Printing paper - Ensure your print orders are printed using quality paper stock

Printing on the right paper can make all the difference, whether conducting a company-wide presentation, submitting a winning proposal, or promoting your business to potential customers and clients, printing your message for business documents that really pop, consider printing on a quality printing paper today.

Printing Paper qualities

• Brightness

Brightness - the brightness of a sheet of paper measures the percentage of blue light it reflects. The brightness of a piece of paper is typically expressed on a scale of 1 to 100, with 100 being the brightest. Most papers reflect 60-90% of light. The brightness of a paper affects readability, the perception of ink color and the contrast between light and dark hues.

As brightness increases, so does:

Faithful color reproduction

Ink brightness

Contrast between printed and non-printed areas

Generally speaking, the brighter the paper stock, the better.

• Whiteness

Where brightness refers to blue light, whiteness refers to how the entire spectrum of light is absorbed or reflected by a given paper stock. There are several variations, or grades, of whiteness; and the most popular are:

Balanced white: Reproduces “true-to-life” images and is good for print jobs featuring illustrations and paintings

Warm white: Makes images feel warm by absorbing blues and greens, and reflecting reds and oranges, good for print jobs featuring photographs

Blue white: Commonly used for retail marketing due it is ability to produce “hard,” metallic images; it’s a cooler type of paper stock (since it reflects blues and greens) that’s well-suited to product images and black and white photographs

• Opacity

Opacity - a paper's opacity is determined by its weight, ingredients and absorbency. A paper's opacity determines how much printing will show through on the reverse side of a sheet. Opacity is expressed in terms of it's percentage of reflection. Complete opacity is 100% and complete transparency is 0%.

Opacity refers to the amount of light that can be transmitted through a given paper stock. High opacity lets little light through, while low opacity lets more light through.

Opacity is an important consideration because it enhances brightness, surface and formation. It’s a great choice for projects that require full-color and heavy ink, which is why it’s often used for marketing materials. Though it costs more per pound that normal offset papers, stocks with high opacity reduce total paper and mailing expenses.

•  Basis weight and thickness

Ever wondered exactly what paper “weight” means? It refers to the weight of 500 sheets of a given paper stock in its basic size. For example, the basic size for cover stock is 20-inch by 26-inch and the basic size for text stock is 25-inch by 38-inch.

 Paper thickness is exactly how it sounds – how thick the paper is, as measured by a caliper. Paper thickness is often express as “points,” where every point equals .001 inch. So, if you ask “how thick is 10 point text paper,” you can multiply .001 by 10 to get .010 inch.

Thick paper stocks lend a sense of quality to your marketing materials, and thickness also plays an important role in direct-mail marketing pieces that need to be fed through post office sorting machines.

The more prestigious the piece, the thicker the paper. This doesn't mean your folded brochures should be like cardboard, but adding thickness to your paper can lend credibility and esteem.

• Surface

Surface refers to the smoothness of a given paper stock, dictated by how level the fibers are. Smooth, level paper stocks reproduce colors in sharp, vivid detail.

One way to determine surface quality is to shine a light through a sheet of paper. If it’s uniform without a lot of mottling, the paper is likely rather smooth. Another way is to test ink absorption: smooth papers absorb inks better than unsmooth papers.

The best paper stocks for printing feature:

• High opacity, which allows for heavier ink coverage

• High brightness, which makes inks more vivid

• High thickness, which offers stability

• Smooth surface, which quickly absorbs inks and minimizes ink blots and other imperfections