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Glossary
GlossaryGlossary
Glossary
symbols
8-bit grayscale
Used to represent black-and-white photos accurately. These grayscale 
images contain 256 shades of gray.
24-bit color
Color images composed of three 8-bit color channels. When 
combined, the red, green, and blue channels provide up to 16 million 
colors. This is also referred to as true color.
a
acquire
A command offered by programs that support TWAIN. Selecting 
Acquire takes the user directly to a selected scanning software, and 
then returns the scanned image to the requesting program. 
active program
The program you are currently using or that is currently selected. A 
program’s title bar changes color to distinguish active from inactive 
programs.
ADF 
See automatic document feeder.
Active XPA
Or XPA. See transparency adapter.
aliasing
The visibly jagged steps along angled lines or object edges that result 
from sharp tonal contrasts between pixels. Seen in both black-and-
white images and color images. Sometimes called ‘jaggies’.
anti-aliasing
A technique that smooths transitions between pixels, reducing the 
jaggedness of curved lines.