- panoramic prints
- With APS cameras you can make extra-wide format prints called panoramics. These are usually the same height as regular prints but are twice as wide. Panoramics are a creative way to take pictures of dramatic landscapes or large groups of people. In digital photography you can create panoramics by 'stitching' together separate pictures using special computer software.
- parallax error
- Many cameras don't allow you to look directly through the lens when taking pictures providing a small separate window for you to look through instead. As you see things from a slightly different position to this lens unexpected results can occur. This is called parallax error an apparent change in the position of an object. This is only a problem when focusing on nearby things.
- Photoshop
- This is the most popular Digital imaging software program. It allows for the color correction tonal adjustment sizing and cropping of digital image files. It is also enables you to do retouching image manipulation compositing and special effects.
- Pixel
- A digital image is made up of small continuous tone spots called pixels. The word pixel is derived from the words Picture Element. In an RGB image (with a Bit Depth of 24) each pixel can be any one of 16.7 million colors/tones. Each pixel is made up of three color channels (Red Green & Blue) and each channel can be any one of 256 levels of tone (256 x 256 x 256 = 16777216)
- pixels
- The word pixel derives from picture element. Pixels are the building blocks of a digital photo are usually square in shape and are made from a colour recipe combining red green and blue ingredients.
- Plate
- An Offset Printing plate is a metal plate photo-etched from the halftone separation negatives.
- polaroid cameras
- Polaroid cameras use a special kind of film that develops almost instantly. Using instant film is the fastest way to take pictures with no need for normal developing and printing. Polaroid film doesn't produce a negative however so you can't have extra copies made.
- Polaroid film
- Made for instant-picture Polaroid cameras Polaroid film is self-developing and doesn't need any special chemicals or equipment. Smaller than a regular photo print and with slightly less intense colours Polaroids are best when speed is more important than quality.
- portrait format
- By holding your camera vertically instead of horizontally you can take pictures in portrait format where the height of the picture is greater than the width. As the name suggests this format is ideal for taking pictures of people as their upright shape fills the frame. Portrait format is the opposite of landscape format.
- positive film
- Positive or slide film is used to make slides for viewing with a slide projector. In photographic terms 'chrome' means slide film as in Fujichrome or Kodachrome. Slides are also called 'transparencies' and even though a negative isn't created you can still have prints made from your slides.
- Post-Production
- A term taken from the motion picture industry which refers to all of the editing that takes place after the actual shooting of film.
- Posterize
- To achieve the impression of continuous tone we need to reproduce 256 differentiations of tone from white to black. If we break down the tonal range into fewer differentiations you begin to see the breaks between the individual tones. We call this posterization it often appears in smooth color gradients.
- Postscript
- is a software printer description language used in typography graphics and page layout programs that allows vector graphics to be rasterized (RIPíed) for output on a printer imagesetter or film recorder.
- ppi
- Pixels per Inch.
- Pre-Press
- The process of preparing images illustrations and page layouts to be printed. Including scanning separations image manipulation retouching imagesetting and proofing. (See: Post-Production)
- Profile
- An ICC description of a particular imaging input or output device that allows the Color Management Software to apply the proper color transformations to the image file to match the specific limitations of the device.
- programme modes
- These are automatic modes on some cameras that use pre-recorded settings leaving you to concentrate on taking the picture. In sports mode for example your camera automatically picks the fastest shutter speed it can use to freeze movement. In portrait mode a wide aperture is selected to put distracting background objects out of focus.
