Camera-ready

Copy which is ready for photography. Mechanicals, photographs and art that are fully prepared for reproduction according to the technical requirements of the printing process being used. Final publication material that is ready to be made into a negative for a printing plate. May be a computer file or actual print and images on a board

Clip art

Ready-made artwork sold or distributed for clipping and pasting into publications. Available in hard-copy books, and in electronic form, as files on disk.

CMYK

Stands for the four primary colors used in a printing process; Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black. In a “four-color” printing process, these colored inks are combined to closely resemble the actual colors in a photograph or design.

Coated Paper

See About Paper - Coated

Collateral

In graphic design refers to the supporting printed pieces in an advertising or marketing campaign. Can include brochures, sell sheets, presentation folders, etc. and usually will maintain a similar look and feel for branding.

Color Separation

Technique of using a camera, scanner or computer to divide continuous-tone color images into four halftone negatives. The film, proof or printed product resulting from color separating.

Column Gutter

The space between columns of type.

Commercial Printer

Printer producing a wide range of products such brochures, posters, booklets, stationery and business forms.

Comp

(Comprehensive Dummy) Visualization of an idea; a comprehensive representation of finished piece used for purposes of discussion. The look of the actual piece may differ. The degree of rendering is referred to as "tight" or "loose." A "rough" comp is usually little more than a sketch used to visualize a design concept. The amount of time and quality of materials used affects both the appearance and cost of the comp. It is common for some comps to "look better' than the finished piece.

Copy

Refers to text ( typewritten pages, word-processing files, typeset galleys or pages) although sometimes refers to all source materials (text and graphics) used in a publication.

Copyfitting

The fitting of a variable amount of copy within a specific and fixed amount of space.

Corporate Identity

A visual presentation of an organization's unique personality. Usually centered around a Logo, the overall package may contain stationary, signage, and other relevant physical expressions used by the organization. Guidelines governing proper usage of the design elements, color scheme, typography, photos, etc. are established and may be provided in the form of a "graphics standards manual."

Cover Paper

See About Paper - Cover

Crop marks

Horizontal and vertical lines that indicate the edge of the printed piece.

Cropping

Cutting out the extraneous parts of an image, usually a photograph.

Crossover

Printing across the gutter or from one page to the facing page of a publication.