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APR - Automatic Picture Replacement. The replacement of a low resolution image by a high resolution image.

ASCII - American Standard Code for Information Interchange. A standard means of representing text as numerical data.

Accordion Fold - In binding, a term used for two or more parallel folds which open like an accordion.

A/W - an abbreviation for "artwork."

Acetate - Transparent plastic sheet frequently used for overlays in ad layouts. It's placed over artwork allowing the artist to write instructions or indicate where second color is to be placed.

Addendum - supplementary material additional to the main body of a book and printed separately at the start or end of the text.

Additive Color - in color reproduction, red, green, and blue. When lights of these three colors are added together, they produce the sensation of white light.

Advertising - A paid, mediated, form of communication from an identifiable source, designed to persuade the receiver to take some action, now or in the future.

Advertorial - An advertisement that has the appearance of a news article or editorial, in a print publication.

Advocacy Advertising - Advertising used to promote a position on a political, controversial or other social issue.

Ad Copy - The printed text or spoken words in an advertisement.

Ad Rate Card - a one sheet that lists your ad rates.

Against The Grain - At right angles to direction of paper grain.

AIDA - Stands for Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action. This is a historical model of how advertising works, by first getting the consumer's attention, then their interest, etc.

Air (US) - an amount of white space in a layout.

Airbrush - a mechanical painting tool producing an adjustable spray of paint driven by compressed air. Used in illustration design and photographic retouching.

Align - to line up typeset or other graphic material as specified, using a base or vertical line as the reference point.

Alphabet (length or width) - the measurement of a complete set of lowercase alphabet characters in a given type size expressed in points or picas.

Alteration - Change in copy of specifications after production has begun.

Analog Color Proof - off-press color proof made from separation films. Includes overlay (such as Color Key) and laminate (such as PressMatch) proofs.

Anodized Plate - an offset printing plate with a specially treated surface to reduce wear during printing.

Antique Finish - a term describing the surface, usually on cover papers, that has a rough, natural finish.

Apex - the point of a character where two lines meet at the top, an example of this is the point on the letter A.

Apron (US) - additional white space allowed in the margins of text and illustrations when forming a foldout.

Art - all illustration copy used in preparing a job for printing.

Artboard - Alternate term for mechanical art.

Art Paper - a smooth coated paper obtained by adding a coating of china clay compound on one or both sides of the paper.

Art (US) - in graphic arts usage, all matter other than text material e.g. illustrations and photographs.

Ascender - any part of a lower case letter extending above the x-height. For example, the upper half of the vertical in the letters b or h.

Author's Corrections - Also known as "AC's". Changes made to the copy by the author after typesetting but not including those made as a result of errors in keying in the copy.

AutoTrap - A software program that automatically applies trapping to film which is output by imagesetters. Trapping is the precise relationship between two ink colors when they butt together on a printed sheet. If no trap is added, a white gap may appear between colors. If too much trap is added, a dark line will appear where the colors overlap.