In digital art terms what does "camera ready" mean?

Question

I have submitted digital art to be printed on all sorts of media. One thing they always say is the image must be "camera ready" what exactly does this term mean.

None of the things I have ever submitted have been rejected for not being camera ready, but I still have no idea what this means technically...?

Answer 1

"Camera ready" is a term that goes back to when prepress art was prepared by hand, that is, galleys of type and black-and-white art were pasted onto a board that had trim and bleed marks on it, ready to be shot by a camera and made into negative film from which a printing plate could be burned. In the digital world, camera-ready usually means that the digital files are ready to be output as is, without needing additional work such as stripping in images. The digital file should be created in a page layout program (e.g., InDesign, QuarkXPress) using the final document size. So, if it is a 4x6 card, the document size in the page layout application should be 4x6, not 8.5x11 with the 4x6 card floating in the middle of it with hand-drawn crop marks. All images should be in place, and the high-resolution files for images should be supplied (unless they are already on file at the printer's).

Answer 2

I think this is in some cases a holdover term from the days when all printing was done from offset presses which used huge cameras to record the image and transfer it through a chemical develoment process to the plates used on the press. In some operations, presses are more digitized now. Anyhow, it used to mean that nothing further had to be done to the image to make it ready for the camera -- no need for cut and paste, no need for color separation, etc... that is still the basic meaning -- that nothing further has to be done to edit, move, adjust or modify in any way what you are sending before it enters the printing process, which now is either done by digital camera or by CTP - directly from a computer to the plate that goes on the press.

Answer 3

Definitions of camera ready on the Web:

A term given to any copy, artwork etc., that is prepared for photographic reproduction.
www.dataprintonline.com/resources/glossary.html

Copy or art which is ready for photography in the plate making process - mechanical, Velox or Stat.
www.nationalenvelope.com/lithoconverting/glossary.html

Artwork or copy that is ready for reproduction.
www.kctcs.net/newspublications/stylebook/sbterminology.html

Finished art or printed matter that is ready as-is to be published. Also referred to as a complete velox, complete art, or glossy.
advertising.washpost.com/special/displaycontact/glossary.jsp

Artwork or advertising copy ready for the camera, that is, ready for the printer to prepare printing plates directly from the artwork.
www.accenter.com/aboutthecenter/glossary.asp

Print ready mechanical art.
www.123stickers.com/index.asp

Copy and/or artwork, which are ready for the graphic arts camera.
www.waittmedia.com/outdoor/glossary_outdoor.html

(mssc or CRM): Basically "what you see is what you get", printed on one side of the paper, it includes text, artwork, documents, and spaces for photos. Any blemishes, coffee stains, or copy machine "splatter" on the original will be on the final copy (finished books). Please note that all forms of reproduction will loose some clarity.
www.gregathcompany.com/gloss.html

Any materials that are ready to go to press and require no further preparation work by University Directories or the printer before press time are considered camera ready.
www.universitydirectories.com/Local%20Site/PUB-DRG-Glossary.html

Mechanical artwork which is ready for printing.
www.leechprint.com/specs_glossary.html

copy or art that is ready to shoot to film with no changes
www.linnbenton.edu/printingservices/Glossary.html

The stage in printing when the document is ready to be photographed to make plates for the press. All elements of the document are in their final position, and the document has received its final proofing.
www.graphicsquote.com/glossaryofterms.html

Final film for line art and text is usually produced with a camera shot rather than a scan. This photographic process is quicker, less expensive, and provides a higher quality output than a scan. Artwork that has all type, line-art and graphics in place, and is ready to be photographed is said to be camera ready.
www.graphiconcepts.com/pages/glossary.html

Answer 4

Probably "auto focus". Look at the screen, aim the camera at something in the distance. When the picture is clear, stick your hand in front of the camera. The picture should blur, then focus again, making your hand clear. If that is what happens, then you have auto focus.

Answer 5

JOKE: It means that the strobe is at capacity, there is film or memory in the camera, and the batteries are fresh...

Answer 6

It just means that it's set up, laid out, and ready to be scanned, copied or printed, w/ colors intact and no layers.