Glossary of Printing & Technical Terms

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

C 

Carbonless paper (NCR):

Paper coated with chemicals that enable transfer of images from one sheet to another with pressure from writing or typing.

Case binding:

A hardback book made with stiff outer covers. Usually covered with cloth, vinyl or leather.

Cast coated:

Coated paper with a very high gloss enamel finish, eg Astralux

C Format sizes:

Series of trimmed sizes in the ISO international paper size range. See paper sizes here.

Choke:

A method of altering the thickness of a shape by over exposure in processing or by means of a built-in option in some computer applications.

Clipping Path:

A vector path embedded into a bitmap image or applied to an image after being placed into a page layout that acts as an irregularly shaped outline for the image creating a cut out.

CMYK:

Abbreviation for cyan, magenta, yellow and black (key), the 4 process colours. The word 'key' comes from the days when black was simply used as an outline or key to give images more definition.

Collating:

Gathering together folded sections or sheets of paper from a book, magazine or brochure and placing them into the correct order.

Colour bar:

Similar to calibration bars, this is a strip on the margin of the printed sheet used to verify printing quality.

Colour separation:

Process by which a continuous tone colour image is separated into the four process colours (CMYK) for print production.

Concertina fold:

A method of folding in which each fold opens in the opposite direction to its neighbour, giving a concertina or pleated effect.

Continuous tone:

An image with a vast range of tones and colours.

Contract proof:

A proof supplied to a printer to document the colour results expected on press.

Cover mount:

An object that is glued to the cover of a magazine.

Crease:

To mechanically press a rule into the sheet to enable it to be folded without cracking.

Creep:

Phenomenon when middle pages of a folded section extend slightly beyond the outside pages. This is due to the thickness of the paper bulking up in the spine, and can be compensated for at the imposition stage by moving pages progressively into the spine. Ie a page on the edge of the section will have no creep, a page in the middle of a 24 page section may have the pages moved in towards the spine by perhaps 2mm.

Cromalin:

A full colour image created by a photographic process from the four colour separations, which gives printer and client an accurate comparison against the printed work.

Crop:

To trim the edges of a picture or page to make it fit or remove unwanted portions.

Crop marks:

Lines near the margins of artwork or photos indicating where to trim, perforate or fold.

CTP:

Computer to plate. Technology where the file is sent directly from a computer, onto the plate used by a printing press.

Cyan:

One of the four process colours.