the Best Paper For Printing

Introduction

There are a wide variety of types of paper available for printing and the best paper depends on what is to be printed. For casual printing, most consumers do not care about the type of paper they use. For average print jobs, when they run out of paper, they just run to the office supply store and pick up whatever is available. The only time this casual attitude changes is when they have to print photographs because suddenly they noticed that the printouts of their photographs look too grainy if they don't use photo-quality paper. Businesses, on the other hand, are well aware of the importance of having the right paper for their particular print jobs. Whether the business is large, small, home-based or not, companies realize that having the right paper is an important part of making sure that they produce the best quality printouts of their materials.

 

History

One of the first things consumers notice when they go into a store that sells reams of paper is that they have a lot of different types of paper to choose from for printing. For most people with regular access to a printer whatever they pick up in a store is just fine for their print jobs, however, they should be a way or of how different paper types can result in major differences for printing things. For instance, the type of paper that would be great for printing a resume would not be the best type of paper to use for printing a photograph. The same is true for paper that would make great letterhead paper but that type of paper may be more than what is needed for day-to-day printing. Printing businesses understand how important using the right paper as things like postcards flyers calendars, among other business-related materials. Knowing how to choose the right paper for printing jobs is one reason why many businesses use professional printing companies for their major printing jobs.

 

Features

For printing, features to consider are whether paper that his coated or uncoated would be best. papers with a coated finish can have a variety of surfaces. These papers can either be smooth and glossy or they can have a matte a dull finish. when printing photos, a coated glossy finish would be best because that type of thing finish creates the sharpest images. An uncoated finish isn't finished it doesn't have the waxy coating that makes a glossy paper. This type of matte paper can either be textured or it can be smooth. Texture matted paper as a linen-like the feel that sort of has the look of old parchment paper. This type of paper is often used in high quality stationery like company letterhead.

Another important paper quality for printing is the whiteness or the brightness of the paper that is used. The whiteness of brightness level of printing paper is often found between 80 and 100. For most photo print jobs, the whiter the paper the better because the color of the paper will not compete with the colors of the photos. For printing jobs that are mostly text, levels below 100 would be best for easier reading.

The weight of the paper is also extremely important for printing jobs. The best way for most printing jobs is 20 pounds, but paper can come in weights more than 100 lbs. Paper that is 20 lbs. is usually used for everyday printing and paper that is 25 lbs. is usually used for office letterhead and resume, or any time a better quality paper is desired. Brochures are usually printed on text or card stock paper that weighs 70 to 100 lbs. One other paper consideration for printing is how opaque the paper is. This quality is called opacity and it is measured from 0 to 100%. For a frame of reference, transparent paper has 0 opacity. The more opaque the paper, the less the printing  on one side of the paper will show through the back of the paper. For some print jobs this matters and for those cases consumers should go paper with a high percent of opacity.

 

 

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