An abbreviation for last frame action.  It is important to include on the cue sheet for the individuals responsible for mixing the film. 

A big roll created from camera rolls.  They are attached together for printing by a lab.  The rolls go up to around 1,000 feet.

A dye that neither migrates or bleeds, and has been processed either electrically or chemically to join to a particle. 

Veneer or wood thin sheets that are adhered onto substrate.

A landscape is a layout of a page that is contains a bigger width measurement than its height measurement.

The act of quilting sections of a quilt before they are assembled.

A lap register is used to ensure there exists no white line between two ink colors when printing the colors next to each other.  The colors are overlapped slightly to do this.

A process done by a machine that cuts complex platterns into a piece of leather. 

Latent Edge Numbers are numbers that are placed over a film’s edge between the perf in 16mm or on the far side of in 35mm.  They exist in order to help the negative cutter align up shots during the conforming of the negative.  Sometimes they are referred to as latent edge numbers rather then just edge numbers to separate them from ink-on code numbers that are sometimes referred to as edge numbers.

The term lateral is a descriptive word regarding the locations of the body.  The term lateral signifies moving away from the midline, either to the left or to the right.

The spread of a solid polymeric material throughout a solution of water.   

Part of the torso, the latissimus dorsi includes the posterior, upper medial border of the pelvis, and all of the vertebrae located from the sixth thoracic to the sacrum.  It is located on the anterior surface of the humerus; it is responsible for extending the shoulder. 

The amount that a particular film stock can withstand over-exposure or under-exposure.  For example, color negative has a greater degree of latitude than reversal film. 

A layout is the standard plan of two-dimensional design.  Layout displays the organization of text, illustration, spacing and other elements of a design. 

An animation drawing that may either include camera movements as wells as positions of characters, or may include master backgrounds. 

A method of removing extra liquid through a porous substance. 

A leader is made up of dots forming a line (or dashes) in order to move the eye from the page to other copy.

Leading is the space that exists between type lines.  Usually, leading is measured in points from baseline to baseline.  One or two points of leading are often used to set text type.  For instance, 16-point type with 2 points of leading is described as 10/16 (read 10 on 16). 

A term describing paint that has been diluted with a spirit and thus contains a reduced oil content.

A broad term referring to all skins and hides that have been tanned.  Leather is a natural product; most leather is made available as a by-product of the meat industry.  Leather from cows, sheep, pigs and goats are the typical sources of leather.  Other types of leather from sources such as crocodiles and snakes are not as readily available, but they can be purchased in small quantities. 

The left side of the brain (left-mode) is 1) verbal - likes to use words to explain and describe things 2) digital - likes to use numbers such as adding or subtracting 3) rational - likes to use reason and facts to make judgements on things and situations 4) temporal - likes to know what time it is and enjoys being aware of the sequence of things 5) analytic - enjoys knowing how things go, step-by-step 6) symbolic - likes to use things to represent something 7) abstract - enjoys taking one snippet of information and using it to access the entire situation or whole thing 8) linear - likes to process things in relation to connected ideas, with one thought leading to the next one in a one-path manner and 9) logical - likes to make conclusions with one item following the next in a rational manner. 

Lens flare occurs when a lens is struck by light which causes an image to be totally fogged.  It can be prevented by flagging the lens. 

Letterforms refer to the character shapes used in typography.

A levator is the term used to describe a muscle that lifts or holds up something. 

A process of pulverizing pigments by washing them with water in order to remove any organic matter or salts that cling to them.

Ligature in typography are characters that are linked with one another (like ae).  The lowercase “f” is frequently set as a ligature along with other characters – like fl” or “fi” - in professional typefaces.   

A type of font lighter than the roman version of the typeface (such as plain, book or normal).

Light leak is light that radiates into a camera that in turn creates patches of fog on the image.  It usually happens near the camera door or at the location of the joining of the magazine to the camera body.  Simply putting camera tape around the camera door will prevent light leak.

The light tone in a drawing is the area of a form that is illuminated the most after the highlight.  Light tone is also known as indirect light.

Having the ability to resist bleaching or fading that occurs from light exposure.

Lightfastness refers to the degree that pigments, dyes and paints alter their color or fade due to exposure to UV or daylight heat, alkalis, or acids.  The estimate lifespan of a print may be found by certain tests, like the Wilhelm Laboratory reports or the Blue Wool Scale.  A print’s lightfastness may be impacted by various factors including the paper and ink used.  Some inks fade much faster than others.

A process that lightens the grain of wood by softening the appearance of timber.

A type of paint featuring a velvety matte finish once it dries.  It gives off a translucent finish and is usually used to tint porous surfaces.

A limited edition is a number of prints created from an original piece of artwork that includes only a set amount of prints.  Every time a print is made it includes within it a number that signifies how many prints have been made of the original since it was signed.  For example, 23/200 means that the print is number 23 of 200 possible number of prints of the original.  Artists frequently make use of using limited editions to add value to a print and to the original artwork. 

Limiting focus is a technique in which photographers and other artists can limit the area of their pictorial compositions that are in focus.  It is a method of simplification, helping the viewer to focus on exactly what the artist wishes the viewer to look at in a picture.  A typical example is a close-up of a flower with the background behind it being blurry.  This technique can be achieved in photography by using a wide aperature when taking a picture to limit the depth of field.  Everything that is not the main focus of the shot will be blurry.

Line in drawing refers to a type of mark that contains both a direction and a length.  Line is an art element.  There are numerous varieties of possible lines, including curved, bent, thick, wide, broken, vertical, horizontal, burred, or freehand.  Lines are frequently used to delineate shapes, forms and spaces.  The representation of volume, edges, movement and patterns can all be created using line.  Lines can create both 2D and 3D objects and figures. 

Line art is artwork that consists of only black and white areas (no gray).  Many images made using desktop publishing graphics programs are considered to be line art.  Another example of line art is a pen-and-ink drawing. 

Line gesture in drawing refers to a type of drawing that is made up of the interior of forms made from line (as opposed to mass). 

Linear Perspective relates to the mathematical system of creating objects that are created three-dimensionally on a two-dimensional surface.  It is called “linear” perspective because objects and figures and space are re-created in a realistic manner through the use of intersecting lines drawn horizontally and vertically. There are three types of linear perspective.  They include one point perspective, two-point perspective, and three-point perspective.  All of the perspectives include a horizon line and a stationary point (the position of the observer).  In one point perspective, there is one point that all lines radiate from.  In two-point perspective, there exist two points from which an object’s lines radiate from; the sides of the object vanish to one of two vanishing points on the horizon line. An object’s vertical lines do not relate to the perspective rules of the horizontal lines.  By changing the vanishing points of the object, one can make increase or decrease the size of the object.  In three-point perspective there are also two vanishing points somewhere on the horizon; however, unlike two-point perspective, there also exists a vanishing point above or below the horizon line that the vertical lines disappear to.

Simple, plain paper that functions as a wallpaper's top layer or as a surface region for paint application. 

Link aggregation in networking is connecting several network connections to allow more data to be dispatched or create a backup connection in the event there is a connection failure.  

Another term used for sync sound.

A lithograph is a term that relates to general offset printing.  Most print publishers today use this process of printing.  It involves photographing the original artwork and then burning the image into 4 plates for a full color printing process.  A roller on a printing press contains the ink.  Acid free paper and a fine dot screen are used for the best lithographs.

Lithography is a four-color separation high volume printing process with ink.  It is the most efficient form of photomechanical reproduction.  An art piece is first scanned and then divided in the CMYK color channels on four printing plates.  The printing plates are printed one after the other in order to make a full color image.  At this point individual colors are added on more plates to order to make special effects like a varnished area or gold ink.  These special effects cannot be created from CMYK in the normal Pantone range.  They are known as spot colors.  Nowadays artists may continue to use stone lithography to make their artwork.  However, by hand the process takes much longer.  The main technique for either method involves grease that rejects water.  The grease areas will stay white and the rest of the areas will take on ink (and hence will print). 

The color of something without the affect of any color created from shadowing or exposure to various lighting.  Local color is the true color of something.  For instance, a rose may appear to be the color of violet in the shade, but its true color (local color) may be red.

Local value in drawing or painting refers to the essential value of an object’s or figure’s surface without the inclusion of any texture or lighting.  Local value is the value of an object or figure without any shadow pattern. 

Also known as production sound.  Location sound is any kind of room tone or wild track recorded at the shoot. 

The last cut of a film; no more alterations will occur in a picture after a locked cut.

A type of shot that is taken with the tilt and pan releases on a tightened tripod; it is done so the camera cannot shift its position.  Locked down shots are useful when a particular effect is called for – such as making an actor suddenly vanish in a shot.  Locking the shot ensures the camera will not move from one cut to another.

The logarithmic spiral is a spiral frequently sighted in nature and that was analyzed first by Descartes.  Later, another man named Jacob Bernoulii researched the spiral, and dubbed it the “Spira mirabilis” - the marvelous spiral.  Jacob was so taken with the spiral he wanted it engraved on his tombstone.   One of the reasons he was so interested by the spiral was because of its unusual mathematical property of retaining its shape despite the size of the spiral increasing.  

The spiral is related to the golden ratio, the Fibonacci numbers and the golden rectangles.  The spiral can be created by spacing rays equally at a point along a ray and placing a perpendicular line to the nearby ray.  The more the rays increase, the smooth the logarithmic spiral becomes.  It is also called the equiangular spiral and the growth spiral.  It is different than another type of spiral called the Archimedean spiral because the revolving of a logarithmic spiral grows in geometric progression, whereas in an Archimedean spiral those same distances remain the same.  

Logotype refers to an identifying name, mark, or symbol. 

Lolicon is an English transliteration of the Japanese shorthand version of “Lolita Complex.”  Lolicon involves explicit sexual visuals of young girls in anime and manga.

A type of lens containing a focal length that magnifies views of small areas or objects.  For a lens to be considered a long lens, it must have a focal length bigger than 50mm in 35mm, or 25mm in 16mm.   

Canvas not yet prepared for paint application.  Priming a canvas or sizing a canvas are examples of how a canvas may be prepared for paint. 

Excess film below and above the camera’s gate; it permits movement from the continuous motion of the take-up and supply rollers to the intermittent motion happening at the gate.  The term may also refer to a little magnifier that is a helpful tool used in the editing room.  Sometimes the term may refer to dubbing. 

Yarn that is looped onto the back of a carpet.

A term that relates to dubbing.  Film is on a loop in order to allow an actor a couple tries at a line.  Looping is also known as A.D.R.

An edge is the place where two different colors, textures or values meet.  Edges may be characterized in a variety of ways.  Lost edges disappear; the transition between two colors/values/textures cannot easily be seen because the transition between the two is gradual.   

A print containing low contrast; it is used for transfer to a video.

A low-resolution image is an image that contains only a certain amount of detailed information.  To view an image with sharp, clear colors, it is best to use a high-resolution image. 

The glow or brightness in a piece of artwork. Luminosity in a painting refers to the created light which can vary in gradation, and other ways (i.e. reflection, and/or amount of diffraction & intensity). 

Man-made combinations of fibers of nylon, wool and cotton.  It does not easily distort its shape because of its stretching and recovery ability.