Frame

In the digital world, the term "frame" can refer to different things depending on the context. Examples include video production, desktop publishing, and web design.

1. Video and Animation

In video production and animation, a frame is a single still image within a sequence of images. When played in quick succession, these frames create the illusion of motion. The number of frames displayed per second (FPS) is a key metric in video quality, with standard frame rates being 24 or 30 FPS for film and 60 FPS or higher for video games. The power of the GPU often determines the maximum number of frames per second.

2. Desktop Publishing

In desktop publishing and graphic design, frames refer to rectangular spaces where you can place text, images, or other elements. Frames allow you to organize content visually, giving you precise control over the layout and composition of a document. For example, in QuarkXPress, you can create a frame with a custom border, background color, and opacity.

3. Web Design

In the early days of the web, HTML frames allowed web designers to divide a browser window into multiple sections. A frame-based layout might have included a header frame at the top, a sidebar frame on the left side, and a third frame for the main content. Each frame displayed a separate webpage loaded from its own URL.

HTML frames posed user experience challenges with scollbars appearing at different screen sizes. They also created security issues by loading multiple pages at once. In the early 2000s, improvements in HTML and CSS made frames obsolete. Web designers can now build structured layouts without separating pages into multiple frames.