C

caking - When printing, the spots of ink pigments on printing plates or press rollers, due to the vehicle carrying the ink not being able to hold the pigment in suspension.

calcium carbonate, CaSo4 - Chemical used as a filler.

calcium sulphite, CaSo3 - Chemical used as a filler.

calender stacks - a vertical series of steel rolls at the end of the paper machine to increase the smoothness of the paper.

calendering - To impart a smooth finish on paper by passing the web of paper between polished metal rolls to increase gloss and smoothness.

caliper - The thickness of a sheet paper, in thousandths of an inch (points or mils).

camera-ready art - Art work ready to be imaged onto film by the film house or printer's camera department.

casebound - A book bound with a hard cover.

cellulose - For paper manufacturing, the primary component of the cell walls of wood fibers.

cellulose fiber - The fiber remaining after bleaching and pulping of wood used in making paper.

center spread - The facing pages in the center of a bound signature.

chain lines - The lines on laid paper parallel with the grain; also referred to as "chain marks".

chalking - Improper drying of ink. Ink vehicle has been absorbed too rapidly into the paper leaving a dry, weak pigment layer which dusts easily.

character - A type font's letter, number, symbol or a blank space in typesetting.

character count - The number of characters in a line of text, page or group of text.

chemical ghosting - A light duplication of a printed image on the other side of the same sheet, created by chemical reaction by the ink during the drying stages; also referred to as "gas ghosting."

chemical pulp - Wood fiber cooked using chemicals producing a pulp used to manufacture numerous printing papers and paperboard products. Papers manufactured with chemical pulp are called "free-sheet" papers.

chip board - An inexpensive, thick one-ply cardboard, typically made from recycled paper stock.

choke - In preparing film negatives, the process used to reduce the thickness of the printed image.

chromalin proofs - A proofing process used in printing. This process utilizes photosensitized clear plastic which is exposed to the image and processed in layers of color to simulate the final printed image.

cibachrome - A full-color positive photographic print made from a transparency.

clear formation - Describes paper fibers that are uniformly dispersed within a sheet of paper — a characteristic of quality paper.

close formation - Uniform density in a sheet of paper.

cloudy formation - Same as cloud effect; cloudy. Opposite of close formation. Indicates unevenness and lack of uniformity of fiber structure.

cloudy formation - A spotty, non-uniform collection of paper fibers, the opposite of clear formation.

cockle finish - A rough, uneven, hard paper finish. Most frequently manufactured in bond papers.

cold color - A color on the bluish side.

collate - In binding, gathering sections (signatures) in sequence for binding.

color bars - Printed bars of ink colors used to monitor a print image. These bars show the amount of ink to be applied by the press, the registration, and the densities across the press sheet.

color comp - A mockup of a proposed layout used for presentations.

color correction - Any method to improve color rendition.

color fastness - The ability of dyed paper to maintain in the presence of exposure to light, heat etc.

color guide - Instructions attached to artwork or disc on a mechanical the location, percentage, and type of color required.

color key - An overlay proof with just one color per sheet of acetate (3M Company Trademark)

color process printing - Printing done using cyan, magenta, yellow, and black inks, each requiring its own negative and plate. Also called process color or four-color process.

color proofs - Initial printed pieces pulled off the press for final approval.

color scanner (electronic scanner) - A scanner that makes the color separation required in full color processing printing.

color separation - The method used in breaking down the primary colors needed to prepare plates for printing color work.

commercial match - Paper manufactured to within acceptable tolerances of a sample provided to the mill.

commodity papers - A classification of low-quality bond and offset papers.

composite image - multiple pictures images placed together to form a single, combined picture.

comprehensive layout - A simulation of a layout by a designer to show how the finished art work would appear.

comprehensive proof - Final proof presented in the format the printed piece will take.

condensed face or condensed type - A particular typeface that allows more print per line, as though the letters were squashed at their sides.

conditioning - Allowing paper to adjust itself to the temperature and humidity of the printing plant prior to use.

continuous tone - Tonal gradation without use of halftone dots.

converter - Company that converts paper from its original form to usable products such as envelopes, label stock, announcements etc.

correspondence papers - Writing papers in attractive finishes, weights or colors.

cotton content paper - Papers utilizing cotton fabrics and cotton linters. Today most cotton content papers are made for letterhead applications. Papers made with cotton range from 25% to 100% cotton content.

cotton linters - The cotton fibers that adhere to the cottonseed used to produce pulp for cotton fiber papers.

couch roll - On a paper making machine the equipment that helps remove excess water from the moving web of paper prior to the wet press section of a paper machine.

cover DT - A cover stock composed of two sheets of cover stock laminated together. Usually 65 lbs = 130 lbs DT.

cover paper - Durable, heavier weight papers, available in a variety of finishes and colors, used for the cover of pamphlets, annual reports, business cards etc.

crop marks - Specifically placed marks attached to artwork that show the area to be printed.

cropping - Resizing original photographs or illustrations to a different size.

cross direction - The opposite direction of the grain of the paper.

cross grain fold - A fold at a right angle to the direction of the grain in the paper.

cross - machine direction - A line perpendicular to the direction the paper travels through the papermaking machine. Also referred to as cross direction or cross grain.

curl - Undesirable distortion or waviness occurring to the paper due to the presence of excess moisture or humidity.

cut size - Papers cut 8 x 11", 8 x 14", or any other size 11 x 17" or smaller.

cut to register - Term used for watermarked letterhead papers to indicate the watermark will be cut to appear in a predetermined position on the finished sheet. Also referred to as a localized watermark.

cutter dust - Paper dust resulting from cutting or trimming the paper which can transfer to printing blankets causing problems during a press run.

cyan - process blue - One of the four-process colors.