highlighter

Highlighters

A highlighter is a form of felt-tip pen which is used to draw attention to sections of documents by marking them with a vivid, translucent colour.^[1]

History

In 1962 the first felt-tip pen was invented in Japan by Yukio Horie. A highlighter is a felt-tip pen filled with transparent fluorescent ink. Although Avery Dennison Corporation invented and trademarked the name Hi-Liter, they did not invent the felt pen.

Styles

A pair of highlighters

Many highlighters come in bright, often fluorescent colours. Being fluorescent, highlighter ink will glow under a black light. ^[2]The most common colour for highlighters is yellow, but they are also found in pink, blue, green, orange, and purple varieties. Red highlighters can be purchased along with a green translucent sheet used to hide the highlighted material. This product is sold in Japan and some other countries, and can also be bought online.

Highlighters are available in retractable form, or with an eraser on the opposite end of the felt tip. Other types of highlighters include the "trilighter," a triangularly-shaped pen with a different-coloured tip at each corner, and ones that are stackable.

Dry highlighters (occasionally called "dry line highlighters") are highlighters that, instead of having a felt tip, have applicators that apply a strip of highlighter tape, similar to audio cassette tape. Unlike standard highlighters, they are easily erasable. They are to be distinguished from "dry mark highlighters", which are sometimes advertised as being useful for highlighting a Bible or other books with extremely thin pages.

Other uses

Yellow highlighting on a page of photocopied text

• On rare occasions artists have used highlighters (including erasable highlighters)^[3], either alone or in conjunction with other media, to create drawings.
• Word processing software has the ability to simulate highlighting capabilities by using a technique similar from reverse video on some terminals. Similar to this is the program Web Highlighter, allowing one to "attach highlighting, notes, and links to any Web page viewed with Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 or later."^[4]
• On human skin, highlighter ink shows up brightly under a blacklight but is nearly invisible in regular light.^{[citation needed]}

Look up highlighter in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

References