Printed Paper
There are two main types of printed paper, which are used in commercial printing; coated and uncoated.
Coated Paper
Coated paper is a stock that had a surface sealant and it often contains clay. Coating papers reduce the risk of dot gain, this happens by restricting the ink from absorbing it into the surface of the paper. This allows crisper printing, especially gradients, detailed images and photos. There are a range of sheen options including dull, satin, gloss and matte finishes.
Gloss
Gloss has a high sheen, as hose in a typical magazine. They also have less bulk and opacity, which are less expensive than matte or dull printed paper, that both have paper of equal thickness.
Dull
Dull coated paper have smooth surfaces printed paper, that is low in gloss. Where as dull coated paper is between glossy and matte printed paper.
Matte
Matte coated paper is not glossy and is a flat looking paper with only little sheen. Matte papers are more opaque, bulkier and are a little higher in cost.
Uncoated Paper
Uncoated paper has not been coated with clay or any other surface sealants. DIfferent to coated paper, uncoated paper drys ins by absorbing it into the paper. Printed paper that are uncoated comprise a large number of paper types and are available in a variety of surfaces; smooth and textured are two. Some uncoated quality sheets contain watermark.
Stationery Papers
There are three general paper thickness categories used, that describes the basis weight of matching stationery printed paper which are; text, cover and writing weight papers. They are commonly used for a company’s matching envelope, business cards, letterheads and collateral items.
Writing Paper
A letterhead – weight stock, 24 or 28 writing and often has watermark.
Text Paper
This is thicker that a writing paper, but not as thick as cover paper. Text – weight stationery paper id usually 70 or 80 text.
Cover Paper
A card stock paper, such as some used for a business card or cover. They are usually 80 cover weight, however some brands offer cover weight paper that is as this as 65 and as thick as 100 – cover or heavier.