Begin Each Project with Paper in Mind
When designing your print marketing piece, choosing the right paper is just as important as choosing the right typeface. Paper choice can greatly impact your end product and production cost.
When you begin a project, think through the following:
- What is your final product? Is it a book, poster, flyer, business card, etc.?
- How durable would you like the piece to be? Do you want the piece to stand up to a few weeks of use or years of use?
- What feeling do you want your piece to convey? Should it be viewed as fancy or inexpensive?
- What assets will the piece showcase? For example, will it serve to display large photos, or will it be text heavy?
- What’s your budget? Some selections may be a special-order item and potentially cost more.
Contact customer service to help you choose the right paper weight and finish for your project.
Choosing the Finish of Your Paper
Coated paper is coated with a surface sealant. This coating gives that paper a smooth, flat surface that doesn’t absorb as much ink. The result is sharper printing, especially for images, and a glossier appearance of the inks.
Coated stocks: Ideal for vibrant colors and typically used for brochures, booklets, programs.
- Gloss – gloss coated paper has a high sheen. Gloss papers have less bulk and opacity. Gloss coatings reduce ink absorption, which give the sheet an excellent color definition.
- Dull – a dull finish coated paper is a smooth surface paper that is low in gloss. Dull can also be called satin or silk.
Uncoated stocks: Typically used for handouts, workbooks, booklets, programs or where shine isn’t needed or wanted. Uncoated paper has not been coated with surface sealants. It will have a rougher feel to it and will absorb more ink resulting in a more dull appearance to the color. It’s a good paper for projects that will be written on such as surveys, reply cards, letterhead and envelopes. It is also best for projects that include a lot of text, like a book. Most colored papers fall into this uncoated category.
Below are a few variations in uncoated paper that we can special order:
- Wove or Smooth – the most common, this has a very smooth surface.
- Laid – laid paper is created with textured lines on its surface.
- Linen – similar to a laid finish, this paper has textured lines on the surface of the sheet, but they are finer and more regular than those that appear on a laid finish stock.
Consider Paper Weight and Thickness
Understanding paperweights can be difficult. The weight of a paper refers to its thickness. It is measured in pounds (ex. 20#) and points (ex. 10 PT). In general, the more a sheet of paper weighs, the thicker it is. A paper’s basis weight is calculated by weighing 500 sheets of the paper cut to its basis size.
Take a look at this chart explaining the different weights of paper and their common uses.