Overlay, backdrop
Part
Where you’ll meet it Focusing attention.
FIG 61 — FROM MOST BLOCKING TO LEAST
A modal blocks everything until the user answers, so keep it for decisions that can’t wait. A drawer slides in from an edge and usually dims the page too. A popover is anchored to the thing that opened it and leaves the page usable, and a tooltip is the smallest of all: a hint on hover or focus, never the only place an instruction lives. A lightbox shows one image or video over a dark page. The overlay or backdrop is the dimmed layer itself, and clicking it usually closes what sits on top.
B14 · INTERFACE COMPONENTS FOUR TERMS
Four ways a screen tells you something
Messages differ in how long they stay, where they sit and how loudly they interrupt.
Toast, snackbar
Part
Where you’ll meet it “Saved” and “Undo” messages.
Banner
Part
Where you’ll meet it Maintenance notices.
Alert
Part
Where you’ll meet it Errors and warnings.
Notification
Part
Where you’ll meet it Reminders and updates.
FIG 62 — FROM QUIETEST TO LOUDEST
A toast or snackbar appears briefly and fades without blocking anything, which suits “Saved” and an Undo. A banner runs across the top of a page or section and stays until dismissed, which suits notices that affect everyone. An alert is a prominent message about something that needs attention, usually in the colour of a warning or error. A notification reports an event, inside the app or pushed to the device when the app is closed. Match the weight of the message to the weight of the news.
B14 · INTERFACE COMPONENTS FOUR TERMS
Four ways of showing where you are and where you can go
Navigation is the part of an interface that answers two questions: where am I, and what else is here?
Navigation bar, side navigation
Part
Where you’ll meet it Every app and site.
Hamburger menu
Part
Where you’ll meet it Mobile layouts.
Tabs
Part
Where you’ll meet it Settings and dashboards.
Breadcrumb
Part
Where you’ll meet it Deep sites and portals.
FIG 63 — WHERE AM I, AND WHAT ELSE IS HERE
The navigation bar runs along the top and side navigation down the left, and most products settle on one as the main menu. A hamburger menu hides navigation behind three lines, which saves space on a phone but hides the options, so they are used less. Tabs switch between panels on one page without leaving it. A breadcrumb shows where a page sits in the site’s structure. The tracker on a slide (B7) does the same job for a deck, and some decks call it a breadcrumb too.
B14 · INTERFACE COMPONENTS THREE TERMS
Moving through many results, or many steps
Three components for content that won’t fit on one screen: a long list, a long task and a large collection.
Pagination
Part
Where you’ll meet it Search results and tables.
Stepper
Part
Where you’ll meet it Forms and set-up flows.
Search bar, filter, facet
Part
Where you’ll meet it Catalogues and resource libraries.
FIG 64 — A LONG LIST, A LONG TASK, A LARGE COLLECTION
Pagination splits results into numbered pages. A stepper shows progress through a multi-step task, such as setting up a class, and should say how many steps remain. A search bar takes a query. Filters narrow the results, and facets are filters grouped by category, such as subject and level, often with a count beside each option. In a resource library, good facets matter more than a clever search.
B14 · INTERFACE COMPONENTS THREE TERMS
The three most common things on a form
A button to act, a box to type in and a list to choose from. Each has names for its variants.
Button: primary, secondary, ghost
Part
Where you’ll meet it Every screen. One primary per view.
Text field, text area
Part
Where you’ll meet it Forms.
Dropdown, select
Part
Where you’ll meet it Choosing one option from many.
FIG 65 — ACT, TYPE, CHOOSE
A primary button is the main action and is filled in the brand colour. A secondary button is a lesser action, and a ghost button has an outline only. One primary per view is the rule that keeps the next step obvious. A text field takes a single line and a text area several. A dropdown, or select, opens a list from one control. It suits a long list of known options, and a short list is often better shown as radio buttons.
B14 · INTERFACE COMPONENTS FOUR TERMS
Four ways to choose, and the rule behind each
Each control promises a different kind of answer, so the wrong one confuses before anyone reads the label.
Checkbox vs radio button
Part
Where you’ll meet it Forms and settings.
Toggle switch
Part
Where you’ll meet it Settings.
Slider
Part
Where you’ll meet it Volume, ranges and ratings.
Date picker
Part
Where you’ll meet it Scheduling.
FIG 66 — FOUR CONTROLS, FOUR KINDS OF ANSWER
Checkboxes allow any number of options, and radio buttons exactly one. A toggle switch takes effect immediately, like a light switch, so it shouldn’t sit in a form that also has a Save button. It isn’t a feature toggle (Stacks and Sprints B4), which turns code on and off for groups of users. A slider sets a value by dragging and suits rough choices, not exact numbers. A date picker is a calendar control, and should still accept a typed date.
B14 · INTERFACE COMPONENTS FIVE TERMS
Five ways to lay out a set of things
Containers for content that comes in sets: resources, apps, questions, pictures and records.
Card
Part
Where you’ll meet it Dashboards and resource lists.
Tile
Part
Where you’ll meet it App home screens and launchers.
Accordion
Part
Where you’ll meet it FAQs and long forms.
Carousel
Part
Where you’ll meet it Homepages. Most users see only the first slide.
Data table, data grid
Part
Where you’ll meet it Admin screens and reports.
FIG 67 — RESOURCES, APPS, QUESTIONS, PICTURES, RECORDS
A card is covered in B4: a self-contained box with its own picture, heading and action. A tile is a block in a grid that opens something when tapped, as on an app launcher. An accordion stacks sections that expand and collapse, which suits FAQs. A carousel rotates content through one slot, and most users see only the first slide, so never put the important item second. A data table, or data grid, holds records in rows and columns and is usually sortable and filterable.
B14 · INTERFACE COMPONENTS THREE TERMS
Three small markers that sit on other things
Small, rounded and easy to confuse, because each is a little shape with a label or a picture in it.
Chip, pill
Part
Where you’ll meet it Tags and selected filters.
Badge
Part
Where you’ll meet it Unread counts.
Avatar
Part
Where you’ll meet it Profiles and comments.
FIG 68 — A LABEL, A COUNT, A PERSON
A chip, or pill, is a small rounded label, often removable or used to show a selected filter. A badge is a count or status marker attached to another element, such as the number of unread messages on a bell. An avatar is a person’s photo or initials in a circle, and a row of overlapping avatars says who else is here. If it can be removed, it is a chip. If it counts something, it is a badge.
B14 · INTERFACE COMPONENTS TWO TERMS
Every control has four states, and one of them must be visible
A design spec shows each component in each state. Leaving one out is how an interface ends up unusable by keyboard.
Hover, focus, active, disabled
Status
Where you’ll meet it Design specs.
Focus ring
Part
Where you’ll meet it Accessibility reviews.
FIG 69 — ONE BUTTON, FOUR STATES
Hover is when a pointer is over the element. Focus is when it has been reached by keyboard or screen reader. Active is while it is being pressed, and disabled is when it isn’t available. The focus ring is the visible outline that shows keyboard position. Designers sometimes remove it because it looks untidy, and that leaves keyboard users unable to see where they are, which fails WCAG (B9).
B14 · INTERFACE COMPONENTS FOUR TERMS
What a screen shows while it waits, when it’s empty and when something is wrong
The screens nobody designs on purpose, and the ones users see most when things go badly.
Spinner, progress bar
Part
Where you’ll meet it Loading and uploads.
Skeleton screen
Part
Where you’ll meet it Feeds and dashboards.
Empty state
Status
Where you’ll meet it New accounts and empty searches.
Error state, inline validation
Status
Where you’ll meet it Forms.
FIG 70 — WAITING, EMPTY, WRONG
A spinner signals waiting of unknown length, and a progress bar waiting of known length, which feels shorter. A skeleton screen shows grey outlines of the page while its content loads, so the layout doesn’t jump. An empty state is what a screen shows when there is nothing in it yet, and a good one says what to do next. An error state is how a component shows that something has gone wrong, and inline validation puts the message beside the field at fault, as the user types or leaves it.
B14 · INTERFACE COMPONENTS FOUR TERMS
The words on the screen, the first run and the second theme
Small words do most of an interface’s explaining. Two of these terms name where those words go.
Label, helper text, placeholder text
Part
Where you’ll meet it Forms.
Microcopy
Part
Where you’ll meet it UX writing.
Onboarding, coach mark
Part
Where you’ll meet it New features and accounts.
Dark mode
Format
Where you’ll meet it System and app settings.
FIG 71 — WORDS, FIRST RUN, SECOND THEME
A form field has a label (its name), helper text (its guidance) and placeholder text (the hint inside the box, which vanishes as you type). Placeholder text should never stand in for a label, because it disappears just when it’s needed. Microcopy is all the small words: buttons, hints, errors and confirmations. “Delete draft” beats “OK”. Onboarding is the first-run experience, and a coach mark points at one feature for a new user. Dark mode is a light-on-dark theme, and every colour needs checking in it.
B14 · INTERFACE COMPONENTS TWO TERMSTWO DEFECTS
Two interface defects: one tricks the user, one leaves them guessing
Both are named faults, and both are easy to ship without anyone deciding to.
Dark pattern
Defect
Where you’ll meet it Subscriptions and consent screens.
Mystery meat navigation
Defect
Where you’ll meet it Icon-only menus.
FIG 72 — TWO WAYS TO LOSE THE USER’S TRUST
A dark pattern is a design that leads users into a choice they didn’t intend: a pre-ticked box, an “Accept all” button that dwarfs the alternative, an opt-out hidden three screens deep. Some are deliberate and some are just defaults nobody questioned. Mystery meat navigation is icons or links that give no clue where they lead until clicked or hovered. The fix for both is the same habit: say plainly what each option does, and give the choices equal weight.
THE DEFECTS CHECKLIST
Forty-six defects, and nearly all of them arrive by default.
In Instruments and Moves, the vices are things writers add. Here, the defects are things software and handovers leave behind.
FIG 73 — THE DEFECTS, BY THE MOMENT TO CATCH THEM
A font goes missing when a file changes hands. Straight quotes ride in on pasted text. A chart tool picks a truncated axis on its own. So catching them takes a deliberate last pass, with the right words in mind.
Before sending any document: font substitution, faux bold, faux italic, runt, widow, orphan, river, ladder, bad rag, dumb quotes, double space, stretched type, overset text and buried lede. Before presenting a deck: jumping, wall of text, slideument, chartjunk, truncated axis, dual axis, 3D chart, spaghetti chart, colour-only meaning, vibration, trapped white space, tangent and edge crowding. Before placing an image: pixelation, jaggies, compression artefacts, distortion, clip art and watermark. Before sending to print: missing bleed, missing links, missing fonts, colour shift, banding and misregistration. Before keeping a template alive: design debt and version sprawl. Before handing over a manuscript: purple prose, head-hopping and filter words. Before signing with a publisher or journal: vanity press and predatory journal. Before releasing an interface: dark pattern and mystery meat navigation.
Manuscripts and publishing add five more: purple prose, head-hopping and filter words in the writing, and vanity presses and predatory journals in the publishing. Interfaces add two more: dark patterns and mystery meat navigation.
In the field guides.
RUNNING THE LAST PASS
Eight checks, at the eight moments that need them
- 01 Before sending any document: font substitution, faux bold, faux italic, runt, widow, orphan, river, ladder, bad rag, dumb quotes, double space, stretched type, overset text and buried lede
- 02 Before presenting a deck: jumping, wall of text, slideument, chartjunk, truncated axis, dual axis, 3D chart, spaghetti chart, colour-only meaning, vibration, trapped white space, tangent and edge crowding
- 03 Before placing an image: pixelation, jaggies, compression artefacts, distortion, clip art and watermark
- 04 Before sending to print: missing bleed, missing links, missing fonts, colour shift, banding and misregistration
- 05 Before keeping a template alive: design debt and version sprawl
- 06 Before handing over a manuscript: purple prose, head-hopping and filter words
- 07 Before signing with a publisher or journal: vanity press and predatory journal
- 08 Before releasing an interface: dark pattern and mystery meat navigation
The checks run in the order work usually travels: written, presented, illustrated, printed and kept for the next person, then, for a book or a paper, handed over and signed. A reviewer with ten minutes should spend them on the moment the work is about to reach.
Name it.
Then fix it.
Then leave the rest of the page alone.
SOURCES
Eight works
The definitions are the source glossary’s own. Where a term rests on a published source, the source is named in the definition and listed here.
- VOLUMES Glyphs and Grids The phrasebooks glossary
- COMPANION Instruments and Moves
- BY geraldajam.com
Most of these terms are trade vocabulary rather than findings, so they have no single source. The few that do (leading, the measure, the widow, the F-pattern, the slideument, the data-ink ratio, the lie factor, the sparkline and the contrast ratio) cite it in their definition, and Appendix F records what was checked.
Instruments and Moves is the first glossary. It names what happens in the words: the instruments that explain why writing and speech succeed or fail, and the moves they diagnose.
Reference layer
Appendix
Appendix A
The A to Z index
All 330 terms in this volume alphabetically, with the family each belongs to, its kind and the source glossary’s definition. The phrasebooks glossary lists the terms of every volume.
| Term | Family | Kind | What it means |
|---|---|---|---|
| B12 · Editorial marks | Mark | End of story, end of press release. | |
| B12 · Editorial marks | Mark | Section and paragraph. | |
| B8 · Charts | Format | Items placed on two axes split into four quadrants. | |
| B8 · Charts | Defect | A chart drawn with false depth. | |
| B11 · Sign-off | Part | A change the client asks for after proof. The client pays. | |
| B9 · Process and systems | Measure | How usable a design is for people with disabilities. “a11y” counts the eleven letters in between. | |
| B14 · Interface components | Part | Sections that expand and collapse. | |
| B7 · Slides and decks | Part | A slide title written as a full-sentence finding, such as “Usage fell 30% after the update” | |
| B12 · Editorial marks | Part | Material added after publication. | |
| B13 · Authoring and publishing | Measure | Money paid to the author before publication, against future royalties. | |
| B9 · Process and systems | Stage | Clustering research notes into themes. | |
| B13 · Authoring and publishing | Part | A closing note about the book, and a closing scene after the main story. | |
| B7 · Slides and decks | Part | A slide listing the sections to come. | |
| B14 · Interface components | Part | A prominent message about something that needs attention. | |
| B7 · Slides and decks | Part | An effect played on objects within a slide. | |
| B8 · Charts | Part | A note on the chart pointing out a feature. | |
| B13 · Authoring and publishing | Measure | A fee some open-access journals charge authors. | |
| B7 · Slides and decks | Part | Slides held after the end for questions and detail. | |
| B12 · Editorial marks | Mark | Author query: a question the editor puts to the author. | |
| B13 · Authoring and publishing | Format | An early copy sent to reviewers before publication. | |
| B13 · Authoring and publishing | Format | A recorded reading of a book. | |
| B14 · Interface components | Part | A person’s photo or initials in a circle. | |
| B8 · Charts | Part | The reference line along the bottom (x-axis) or side (y-axis) | |
| B8 · Charts | Part | The name and unit of an axis, and the small marks along it. | |
| B14 · Interface components | Part | A small count or status marker on another element. | |
| B14 · Interface components | Part | A message strip across the top of a page or section, usually dismissible. | |
| B8 · Charts | Format | Horizontal bars, or vertical columns. Some people use “bar chart” for both. | |
| B13 · Authoring and publishing | Part | Works consulted or recommended, vs only works actually cited. | |
| B10 · Files and print | Measure | Artwork extended past the trim edge, usually by 3 mm, so no white edge shows after cutting. | |
| B13 · Authoring and publishing | Part | The description on the back cover, and praise quoted from others. In American usage “blurb” often means the praise. | |
| B13 · Authoring and publishing | Part | Title, contributors, keywords and category codes that let shops and libraries find a book. | |
| B13 · Authoring and publishing | Format | The pitch for a non-fiction book: argument, audience, competing titles, outline and sample chapters. | |
| B8 · Charts | Format | Median, spread and outliers in one figure. | |
| B14 · Interface components | Part | The trail showing where a page sits in a site, such as Home > Courses > Maths. For the slide sense, see B7. | |
| B9 · Process and systems | Stage | The written request setting out purpose, audience, content and constraints. | |
| B12 · Editorial marks | Part | A newsroom’s list of stories planned for an edition. | |
| B8 · Charts | Format | A compact bar measured against a target and bands. | |
| B14 · Interface components | Part | The main action, a lesser action, and an outline-only button. | |
| B12 · Editorial marks | Mark | “Circa”: approximately, for dates. | |
| B11 · Sign-off | Status | Final artwork needing no further changes. Originally, artwork ready to be photographed for printing plates. | |
| B14 · Interface components | Part | See B4. | |
| B9 · Process and systems | Stage | Testing how users group content, and whether they can find things in a proposed structure. | |
| B12 · Editorial marks | Mark | Insert here. | |
| B14 · Interface components | Part | Content that rotates through a single slot. | |
| B13 · Authoring and publishing | Format | Sewn or glued signatures fixed into a hard cover. | |
| B12 · Editorial marks | Mark | “Compare”: points to a contrasting source. | |
| B8 · Charts | Part | The heading of a chart. Strongest when it states the finding. | |
| B8 · Charts | Defect | Decoration that carries no data. | |
| B14 · Interface components | Part | Choose any number of options, vs choose exactly one. | |
| B14 · Interface components | Part | A small rounded label, often removable or used as a filter. | |
| B8 · Charts | Format | A map shaded by value. | |
| B13 · Authoring and publishing | Part | Cataloguing in Publication: library catalogue details printed on the copyright page. | |
| B13 · Authoring and publishing | Format | Standard formats for citing sources. | |
| B12 · Editorial marks | Part | A fix for something accurate but misleading. | |
| B11 · Sign-off | Part | A version with all changes accepted and markup removed. | |
| B12 · Editorial marks | Mark | Remove the space. | |
| B10 · Files and print | Format | Paper with a smooth finish that keeps colour bright, or without. | |
| B13 · Authoring and publishing | Role | Finds and signs books for a publisher. | |
| B9 · Process and systems | Stage | Short for comprehensive: a near-final mockup for sign-off. | |
| B9 · Process and systems | Part | A reusable building block such as a button, card or header. | |
| B11 · Sign-off | Status | A date after which content can’t change, though design and build continue. | |
| B9 · Process and systems | Stage | Observing people in their own setting, and having them log experiences over days or weeks. | |
| B11 · Sign-off | Stage | A colour proof the printer agrees the final print will match. | |
| B11 · Sign-off | Measure | The date final text is due to the designer. | |
| B13 · Authoring and publishing | Role | The people who do the copyedit and the proofread. For what each covers, see Instruments and Moves C4. | |
| B13 · Authoring and publishing | Part | The reverse of the title page, with rights, ISBN, edition and printing details. | |
| B12 · Editorial marks | Part | A published fix for a factual error. | |
| B12 · Editorial marks | Part | A correction of the author’s error. The editorial version of AA against PE. | |
| B12 · Editorial marks | Mark | “Correct as written”: tells the copy desk that an odd spelling or fact is intentional. Never printed, unlike sic. | |
| B13 · Authoring and publishing | Part | Standard licences such as CC BY that set how others may reuse a work. | |
| B10 · Files and print | Part | Small lines at the corners showing where to cut. | |
| B11 · Sign-off | Part | An image with its background removed. | |
| B14 · Interface components | Format | A light-on-dark colour theme. | |
| B14 · Interface components | Defect | A design that tricks users into choices they didn’t intend, such as a hidden opt-out. | |
| B8 · Charts | Format | A screen of several charts and figures tracking performance. | |
| B8 · Charts | Part | The value printed on or beside a data point. | |
| B14 · Interface components | Part | Rows and columns of records, often sortable and filterable. | |
| B8 · Charts | Measure | The share of a chart’s ink that shows data (Tufte, 2001) | |
| B14 · Interface components | Part | A calendar control for choosing dates. | |
| B7 · Slides and decks | Part | A set of slides. | |
| B13 · Authoring and publishing | Part | Who the book is for, and thanks to those who helped. | |
| B12 · Editorial marks | Mark | Delete. | |
| B13 · Authoring and publishing | Measure | When the final manuscript is contractually due. | |
| B9 · Process and systems | Defect | Inconsistencies that pile up when quick fixes bypass the system. | |
| B9 · Process and systems | Part | A shared set of components, styles and rules for building consistent products. | |
| B9 · Process and systems | Part | A named value, such as a colour or spacing size, shared between design and code. | |
| B13 · Authoring and publishing | Status | Rejected by the editor without being sent for review. | |
| B13 · Authoring and publishing | Role | The person who does the structural edit. See Instruments and Moves C4. | |
| B10 · Files and print | Format | A custom shape cut from paper by a metal die. | |
| B8 · Charts | Part | A series name placed on the data itself instead of in a legend. | |
| B8 · Charts | Format | Bars centred on a midpoint, with agreement one way and disagreement the other. | |
| B13 · Authoring and publishing | Part | A permanent link for a publication, and a permanent identifier for a researcher. | |
| B8 · Charts | Format | Values shown as dots, and two values for each item joined by a line. | |
| B10 · Files and print | Measure | Dots per inch (a printer’s output) and pixels per inch (an image’s density). Often used interchangeably. | |
| B14 · Interface components | Part | A panel that slides in from the edge of the screen. | |
| B13 · Authoring and publishing | Part | Technical locks restricting copying of ebooks and audiobooks. | |
| B14 · Interface components | Part | A list that opens from a single control. | |
| B8 · Charts | Defect | Two different value scales on one chart. | |
| B11 · Sign-off | Stage | A blank or rough physical mock-up showing size, folding and binding. | |
| B11 · Sign-off | Part | A change made by the editor rather than the author. | |
| B12 · Editorial marks | Part | A note explaining a change or adding context. | |
| B13 · Authoring and publishing | Part | The editor’s overall response to a draft, with the main revisions needed. | |
| B12 · Editorial marks | Mark | Words left out of a quotation. | |
| B11 · Sign-off | Status | Not to be published before a set date and time. | |
| B10 · Files and print | Part | Fonts stored inside a file so it displays correctly anywhere. | |
| B12 · Editorial marks | Mark | Says who made the italics in a quotation. | |
| B14 · Interface components | Status | What a screen shows when there’s nothing in it yet. | |
| B10 · Files and print | Format | Vector formats used in print and by Adobe Illustrator. | |
| B13 · Authoring and publishing | Format | The standard ebook format, either reflowing to fit any screen or keeping a fixed page design. | |
| B12 · Editorial marks | Part | A correction of the publisher’s or printer’s error. | |
| B14 · Interface components | Status | What a component shows when something has gone wrong, and messages beside the field at fault. | |
| B12 · Editorial marks | Mark | “And others”: shortens a list of authors. | |
| B12 · Editorial marks | Status | Content that doesn’t date. | |
| B10 · Files and print | Stage | Saving a design out to a format for use elsewhere. | |
| B13 · Authoring and publishing | Part | Legal exceptions allowing limited use of copyright material without permission, which vary by country. | |
| B12 · Editorial marks | Mark | “And following pages” | |
| B13 · Authoring and publishing | Defect | Words that put a layer between reader and experience: “she saw”, “he felt”, “they noticed” | |
| B11 · Sign-off | Part | The finished files for reproduction. In print, “artwork” includes the text. | |
| B11 · Sign-off | Stage | A page-by-page map of a publication, showing what goes where. | |
| B14 · Interface components | Part | The visible outline that shows keyboard position. | |
| B13 · Authoring and publishing | Part | Written by someone else, written by the author about the book, the opening of the content itself, and an opening scene set apart in time. | |
| B13 · Authoring and publishing | Status | New titles, and older titles still in print. | |
| B11 · Sign-off | Stage | Typeset text checked before it is laid out into pages. | |
| B8 · Charts | Format | Horizontal bars showing tasks across a timeline. | |
| B7 · Slides and decks | Stage | A draft deck of slide titles and empty boxes, written before the analysis is done. | |
| B13 · Authoring and publishing | Role | Writes a book published under someone else’s name. | |
| B10 · Files and print | Format | A raster format with limited colours that supports simple animation. | |
| B13 · Authoring and publishing | Part | Definitions of terms, and an alphabetical guide to where topics appear. | |
| B8 · Charts | Part | Background lines across the plot area. | |
| B10 · Files and print | Measure | Paper weight in grams per square metre. Office paper is about 80 gsm. | |
| B13 · Authoring and publishing | Part | The first page bearing only the title, and the page with title, author and publisher. | |
| B14 · Interface components | Part | The three-line icon that hides navigation behind a tap. | |
| B9 · Process and systems | Stage | Passing a finished design to the people who will build or print it. | |
| B7 · Slides and decks | Format | A printed or PDF version given to the audience. | |
| B13 · Authoring and publishing | Format | A rigid cover, and a soft cover. Trade paperbacks are larger, mass-market ones smaller. | |
| B8 · Charts | Part | A small circle filled by quarters to show a rating. | |
| B13 · Authoring and publishing | Defect | Switching point of view between characters within a scene. | |
| B10 · Files and print | Part | Real heading styles rather than bold text, so readers can jump between sections. | |
| B8 · Charts | Format | A grid of cells coloured by value. | |
| B12 · Editorial marks | Part | Headline, deck and paragraph, spelt to look wrong on purpose. | |
| B11 · Sign-off | Part | The lead image of a piece. | |
| B9 · Process and systems | Stage | An expert review of a design against a list of usability principles. | |
| B8 · Charts | Format | The distribution of one measure, shown as adjoining bars. Not the camera histogram of Shots and Cues B7. | |
| B11 · Sign-off | Status | Kept back for later use. | |
| B14 · Interface components | Status | The standard states of an interactive element: pointed at, selected by keyboard, being pressed, unavailable. | |
| B12 · Editorial marks | Mark | “That is” restates. “For example” gives instances. | |
| B12 · Editorial marks | Mark | “In the same place” and “in the work cited”. Footnote shorthand. | |
| B13 · Authoring and publishing | Measure | Average citations per article in a journal over two years. Widely used, widely criticised. | |
| B10 · Files and print | Stage | Arranging pages on a large press sheet so they fold into the right order. | |
| B13 · Authoring and publishing | Part | A brand name under which a publisher issues a line of books. | |
| B13 · Authoring and publishing | Role | Compiles the index, usually from the final proofs. | |
| B13 · Authoring and publishing | Part | International Standard Book Number: a unique 13-digit identifier for each edition and format. | |
| B12 · Editorial marks | Mark | Italic, roman (upright) and bold. | |
| B9 · Process and systems | Part | What a user is trying to get done, independent of any product. | |
| B9 · Process and systems | Part | A user’s experience over time, and the behind-the-scenes processes that support it. | |
| B10 · Files and print | Format | A compressed raster format suited to photos. | |
| B12 · Editorial marks | Part | Where a story continues on a later page. | |
| B7 · Slides and decks | Defect | Titles, logos or page numbers that shift position between slides. | |
| B13 · Authoring and publishing | Stage | Cut even favourite passages if the work is better without them. | |
| B11 · Sign-off | Status | Drop a piece entirely. | |
| B11 · Sign-off | Part | An image faded so text can sit over it. | |
| B14 · Interface components | Part | A form field’s name, its guidance, and the hint inside it that vanishes as you type. Placeholder text should never stand in for a label. | |
| B7 · Slides and decks | Part | A reusable slide arrangement within the master, with placeholders for title, text and images. | |
| B12 · Editorial marks | Mark | Lowercase, uppercase, small caps. | |
| B7 · Slides and decks | Format | A deck written to be read without a presenter. | |
| B13 · Authoring and publishing | Part | The requirement to give copies of published works to the national library. | |
| B8 · Charts | Part | The guide that matches colours or symbols to series. | |
| B8 · Charts | Measure | How large an effect looks in the graphic, divided by how large it is in the data (Tufte, 2001) | |
| B14 · Interface components | Part | An enlarged image or video shown over a dimmed page. | |
| B8 · Charts | Format | Points joined by a line. | |
| B10 · Files and print | Part | Links that describe where they go. “Click here” fails this. | |
| B10 · Files and print | Part | An image referenced from outside the file, or stored inside it. | |
| B13 · Authoring and publishing | Role | Represents authors, sells their work to publishers and negotiates contracts. | |
| B9 · Process and systems | Measure | Low fidelity (rough) or high fidelity (close to final) | |
| B11 · Sign-off | Status | No further changes accepted. | |
| B10 · Files and print | Measure | Compression that throws away detail to save space, or keeps all of it. | |
| B11 · Sign-off | Measure | Press set-up time, and the sheets wasted during it. | |
| B13 · Authoring and publishing | Part | The author’s text of a book or article before it is typeset. | |
| B11 · Sign-off | Part | Corrections written onto a proof or file. | |
| B10 · Files and print | Format | Surface finishes, and a protective film laid over a print. | |
| B11 · Sign-off | Part | The pre-digital board of assembled artwork. The word survives in older print workflows. | |
| B14 · Interface components | Part | The small words of an interface: buttons, hints, errors and confirmations. | |
| B10 · Files and print | Defect | Ink plates out of line, leaving coloured fringes. | |
| B10 · Files and print | Defect | Artwork that stops at the trim edge, leaving white slivers after cutting. | |
| B10 · Files and print | Defect | Images or fonts the file points to but can’t find. | |
| B9 · Process and systems | Stage | A static, styled picture of how the final design will look. | |
| B14 · Interface components | Part | A window that blocks the page until the user responds. | |
| B13 · Authoring and publishing | Format | A scholarly book by one author or team, and a collection of chapters by different authors. | |
| B9 · Process and systems | Stage | A collage of images, colours and type showing the intended look and feel. | |
| B14 · Interface components | Defect | Icons or links that give no clue where they lead until clicked. | |
| B12 · Editorial marks | Mark | No date given. | |
| B14 · Interface components | Part | The main menu along the top, or down the side. | |
| B12 · Editorial marks | Mark | “Note well”: flags something not to miss. | |
| B14 · Interface components | Part | A message about an event, inside the app or pushed to the device. | |
| B10 · Files and print | Format | Press printing from plates (economical for large runs), or direct from file (economical for small runs) | |
| B14 · Interface components | Part | The first-run experience, and a pointer that highlights one feature for a new user. | |
| B13 · Authoring and publishing | Format | Free to read: on the journal site often for a fee, in a repository, or free to both readers and authors. | |
| B13 · Authoring and publishing | Status | No longer available from the publisher, and the rights returning to the author as a result. | |
| B10 · Files and print | Part | Text converted into vector shapes, so the font is no longer needed. | |
| B14 · Interface components | Part | The dimmed layer behind a modal or drawer. | |
| B10 · Files and print | Part | Ink printed on top of another ink, or onto a gap left in it. | |
| B11 · Sign-off | Measure | Extra copies printed beyond the order. | |
| B10 · Files and print | Stage | Collecting a layout with all its fonts and linked images into one folder. | |
| B11 · Sign-off | Stage | Text checked in its final page layout. | |
| B14 · Interface components | Part | Controls for moving through pages of results. | |
| B11 · Sign-off | Status | Final approval to print, often signed at the press check. | |
| B12 · Editorial marks | Mark | “Throughout”: the topic appears across the cited work. | |
| B9 · Process and systems | Part | The collection where a design system’s components are kept. | |
| B10 · Files and print | Format | A fixed-layout file that looks the same on any device. | |
| B10 · Files and print | Format | A print-ready PDF standard that locks fonts, colour and bleed. | |
| B11 · Sign-off | Part | A mistake made by the printer or typesetter. The printer pays. | |
| B13 · Authoring and publishing | Stage | Expert review where reviewers are anonymous, both sides are anonymous, or identities are shared. | |
| B13 · Authoring and publishing | Part | Written consent to reproduce someone else’s text, image or data. | |
| B9 · Process and systems | Part | A composite profile of a type of user, built from research. | |
| B8 · Charts | Format | A circle divided into slices of a whole. | |
| B9 · Process and systems | Measure | Built to match the design exactly, to the pixel. | |
| B13 · Authoring and publishing | Role | A writer who plans the structure first, and one who writes “by the seat of their pants” | |
| B10 · Files and print | Format | A raster format with sharp edges and transparent backgrounds. | |
| B13 · Authoring and publishing | Format | Who tells the story: “I”, one character’s view in the third person, or an all-knowing narrator. | |
| B14 · Interface components | Part | A small panel anchored to the element that opened it. | |
| B11 · Sign-off | Stage | All the work between the final file and the printing plate. | |
| B7 · Slides and decks | Format | A document or deck sent for reading before a meeting. | |
| B13 · Authoring and publishing | Defect | A journal that charges authors without providing real peer review or editing. | |
| B10 · Files and print | Stage | An automated check of a file for missing fonts, low-resolution images and colour problems. | |
| B13 · Authoring and publishing | Format | The version before review, the accepted version before typesetting, and the final published version. | |
| B7 · Slides and decks | Part | The presenter’s screen showing notes, the next slide and a timer. | |
| B11 · Sign-off | Stage | The client checks the first sheets at the press before the full run. | |
| B10 · Files and print | Measure | The number of copies printed. | |
| B11 · Sign-off | Part | The full specification of a job: size, stock, colours, quantity and finish. | |
| B13 · Authoring and publishing | Format | Printing copies only as they are ordered. | |
| B10 · Files and print | Stage | A test copy for checking before the full run. | |
| B9 · Process and systems | Stage | A clickable or working model used for testing. | |
| B13 · Authoring and publishing | Measure | The official release date. | |
| B13 · Authoring and publishing | Role | Promotes a book to media and readers. | |
| B13 · Authoring and publishing | Defect | Writing so ornate it draws attention to itself. | |
| B13 · Authoring and publishing | Format | A one-page pitch to an agent or editor. | |
| B8 · Charts | Format | Values on spokes from a centre. Usually harder to read than a bar chart. | |
| B10 · Files and print | Part | The order a screen reader follows through a page or slide, which can differ from the visual order. | |
| B11 · Sign-off | Part | Two meanings: a document comparison showing changes (legal and policy), or a design annotated with specs (B9) | |
| B9 · Process and systems | Stage | A design marked up with exact sizes, spacing and colours for building. | |
| B10 · Files and print | Part | How precisely the separate ink plates line up. | |
| B13 · Authoring and publishing | Format | Another printing of the same text, vs a revised version with substantial changes. | |
| B12 · Editorial marks | Status | Withdrawal of the whole piece. | |
| B13 · Authoring and publishing | Part | Unsold copies sent back by bookshops, and surplus stock sold off cheaply. | |
| B11 · Sign-off | Part | Light text on a dark background. | |
| B13 · Authoring and publishing | Status | An invitation to revise, with the scale of changes needed. | |
| B11 · Sign-off | Stage | A proof showing the last round of corrections was made. | |
| B10 · Files and print | Part | Black built from all four inks for a deeper result on large areas. | |
| B13 · Authoring and publishing | Measure | The author’s share of each sale, and the point when royalties exceed the advance. | |
| B12 · Editorial marks | Mark | Join to the previous paragraph, or start a new one. | |
| B10 · Files and print | Format | Stapled through the fold, or glued into a flat spine. | |
| B7 · Slides and decks | Measure | The zone guaranteed to show on any screen or printout. | |
| B13 · Authoring and publishing | Part | One to three chapters sent with a proposal. | |
| B8 · Charts | Format | Flows between stages, drawn with widths proportional to volume. | |
| B8 · Charts | Format | Points placed by two values. | |
| B13 · Authoring and publishing | Mark | A gap between sections within a chapter, and the ornament marking it, such as three asterisks. | |
| B14 · Interface components | Part | The search input, and the controls that narrow results by category. | |
| B7 · Slides and decks | Part | A slide marking the start of a new section. | |
| B13 · Authoring and publishing | Format | Publishing at the author’s own cost and control, and author-funded publishing with a publisher’s services. | |
| B8 · Charts | Part | One set of related values plotted together, such as one line. | |
| B12 · Editorial marks | Mark | “Thus”: the error is in the original, not the editor’s. | |
| B13 · Authoring and publishing | Part | Groups of pages printed on one sheet and folded together before binding. | |
| B14 · Interface components | Part | A grey outline of a page shown while its content loads. | |
| B7 · Slides and decks | Part | The parent slide that controls fonts, colours and positions for every slide. | |
| B7 · Slides and decks | Part | The view showing all slides as thumbnails. | |
| B14 · Interface components | Part | A handle dragged along a track to set a value. | |
| B7 · Slides and decks | Defect | A document pasted onto slides: too dense to present, too broken up to read (Reynolds, 2008) | |
| B8 · Charts | Format | Lines joining two points in time for each item. | |
| B10 · Files and print | Part | The area outside the bleed used for job notes. | |
| B12 · Editorial marks | Part | Two meanings: a short label for a story in the newsroom, or the job-notes area beyond the bleed in print (B10) | |
| B13 · Authoring and publishing | Part | Unsolicited submissions waiting to be read. | |
| B8 · Charts | Format | A series of small charts sharing the same axes and scale (Tufte, 2001) | |
| B11 · Sign-off | Stage | A proof checked on screen, or a physical printout. | |
| B8 · Charts | Part | A line under a chart naming where the data came from. | |
| B12 · Editorial marks | Mark | Spell out, as in “3” to “three” | |
| B8 · Charts | Defect | A line chart with too many tangled series. | |
| B8 · Charts | Format | A word-sized line chart set inline (Tufte, 2006) | |
| B7 · Slides and decks | Part | Notes attached to each slide, visible only to the presenter. | |
| B13 · Authoring and publishing | Part | The bound edge, the removable paper cover, and the sheets pasted inside the covers. | |
| B14 · Interface components | Part | Signals of unknown waiting, and of known progress. | |
| B12 · Editorial marks | Mark | Words the editor inserted into a quotation. | |
| B8 · Charts | Format | Bars divided into segments that add up to a total. | |
| B14 · Interface components | Part | A row of numbered steps showing progress through a multi-step task. | |
| B12 · Editorial marks | Mark | “Let it stand”: cancels a marked correction. | |
| B7 · Slides and decks | Part | A small corner tag such as “Draft” or “For discussion” | |
| B10 · Files and print | Part | The paper or card a job is printed on. | |
| B7 · Slides and decks | Stage | A sketch of the sequence of slides or screens. | |
| B9 · Process and systems | Part | A document of rules for type, colour, layout and voice. | |
| B13 · Authoring and publishing | Part | Rights to translations, audio, film and other formats, sold separately from the main edition. | |
| B9 · Process and systems | Measure | A ten-question survey that scores perceived usability from 0 to 100. | |
| B10 · Files and print | Format | A vector image format for screens. | |
| B14 · Interface components | Part | Panels switched by labels along a row. | |
| B10 · Files and print | Format | A PDF with its structure marked up so assistive technology can navigate it. | |
| B7 · Slides and decks | Part | A boxed line on a slide stating its “so what” | |
| B9 · Process and systems | Measure | The share of users who complete a task, and how long it takes them. | |
| B9 · Process and systems | Part | A reusable file with layout and styles set up in advance. | |
| B14 · Interface components | Part | A single-line input, and a multi-line one. | |
| B7 · Slides and decks | Part | A saved set of fonts, colours and effects applied to a whole deck. | |
| B9 · Process and systems | Stage | A small, rough drawing exploring layout options. | |
| B14 · Interface components | Part | A square or rectangular block, often in a grid, that opens something when tapped. | |
| B7 · Slides and decks | Part | The opening slide carrying the title, presenter and date. | |
| B12 · Editorial marks | Mark | “To come”: content still missing. | |
| B14 · Interface components | Part | A brief message that appears and fades without blocking anything. | |
| B14 · Interface components | Part | An on/off control that takes effect immediately. Not a feature toggle (Stacks and Sprints B4) | |
| B14 · Interface components | Part | A brief hint that appears on hover or focus. | |
| B7 · Slides and decks | Part | A slide title that only names the subject, such as “Usage data” | |
| B12 · Editorial marks | Mark | Transpose: swap the order. | |
| B7 · Slides and decks | Part | A small marker on each slide showing which section you’re in. | |
| B13 · Authoring and publishing | Format | Books for general readers, for scholars, and for schools and courses. | |
| B7 · Slides and decks | Part | An effect played when moving from one slide to the next. | |
| B10 · Files and print | Part | An image with no background, so it sits cleanly on any colour. | |
| B8 · Charts | Format | Nested rectangles sized by value. | |
| B10 · Files and print | Measure | The final size of the page after cutting. | |
| B8 · Charts | Defect | A value axis that starts above zero, exaggerating differences. | |
| B11 · Sign-off | Measure | Time from file submission to delivery. | |
| B9 · Process and systems | Stage | Watching users attempt real tasks while they say what they’re thinking. | |
| B13 · Authoring and publishing | Defect | A company that charges authors to publish them while offering little editing or distribution. | |
| B9 · Process and systems | Part | A version of a component, such as a primary or secondary button. | |
| B9 · Process and systems | Defect | Multiple competing copies of a file, often named “final_v3_REAL” | |
| B12 · Editorial marks | Mark | “Namely”: introduces a complete list. | |
| B13 · Authoring and publishing | Part | An author’s recognisable way of writing. | |
| B13 · Authoring and publishing | Role | Assembles and edits an edited collection, and oversees a series of books. | |
| B7 · Slides and decks | Defect | A slide filled with paragraphs. | |
| B8 · Charts | Format | Bars showing how a starting value rises and falls to an end value. | |
| B9 · Process and systems | Format | The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, the international standard for accessible digital content (W3C, 2018) | |
| B11 · Sign-off | Stage | A proof printed on the real press with real ink and paper. | |
| B12 · Editorial marks | Mark | Wrong font. | |
| B9 · Process and systems | Stage | A plain, unstyled layout showing structure and content placement only. | |
| B13 · Authoring and publishing | Measure | The length of a manuscript, and the length of the finished book in pages. | |
| B8 · Charts | Part | The line where the value axis starts at zero. Two meanings: not the type baseline in B1. |
Appendix B
The defects, by family
The 20 defects in this volume, in family order, with where each one turns up. The checklist on the closing slides sorts these and volume one’s by the moment to catch them.
| Defect | Family | What it is | Where you’ll meet it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Slideument | B7 · Slides and decks | A document pasted onto slides: too dense to present, too broken up to read (Reynolds, 2008) | Decks used as both pre-read and presentation. |
| Wall of text | B7 · Slides and decks | A slide filled with paragraphs. | Slides copied from a paper. |
| Jumping | B7 · Slides and decks | Titles, logos or page numbers that shift position between slides. | Visible when clicking through quickly. |
| Chartjunk | B8 · Charts | Decoration that carries no data. | 3D effects, gradients, clip art. |
| Truncated axis | B8 · Charts | A value axis that starts above zero, exaggerating differences. | Bar charts in persuasive decks. |
| Dual axis | B8 · Charts | Two different value scales on one chart. | Invites false correlations. |
| 3D chart | B8 · Charts | A chart drawn with false depth. | Default chart styles. |
| Spaghetti chart | B8 · Charts | A line chart with too many tangled series. | Charts with more than five or six lines. |
| Design debt | B9 · Process and systems | Inconsistencies that pile up when quick fixes bypass the system. | Mature products and long-lived templates. |
| Version sprawl | B9 · Process and systems | Multiple competing copies of a file, often named “final_v3_REAL” | Shared drives everywhere. |
| Missing bleed | B10 · Files and print | Artwork that stops at the trim edge, leaving white slivers after cutting. | Files made in Word or PowerPoint. |
| Missing links, missing fonts | B10 · Files and print | Images or fonts the file points to but can’t find. | Files moved between computers. |
| Misregistration | B10 · Files and print | Ink plates out of line, leaving coloured fringes. | Cheap or rushed print jobs. |
| Purple prose | B13 · Authoring and publishing | Writing so ornate it draws attention to itself. | Overwritten drafts. |
| Head-hopping | B13 · Authoring and publishing | Switching point of view between characters within a scene. | Fiction drafts. |
| Filter words | B13 · Authoring and publishing | Words that put a layer between reader and experience: “she saw”, “he felt”, “they noticed” | Line editing. |
| Vanity press | B13 · Authoring and publishing | A company that charges authors to publish them while offering little editing or distribution. | A warning sign. |
| Predatory journal | B13 · Authoring and publishing | A journal that charges authors without providing real peer review or editing. | A warning sign. |
| Dark pattern | B14 · Interface components | A design that tricks users into choices they didn’t intend, such as a hidden opt-out. | Subscriptions and consent screens. |
| Mystery meat navigation | B14 · Interface components | Icons or links that give no clue where they lead until clicked. | Icon-only menus. |
Appendix C
Words with two meanings
The three terms in this volume whose meaning depends on who is speaking.
| Term | Family | The two meanings |
|---|---|---|
| Zero baseline | B8 · Charts | The line where the value axis starts at zero. Two meanings: not the type baseline in B1. |
| Redline, blackline | B11 · Sign-off | Two meanings: a document comparison showing changes (legal and policy), or a design annotated with specs (B9) |
| Slug | B12 · Editorial marks | Two meanings: a short label for a story in the newsroom, or the job-notes area beyond the bleed in print (B10) |
Appendix E
What this companion is not
Four limits, worth stating before the words are used on anybody’s work.
- 01Not a style guide Every entry is a word you’ll hear or need. Practices such as “one idea per slide” are left out, because they belong in a house style.
- 02Not complete The terms were chosen for people who make documents and decks, not for designers. A typographer or a printer would add hundreds more, and should.
- 03Not neutral about defects A defect is a fault in the ordinary case. A poster may break the measure on purpose, and a designer may set a runt for effect. The judgement still belongs to the reader in front of you.
- 04Not a substitute for a designer Naming a fault is the first step in a conversation with a designer, not the last. The words make the conversation shorter.
Appendix F
Verification register
Every cited claim in the source glossary was checked against the work it names. The items below are the corrections made and the points worth knowing.
| Entry | What was checked or corrected |
|---|---|
| F-pattern, Z-pattern | Nielsen (2006) reports the F-pattern from eye-tracking of web pages. The Z-pattern is a layout convention with no comparable study behind it, so the citation now sits with the F alone. |
| Leading | Butterick recommends line spacing of 120 to 145 per cent of the point size, which the definition gives as 1.2 to 1.45 times. |
| Measure | Bringhurst (2004) gives 45 to 75 characters as the satisfactory range for a single-column page, with 66 widely regarded as ideal. |
| Widow, orphan | The definitions follow Bringhurst (2004): an orphan is the first line of a paragraph left at the foot of a page, a widow the last line carried to the head of the next. Some style guides reverse the two, which the widow entry notes. |
| Contrast ratio | The 4.5:1 and 3:1 thresholds are the AA level of WCAG 2.1 (W3C, 2018). WCAG 2.2, published in 2023, keeps the same thresholds. |
| Slideument | The word is Reynolds’s (2008). The definition paraphrases his description rather than quoting it. |
| Data-ink, lie factor, chartjunk, small multiples | All four are from Tufte (2001). The sparkline is from Tufte (2006). |
| Counts | The source says “over 500 terms” and “forty-six defects”. The rows hold 519 terms in Part two and 46 defects. Every count in this companion is generated from the rows. |
| Figures | Every drawing is schematic: invented content, not a real document, slide or brand. The logo on the brand-marks plate is made up for the purpose. |
Source trail
References
The works the source glossary cites, in its own list. Most of the terms are trade vocabulary with no single source. Those that rest on a published work name it in the definition.
- Bringhurst, R. (2004). The elements of typographic style (3rd ed.). Hartley & Marks.
- Butterick, M. (n.d.). Practical typography. https://practicaltypography.com
- Müller-Brockmann, J. (1981). Grid systems in graphic design. Niggli.
- Nielsen, J. (2006). F-shaped pattern for reading web content. Nielsen Norman Group. https://www.nngroup.com/articles/f-shaped-pattern-reading-web-content-discovered/
- Reynolds, G. (2008). Presentation zen: Simple ideas on presentation design and delivery. New Riders.
- Tufte, E. R. (2001). The visual display of quantitative information (2nd ed.). Graphics Press.
- Tufte, E. R. (2006). Beautiful evidence. Graphics Press.
- W3C. (2018). Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1. https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG21/