A:

Anchor Point - An anchor point is the part of a path that "ties the path down to the page." A line will have at least two anchor points on either end. It will have additional anchor points at every kink and corner. A curve will have an anchor point on either side of it and may optionally have additional anchor points somewhere on the curve itself. Anchor points do not print out but they shape the paths that appear on the hard copy.

B:

Blending -A function in illustration software that allows the creation of intermediate shapes from two masters. These beginning and ending shapes can vary in both shape and color. The user inputs the desired number of steps and the software creates the new, intermediate shapes. This function is used primarily to create realistic highlights in artwork. There is a concern over the poor results that occur if there are too many or too few steps requested by the user.

C:

Color Picker - The Color Picker lets you select an object’s fill or stroke color by choosing from a color field and spectrum, defining colors numerically, or clicking a swatch.

D:

Direct Selection Tool - Allows you to select and edit anchor points individually. You can use this tool to reposition or add to it's tangent. Its keyboard shortcut is A.

E:

Eye Dropper - The Eyedropper Tool defines the foreground and background color. The Eyedropper Tool is used to pick up and copy a color from one area or image object to another. Its keyboard shortcut is I.

F:

Filter - A function for special effects. It is possible to apply a filter to artwork to achieve many different looks that would be difficult with manual drawing techniques. There is a concern over excessive use of filters creating artwork that is too complex to output.

G:

Gradient Mesh - Tonal gradations can also be created via Illustrator's Gradient Mesh tool. This tool is used to render complex gradations and shapes.

H:

Hand - The hand tool moves the image around like a scroll bar, or paging up or down, but it works in any direction. To use the hand tool, select it in the toolbar, and then drag the image in the direction you want it moved. You can also temporarily access the hand tool while using other tools by pressing the spacebar. This tool’s keyboard shortcut key is the letter H.

I:

Random search of the letter I

J:

Random search of the letter J

K:

Random search of the letter K

L:

Live Trace - is the act of making the image into a collection of vector paths and shapes, rather than pixels. As you make changes in the settings, Illustrator updates the trace. Hence the "live" part.

M:

Mask - A function within image editing software that allows the user to restrict their image edits to only a part of the image. A mask can have a hard or soft edge allowing the user to achieve a variety of obvious or subtle effects.

N:

Nodes - Nodes or anchor points are the fundamental in path editing. Get to know the various types of nodes including symmetrical, smooth, cusp and tangent nodes.

O:

Opacity - A characteristic of painting and other tools within image editing software. By adjusting opacity to a percentage of less than 100%, the user can paint a color onto an image and allow some of the image beneath to show through. (Paint with transparent paint versus opaque paint.) This same characteristic is available while performing image assembly steps and allows one image to be transparently floated in front of or behind another.

P:

Pen Tool - The primary drawing tool in PostScript illustration software. The pen tool allows the user to position anchor points and control the shape of the line by controlling the control handles that extend from the anchor points. Its keyboard shortcut is P.

Q:

Random search of the letter Q

R:

Rotate - A function found within image editing software that allows all or part of a pixel image to be rotated by any number of degrees. Rotation in 90° increments is fast and carries no quality penalty but this is not the case for other angles. This is why it is important to carefully orient artwork on a scanner so that rotation will not be necessary.

S:

Shapes -You can create many objects in Illustrator by starting with basic shapes. The shape tools let you easily create rectangles, ellipses, polygons, spirals, and stars. To draw a shape, select the appropriate shape tool from the toolbar, and click and drag in the artwork window.

T:

Tangent - is a vector that follows the direction of a curve at a given point. Each time you click and drag with the pen tool you are creating a tangent.

U:

Random search of the letter U

V:

Vector - Is the use of geometrical primitives such as points, lines, curves, and polygons, which are all based upon mathematical equations to represent images in computer graphics.

W:

Random search of the letter W

X:

Random search of the letter X

Y:

Random search of the letter Y

Z:

Random search of the letter Z



Did I miss any o.O
Have something to add? Please send me a note. I'll be happy to add it