plotter. An output unit that presents data in the form of a
point. In printing, a unit of about 1/72 of an inch used in measuring typographical material. Each pica contains 12 points.
point size. The height of a font in points.
postprocessing option. A hardware device that attaches to the output side of a printer; for example, an envelope stuffer, binder, or stapler.
PostScript. A page description language with interactive graphics capabilities that was developed by Adobe Systems, Incorporated.
preprinted form. A sheet of paper that contains a preprinted design of constant data. Variable data can be merged on such a form.
preprocessing option. A hardware device that attaches to the input side of a printer; for example, a
print data set. Synonym for print file.
print definition. Contains instructions for transforming simple SCS print output to advanced AFP output. A print definition includes the specifications for remapping existing print data, defining and creating different page formats and copies, and adding document elements such as overlays, images, fonts, bar codes, and constants.
print file. A file created by an application program that contains the actual information to be printed and some of the data that controls the format of the printing. Print files can contain
print job. The data to be printed that is submitted to Print Services Facility by the user.
Print Services Facility (PSF). An IBM licensed program that produces printer commands from the data sent to it.
printer driver. A program that passes commands and resources with a data stream from the system spool to tell the printer how to print the page.
proportionally spaced font. A font in which the characters have different character increments. Graphic character widths vary with the size of each graphic character. This allows for even spacing between printed characters and eliminates excess space around narrow characters, such as the letter i. Contract with uniformly spaced font.
R
raster font. (1) A font created by a series of pels (picture elements) arranged in scan lines to form an image. (2) A font in which the characters are defined directly by the raster bit map.
raster graphics. Computer graphics in which a display image is composed of an array of picture elements (pels) arranged in rows and columns. Contrast with vector graphics.
raster pattern. A series of picture elements (pels) in scan lines to form an image. See also page segment.
record. A collection of related data or words, treated as a unit; for example, in stock control, each invoice could constitute one record.
remote printer. A device that prints in a location away from the centralized data processing center.
resource. A collection of printing instructions and sometimes data to be printed consisting entirely of structured fields. A resource can be stored as a member of a library and can be called for by Print Services Facility when needed. Coded fonts, font character sets, code pages, page segments, overlays, form definitions, and page definitions are all resources.
resource library. (1) A collection of related files. (2) A place to store resources such as form definitions, page definitions, page segments, fonts, and overlays.
rotation. The number of degrees a character is rotated relative to the print direction. One of four directions that define the orientation of text relative to a sheet, page, overlay, text block, or page segment.
S
scanner. A device that examines a spatial pattern one part after another and generates analog or digital signals corresponding to the pattern. Scanners are often used in mark sensing, pattern recognition, or character recognition.
SCS. See SNA character string (SCS)
segment. See page segment.
simplex printing. Printing on only one side of the paper. Contrast with duplex printing.
SNA. Systems Network Architecture (SNA)
SNA character string (SCS). In SNA, a data stream composed of EBCDIC controls, optionally intermixed with
