Printing, paper & finishing

The same design behaves differently on another paper. It catches light differently, feels different in the hand and takes folding differently. The articles here help you match paper and finish to what the print has to do: sit on a counter, travel in a pocket, or go into an envelope with an invitation.

Paper: thickness, texture, colour

One simple question comes up more than any other: which paper to choose. We explain what a thicker, stiffer sheet actually gives you, how plain paper differs from decorative and recycled kinds, how to design on cream, grey or kraft paper and keep the words easy to read, and why shiny and pearl finishes shift in appearance with the light. There is a separate thread on paper coloured all the way through, and when it looks better than a printed background.

Finishing

The second group covers what happens to the paper once it has been printed:

• Film - gloss, matt and Soft Touch: how each one looks and how it copes with fingermarks.
• Folds - a prepared fold line lets heavier paper close neatly instead of cracking.
• Tear-off sections - coupons and vouchers a customer can take away.
• Unusual shapes - folded, cut-out and anything other than a plain rectangle.

Before you order

The third thread is the ordering itself. Where the difference between screen colour and printed colour comes from. What most often comes back for correction. What to look at when a print has to survive daily handling - on things people touch every day, the paper and the finish matter more than the artwork. The options for a given product appear in the calculator, though it is easier to choose them knowing beforehand what you are after.