Account-opener - A direct premium offered by a bank or savings institution to a depositor opening a new account.
Acknowledgment - Written notice to a distributor from a supplier that an order has been received.
Advance premium - Merchandise given to a new customer on condition that he or she earn it via a later purchase.
Advertiser - The purchaser of promotional products. Also known as end-user, promotion buyer.
Advertising specialty - A subset of Promotional Products.
Anniversary plan - A goodwill-building promotion in which employees or customers receive a promotional product or business gift on their hiring anniversaries.
Award - Recognition merchandise, often personalized, used to acknowledge performance or milestones.
Birthday plan - A sale whereby employees or customers receive a promotional product or business gift on their birthdays.
Borrowed interest - A technique in which a marketer associates a promotion or product with a better-known property for the purpose of attracting attention or implied endorsement.
Bounce-back - A bonus direct-mail offer sent along with a premium won or earned by the consumer.
Bug - A manufacturer’s identification mark printed on a form or product, usually in an inconspicuous area.
Business gift - Merchandise given by a business goodwill, without obligation to its customers and employees, etc.
CAS - Certified Advertising Specialist. A designated industry title signifying that the holder has attained seven certified education units by attending 70 hours of educational offerings.
Catalogue price - The price of a product shown in a supplier’s catalogue. There can be no requirement by the supplier that this price be adhered to by any person selling that product. Also known as Suggested List Price.
Client - Promotion Buyer, end-user,-client of distributors.
Collectibles - Premiums designed to have inherent value based upon their perceived collectibility.
Consumer promotion - A programme which uses premiums or other incentives to get buyers to sample, purchase or remain loyal to products or service.
Container premium - A product container which, when empty, may be used as a container for other items.
Contest - A competition based on skill, in which prizes are offered. Proof-of-purchase is usually required with entry.
Continuity programme - An offer of products over a period of six to eight weeks.
Cooperative advertising - Advertising that is jointly sponsored under an articulated programme by manufacturers and retailers.
Copy - The written content of advertising or editorial matter in the media.
Cost per inquiry (CPI) - The cost to generate an inquiry in direct-response advertising.
Cost per thousand (CPM) - The cost of reaching 1,000 units of a media vehicle’s circulation or audience with a particular advertising unit. Calculated by the cost of an advertising unit divided by the circulation or audience .
Coupon plan - A programme in which premiums can be earned by proof-of-purchase coupons.
Coverage - The geographic area reached with specified intensity by an advertising medium. Also, that fraction of an audience that is reached one or more times by a particular advertising schedule.
Credit-card offer - Direct mailing to a credit-card holder, offering merchandise, often using premiums or sweepstakes to close a sale or trial-offer acceptance.
Dealer incentive - Premiums offered to retailers that meet certain sales or performance standards.
Demographics - Descriptive audience statistics that reflect consumer qualities like age, sex, race, income, residence and education attainment.
Direct mail - An ad medium that employs the postal system to deliver advertisements to prospects.
Direct premium - An item given free with a purchase at time of purchase. Direct response - Advertising that seeks an immediate response from consumers by mail or telephone outside established channels of distribution.
Direct seller - An item that serves as a door-opener, sales closer or party incentive.
Direct selling house - A promotional product company that operates as a supplier and a distributor, producing and selling its own proprietary products and other suppliers' noncompeting products directly to clients.
Distributor - In the Promotional Products industry, a person or company that develop ideas for the use of promotional products as an advertising medium, buys such items from suppliers and sells them to advertisers.
Distributor’s net - The price a distributor pays for promotional products.
Door-opener - Offered by a salesperson to persuade potential buyers to listen to a sales presentation, or to initiate interest in a product or service for a follow-up sales call.
Drop-shipping - The individual packaging, addressing and delivery of a product to a specific address, usually the recipient or client.
Employee incentive - A programme designed to motivate a company’s own employees with premiums given for specific actions taken or goals met. Also called recognition programme.
End-user - see also Client, Promotion Buyer.
Envelope stuffer - A direct-mail ad circular or product included with some other mailed message, such as a department store statement.
Factory pack - A premium offered a package, or as a container premium.
Franchise line - Supplier specifies restrictions in order for distributors to carry its line: minimum colume, number of distributors in a geographical area and credit.
Frequency of exposure - The number of times an individual or household is exposed to a particular ad message in a specified period of time.
Frequency programme - Promotion that provides those participating with points, redeemable for merchandise or services.
Fulfillment - The process of packaging and shipping an order for a distributor. May be performed by a supplier, distributor or independent fulfillment house. Other services include warehousing, accounting and coupon-redemption management.
Host gifts/incentives - A gift or premium given to a consumer who agrees to host a demonstration party, usually proportional to the amount of sales generated there.
Image advertising - Advertising designed to make its recipients feel more agreeable toward the advertiser by portraying the advertiser in a more favourable light.
Imprint -In general, reproduction of an advertising message with different types of imprint methods such as offset printing, silk screening, pad printing, embossing, debossing, laser tracing, embroidery etc.
In-pack - A premium offered inside a product being sold. Also called package enclosure.
Incentive - A reward for a purchase or performance.
Incentive catalogue company - A company that puts together a catalogue premium and incentive programme for sale to end users.
Independent contractor - A salesperson operating his or her own business as an independent agent of a distributor.
Industrial advertising - Advertising directed at businesses or enterprises that produce goods/services that are ultimately sold to other businesses or commercial consumers.
Institutional advertising - Advertising on behalf of a corporation or institution rather than for a product.
Keeper - A premium offered in direct mail marketing for accepting a free tiral of the sale merchandise and to be kept by the consumer even if that trial item is returned.
Leave-behind - A product usually given by a salesperson that serves to act as a reminder of his or her visit, company or product/service.
Logos - A firm’s registered symbol, outline, drawing, picture, brand, abbreviation or unusual typestyle of letter, word or brand name used in identifying and advertising. Mail-in - A premium consumers can order through the mail, usually with proof-of-purchase, on a free or self-liquidating basis.
Mail-order advertising - Advertising transmitted by mail to solicit merchandise orders made and fulfilled by mail.
Market profile - A description in demographic or psychographic terms of those people who use a particular product and thus constitute its market.
Market segmentation - A breakdown of a market into subsections, each with distinct demographic, psychographic and/or consumption characteristics.
Market share - The proportion of sales in a product market that is held by an individual brand of that product.
Marketing firm - A company that provides marketing services for one or more supplier companies.
Marketing mix - The blending of a variety of marketing elements (price, packaging, distribution, promotion, public relations) into a marketing programme.
MAS - Master Advertising Specialist. A designated industry title signifying that the holder has attained 17 certified education units by attending 170 hours of educational offerings.
Media planning - The process that develops media goals and strategies and specific plans to implement these goals and strategies.
Medium (pl., Media) - An established vehicle for transmitting promotional/ad messages to the public.
Multi-line supplier rep - An independent contractor representing several different supplier lines.
Near-pack - A premium separate from, but adjacent to, the merchandise being promoted.
On-pack - A direct premium attached to the outside of the product’s container.
Open (general) line - A product line a supplier will sell to all distributors.
Part-cash redemption - An option often included with coupon plans allowing the customer to get a premium more quickly by redeeming fewer coupons with a cash amount.
Penetration - The percentage of a market that a medium or an individual media vehicle reaches. Alternatively, the percentage of the market that a particular marketing message reaches, regardless fo the media vehicles used.
Per inquiry - A means of media payment used in direct-response programmes.
Perceived value - What someone believes promotional merchandise is worth.
Personalize - To imprint the recipient’s name on a particular product.
Point-based system - A programme in which recipients earn premiums based on an acquired number of points, e.g. airline mileage and hotel frequent guest programmes.
Point-of-purchase (POP) advertising - Advertising materials - displays, cards etc., that are placed in retail stores to draw attention to a product.
Premium - A product or service offered free or at a reduced price if the recipient performs some task, such as purchasing an item, meeting a sales quota, etc. Usually consumer-related.
Premium rep - A specialized manufacturer's representative serving premium users; a comission salesperson representing several suppliers.
Prize - Reward given to winner in a contest, sweepstakes or lottery; also sometimes refers to sales incentive award.
Pro forma invoice - An invoice issued as a matter of record and sent to the distributor prior to the shipment of products to confirm the specifications.
Programme selling - An organized effort to analyze specific objectives and develop a programme that meets these objectives in part by the use of promotional products and ending with a review of the results.
Promotion buyer - The advertiser or other purchaser of promotional products, also known as end-user or distributor client.
Promotional Product - Useful and/or symbolic items used in advertising and promotion as communication vehicles, goodwill reminders, signs, gifts and incentives. Included in this category are ad specialties, premiums, recognition awards, business gifts and other identification application.
Random sample - A single copy of a product with a random imprint, not prepared for a particular client.
Recipient - The person who receives the promotional product from the promotion buyer/advertiser.
Referral premium - An item offered to customers for helping sell a product or service to a friend or associate.
Rep or Representative - A salesperson for an advertising medium.
Reserve account - An arrangement whereby a portion of the salesperson’s commission is set aside to compensate for order cancellations and invoicing adjustments.
Restricted line - A product line where a supplier specifies the minimum volume, credit or geographic location of distributors permitted to sell it.
Safety programme - A promotional programme designed to raise safety awareness and recognize those who follow safe on-the-job practices.
Sales incentive - A premium or monetary reward offered to salespeople for attaining a specified performance level.
Sales promotion - A programme designed to stimulate immediate action on the part of the consumer, generally by adding value to a purchase or action taken.
Sample rebate policy - Many suppliers offer distributors a rebate against merchandise sales. The supplier determines the type of rebate (credit, distributor imprint sample, sample kits and catalogues), minimum sales volume to qualify for rebate, maximum percent of sales volume rebated and method of adjustment (cheque, credit memo). The supplier also determines how and/or when rebates are computed (times of year, upon qualification, upon request).
Selective media - Advertising media like Promotional Products and direct mail that can be targeted to specific, limited audiences.
Self-liquidator - A premium that has a cost only partially covered by the purchase price at which it is offered.
Shipping date - The date an order should be shipped from the factory to the purchasing client.
SKU - Stock Keeping Unit, a number associated with a product for inventory purposes.
Special markets - A general term that includes premiums, promotional products and direct response.
Specialty advertising - A medium of advertising, sales promotion and motivational communication employing imprinted, useful or decorative products called advertising specialties; a subset of promotional products.
Speculative (spec) sample - Single copy of a product prepared with the customer's ad copy produced before an order
Supplier - A promotional products company which manufactures, imports, converts. imprints, or otherwise produces or processes promotional products offered for sale through promotional products distributors.
Tape plan - A supermarket premium programme offering one or several items in return for register tapes that total a specified amount.
Target Market - The ideal audience for a mailing effort. Usually defined in psychographic and demographic terms.
Trade advertising - Advertising directed at members of the wholesale or retail trade.
Trade character - A visual identification or personification of a particular brand, merchandise or advertiser,
Traffic builder - A promotional product or premium designed to get consumers to enter a store or a trade-show exhibit.
Travel incentive - A trip offered to salespeople or dealers, often tied into sales meetings at resort areas.
Waste circulation - Media circulation that reaches other than advertiser prospects.
Acetate - A sheet of flexible, clear plastic, frequently used to make overlays on mechanicals.
Airbrush - A graphic technique in which ink is applied with compressed air, similar to spray painting, to render a soft, airy affect.
Art proof - Artwork submitted for client approval, usually a black-and-white stat of the camera-ready art.
Artwork - All original copy, including type, photos and illustrations, intended for printing. Also called art.
Author’s alterations (AAs) - Changes in type at the proof stages, made by and chargeable to the client.
Body copy - The actual text, distinguished from headlines, captions and subheads.
Bold type - A heavy typeface used for titles or emphasis.
Break for colour - To separate, by colour, elements to be printed in different colours.
Bullet - Bold dot used for typographic emphasis or to identify elements in a list.
Burnishing - In art, rubbing with a special tool, as in transferring press type to a layout.
C-print - A full-colour, positive print from a negative transparency.
Casting - A method in which molten metal is forced into a mold of rubber or plaster, then cooled into the desired shape.
Clean-up charge - A factory charge added for the labor costs involved in cleaning the printing press after using a nonstandard ink colour. Also known as a wash-up charge.
Clip art - Copyright-free drawings available for purchase for unlimited repro-duction.
Cloisart - A hot-stamp procedure where the desired logo/copy is foil hot-stamped on a solid brass or metal base, then covered with an epoxy dome. A cloisonné look-alike for a fraction of the cost.
Cloisonné - Metal emblems are stamped from a die. A coloured paste, made from ground glass, is applied to recessed areas, then fired at 1400 degrees and polished by stone and pumice to achieve brilliant colour. Since gullies and ridges separate each individual colour, fine lines between them are difficult to achieve. Considered a very high quality product. Used in jewellery and pins.
CMYK - Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black. These are the four basic design inks; they’re used to create a full spectrum of color on a printed or digital page. (See also RGB.)
Colour proof - An overlay proof composed of an individual acetate sheet for each colour (see Progressive Proof).
Colour separation - The separation of multicoloured original art by camera or laser-scan techniques to produce individual negatives for each separated colour. There are four common separations for full-colour (four-colour) printing: yellow, magenta, cyan and black.
Crop - To eliminate a portion of a picture, illustration or photograph that contains unnecessary material, or to highlight a certain area of the image.
Crop marks - Indicators on artwork to show where an illustration is to be cut or sized.
Debossing - The depression of an image into a material such as paper, leather or plastic, so the image sits below the product surface.
Decal transfer - An imprinting method in which the decal is printed on an offset or letterset press, submerged in water and placed on the product. Excess water and air is squeegeed off and the product is kiln-fired, a process that fuses the decal with the glaze.
Die charge - A charge by the supplier for creating a die from artwork supplied by the buyer.
Die-casting - A process where molten metal is injected into the cavity of a carved die.
Die-cutting - Using sharp steel blades to cut shapes from printed sheets.
Die-stamp - A steel plate engraved with the desired image, generally used to apply a gold or silver imprint.
Die-striking - A method of producing emblems and other flat promotional products. A blank, cut from a metal sheet, is struck with a hammer that holds the die.
Drop shadow - A graphic device in which type is reproduced with an offset second image on one edge, giving a shadow effect that visually lifts the primary type and makes the image appear three-dimensional.
Dummy - A simulation of a finished printed piece.
Embossing - The raising of an image on a product, accomplished by pressing the material between concave and convex dies.
Embroidery - A design stitched onto fabric through the use of high-speed, computer-controlled sewing machines.
Engraving - Cutting an image into metal, wood or glass.
Etched - An imprinting method in which the product to be imaged is coated with a protective coating that resists acid. The image is then exposed, leaving bare metal and protected metal. The acid attacks only the exposed metal. The acid attacks only the exposed metal, leaving the image etched onto the surface.
Film - A negative or positive, photographic or lithographic record made on a light sensitive material.
Font - The type and style of text letters and characters used. Also called a "typeface".
Four-colour process - A printing process that creates colour productions by overprinting screens that individually print reds, yellows, blues and blacks of variable specified
Heat-transfer printing (direct-transfer process) - Image is screened onto a transfer substrate, which is then laid directly on the material to be imprinted. The image is transferred from the substrate to the material through heat and pressure. Works best on cotton and cotton blends.
Heat-transfer printing (sublimation) - A process in which a design is transferred to a synthetic fabric by heat and pressure. The heat causes the inks to turn into a gas so that they penetrate the fabric and combine with it to form a permanent imprint.
Hologram - A combination of several layers of refractive material.
Hot stamping - A dry imprinting process in which a design or type is set on a relief die that is subsequently impressed with heat and pressure onto the printing surface.
Hot type - Type composed by machine and made from molten metal.
Injection molding - A process in which molten metal or plastic is injected into the cavity of a carved die.
Italic - In type, letterforms that slope to the right.
Keyline drawing - An outline drawing on finished art to indicate the exact shape, position and size for such elements as halftones, line sketches, etc.
Laminated - Coated with clear plastic, or two separate sheets of paper joined together as a single sheet to provide a special thickness or varying colours from side to side.
Laser engraving - An imprinting method by which art or lettering is cut into a material by a laser beam that vaporizes the portion exposed through openings in a template.
Layout - A design, drawing or arrangement containing ad copy showing how final ad will look like.
Letterpress printing - A printing method in which ink is carried on a raised surface to the page or object being printed.
Line art - Black-and-white illustration of reproduction quality. Line conversion - A photograph reproduced as a line illustration, accomplished by shooting the photo without a screen and omitting the middle tones.
Litho laminating - The process of mounting a printed lithography sheet to single-face corrugated to produce a display-quality piece that is structural corrugated.
Lithography - See Off-set printing.
Metal casting - A production method in which jewelry or other material is shaped by covering a mold with molten metal.
Moire - A screen pattern caused by the clash of dot patterns when two or more screens are used.
Mounting and finishing - The manufacturing of a display, applying litho, diecutting and assembly.
Negative - Image reproduction with opposite density values of the original.
Nonrepro blue - A colour that does not reproduce in final production, used to mark instructions and corrections on camera-ready art.
Offset printing - A printing process in which a positive image is transferred to a rubber blanket in reverse, which in turn applies it to the surface to be printed, right reading.
Overlay - Clear acetate bearing design elements positioned in register to the base art. Used for separating the different imprint colours.
Overrun - produced in excess of the number originally ordered.
Pad printing - A method of imprinting in which a recessed surface is covered with ink. When the plate is wiped clean, ink remains in the recessed area. A silicone pad then presses against the plate, pulls the ink out of the recesses, and is pressed directly against the product.
Pantone Matching System (PMS) - A colour scale used to precisely match colours for printing. Each hue has a coded number indicating instructions for mixing inks to achieve that hue.
Paste-up - The act of producing mechanical art.
Phantom (ghost) - A transparent image superimposed over a subject.
Photo Mechanical Transfer (PMT) - A diffusion-transfer process used to resize or copy images. The standard for camera-ready art
Plate - A rubber or metal image carrier that transfers ink to the printing surface.
Positive - Image reproduction with the same density values as the original.
Progressive proofs - Colour proofs that show the reproduction of each colour plate separately and in combination with each other. Also called colour keys.
Proportion - A design concept expressing an element’s relationship of length to width.
Puff prints - A screening process using puff inks.
Register marks - Cross-hair marks applied to negatives, artwork, photographs or mechanicals to ensure precise register on the final product.
Registration - The correct alignment of colour and other components of an imprint with each other and to the item on which they are to be imprinted.
Resolution - The density of dots for any given output device. The unit of measurement is dots per inch (dpi).
Retouching - The process of improving/highlighting necessary details in a picture, photograph, print or drawing.
Reverse - The mirror-like inversion of elements on a printing plate in relation to their order on the surface printed from it.
RGB: Red, Green, Blue. The primary colors, called "additive" colors, used by color monitor displays and TVs. The combination and intensities of these three colors can represent the whole spectrum.
Sample - Pre-production or finished sample. See Dummy.
Sans-serif type - A typestyle without cross strokes at the end of the main strokes.
Scaling - Determining the proper size of an image to be produced (or reduced/enlarged). It is important that both directions be scaled in order to ensure proper fit in the final reproduction.
Score - To impress a mark in a sheet of paper to facilitate folding and help it lie flat.
Screen - A series of dots used to reproduce halftones or blended colours. As the percentage of screen increases, the colour prints darker.
Screen charge - A charge by suppliers for creating a silk screen of the artwork used for imprinting products.
Screen tints - A process in which shading and tinting are added to a line reproduction.
Screenprinting - An imprinting method in which the image is transferred to the printed surface by ink squeegeed through a stenciled screen stretched over a frame. Also called silk-screening.
Serif type - Any typeface with letters having a cross stroke at the end of the main stroke.
Set-up charge - The cost of preparing the for the press and the actual printing.
Sketch - An initial rough drawing in pencil, ink or colour, to determine the arrangement of an illustration.
Solid - A printed area without type or other illustrations.
Spot colour - Colour used usually for accent.
Stripping - Attaching, putting together or assembling in negative film from the separate elements of an ad, brochure, flyer or other printed materials into one cohesive unit.
Thermography - A means of imprinting in which powder is added to the image to be printed. When heated, the powder fuses with the ink, and the image appears in relief.
Tip-in - Preprinted card bound or partially bound into a periodical.
Tip-on - To attach endsheets or other material to the outside of folded sections by machine applications of a thin strip of adhesive.
Transparency - A full-colour, translucent, photographic film positive.
Transparent ink - Printing ink that does not completely conceal the colour of the carrying material beneath.
Trim size - Finished size of a printed piece after waste is trimmed away.
Type transfer - A sheet of type created through a photographic and chemical process which can be transferred onto almost any surface by burnishing the back of the sheet.
Typeface - A general term used to describe the styles of lettering available in typesetting.
Typeset - To create type of a quality usable for reproduction, whether electronically or mechanically.
Underrun - A number of products less than what was originally ordered.
Varnish - A thin, protective coating applied to a printed sheet for protection, appearance or to prevent fingerprinting.
Velox - (see also PMT) A photoprint with halftone dot pattern in place of continuous tone, ready for line reproduction.
Vignette - An illustration in which the background fades gradually away until it blends into the unprinted paper.
Wash drawings - Line drawings in which the middle tones have been retained.
Web Press - Cylinder printing machine in which the paper is fed from a continuous reel, as opposed to sheet fed.
Weight - Visual effect of the thickness or thinness of text, rules or logos.
Access - "Logging on" to the Internet in order to browse and retrieve data and so you can communicate with e-mail.
Active - Objects currently being displayed within your computer screen. The “active” window is the window you are currently working in.
Address - A code or series of letters, numbers and/or symbols by which the Internet identifies you or a location where information is stored.
Adobe Acrobat - Acrobat is a programme that decodes, reads and converts documents to the Portable Document Format (PDF), allowing scalable graphics and type to be displayed and printed from any computer and from any platform (Macintosh, Windows, DOS, or UNIX) - regardless of the fonts or software programs used to create the original.
Application - program, software,.e.g. database, spreadsheet, word processing and Web browser.
Attached file or Attachment - A file(s) that is added to an e-mail. This is accomplished by clicking the “attach file” button and then browsing through your system to find and select the desired file.
At sign or @ - The “at” sign or "@" symbol is primarily used to separate the domain name and the user name in an e-mail address.
b2b (business-to-business) - Web sites for businesses where only other businesses can access or buy products on the site.
b2c (business-to-consumer) - e-commerce Web sites that sell goods directly to the consumer.
Banner Ad - Ads that are usually presented within a rectangular (or banner-shaped) box positioned at the top or bottom of a Web page.
Bookmark - By "bookmarking" a Web site while you visit it, you can easily return to it at a later time with a simple mouse click rather than remembering or typing in very long and sometimes cryptic URLs.
Browser - A program used to view, download, upload, surf or otherwise access documents (pages) on the World Wide Web.
CD-ROM -Compact Disc - Read Only Memory - An optical storage technology that uses compact discs to store and play back data. One CD-ROM can hold about 600 megabytes, or the equivalent of 700 floppy disks. The term CD-ROM refers to the technology or the discs, but not to the hardware you play the discs on. That’s a CD-ROM drive.
Compact Disc (CD) - A class of 4.7-inch (120mm) laser-readable optical discs used to store all forms of digital information.
CD-ROM-R - CD-ROM-Recordable. Recordable optical storage medium using a compact disc. Information may be recorded on the disc once. Used to produce masters of CD-ROM-based applications and for archiving data.
Click - To press the left mouse button once
COM or .com - Commercial - A type of Internet domain assigned to URLs that are business or commercial entities (for example,www.netlingo.com). There is also .edu, .gov, .net, .mil, and .org.
Compression - A technique used to considerably reduce the size of a file without losing any of the original information.
Configuration -A general-purpose computer term that refers to the way your computer’s operating system is set up.
Central Processing Unit (CPU) - Part of the computer that performs the logic, computational and decision-making functions. It interprets and executes instructions as it receives them. It is often called the central processor or simply the processor.
Cookie - A cookie is a small piece of information about you (actually your computer) as a result of something you "clicked on". Its purpose is to set-up an account, including your username and password, which is stored in a text file on your hard drive. Once it's stored, a server will access this information when you connect to a Web site that you've visited before and entered information about yourself.
Cyberspace - primarily used to refer to the digital world constructed by computer networks, in particular the Internet.
Data - In general, data is information, factual information such as text, numbers, sounds, images, anything that can be processed on a computer.
Dedicated line - A telecommunications line that lets your computer have a direct, permanent connection to the Internet.
Desktop - Your computer screen.
Dial-up connection - The most popular form of Internet connection for a home user, this is a connection from your desktop computer to the host/server computer over standard telephone lines.
Digital Camera - basically a camera that produces photographs that can be saved as files on your PC.
Domain name - The "address" or URL of a particular Web site. This is also how you describe the name that is at the right of the @ sign in an Internet address.
Disk Operating System (DOS) - Most common operating system for the IBM-compatible or Intel-processor-based personal computer.
Download - To transfer a file(s) from another computer to your computer.
Drop down menu (Droplist) - A list of options that drops down when you click on a down arrow button.
DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) - New standard for digital, full-length movies encoded on CDs. Aims to replace video cassettes, laser discs, CD-ROMs, and audio CDs.
e-business - A business that is deriving revenue from the Internet.
e-commerce (Electronic Commerce) - Conducting business online.
e-mail (Electronic Mail) - a way of sending other people messages from your PC. Widely used facility on the Internet that basically sends addressed messages over a Network in a couple of minutes.
Encryption - A way of making data unreadable to everyone except the receiver. An increasingly common way of sending credit card numbers over the Internet when conducting commercial transactions.
File extension - The group of letters after a period or "dot" in a file name. This extension refers to the type of file it is, for example, ".doc" is a Word document.
Firewall - A combination of specialised hardware & software designed to keep unauthorised users from accessing information within a networked computer system.
GIF Files - The most common type of image file used on the Internet. These files are compressed and can therefore be downloaded a lot quicker than other graphics file. GIF files are typically used for backgrounds, displaying banners, advertisements, buttons.
Homepage (Home page) - The first or "front" page on a Web site that serves as the starting point for navigation. Where the site's information actually begins. Also known as the Welcome page.
Host - A computer that functions as the beginning and end point of data transfers. Most commonly known of as the place where your Web site resides.
HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) - HTML is the lingua franca for publishing hypertext on the World Wide Web. HTML uses tags to structure text into headings, paragraphs, lists, hypertext links and more.
Hyperlink - or "link" - The text you find on a Web site which can be "clicked on" to take you to another Web page or a different area of the same Web page.
ICQ - I Seek You - A user-friendly Internet program that tells you who's online at all times. ICQ searches the Net for you and alerts you in real time when friends or colleagues sign on. With ICQ, you can chat, send messages and files, play games, or just hang out with your fellow netizens as you surf the Net.
Internet - also known simply as "the Net". The Internet is a way of connecting existing computer networks that greatly extends the reach of each participating system.
Internet account - An account with an ISP (internet service provider) that allows you to access the Internet. ISP - Internet Service Provider or Internet Access Provider (IAP), a company which provides access to the Internet for people. The company handles the link from your PC to the rest of the Internet. The ISP's central computer is linked to the rest of the internet so the person using this service only pays the telephone charges to connect from their home computer to the ISP's central computer.
JPEG - A type of image file used on the Internet. JPEG files cannot be interlaced or transparent. (See also GIF).
LAN (Local Area Network) - A group of PC's, other computers & peripheral devices that are linked together where each device is located in close proximity to all the other devices. LANs typically consist of a number of PC's, shared printers & shared directories & files.
Laserdisc - Similar technology as used in CD-ROM, but a laserdisc is larger in format.
Login or log in - The account name (username or userID) and/or password used to access a computer system or Web site. Used as a verb "to log in", the term means the act of typing in your username and password
Megabyte - A million bytes. A thousand kilobytes.
Microprocessor - Electronic circuit used to perform mathematical, logical, and control functions. Microchip with high intelligence for the execution of instructions. Microprocessors are programmable and the program is usually stored in a ROM or main memory.
Memory - Chips that hold information that the PC needs to use. These chips are connected directly to the Microprocessor. There are two types of Memory Chip:- Random Access Memory (RAM) and Read Only Media (ROM)
Modem - MOdulator, DEModulator - A device that you connect to your computer and to a phone line, that allows the computer to talk to other computers through the phone system. Basically, modems do for computers what a telephone does for humans. Generally there are 3 types of modems: external, PC Card and internal.
Navigate - To move around on the World Wide Web by following hypertext paths from document to document on different computers.
Offline - When a computer is not connected to a host system or the Net, it is offline.
Online - Being connected to the Internet. Used as an adjective, it also describes a variety of activities that users do on the Internet, for example: online chat, online shopping, online games, etc.
Open - To read the contents of a certain file To start or launch a computer application or software program To maximize or restore a "window" of an already running computer program.
PDF - See Adobe Acrobat.
PPP - Point-to-Point Protocol - Communication protocol used over serial lines to support Internet connectivity.
Palm Pilot - A hand-held personal organizer. Also referred to as a PDA (personal digital assistant).
Password - A secret combinations of letters and other symbols needed to login to a computer system.
Platform - The type of computer or operating system on which a software application runs. Some common platforms are PC, Macintosh, Unix, and NeXT. When someone knows more than one of these platforms or when a program can be used on more than one of these platforms, it is known as cross-platform.
Printer - A hardware device connected to your PC that prints Documents, images etc out onto Paper. Types of printers include Bubble Jet, Ink Jet, Laser.
Processor - The brain of the PC which carries out all of the low level "processing" that the PC needs to do, e.g. calculating the sum of 2 numbers. Basically every single task that the PC performs is dependent on the processor.
Programme - A series of instructions that causes the PC to do something. The Operating System such as DOS is known as a Systems Program. Application Programmes such as a Word Processor or Spreadsheet perform the main tasks for which we use the PC.
Random Access Memory (RAM) - Data storage that can be written to and read from. RAM is volatile, temporary storage that is used to run application programs. In RAM, data can be directly and randomly read or written.
Raster - Computer graphics terms describing a predetermined pattern of line that provides uniform coverage of a display space. Raster graphics are computer graphics that are composed of an array of pixels arranged in rows and columns. Bitmapped images are examples of raster graphics. See also vector (or coordinate) graphics.
Right click - Clicking the right button once of your mouse in order to access shortcut options. For Mac users, this can be achieved by clicking and holding down the button on your mouse.
Read Only Memory (ROM) - a memory chip from which data that has been written in advance. It can be read but cannot be written in the field.
Scanner - A peripheral device that is used to transfer a picture, photograph, image into a file on your PC. The image is scanned and converted into a format that the PC can interpret.
Scroll and scroll bar - scrolling is the act of moving a scroll bar to see what else is on a page other than what appears in the initial screen.
Search engine - A program which acts as a card catalogue for the Internet, to index and locate desired information by searching for keywords which a user specifies.
Server - A host computer on a network that holds information and responds to requests for information from it.
Shareware - Software available for downloading on the Internet that you can try before you buy.
Surf - To browse or "look at" information on the World Wide Web by pointing and clicking and navigating in a nonlinear way (meaning anywhere you want to go at anytime).
Tag - A term used within HTML - tags are codes that tell the Web browser exactly how to display information, for example there is a Tag to display text in Bold.
Task bar - On Windows machines, this is the default bar or border at the bottom of your screen. It shows the Start button, all of the applications that are open or active, and the time etc.
Username - The name by which you or someone else is known by on the Internet. Used when logging into an access provider or when entering a member's only area on the Web.
Vector Graphics - Images defined by sets of straight lines which are defined by the locations of the end-points. Vector graphics require much less storage space than raster or bitmapped graphics.
Virtual - Simulation of the real thing. This term appears before various computer terms to indicate simulation technology that enables you to cross boundaries and experience something without its physical presence, as in virtual reality, virtual theme parks, virtual communities.
Virus - This is a program which can damage the files on your PC - often created intentionally to do so.
www - World Wide Web - The Internet facility that allows you to browse linked web pages.
Webmaster - The person who is responsible for looking after a particular Web Site
Web Designer - The aesthetic and navigational Architect of a Web site and its presentation. How the site "looks" and "feels" is the responsibilty of the Web designer.
Web Developer - A person, who from a technical standpoint, architecturally "builds" Web sites. Researches and provides through programming the means for a particular Web product to work.
Webpage - An HTML document which contains information which can be seen on the Internet. The term Web page is also used to refer to an entire Web site, although this usage pertains more to a collection of "pages" which are "housed" under one domain name. Also referred to as a homepage, although a homepage is usually the starting point or front door to a lot more Web pages or Web site.
Website - A group of Web Pages that collectively represent a company, or individual on the WWW. A group of Web pages that have been developed together to present information on a specific subject(s) is also a Web Site.