To a lot of people, paper is just that, paper. But, when you work in an industry that involves printing a wide range of items for your clients, you quickly learn there are thousands of different types of paper. 

When I started to handle the print jobs at my very first “grown-up” job, I didn’t really think there was much to it. Call a local print company, and tell them the quantity and size of the piece I was needing printed. Then I would let them tell me what stock (type of paper) and weight (thickness of paper) they would recommend I use for this type of project. That was it.

When I came to Bailey Gardiner in the spring of 2007, I started handling a lot more print jobs, and now, I pretty much manage every print job that goes through our office. To be honest, it’s a little scary how much I have learned about something like paper. Of course I have to thank the wonderful creative team at our office and the printers themselves (a special shout out to Neyenesch and Rush Press) for helping me learn about paper and how to select the best type of paper for a particular project.

I have compiled a check list of how you should proceed when choosing a paper for your project.

Step 1: Select the type of paper you want

Your options are:

Uncoated: Soft in appearance and has no special touch to it (gloss or varnish). Recommended for business cards, stationary and brochures.

Coated: Has a special touch to it (gloss, varnish, soft touch). Recommended for postcards and invitations. I recommend that if there is a lot of ink coverage on your piece you add an aqueous coating to avoid fingerprints.

Dull: Has a slight touch to it. Recommended for invitations and brochures.

Step 2: Select the weight of the paper

The weight of a piece of paper is referred to as a pound (#). The different types of weight include:

1) Text Weight: These are thinner pieces of paper that are generally used for letterhead, envelopes, small brochures and inserts that go in larger pieces. Standard letterhead/envelope weight is 24# or 28# and brochures and inserts are typically 70# or 80#.

2) Cover Weight: These are thicker pieces of paper that are generally used for business cards, invitations, and brochures. Standard weight for these is either 100#, 120# or 130#. Cover stocks add a higher quality look and feel to a finished product.

3) Book Weight: These are pieces of paper in between a text and cover weight. Imagine the thickness of a page in a book (hence the name “book weight”). These are generally used for brochures or rack cards. Standard weight for these is 70# or 80#.

Step 3: Select the color of the paper

There are too many colors for me to name for this one. People generally go with some shade of white (Bright White, Cool White, Warm White, etc…) but the options are endless.

Step 4: Select what brand of paper you want

There are endless paper manufacturers all over the world, so the selection of which brand to use can be difficult. The selection is generally made by the two following factors:

1) Quality

2) Price

With companies becoming more and more environmentally conscious, we propose at least one eco-friendly paper option to our clients. You can read more about this and these types of papers in my blog post about green paper options.

There are many more factors that go into selecting the right paper for your project, but I’ll need to save that for the world of paper – part 2.