Camera-Ready

In desktop publishing, camera-ready refers to the final state of a publication before it is printed. Historically, the term has meant that the copy is ready to be photographed and turned into plates for offset printing. Increasingly, however, it is possible to print directly from the electronic version, either by sending it to a high-resolution laser printer or to a special device that can generate plates directly from electronic elements rather than from photographs. In these cases, therefore, camera-ready means merely that the document is ready to be printed.