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Calender - To make the surface of paper smooth by pressing it between rollers during manufacturing.

Caliper - The thickness of paper, usually expressed in thousandths of an inch (mils). Also, a device on a sheetfed press that detects double sheets or on a binding machine that detects missing signatures or inserts.

Camera Ready - Copy and/or artwork which is ready for the graphic arts camera.

Case Bind - To bind using glue to hold signatures to a case made of binder board covered with fabric, plastic or leather. Also called cloth edition, hard bind or hard cover.

Cast Coated Paper - Paper dried under pressure against a heated, polished cylinder to produce a high-gloss enamel finish.

CCD (charged coupled device) - An array of light-sensitive solid-state measuring devices that react electronically to exposure of light. It is the technology used most often in desktop scanners.

CD-ROM - Acronym for compact disk read-only memory, a storage media for information, such as application software, that can be read but not altered or written to.

Centimeter - Metric measurement of length. 2.54 centimeters = 1 inch.

CEPS - Color Electronic Prepress System.

Chalking - Refers to improper drying of ink. Pigments dust off because ink has been absorbed too rapidly into the paper.

Character Set - Describes the character symbols that a system can recognize. The character set is defined by the system software and the font library.

Choke - A slight size reduction of an opening into which an image will print.

Chroma - The attribute of color that specifies its amount of saturation or strength.

Chrome - A slang term meaning the color transparency used as the original copy.

Cloning - A function on a color electronic prepress systems (CEPS) used to duplicate a pixel or many pixels in another area of a picture. It can be used to add or remove detail. Some manufacturers call this function "pixel swapping".

CMYK - Abbreviation for cyan, magenta, yellow and key (black), the four process colors.

Coated Paper - Paper with a coating of clay or other substances that improves reflectivity and ink holdout.

Collate - In binding, the gathering of sheets or signatures.

Color Balance - Maintaining the ratio of cyan, magenta and yellow ink to produce a picture with the desired color and without an unwanted color cast or color bias.

Color Bars - The color strip on proofs that is used as a guide for the printer in determining the amount and density of ink needed.

Color Cast - Discoloration of an entire image or portion of an image caused by an overabundance of one color.

Color Correction - The deliberate adjustment of one or more colors to achieve a desired result. With inks, process colors are not pure colors; each is contaminated with the other two colors and has a hue error that requires compensation in the separation images.

Color electronic prepress systems (CEPS) - High-end: Dedicated computer work stations and systems designed exclusively for highest-quality color manipulation and preparation. Desktop: Computer systems using microcomputers and software for high-quality color manipulation and preparation.

Color Key - 3Mï¿½s negative overlay proofing films which visually simulate process printing inks.

Color management systems - Electronic characterization, calibration and control systems that help to assure color consistency and accuracy throughout the print production process from scanning through previewing on screen and proofing to reproduction on press.

Color Proof - A visual impression of the expected final reproduction produced on a substrate with inks, pigments or dyes. 3M Match Print, DuPont Cromacheck and Kodak Double Check are examples of color proofing systems.

Color Reference - A set of process inks printed on standard paper and used for color control.

Color Scanner - An electronic piece of equipment that utilizes a laser or other high intensity light to make color separation negatives from either reflective prints or transparencies.

Color Separations - The four-color negatives or positives which are the result of changing full color photos or art into the four process colors (yellow, magenta, cyan and black) by the use of filters.

Color Sequence - The order in which the four-color process inks are printed on the plate.

Colorimeter - An instrument for measuring color the way the eye sees it.

Comb Bind - To bind by inserting the teeth of a flexible plastic comb through holes punched along the edge of a stack of paper.

Composite Art - Mechanical on which copy for reproduction in all colors appears on only one surface, not separated into overlays. A tissue overlay is used to indicate color breaks.

Composite File - A PostScript file that represents color pages containing picture elements specified in terms of RGB (red, green and blue) color space as opposed to black and white "gray level" pages which represent separations.

Composite Proofs - Single test sheet showing position and color of all elements as stripped up.

Comprehensive - A detailed dummy or sketch of a design, intended to give a clear sense of how the finished piece should look.

Computer-to-plate (C2P) - Describes a system in which the use of desktop publishing software, electronic prepress workstations and platesetters allows the imaging of metal plates for any format of press without the use of film, stripping or traditional platemaking. This process results in lower costs while shortening the amount of time needed to get a job on the press. Sometimes also called C2P to distinguish it from CTP, or computer-to-press.

Computer to plate - Producing metal or polyester plates directly from digital files without producing a set of film negatives.

Computer-to-press (CTP) - Describes a printing system that includes desktop publishing software, electronic prepress workstations and a new type of press which is capable of rapidly changing the images it is printing without the use of removable plates. Sometimes called CTP, to distinguish it from C2P, or computer-to-plate.

Condensed Type - Type whose width has been reduced without affecting its height.

Condition - To keep paper in the pressroom for a few hours or days before printing so that its moisture level and temperature equal that in the pressroom.

Contact Print - A photographic print made from a negative or positive in contact with a sensitized paper, film or printing plate.

Continuous Tones - Commonly identified as the film for the four colors of a separation before it is broken into dots.

Continuous-tone digital proofing - Producing a proof with reliable color but no halftone pattern (photorealistic) directly from a digital file, usually by inkjet or dye sublimination process, without producing a set of film negatives.

Contrast - The amount of difference between the lightest and the darkest areas in a photo or artwork.

Control Character - In an alphanumeric code, it alters the meaning of the codes that follow it until another control character is used. Usually this signifies what follows should be regarded as a command rather than data.

Conventional Dot - A halftone dot with the classic square format: middle tone dots are square, while the extremely small black dots or white openings are round.

Copy - Original job material (paste-ups, film, photos and other graphics) furnished for the print job.

Coverage - The amount of ink on a page or sheet, usually given in percentages.

Crash - Coarse cloth embedded in the glue along the spine of a book to increase strength of binding.

Creep - The shifting position of the page in a saddle-stitched bind. Creep moves the inside pages or signatures away from the spine.

CREF - Computer-ready electronic files.

Cromacheck - DuPontï¿½s negative overlay color proof.

Cromalin - DuPontï¿½s one piece proofing system in both positive and negative forms.

Crop - To eliminate portions of copy or a photograph.

Crop Marks - Symbols placed in the margin outside the image area that indicate to the printer and bindery the area to be printed and/or trimmed from the image.

Cross Direction - In paper, the direction across the grain. Paper is weaker and more sensitive to humidity in its cross direction.

Crossover - A reproduction that extends across two facing pages in a book or magazine and crosses over the binding.

Cure - To dry inks, varnishes or other coatings after printing to ensure good adhesion and prevent set-off.

Curl - The distortion of paper due to differences in structure or coatings from one side to the other or from absorption of moisture on the press.

Customer-supplied files - Receiving desktop published files from customers on disk, via internet for output.

Cutoff - Circumference of the impression cylinder of a web press, therefore, the length of the printed sheet on roll to sheet presses or the length of the repeat pattern on roll to roll presses.

Cyan - One of the three subtractive primary colors used in process printing. It is commonly known as process blue.