Glossary
A
Ad Layout: A working drawing showing how an ad is to look. It indicates the relative positions of the elements (e.g., headline, photo, logo, body copy, etc.) of an ad.
Advertising Plan: An explicit outline of what goals an advertising campaign should achieve, how to accomplish those goals and how to determine whether the campaign was successful in obtaining those goals.
Advertising Research: Research conducted to improve the efficacy of advertising. It may focus on a specific ad or campaign, or may be directed at a more general understanding of how advertising works or how consumers use the information in advertising. It can entail a variety of research approaches, including psychological, sociological, economic and other perspectives.
Advertorial: A print advertisement designed with the appearance of an editorial article.
AP Adsend: A form of ad transmission using the Associated Press as a third party to transmit ad material from clients to DMNmedia.
Audience: The number of people or households exposed to a vehicle, without regard to whether they actually saw or heard the material conveyed by that vehicle
Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC): A company that audits the circulation of print publications to ensure that reported circulation figures are accurate. The annual audit shows daily and Sunday circulation numbers averaged over a 12-month period, including breakouts by county and ZIP code
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Barter: Exchanging merchandise, or something other than money, for advertising space or time.
Bitmap (BMP): An image created of dots.; bits stored in memory represent each picture; usually associated with halftone art; also referred to as a raster image.
Broadsheet: A “standard” or full-sized newspaper, usually measuring 13” wide by 22” deep. A Dallas Morning News broadsheet measures 6 columns (12”) wide by 21” deep.
Bulldog Edition: An edition of a print publication that is available earlier than other editions. Usually, this is the early Sunday paper released to the public Saturday mornings.
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Carrier Route: A carrier route is the lowest level of delivery information known to the advertising system. One or more carrier routes are assigned to a single drop, one or more drops to a single trip. Each trip is designated a truck.
Centerspread: In print, it’s the space occupied by an ad, or the ad itself, on the two facing pages of a publication bound through the center, otherwise called a double-paged spread or double truck.
Circulation: Refers to the physical number of copies distributed by a medium.
Classified Advertising: Advertising that is limited to certain classes of goods and services, including:
Real Estate
Automotive
Employment
Consumer Classified (liner ads)
CMYK: Cyan (C), magenta (M), yellow (Y) and black (B). The colors used on a graphic image and in four-color process printing.
Coated Stock: Paper with a slick and smooth finish.
Collateral Materials: Sales brochures, catalogs, spec sheets, etc., generally delivered to consumers (or dealers) by a salesperson rather than by mass media. The salesperson considers these materials “collateral” to the sales message delivered.
Color Correction: The process used in imaging to compensate for image deficiencies or for characteristics of the output device and printing presses.
Color Separation: A full-color newspaper ad normally is generated through printing of four separate colors: cyan (C), magenta (M), yellow (Y) and black (B). The color separation consists of four separate screens, one for each of those four colors.
Column Inch: A common unit of measure by newspapers, whereby ad space is purchased by the width, in columns, and the depth, in inches. For example, an ad that is three standard columns wide and five inches tall (or deep) would be 15 column inches.
Compression: Compressing a file is a way of making it smaller so that it can fit onto a designated space (i.e., disk, server or hard drive). Decompression reverts the data back to its original size.
Cookie: A persistent piece of information, stored on the user’s local hard drive, that is keyed to a specific server and is passed back to the server as part of the transaction that takes place when the user’s browser again crosses the specific server/path combination.
Cooperative (Co-Op) Advertising Program: A system by which ad costs are divided between two or more parties. Usually, such programs are offered by manufacturers to their wholesalers or retailers, as a means of encouraging those parties to advertise the product.
Copy: The text of an ad, the matter for a composer to set, any material to be used in publication.
Correct & Release (C&R): Term used in ad production when the final deadline is approaching that indicates no further proofing is required before releasing the ad for production.
Cost Per Thousand (CPM): The dollar figure used to evaluate the cost to reach a thousand persons in a media buy. CPMs are calculated by multiplying the cost of an ad by 1,000, then dividing that number by the total audience. CPM = Cost x 1,000 divided by Total Audience.
Coverage: A term used to define a medium’s exposure within either geography or demography. Usually expressed as a percent and is similar to percent reach (audience) or percent penetration (circulation).
Crop: To eliminate or cut off specific portions of a photograph or illustration.
Crop Marks: Marks to indicate which portions of a photograph or illustration are to be used and which are to be eliminated.
Cumulative (“Cume”): The unduplicated number of people reached by a media schedule during a specified time period, either in one medium or combination of media. Cume is also referred to as net reach and is expressed in real numbers.
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Dallasnews.com: The online version of The Dallas Morning News.
Demographic Segmentation: Dividing consumers into groups based on selected demographics, so that different groups can be treated differently. For example, two advertisements might be developed, one for adults and one for teenagers, because the two groups are expected to be attracted to different types of advertising appeal.
Density: The degree of opacity of a photographic image on paper or film.
Denton Record-Chronicle (DRC): The Belo-owned newspaper located in Denton, Texas.
Designated Market Area (DMA): A geographic area defined by Nielsen Media Research and based on groupings of mutually exclusive television marketing areas. Examples: Washington, DC, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, etc.
Digital Material: Computer-generated electronic files used to image ads or integrate into electronically composed pages.
Direct Mail: Marketing communications delivered directly to a prospective purchaser via the U.S. Postal Service or a private delivery company.
Display Advertising: Ads that are usually surrounded by a border and can contain a company logo or other graphics. Also, advertising that appears in any section other than the classifieds in column or agate (line) ads. An example of a display ad is a three-column x 10.5” ad (1/4 page) in the Sports section.
Distribution Types: Distribution of a publication or preprint to a route is classified by type, either Home Delivery (HD) or Single Copy (SC). Package running priorities may be classified this way as well or, if a priority consists of preprints going to any of these types within a zone, as HD (Home Delivery) SC (Single Copy), State and Zones.
Dither: The process of simulating color by a combination of small dots of primary color, which, when viewed, appear to mix to form the desired color. Very useful for the Web to correct GIF image output.
Dot: A halftone dot (used in color separations). Halftone dots are often confused with pixels, but the two are not related. Pixels have fixed size, but variable density. Halftone dots have fixed density, but variable size. This gives the illusion of a continuous-tone image when viewed from a distance. There is no fixed relationship between the number of pixels and the number of halftone dots per inch, but a halftone dot can resolve detail smaller than itself (by varying its shape), so for best detail there should be at least twice as many pixels per inch as halftone dots.
Dot Gain: Images in the newspaper appear 20%-30% darker than proofs or the image on your screen. The size of the dot enlarges with every step of the printing process. The Dallas Morning News’ maximum density is 250.
Dots Per Inch (DPI): A measure of the output resolution produced by printer and imagesetters. The number of dots in a line adds up to one inch in length.
Double Truck: A single ad covering two facing pages including the gutter. The use of the gutter adds a half column to the size calculation.
Broadsheet Double Truck = 12 columns x 21”
Tabloid Double Truck = 11 columns x 11.5”
Duplication: The number of homes, viewers, listeners or readers that are exposed to the same message through various media or in the same medium two or more times.
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Ear Ad: An ad that is positioned in the upper right or left corner of a printed page, with a size that approximates 2” x 2”.
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Federal Communications Commission (FCC): The federal agency responsible for regulating broadcast and electronic communications.
Federal Trade Commission (FTC): The federal agency primarily responsible for regulating national advertising.
File Format: A format of saving text and graphics; for example, EPS, TIFF, PICT, PDF, JPG.
File Transfer Protocol: Method of transferring files from remote computers via the Internet.
Fixed Position: A printed ad space that is always placed in the same position and on the same page for a specified time period.
Folio: The area on each newspaper page that includes such information as the name of the newspaper, section identifier, page number and date of publication.
Font: A typeface style, such as Helvetica, Times Roman, etc., in a single size. A single font includes all 26 letters, along with punctuation, numbers and other characters. To output correctly, a printer needs both the printer fonts and its companion screen fonts.
Four-Color Process: A printing process that combines differing amounts of each of four colors (cyan (C), magenta (M), yellow (Y) and black (B)) to provide a full-color print.
Freestanding Insert (FSI): Also known as preprint or insert. These are the advertising pieces where clients pay for distribution within specific advertising zones and districts and for specific dates. They are freestanding pages that contain only the ads and are separate from any editorial or entertainment matter.
Frequency: Number of times an average person or home is exposed to a media vehicle (or group of vehicles), within a given time period.
Front Page Notes: A removable 3” x 3” advertisement affixed to the front page of a section of the printed newspaper.
Full-Run: An ad that will be seen in the complete distribution of the newspaper.
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Gamma: The way in which dark or light shades are measured in photographic image. The measure of the image contrast, changing the midtone placement rather than the endpoints.
Gamut: The range of colors that are available in a color system. If your color is out of gamut range, then it may not print or view correctly.
Gatefold: Double- or triple-size pages, generally in magazines, that fold out into a large advertisement.
General Advertising (National Advertising): Newspaper advertising aimed at consumers in a national market audience (i.e, the United States), as opposed to local advertising.
GIF: A service mark used for a raster-based color graphics file format, often used on the World Wide Web to store graphics.
Grayscale: In black and white photography, the highest bit depth mode that contains 256 shades of gray (i.e., halftone). Each pixel can be any one of values from zero to 255.
Gutter: The inside margins of two pages that face each other in a print publication.
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Halftone: A method of reproducing a black and white photograph or illustration, by representing various shades of gray as a series of black and white dots.
Header: The primary news sections of the newspaper that print the night before publication. Includes Main “A,” Metro, Sports and Business sections of the newspaper.
Home Delivery: A method of newspaper distribution delivered to subscribers in homes, businesses and apartments.
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Imagesetter: Output device that uses a very high resolution onto photographic-quality paper or film.
Insert: An advertisement, collection of advertisements or other promotional matter published by an advertiser or group of advertisers, to be inserted in a magazine or newspaper. It may be bound into the publication, or be inserted without binding (see Freestanding Insert).
Insertion Order: Written authorization for a publication to print a specific ad in a particular issue at a stated rate.
Integrated Ad: An ad that is shaped such that editorial content runs around it in a nontraditional way; i.e., not square or rectangular. A sample would be a round ad in the middle of a page with editorial content running in a circle around it. These ads are sold at a premium.
Island Position: A print ad that is completely surrounded by editorial material, or a broadcast ad surrounded by program content, with no adjoining advertisements to compete for audience attention.
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Jacket: The preprint or newspaper section into which all other material in a package is inserted. Products of the same package may have different jackets.
Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG): The most efficient compression format currently available, but remember it sacrifices image quality to conserve space.
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Kerning: Space between the individual letters of a word.
Kill: Instructions to cease publishing an advertisement. A “Kill Date” is the deadline to cancel an ad.
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Line Rate: The cost of using one line by one column inch of space in any publication.
Line Screen: A method indicating the number of dots per linear inch in a halftone or mechanical screen. If you look at the newspaper under a microscope, you will see that all text and photos are made up of tiny dots.
Lineage: The total number of lines or space occupied by an advertisement or series of advertisements as measured in agate lines.
Lines Per Inch (LPI): The units by which the resolution of halftone screens are measured. The greater the LPI, the finer the resolution.
Local Advertising: Newspaper advertising aimed at consumers in a specific local market (such as a small town or a few designated ZIP codes in a large city), as opposed to retail or general advertising.
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Market Share: Sales of one brand, divided by total product category sales.
Media Mix: The combined use of different media to achieve maximum results/exposure for an advertiser’s message.
Median: The middle value of a group of values arrayed in ascending or descending order.
Metropolitan Division (MD): An urban area with a population of at least 50,000 that is designated by the Office of Management and Budget for statistical reporting purposes and used in audience measurement studies. This is generally synonymous with the former terms Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) and Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA).
Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA): An urban area with a population of at least 50,000 that is designated by the Office of Management and Budget for statistical reporting purposes and used in audience measurement studies. This is generally synonymous with the former terms Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) and Metropolitan Division (MD).
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National Advertising: Advertising aimed at a national market, as opposed to local advertising.
Net Audience: The number of different persons (unduplicated) exposed to an advertising message, regardless of how many exposures may have reached each person.
Net Unduplicated Audience: The combined cumulative audience exposed to an advertisement.
Newspaper Advertising Association (NAA): An industry association formed to promote newspaper advertising, especially co-op and greater use of newspaper by national advertisers.
Newspapers in Education (NIE): The newspapers provided to local area school districts to be utilized as teaching tools.
Newsprint: A soft, coarse, wood pulp paper used in printing newspapers.
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Open Rate: Rates to an advertiser for the one-time placement of an ad.
Overrun: Additional numbers of a print vehicle that are produced in excess of those needed for distribution. Overruns may take place to meet unexpected needs or demands.
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Page Layout/Page Dummy: Electronic representation of the newspaper with placeholders for ads. The editorial department will write their stories to fit around the ad layouts.
Pantone Matching System (PMS): A system that precisely characterizes a print color, so that different printers can consistently match a color. By knowing the Pantone color specifications, a printer does not even need to see a sample of the color to match it. Usually associated with spot colors as opposed to CMYK process colors.
Part Run: A newspaper term signifying that an ad ran in a specific portion of the paper’s distribution (a smaller geographic area than the whole).
Pica: A unit of measurement for type specification and printing that measures width; 6 picas to one inch. Also a size of type, 12 points.
Pickup: A previously published ad (that has stopped running) that is “picked up” and reinserted into the paper.
Pixel: Derived from picture element. The smallest element of a computer image that can be separately addressed. An individual dot of RGB light that makes up an image. Think of it as a dot or grain, which contains information about the color or brightness value of the area of the picture it represents. The more pixels per inch, the higher the resolution of the image.
Point:
(1) A small unit of measurement for type, equal to 1/72 of an inch.
(2) A printer’s unit: 12 points equal one pica.
(3) A small unit for measuring the thickness of paper, equaling 0.001”.
Polybags: The polyurethane bags that newspaper carriers use to deliver The Dallas Morning News to home subscribers. An advertiser may print on this plastic bag and/or distribute lightweight items (such as a CD) to all home-delivery subscribers via the wrap.
Portable Document Format (PDF): File format created by Adobe Systems, Inc. PDF uses the PostScript printer description language and is highly portable across computer platforms (Mac/PC) because all fonts and graphics are embedded into the file. PDF documents have a .pdf file extension. PDF is the preferred format for delivering completed ad materials to The Dallas Morning News.
PostScript: A computer language created by Adobe Systems. PostScript allows a programmer to create complex pages using a series of commands. Images are created from vectors and outlines.
Preferred Position: A position in a printed publication that is thought to attract the most reader attention and is sold at a higher rate; for example, the back cover of a section.
Preprint: A page or section that is printed in advance of the actual publication date. It is later inserted into a particular issue or section of the paper as a loose flyer prior to distribution. A preprint is often referred to as an “FSI,” i.e., freestanding insert.
Press Layout: A blueprint used to set up the presses for each run. The layout is drawn to incorporate all of the data received on the page layouts/page dummies. This information will tell the pressroom if the run is straight or collect, how many sections are in the run, the size and letter designator of each section, the news and advertiser color requirements in each section, where any double trucks are needed and the order in which the sections should fall.
Primary Metropolitan Statistical Area (PMSA): Defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget. PMSAs are comprised of contiguous counties that share economic and social relationships. The Dallas PMSA is comprised of eight counties: Collin, Dallas, Denton, Ellis, Henderson, Hunt, Kaufman, Rockwall.
Primary Research: Data collected directly from the group under study, usually through survey sampling.
Printer Font: A file sent to the printer instructing how to draw the character of the font. Printer fonts usually have matching screen fonts.
Promotions: All forms of communication other than advertising that call attention to products and services by adding extra values toward the purchase. Includes temporary discounts, allowances, premium offers, coupons, contests, sweepstakes, etc.
Proof: A hard-copy or electronic representation of a print ad furnished to the advertiser as soon as the ad has been created, but before publication.
Proprietary Research: Proprietary research is initiated and paid for by a single organization, and that one sponsor retains ownership of the results (e.g., RAM).
Publication: Any printed product for a specific date, e.g., The Dallas Morning News or Al Día.
Publisher’s Statement: All ABC newspapers are required to prepare two Publisher’s Statements each year. One Publisher’s Statement covers the six months ending March 31, the other covers the six months ending September 30. The Publisher’s Statements include six-month total daily and Sunday circulation averages. Publisher’s Statements are prepared at the same time by all newspapers.
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Qualitative Research: A method of advertising research that emphasizes the quality of meaning in consumer perceptions and attitudes; for example, in-depth interviews and focus groups.
Quantitative Research: A method of advertising research that emphasizes measurement of incidence of consumer trends within a population.
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Raster Image Processor (RIP): The device that converts images in vector or line and curve form into raster or bitmap form.
Raster Image: Images and photos that are created with tiny dots arranged in patterns. Photoshop can only create raster images, so enlarging or reducing the image can greatly affect quality.
Rasterization: A way to convert the curves in type and illustrations (vector-based graphics) into a pattern of dots that can be displayed on a raster-based screen or print device.
Rate Card: Information cards, provided by both print and broadcast media, that contain information concerning advertising costs, mechanical requirements, issue dates, closing dates, cancellation dates and circulation data, etc.
Reach: The number of different people who are exposed at least once to an advertising message during a specified period of time. Usually expressed as a percentage.
Readership: The total number of readers of a publication (includes primary and pass-along readers). Also the percentage of people that can recall a particular advertisement, aided or unaided. Typically, readership is more than twice circulation.
Reconciler: Participant ad, such as a Dining Guide or Worship Directory, where each participant purchases an ad, but collectively they are displayed within a shell containing information that pertains to all the ads.
Research and Analysis of Media (RAM): Internet-based survey and analysis system developed to increase the knowledge about newspapers, magazines and their readers.
Resolution: The number of dots per square inch (DPI, LPI or PPI). The higher the number, the higher the resolution.
Resolution (Image): Total number of pixels of a particular image. Device Resolution – Determines output resolution. Example: Monitor resolution = 72 or 80 PPI (Web graphics are set to 72 PPI, and print graphics are set to 266 or 300 PPI.)
Retail Advertising: Newspaper advertising aimed at consumers in a specific market audience (e.g., Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex). Samples include auto aftermarket, department stores, discount stores, electronic stores, furniture, home improvement, movies, office supply, retail, pharmacy, specialty and sporting goods.
Retouching: To alter photographs, artwork or film to emphasize or introduce desired features and also to eliminate unwanted ones.
RGB (Red Green Blue): Additive color primaries red, green and blue, used in video tubes, as contrasted to the subtractive primaries, yellow, magenta and cyan, used in printing. A color encoding system in which colors are expressed by three values, one each for red, green and blue. This is directly compatible to a color photograph, in which the cyan, magenta and yellow layers are sensitive to red, green and blue, respectively, in the original scene. Because of limitations in printing inks, printers must add a redundant black channel to increase contrast (see CYMK).
ROP: Run of paper or run of press (see Display Advertising).
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Sans Serif Type: A typestyle of lettering with no serifs, or cross strokes at the end of main strokes.
Scanner: Device used to scan art to convert the image into a color-separated digital file format for color correction, sizing and page assembly.
Scarborough Report: A local-market syndicated study that provides demographic, lifestyle and media usage data for 75 U.S. markets. Studies include information on media consumption, with over 1,200 products, services and retail shopping categories.
Screen Font: A file used by a computer to create an image of the font to be displayed on the monitor. Usually has a companion printer font.
Secondary Research: Information collected from a published research report or source (e.g., U.S. Census Bureau).
Separations: The result of breaking a color image into four components that allow proper amounts of cyan, magenta, yellow and black ink to be applied to re-create the colors on the printing press.
Serif Type: A typestyle of lettering with short, decorative cross lines or tails at the ends of main strokes in some typefaces, such as Roman lettering.
Single Copy: The papers sold within sales routes that service rack location and sales outlets. Formerly known as box sales.
Spadea: A single-page fly sheet that wraps vertically around the spine of a section (typically the color comics) covering part of the front and back pages. Half and full sizes are available.
Speculative (Spec) Ad: A creative sample, with the prospective buyer’s imprint on it, produced with the hope that the customer will purchase it.
Split Run: Two or more different forms of an advertisement that run simultaneously in different copies of the same edition of a publication. Used to measure response to creative approaches or special offers.
Spot Color: The technique of coloring for emphasis some areas of basic black-and-white advertisements, usually with a single color.
Spread: Refers to a pair of facing pages in a periodical or an advertisement that is printed across two such pages.
Standard Rates and Data (SRDS): A company that publishes a series of directories giving media rates and ad production information.
State Edition: The first edition of The Dallas Morning News delivered to areas outside a specified seven-county area. The product is the first to be loaded and delivered to outlying districts and zones.
Stet: A Latin term meaning “let it stand,” which means to ignore an alteration called for in a proof.
Strip Ad: An ad that is positioned across the width of the printed page, but has a height of 2” to 4”.
Supplements: Loose inserts carried in a newspaper. Printed by an advertiser, they must carry supplement and newspaper logotype to meet newspaper postal requirements.
Syndicated Research: Syndicated research allows multiple sponsors with common interests to contract with one supplier. The study results are available to all sponsors, but the ownership of the study remains with the supplier (e.g., Scarborough).
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Tabloid: A size of newspaper that is roughly half the size of a broadsheet newspaper. Samples include TV Week and the Guide.
Tag Line: A slogan or phrase that conveys the most important product attribute or benefit that the advertiser wishes to convey. A campaign theme.
Tagged Image File Format (TIF): A standard file format for high-resolution bitmapped images such as those generated by a scanner. This format is compatible with both Mac and PC.
Target Audience: A specified audience or demographic group for which an advertising message is designed.
Tearsheet: A page cut from a publication that is sent to the advertiser as proof of the ad insertion. Also may be used to check color reproduction of advertisements.
The Dallas Morning News (TDMN): Belo’s flagship newspaper, winner of nine Pulitzer Prizes since 1986 and honored as one of the best five newspapers in the country by the Columbia Journalism Review. The Dallas Morning News employs over 2,000 people and maintains news bureaus in 27 cities worldwide.
Total Market Coverage (TMC): This denotes a 100% household coverage within a given area. Utilizes The Dallas Morning News in conjunction with direct mail to reach households in a market area.
Total Make Good (TMG): To rerun a print advertisement because of an error.
Trapping: The overlap between adjacent colors. This process is performed to aid in registration during the printing process.
TrueType Font: An outline font format built in screen and printer fonts. Frequently causes output problems and is not recommended.
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Currently no terms exist for this letter.
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Vector: A line between two points. Vector images are created with mathematical formulas and can be enlarged or reduced without affecting print quality. A vector-based image system (like Adobe Illustrator) uses basic geometric shapes, like rectangles, lines, circles, ellipses and polygons, to create a graphic image. The vector image usually contains very little data, like the starting point (pixel) of the object, what kind of object it is, its size and color. Rescaling can be performed with greater accuracy than with raster data.
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White Space: Intentionally unoccupied parts of a print advertisement, including space between blocks of type, illustrations, headlines, etc. When properly used, it can attract a reader toward an advertising message.
Wrap: An advertising message that is printed on a stand-alone page that wraps around a section or sections of the newspaper.
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Currently no terms exist for this letter.
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Currently no terms exist for this letter.
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Zone: Any geographic area used for advertising sales, news coverage or circulation that is a subset of a larger known market area such as the Designated Market Area (DMA) or the Metropolitan Division (MD). This smaller subset area typically contains group of contiguous ZIP codes, a county or a group of contiguous counties.