Graphics software glossary, T. TWAIN, Templates, Tweening

Glossary of graphic design software terms beginning with the letter T.

Templates

extend. template pages, master-pages
Template pages are used by a number of desktop publishing applications, such as InDesign and QuarkXpress. They are used as master pages by designers so that a design style can be carried forward throughout a given document.

This is especially useful for magazines and long brochures that need to keep a consistent design style throughout the publication. In most page layout programs, it is also possible to create a number of different templates or masterpages and apply them to different parts of the document.

Template documents

Template documents are master documents, created by any software application. They are used for publication that are going to be repeated. Often a designer who has been commissioned to design a periodical, for example, will provide a template document in a page layout program. This will be filled with dummy text and images.

More often than not, the designer will also have set up style sheets so that the layout designers working on future editions of the publication can simply apply the agreed look and feel to the documents.

See also: Style sheets

TWAIN

TWAIN is a technology that aims to work across different software applications to allow them to import data directly from imaging hardware devices, in particular scanners and (to a lesser degree) digital cameras. If an image editing software tool is TWAIN compliant then it should be able to acquire data from a hardware device, even if the specific driver software is not available as a plugin within the software itself.

If the software does not support TWAIN, then chances are that the scanner hardware will require the use of its own proprietary driver software to access the images and bring them onto the computer. Once the images are saved on the computer, they can then be opened and edited.

What does TWAIN stand for?

Although, appearing to be an acronym, TWAIN was apparently taken from a line in Rudyard Kipling's 'The Ballad of East and West'" where he states that 'never the twain shall meet'. The word TWAIN was adopted by The TWAIN Working Group, to symbolize the incompatibility - at the time - of many desktop scanners and personal computers. Source: Free Online Dictionary of Computing.

Tweening

extend. tween
Tweening is a term using in multimedia and animation design for the technique of joining two graphics together by simulating the interaction between them by adding extra frames in-between them.

Tweening is used extensively in programs such as Flash and Director, as well as 3D animation programs like Lightwave, 3D Studio Max and Maya. Tweening is a favourite technique of web designers when designing banner advertisements and moving GIFs.