- Calibration
- the process of adjusting a monitor or scanner to a repeatable standard. A monitor is adjusted to a specific contrast (Gamma) brightness and whitepoint color balance.
- Capture
- a digital camera is said to Capture an image rather than Take a picture.
- card reader
- A card reader has a slot for the memory card on which the pictures in a
digital camera are stored and quickly transfers the pictures to your computer.
This is preferable to using the connecting cable that plugs into your computer because
the speed at which the cable transfers pictures from the camera to your computer can be slow.
- CCD
- CCD stands for Charge Coupled Device and is the light-sensitive chip that digital cameras use instead of film. A CCD has a grid of tiny cells. Each cell makes a single pixel and these pixels make up the digital image. The number of pixels a CCD sensor can record is described in megapixels or millions of pixels eg a 3.34 megapixel camera.
- Characterization
- the process of building a Look-Up-Table (LUT) for a calibrated monitor. By profiling the output of numerous key colors from a monitor a LUT can be created that allows the computer to substitute corrected (Characterized) colors to achieve consistent and accurate output.
- Clipping Paths
- are vector defined outlines used to silhouette an object. They are created from Bezier curves and are ideally suited in describing the hard edge outlines of mechanical or man-made objects. A clipping path is a particular type of path that instructs the RIP to ignore any part of the image outside of the path. If you want to place a file over another object or background in a page layout program such as Quark-Xpress then you will have to use a clipping path to eliminate the white that surrounds the image.
- close-ups
- Both zoom and telephoto lenses help you get closer to faraway subjects such as sports action. Like a telescope they pull the scene closer to you and make it bigger in your frame. This is different from macro photography.
- colour casts
- Colour casts are unexpected tints that colour your photo prints. Taking pictures under domestic light bulbs will cause your prints to turn out orange while fluorescent tubes will create a green cast. Only use regular colour film in natural daylight or if it is too dark turn on your flash.
- Colourspace
- There are numerous methods of creating or describing a specific colour and tone. These different models are called Colourspaces. Examples are RGB CMYK LAB YCC.
- CompactFlash
- CompactFlash is a type of digital camera memory card. It is small with no moving parts and can be slotted into a card reader for speedy transferral of images to your computer. CompactFlash cards are easy to plug into your camera.
- Composite Colour
- Proofs are proofs of completed pages and are assemblies of typography graphics and images.
- composition
- Composition is an exercise in arranging your subject in the camera viewfinder. Try moving your own position or if that's an option directing your subjects to where they create a balanced composition.
- Continuous Tone
- images use pixels instead of halftone dots. That is to say that rather than simulating variations in tone by increasing or decreasing the size of closely spaced spots of 100% ink or pigment color a continuous tone (CT) image is able to print or display continuously varying levels of pigment. To achieve the perception of a smooth (continuous) tonal transition from black to white it is necessary to have 256 differentiations of tone from black to white. If you have significantly fewer differentiations the human eye will begin to perceive breaks between the tones which will result in posterization and banding in the gradients.
- contrast
- High-contrast photos have bright whites pure blacks and few middle tones or colours. Low-contrast photos are the exact opposite with few whites or blacks and middle tones in their place. High-contrast photographs look punchy and low-contrast photographs look dull.
