As well as creating beautiful bespoke websites we also love to help clients with the design of printed materials. We have worked with clients on the design of everything from professional business cards to high impact banners for exhibitions.
One of the questions we are often asked by clients looking for help with their marketing materials is what finish is best suited to their project in both finish and function.
Our graphic designer, Greg, has years of experience creating quality printed materials and has written a handy guide to the various print options available.
Printing paper… whilst there are literally 0000s of different print ‘stocks’… most can be categorised in 5 broad types that will work well for your marketing materials.
UNCOATED
Uncoated paper has a rustic almost artisanal, environmentally-friendly feel and is ideal for leaflets like what’s-on guides etc. This finish is often associated with craft or environmental products. It is important to note that ink saturates uncoated paper more, so images can be darker than on coated papers. This option is perfect if you would like your finished design to have a contemporary feel.
GLOSS
Gloss paper is a shiny coated stock, that is good for images as the ink is not absorbed by the paper. This is often used for leaflets. The coating on gloss paper make it unsuitable for forms, as it isn’t easy to write on and can smudge so avoid this finish on materials that you would like your customers and clients to be able to fill in!
MATTE
Matte is a coated paper that has low reflectivity and lends itself well to the print of forms as well as general leaflets. Text works well on matte finish and the print of images is reasonably punchy but not quite as crisp as a gloss finish. A matte finish is a good all-rounder and is ideal for most types of general print.
SILK
Silk is a coated paper that combines the qualities of both Matte and Gloss, sitting somewhere between in terms of crispness of printed text and images. Silk is often the default stock that printers use.
BOND
Bond paper is an uncoated stock and is often utilised as standard office paper - stationery, copying paper and is most likely the paper you will find in your printer tray. Whilst this paper is ideal for internal printing, it lacks the quality finish needed for marketing materials.
RECYCLED PAPER
When printing in bulk it is important to consider the environmental impact. Most paper stocks have a degree of recycled content but if you are looking for an Eco-Friendly print run then uncoated paper is the finish most often associated with recycled paper.
WEIGHT
Paper weight is normally expressed in gsm (Grams per Square Metre) and in simple terms indicates the thickness of the paper.
- Normal office paper is 80 to 100gsm.
- Business cards are typically 350 - 450gsm.
- Brochure covers are ~250gsm and the inner pages often 150 -170gsm
LAMINATION
Many printed products feature lamination - typically the outer covers of brochures, both sides of business cards, menu cards etc. Lamination also ensures printed products have a more durable and harder wearing finish as well as adding a degree of luxury.
Matt lamination is the most popular on business cards and menus. It adds a luxurious non-reflective feel and for menus helps prolong their lifespan.
Gloss Lamination is better suited to posters and print products where the reflection won’t be an issue.
We hope this has helped explain the huge variety of print options available! If you would like to know more about our design for print services, please get in touch!