I was working with a graphics designer who gave me three different iterations of a company logo. The last image looked identical to the second, to which I questioned, "is this the final copy?" He replied, "you should not use "final copy" as it refers to literary composition as in essays."
I don't understand why it could not be used to describe a company logo, graphic design, book, etc..
I searched the internet and found "final copy" used to describe research papers, letters, legal documents, and even manuscripts of the Hebrew bible.
In my example above I'm putting two words together "final" and "copy". They carry their literal meaning separately, where I find the context of "did you hand in your final copy to the professor?" is really just a lazy human shorthand to mean, "final copy of the research paper".
That being said, I feel in this context, "is this the final copy of the image?" –"final" is acting like an adjective and "copy" as its noun. Where as "did you hand in your final copy to the professor?" is acting like a two word noun.
Albeit the later seems like a more common expression, so that is maybe why the confusion?
Am I correct in my usage of these words?
Best Answer
The term final copy is used by printers for the last galley proof that the compositor (typesetter) produces before a publication is sent to the press for printing.
In the context of submitting research papers to professors, the term that you are looking for is final draft.
Merriam-Webster