As you first look into collecting Animation Art, you may find many of the descriptions we use difficult, if not impossible, to decipher. This is a list of terms you are likely to encounter as you explore the world of animation art collecting. While this glossary is by no means definitive, it should give you a firm background in the semantics of Animation. A broad term that encompasses most types of animation art. In its strictest interpretation, a cel is the plastic sheet, either cellulose acetate or cellulose nitrate, that animated characters are painted on.
Outlines can be either hand-inked or Xerographically transferred to the sheet of plastic.
Those outlines are then filled with color, either by hand-painting or a serigraphic process, to complete the cel. These terms are used to describe the size of a particular cel. The actual framed size may differ. Because these cels were created to make an actual cartoon, each cel is a component part of a larger movement. The major difference, as its name implies, is that the limited editions are created in limited quantities, generally in runs of 250 to 500 cels.