Choosing the right paper!
Paper you use in the office printer will be different from that used to print photographs, which are different from those you'd print business cards on. There’s a significant overlap between all paper types when it comes to jargon, and knowing a little can help you get better print results and save money.
Four properties that apply to virtually all paper types are size, brightness (or whiteness), shade, and weight. Each defines a characteristic that makes it better for certain uses.
The size is the main consideration if you’re thinking of printing with your own printer, as your printer can only accommodate a very specific range of paper sizes. Not all paper types come in the same range of sizes so it pays to know what your options are from the outset.
Brightness is the most common way of expressing how light interacts with the page. Xerox defines brightness as “the light reflectance of blue-spectrum light on the page”. The brightness of the page will affect the sharpness of your text or images. It’s measured using a 0-100 scale, where 100 is the brightest. Most paper is somewhere in the 90s, with less expensive copier paper coming in around 92 and artist-grade paper ranging in the high 90’s to 100.
Brightness is especially important for colour photographers because the paper you choose can influence the colour-correctness of your tones. Softer and lighter colours in your image can be washed out by the high-brightness paper. Lower brightness paper can add richness to your colour, but if you are working with a lot of deeper tones it can muddy their sharpness. Because brightness is associated with the blue light spectrum explicitly, high brightness can add a blueish tint to your images and may interact differently between natural light, which has a more balanced spectrum, and fluorescent lighting.
A shade describes the tone of your paper. Anyone who has spent time buying paint knows there are several different shades of white you can choose from. Differences in tone will make your white tones look warmer or colder depending on the balance of red and blue light they reflect. Paper is no different and the balance of your shade can make a big difference in how your prints turn out.
The colour most people associate with white paper is truly white, which is a light balanced neutral white tone. The brighter a paper is the more blue-spectrum light it reflects, which means it absorbs warmer light tones, creating a blue-white shade. On the other end of the spectrum are cream-white shades that reflect warmer light for a softer shade. If you’re a monochrome photographer, selecting which paper better suits your composition is a matter of personal taste. For colour photographers, it gets more tricky, as changes in the white balance of your paper can affect your print colours. This becomes especially important if you are shooting portraits, as it can change the tone as well as the natural feel of your subject’s skin tone.
Weight refers to the heft and thickness of each individual sheet of paper, not how heavy a ream of paper is. The actual weight (heaviness) of a sheet of paper is commonly measured in ‘grams per square meter’. The weight of your paper influences both how your print looks and how it feels.
Standard weight paper works best for office uses. Aside from coming with a lower price point, standard paper fulfills the typical demands of daily office printing. Office paper is easier to turn in your printer, preventing jams, and won’t look “crammed” at the binding. A downside is that lighter paper does not stand well against gravity, and will eventually cinch up and curl when displayed on a wall. It’s often not great at absorbing ink, meaning inkjet printed images will dampen the page and create mediocre results at best. Thinner weight office paper will also bleed through when printed on both sides.
Heavy paper is often more expensive and is not advisable for day to day office printing. Paper with heavier weight is also referred to as card stock since this type of paper is best for printing business cards, postcards, greeting cards that need the extra sturdiness.
Along with weight, point size becomes important on heavier papers and describes the density and “grit” of the page. Heavyweight papers come in a smoother finish or look visibly woven, as is common with cotton-blended resume papers. Your point size, much like the point size of your printer, describes the smallest ink droplet your paper can clearly print. Those extra-sharp looking letters on your business card? That’s a better point size in action.
