Paint

1. Basic drawing program included with Windows. 2. File format in Color It! Macintosh imaging program compatible with MacPaint program.

Palette

In an imaging program, a set of available colors.

Paper Size

Selection in a scanner interface for setting the size of the crop frame. See crop frame.

Parallel Port

Standard 25-pin connector found on a PC-compatible computer. Parallel ports have traditionally been used as the connection for printers, but faster data transfer rates have allowed them to be used with external disk drives and scanners. Also known as LPT ports or printer ports.

Parallel Port Mode

Setting in a computer’s BIOS that determines the data transfer rate along the parallel port connection. See bi-directional, ECP, EPP and nibble.

Pattern Matching

One of the ways OCR programs recognize scanned characters. OCRs with pattern matching capabilities have libraries of fonts that are compared against the text being recognized. See feature extraction and spell checking.

PC

Abbreviation for Personal Computer. 1. General term used to describe any small desktop or portable computer used in the home or office. 2. Term describing a computer using the standard IBM XT/AT architecture for Intel processors, most of which use Microsoft Windows as an operating system today.

PC-compatible

Term used to describe a peripheral that conforms to the standard IBM XT/AT architecture established for Intel processors.

PCI Slot

PCI is an acronym for Peripheral Component Interconnect. Connection socket on a motherboard designed for 32-bit PCI expansion cards.

PCX

File format used by the PC Paintbrush program. Files saved in this format have ".pcx" as a file extension.

PDF

Acronym for Portable Document Format. PDF files were created by Adobe Systems to save documents in an electronic format exactly as they appeared in print, with the same fonts, images, etc. PDF files can be read by the Adobe Acrobat Reader. Files saved in this format have ".pdf" as a file extension.

Peripheral

Device attached to a computer system that is controlled by the computer’s processor.

Photo Manipulation

In imaging, the editing, changing or re-working of an image to either cover a flaw in the image, or to create an illusion, such as removing the background and inserting the subject of the photo into new surroundings from another image.

Photone Prepress

File format in the Color It! Macintosh imaging program for images that are to be used as color separations in professional printing.

PhotoShop

Extremely popular image editing program by Adobe Systems. PhotoShop has long been considered the standard of professional-level graphics editing for web pages, flyers, printing, etc. PhotoShop is very well liked for its growing number of tools, filters and visual effects.

PhotoShop 2.0/2.5

File formats in the Color It! Macintosh imaging program. Saving images in these formats makes them compatible with PhotoShop 2.0 and 2.5.

Pica

1. Unit of measure equal to 1/6 of an inch. 2. On typewriters, characters were measured in picas at 10 picas to the inch.

Picture Publisher

Image editing program by Micrografx Corporation. Picture Publisher offers tools, filters and effects for creating graphic images or manipulating existing images. Picture Publisher is often bundled with Mustek scanners.

Pixel

Short for pix (picture) element. 1. Individual dot of thousands used by printers or computer monitors to make pictures. 2. Unit of measure for images displayed on a monitor or printed on a printer. There are as many pixels per inch as the resolution of the image or device.

Platform

Term used to describe a particular type of computer system, such as the Macintosh platform or Windows platform.

Plug and Play

Specifications by Intel that allow a device to be "plugged" into a computer system and "played" without any manual configuration. Plug and Play requires a motherboard with a proper BIOS and operating system that recognizes such devices.

Plug-in

1. Program module that can be installed into another program to add functions to that program. Plug-ins can be graphic filters, special program sub-routines, or even drivers. Mustek scanners use a plug-in driver in Macintosh applications. 2. Generic term used to describe a plug-in module.

PNG

Acronym for Portable Network Graphics. File format created for use on web sites. PNG files first appear as an out-of-focus outline of the image, which then becomes more clear as the picture loads. If the viewer changes their mind about seeing the picture, they can close the page or halt the loading. Files saved in this format have ".png" as a file extension.

PSD

Acronym for PhotoShop Document. File format for use with Adobe System’s PhotoShop imaging program. Files saved in this format have ".psd" as a file extension.

Pop-up Menu

A menu that appears or "pops" onto the screen, generally as the result of making a selection within a program. Pop-up menus can appear anywhere and do not have to appear near the main menu bar.

Portrait

An image or printout that is positioned with the vertical plane longer than the horizontal.

PostScript

Printing language developed by Adobe Systems for high-quality text and graphics.

PP4

Short for Micrografx Picture Publisher 4.0. File format used to save images compatible with Micrografx Picture Publisher version 4.0.

PP5

Short for Micrografx Picture Publisher 5.0. File format used to save images compatible with Micrografx Picture Publisher version 5.0.

PPF

Acronym for Micrografx Picture Publisher Format. File format used to save images compatible with Micrografx Picture Publisher version 6.0.

Prescan

1. In a scanner, making a low-resolution version of the image in the scanner in the preview window. The prescan is used to set the crop frame and adjust the scan parameters before making a final scan. 2. Button in the scanner interface for making a prescan.

Preview Window

1. Open space alongside the scanner interface that displays the contents of the scanner after a prescan. The preview window is designed to act as a miniature representation of the scanner glass so that a user can set the scanning parameters and crop frame before the final scan. 2. In TextBridge Classic, screen before the final OCR process that shows the scanned document.

Primary Color

Color that, when added or subtracted from another color, creates a different color.

Print Image

1. Command in an imaging program for sending the active image to a printer. 2. Name of the dialog box where print settings are chosen. Also called Print.

Printer Cable

Cable used for connecting a printer to a computer. On PCs, printer cables generally have a 25-pin parallel port connector and a Centronics connector. On Macintosh computers, the printer cables have smaller serial port connectors.

Program Group

In Windows, a place where programs of the same type are kept together under one header either on the Start menu or Program Manager.

Program Manager

The main shell of Windows 3.1x where programs and files could be organized or launched.

Proprietary

1. A computer program that is not in the public domain and is copyrighted and owned. 2. A state of compatibility whereas one device only works with another device of the same make or manufacturer.

Protocol

Standard commands and instructions for exchanging information between computer systems or devices.

Pull-down Menu

On a menu bar, a menu whose options are visible when a mouse is used to "pull it down" by clicking on the menu title and holding until the desired option is chosen.