| Zoom Tool | A tool used for magnifying a digital image on the monitor |
| Zoom ratio | The change in focal length |
| zoom lens | lenses with a variable focal length. They allow the photographer to remain in the same position whilst varying angle of view, or image size. |
| Zoom | To change the image size without changing subject to camera distance |
| ZIP | Lossless compression; supported by PDF and TIFF file formats. Like LZW, ZIP compression is most effective for images that contain large areas of single color. |
| YUV | Y=Luminance=0.59G+0.3R+0.11B, U=Normalised B-Y, V=Normalised R-Y. The color space representation used in PAL video and television transmission. |
| YC | Luminance and Chrominance, i.e. the brightness information and color information parts of a composite video signal. |
| X-Ray | That part of the electromagnetic spectrum above ultraviolet in frequency (i.e. of shorter wavelength than UV, but not as short as Gamma rays). |
| Xenon | A gas in photographic flash tubes. |
| XD picture Card | Fuji and Olympus proprietary storage media. The name xDPicture Card was derived from eXtreme Digital and with a capacity for up to 8Gb of data. |
| X Sync | Electronic flash synchronization. |
| Workspace | The area of computer screen inside the Photoshop window. Once you have the workspace just the way you want it, you can save that configuration using the Window>Workspace>Save Workspace command. |
| Workflow | the process from taking your digital images, downloading them onto a computer and color managing them, through to printing and archiving them |
| Wordspacing | Placing additional space between each word to fill out text in an image or design. Often used to justify the print. |
| Wildcard | An asterisk used in a file search. For instance, a search for *.jpg would result in a list of files stored on the drive with the .jpg extension. |
| Wide Angle Lens | A wide angle lens is one that has an angle of view significantly wider than a normal human perspective. Typically less than 28mm (on the 35mm system). |
| wide angle | shots taken with lenses that have an angle of view significantly wider than a normal human perspective |
| WIA | stands for Windows Image Acquisition. This allows your digital camera, scanner, Photoshop, and Windows XP or ME to work together to acquire images. |
| Whitepoint | a pixel you define as being pure white |
| White Point | The point of minimum density i.e. Dmin in traditional photoprocessing parlance." |
| White Balance | Camera feature to compensate automatically for light sources of different color temperatures (e.g. sunlight, cloudy, fluorescent, and incandescent). |
| Wet Connector | A connector that can be unplugged and reconnected underwater. |
| WBMP | is the standard format for optimizing images for mobile devices, such as cell phones. WBMP supports 1-bit color, which means that WBMP images contain only black and white pixels. |
| Watt | The unit of power W, i.e. the amount of energy dissipated (used) or delivered in unit time. 1 Watt = 1 Joule per Second. |
| Water Paper | Uses blotchy daubs that appear painted onto fibrous, damp paper, causing the colors to flow and blend. |
| VTR | Videotape recorder. A videocassette recorder (VCR) can also be called a VTR, but a video recorder that uses openreel tapes cannot be called a VCR. |
| Volt | Voltage, V The unit of electrical pressure. |
| Voice Over | Narrated script added to a video |
| viz | underwater visibility - arguably the most important factor for underwater photography |
| Virtual memory | Hard drive memory allocated to function as RAM |
| vignetting | cropping of the corners of the frame. If unintentional, it is due to a misaligned lens or port. |
| Viewfinder | There are three main types of viewfinder employed on modern cameras. TTL=Through the Lens. OPT=Optical. EVF=Electronic. |
| Video8 | Analog video recording system using helical scanning and 8mm magnetic tape. |
| Video Out | Some digital cameras allow you to output images directly to a TV or video in PAL and NTSC standards. |
| Video Controller | Electronic marker that controls the playback and recording of VCR’s during editing |
| Video Cassette | Plastic casing that holds videotape, available in different sizes and formats |
| VHSC | VHS Compact. Small size VHS cassette intended for camcorders. Can be played back in fullsize VHS machines by means of an adapter. |
| VHS | Video Home System i.e. a video recording format intended primarily for domestic use. Analog recording system using helical scanning and 1/2 inch magnetic tape. |
| Vector graphic | A resolution-independent image described by its geometric characteristics rather than by pixels |
| Vector | Vector graphics consist of lines and curves that are described to programs according to their geometric characteristics. When you edit vector graphics you edit these geometric characteristics. You can move, resize, or change the lines and curves without losing quality. |
| VCR | Video cassette recorder |
| Vanishing Point | A Photoshop feature designed to allow the manipulation of photos within a three-dimensional space |
| UVC | That part of the ultraviolet spectrum nearest to X rays, i.e. short wavelength UV. |
| UVB | Between UVA and UVC. |
| UVA | That part of the ultraviolet spectrum nearest to visible light, i.e. long wavelength UV. |
| UV | Beyond violet. That part of the electromagnetic spectrum which lies beyond the violet end of the visible spectrum, i.e. of shorter wavelength than violet, and invisible to humans. |
| USM | Unsharp Mask. A process used to sharpen images |
| USB | Universal Serial Bus. The most common type of connector to transfer files from digital cameras and scanners. Data transfer speed up to 350 KB/s |
| Unsharp Mask filter | A filter for increasing apparent sharpness of a digital image |
| Unsharp Mask | See USM |
| Underwater Connector | Flash connectors that are specifically for underwater use. |
| under/over | shots that are taken underwater but also have a subject that can be seen through the surface (in Snells' window) |
| Umatic | Sony analog videocassette recording system using helical scanning and 3/4 inch magnetic tape. First appeared mid 1970s. Once favored by industrial training departments, drama schools, etc. but now largely obsolete. |
| TWAIN | TWAIN is a standard for image input devices, such as scanners and digital cameras. |
| TV sync | The sync. signals are in the form of electrical pulses, which are added to the video (picture) signal. |
| TV standards | TV signals vary depending on where you are in the World. This makes equipment non compatible. |
| TTL metering | Through The Lens metering. The basic method for determining photographic exposure is to measure the intensity of the ambient lighting and choose camera settings accordingly. It can apply to both flash and ambient light readings. |
| TTL Flash | Through The Lens flash metering. |
| TTL | Through The Lens. A term applied to viewfinders and metering systems that operate behind the lens. As such TTL is accurate because it sees what the lens sees. |
| Tromboning | The tendency to over-use zoom |
| Tray | The metal plate or bar which screws to the bottom of a camera or housing so that a supporting arm for a flash unit or lamp may be attached to it. Also refers to the metal or plastic plate on which a camera sits inside an underwater housing. |
| Transparent | Allowing light to pass through |
| Transition | Leads the viewer from one scene to another |
| Tracking | the process of creating an equal amount of spacing across a range of letters |
| Torn Edges | Is particularly useful for images consisting of text or high-contrast objects. The filter reconstructs the image as ragged, torn pieces of paper, and then colorizes the image using the foreground and background colors. |
| toolbar | A special dialog that is (usually) always visible containing editing tools. It appears (by default) floating screen left |
| toning tools | consist of the dodge tool and the burn tool. Used to lighten or darken areas of the image, dodge tools are based on a traditional photographer's technique for regulating exposure on specific areas of a print. |
| Title | Words or numbers that appear in the video |
| Time-base corrector | To reduce or eliminate errors caused by mechanical instability present in analog recordings |
| Time Code | A sequence of numeric codes generated at regular intervals by a timing system. |
| Tilt | To change the camera angle |
| TIFF | The Tagged-Image File Format (TIF) is a bitmap format extensively used to exchange files between applications and computer platforms. It is found in most paint, imaging and DTP programs. TIFF is a lossless full-color image file format. |
| Thumbnail | These are low resolution copies of an image stored inside the image in order to display quickly. Some digital cameras and photo applications, including Windows Explorer, use them to display images in digital contact sheets. |
| TFT | Thin Film Transistor |
| Temperate Waters | Seas with green water well north or south of tropical zones typically cold enough for drysuits! |
| Telephoto lens | Gives a close-up view of distant subjects |
| TBC | TimeBase Corrector |
| Target Light | A light, usually built into an underwater flash unit, used to give an accurate indication of the direction in which the flash unit is pointing. |
| Take | To videotape a shot |
| tagged | By default, a tagged document will have its profile information embedded upon saving in a file format that supports embedded ICC profiles. Untagged documents are saved by default without embedded profiles. |
| Sync | Synchronization: the flash firing must syncronise with the shutter being open. Most cameras allow a maximum setting of 1/250th of a second |
| Swatches palette | Allows you to choose a foreground or background color and allows you to add or delete colors from the swatches library of colors. |
| S-Video Connectors | S-Jacks, S-Video Inputs & Outputs and Y/C connectors |
| S-Video | Analog video signal that carries the video data as two separate signals. |
| S-VHS-C | Small video cassettes for use with S-VHS –C camcorders |
| SVHS | Super VHS i.e. high band VHS. |
| Supplementary lens | additional elements that can be placed over a prime lens to alter focal length and angle of view |
| Super macro | Shots taken (at less than 1:1) with multiple extension rings, diopters, or teleconverters of extremely small subjects typically the size of a thumbnail |
| Sunburst | Optical phenomenon of distinct light rays observed underwater whilst looking up at the surface when the sun is out. A calm surface accentuates this effect. |
| Subtractive Colors | Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow |
| Stroke | Outlines the object on the current layer using color, a gradient, or a pattern. It is particularly useful on hard-edged shapes such as type. |
| Strobe | Electronic flash gun. |
| Storyboard | Series of illustrations or images displayed in sequence on paper |
| Stamp | Is best used with black-and-white images. The filter simplifies the image to appear stamped with a rubber or wood stamp. |
| Stainless Steel | An alloy of Iron, Chromium, Manganese, Silicon and Carbon (May also contain Nickel and Molybdenum). A4 stainless (AKA type 316) is completely resistant to seawater corrosion and is the preferred grade for marine applications. |
| Stack | Several photos grouped together in the Bridge workspace |
| sRGB | A standard color space used by digital cameras. |
| Spot Metering | Metering system that places importance on a small area center frame. Useful for taking a reading of a high contrast subject before recomposing. |
| speed rating | the speed rating for digital cameras depending on the sensor sensitivity, the sensor noise, and the appearance of the resulting image |
| Specular Reflection | Direct reflection, i.e. the glinting reflections from white and shiny objects which cause bleaching of the highlights in a photograph. Using a diffuse light source, i.e. a light source of large area, rather than a point source can reduce the problem. |
| Special Effects | The illusions used in a film. There are optical effects – fades, slow motion, etc and mechanical effects props, scenery, models etc. |
| SPDIF | Sony / Philips Digital Interface Format. Digital audio interface standard, for transferring audio signals between CD players and DAT machines, etc. without passing into the analog domain. |
| Solarize | Applies an effect that mimics the accidental exposure of photographic film to light. |
| snoot | a funnel shaped tube placed over the flash head to direct the light |
| Snells Window | Optical phenomenon of elliptical window underwater observed looking up at an angle to the surface caused by refraction. |
| Smart Object | Technology first introduced in Photoshop CS2 that maintains the original form of an embedded image but still allows it to be edited and enhanced. Smart Objects are used in many non-destructive editing or enhancement techniques |
| Smart Media | SmartMedia is a wafer thin medium for storing images into flash memory chips. This media has limited capacity (28MB). |
| Smart Filter | An extension of the Smart Object technology that allows the non-destructive application of Photoshop filters to an image |
| SLR | Single Lens Reflex Camera. A camera that uses a mirror to redirect the image projected onto the film into the viewfinder. The mirror flips out of the way when the button is pressed to take the picture. |
| Slow Sync | At night and in low light you get a much more attractive picture balanced with flash lit foreground subjects. |
| Slider | A sliding control in digital editing software used to adjust color, tone opacity, etc. |
| Slice | A slice is a rectangular area of an image that you can use to create links, rollovers, and animations in the resulting Web page. Dividing an image into slices lets you selectively optimize it for Web viewing. |
| Slave | A flash unit that is triggered to fire by the light output from another flash unit (the master flash). |
| Sketch filters | Filters in the Sketch submenu add texture to images, often for a 3D effect. The filters also are useful for creating a fine-arts or hand-drawn look. Many of the Sketch filters use the foreground and background color as they redraw the image. |
| Silhouette | Image that is back-lit, and appears dark against a lighter background. |
| Shutter Priority | (S) Exposure mode where the camera determines the optimum shutter speed for you. |
| Shutter Lag | The total time taken from pressing the shutter release to the shutter firing. This can be a significant delay for digital cameras and is possibly the major complaint that digital photographers have! |
| Shutter | The shutter is an integral part of all cameras. It opens to allow light through. The greater the range of shutter speeds a camera has the better. |
| Shot | A recorded scene |
| Shore Hardness | A hardness scale from 0 to 100 used to express the deformability of elastic materials (rubbers). Commonly available O-rings have a hardness of around 70sh. |
| Shoot | A production where a scene is recorded |
| Sharpening | Sharpening is an algorithm designed to enhance edge detail. |
| Sequence | A series of logical shots |
| Sensitivity | In a digital camera context sensitivity corresponds to film speed. |
| selection | a selected area that allows editing changes. Areas outside a selection are protected. Hold Shift to add, Option to subtract, Ctrl + D to deselect and Ctrl + I to invert |
| Secondary Colors | Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow |
| SECAM | Sequential Couleur avec Memoire The color television system used in France, French overseas territories (not Canada), and Russia. |
| Sealoc Connector | Also known as a Nelson connector. A 2 pin wet connector, i.e. a connector which can be pulled out and plugged in underwater. Used for flash synchronization on the Sea & Sea Motormarine Mk1. Also used as a telephone connector on fullface diving masks. |
| Sea And Sea Connector | A 4 pin waterproof connector used with the Sea & Sea TTL flash system. |
| SD | The SD Card is a highly sophisticated, highly secure memory device about the size of a postage stamp. |
| SCUBA | Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus (as opposed to diving equipment supplied with air from the surface). |
| Screen frequency | refers to the resolution of half tone screens (the patterns of dots used in printing). |
| Screen direction | The direction that the action flows across the screen |
| scratch disk | When your system does not have enough RAM to perform an operation, Photoshop and ImageReady use a proprietary virtual memory technology, also called scratch disks. A scratch disk is any drive or a partition of a drive with free memory. By default, Photoshop and ImageReady use the hard drive that the operating system is installed on as its primary scratch disk. |
| Scene | Part of the action in a single location |
| Scart | Societé de Constructeurs d' Appareils Radio Recepteurs et Téléviseurs. A 21 pin interface connector for direct audio + video connection between TV and VCR, DVD, etc. Also known as a 'Péritel' or 'Euroconnector'. |
| Scale | A ratio of size |
| Saturation | the purity and strength of the color and is defined by the percentage of gray in the image (0 to 100 percent). Brightness is how light or dark a color is and is defined by a percentage (0 percent is black and 100 percent is white). |
| Satin | Applies shading to the interior of a layer that reacts to the shape of the layer, typically creating a satiny finish. |
| Sand Cast | The molten aluminum is poured into a sand mold to form the housing body |
| Sample | To select a color value for analysis or use |
| S video | Separated Video i.e. two signals in two cables, one being the video, blanking and synchronization, the other being the chrominance (color) signal. |
| Rubber Stamp | A tool used for replicating pixels in digital imaging. Also called Clone Stamp Tool |
| RS232 | Early digital cameras used RS232 (serial) connections for transferring data to external devices (PC's) |
| Royalty free | a term stock photography agencies use to denote that an image is licensed for multiple use. Usually a eupemism for shots the agency can't sell. Avoid this like the plague! |
| RMS | The square Root of the Mean Squared. The RMS of an alternating voltage or current the equivalent steady (direct) voltage or current which will have the same heating effect. |
| RLE | (Run Length Encoding) Lossless compression; supported by some common Windows file formats. |
| RIP | (Raster Image Processor) A processor (like a CPU) included in an output device that converts an image’s data into the dot pattern. It is this dot pattern that is printed onto film or paper. |
| rights managed | a term stock photography agencies use to denote that an image is licensed for one specific use only |
| RGB | Red, green, and blue the three primary colors and color space used by film and monitors. |
| RF | Radio Frequency |
| Reversal Processing | The process in which film is exposed so that it will become a positive instead of a negative or a negative instead of a positive. |
| Reversal Film | Positive (i.e. slide) film. Film in which the original negative image is reversed during the development process to produce a positive transparent image. |
| Reticulation | Simulates the controlled shrinking and distorting of film emulsion to create an image that appears clumped in the shadow areas and lightly grained in the highlights. |
| Resolution | Resolution is the term used to describe the amount of data in a file, screen display, or printed image etc. |
| Resistance | All electrical conductors (except superconductors) have some resistance, which means that they convert electrical energy into heat. A resistor is simply a device for which the property of resistance is accurately characterized. |
| Resampling | refers to changing the pixel dimensions (and therefore display size) of an image. When you downsample (or decrease the number of pixels), information is deleted from the image. When you resample up (or increase the number of pixels), new pixels are added based on color values of existing pixels. You specify an interpolation method to determine how pixels are added or deleted. |
| Registration marks | When printing, these marks are used to print marks on the image for alignment on the press (bull’s-eyes and star targets). |
| Refractive Index | Value for refraction of a material |
| Refraction | The bending of rays of light as they pass from one medium into another, e.g. from air to water, or from air to glass. |
| Reflector | A surface used to reflect light in order to fill shadows |
| Red Eye | When light from a flash reflects back from the pupil of subjects' eye it creates an unattractive red spot. A camera with a red eye reduction feature fires a pre flash a thousands of a second before the real flash to make the subjects pupils close. |
| Record | Capturing audio or video onto videotape |
| reciprocity | refers to the inverse relationship between the intensity and duration of light that determines exposure of light-sensitive material. Within a normal exposure range for film stock, for example, the reciprocity law states that exposure = intensity × time. |
| Rebikoff Port | A lens that corrects for refraction at the airwater boundary on an underwater camera, characterized by a flat surface in contact with the water and a concave surface in contact with the air. |
| Ready Light | LED indicator that lights when the flash unit is ready to fire |
| Raw Camera | an applicastion that ships with CS for processing RAW files |
| RAW | RAW files contain the same data captured by the CCD with no processing by the camera. This requires a ‘plug in’ for your image editing software to be able to open them. |
| Rasterize | Converting vector data to raster data. Performing this conversion is called rasterizing. |
| Rasterisation | The conversion of a vector based graphical representation into an array of pixels. |
| Raster | The rectangular area of illumination formed on a TV screen by the scanning process. An array of lines or dots of varying brightness which, when viewed from a suitable distance, produces the illusion of an image. |
| rangefinder | a simple window in the camera or accessory on top that approximates the coverage of the lens for framing composition |
| RAM | Random Access Memory |
| Quick Selection Tool | A selection tool added to Photoshop in version CS3 that tries to predict the shape of the selection as you draw. The feature takes into account tone, color, texture and shape of the underlying photo as it creates the selection |
| Quick Mask mode | Temporary alpha channel used for refining or making selections |
| Quench | The process of extinguishing the strobe (flashgun) by the camera. |
| push process | a development technique that increases the speed of the film being processed |
| PSD | PhotoShop (PSD) is the format produced by the Adobe PhotoShop graphics editor. Note that the PSD specification changes with every whole number version release of PhotoShop, but is backwards compatible; so you must have the latest version to be sure of being able to open any PSD file. |
| Program | (P) Program mode. Exposure mode that allows the camera determines the optimum shutter speed/aperture combination for you. |
| Prime lens | A lens attached directly to the camera body |
| Primary Colors | Red, Green, and Blue |
| Pre-press | Stage where digital information is translated into output suitable for the printing process |
| pre-flash | Many digicams employ a slightly different system for TTL exposure. First they fire a pre-flash, which is measured, and they calculate exposure based on that. This happens so quickly that the eye notices only one flash. |
| PPI | Points per inch. Same thing as DPI |
| PostScript | A page description language for medium to high resolution print devices. The language consists of software commands and protocols that allow you to send data (including picture and font information) from your computer to the printer for output. |
| post-production | a euphemism for editing in a photo manipulation program. An excuse for sloppy work e.g. 'we'll fix it in post!' |
| Postproduction | Video or audio editing |
| Posterize | Creates a poster effect on the bitmap by quantizing the bitmaps colors to a specified number of color levels per plane. i.e. the image is made out of discrete blobs of color with obvious boundaries between them. |
| Portrait Lens | A lens of longer focal length than standard. Typically 100mm + (on the 35mm system). |
| Port | Optical quality window in an underwater housing (by analogy with a ship's 'port hole'). |
| Plaster | Molds an image from 3D plaster, and then colorizes the result using the foreground and background color. Dark areas are raised, light areas are sunken (or reverse the effect by choosing the Invert option). |
| Pixel Depth | The amount of computer data required to store the color information for each pixel. |
| Pixel | Picture element: a dot or a small area of a picture that carries the three attributes: hue, color saturation, and brightness. Any picture can be made up of an array of dots with these attributes, viewed from a distance that the dots are not visible. |
| Pincushion Distortion | Pincushion Distortion is a problem associated with telephoto lenses whereby the image appears distorted inwards. |
| Photoshop | The brand leader in digtal image manipulation program produced by Adobe Software. You Hoover the floor, Google the Net, and Photoshop your images! When we use Photoshop we mean any such program. |
| Photomerge | Adobe’s own panoramic stitching utility |
| Photocopy | Simulates the effect of photocopying an image. Large areas of darkness tend to copy only around their edges, and midtones fall away to either solid black or white. |
| Perspective | Attribute of lens focal length that determines the apparent relationship between foreground and background i.e. compresses or exaggerates it |
| PDF | Portable Document Format is a flexible, cross-platform, cross-application file format. Based on the PostScript imaging model, PDF files accurately display and preserve fonts, page layouts, and both vector and bitmap graphics. In addition, PDF files can contain electronic document search and navigation features such as electronic links. |
| PCM | Pulsecode modulation. Digital audio recording mode used by tape recorders. |