Printing paper falls into a handful of families: coated art paper and art card, uncoated woodfree and simili, textured sheets such as laid, linen and felt-marked, and specialty stocks such as kraft, cotton, synthetic and carbonless. Each is sold at named weights in gsm, but weight does not tell you thickness, which is measured separately as caliper. This guide explains each family and what it suits.
What are the main types of paper used for printing?
Printed jobs usually use one of five groups of stock: coated papers and cards, uncoated papers and cards, textured sheets, cotton, and specialty materials that solve a particular problem such as water, copies or thickness. The family decides how ink behaves on the surface and whether the sheet takes a pen; the weight then decides how substantial it feels.
| Family | Stock | Weights held | Surface |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coated paper | Gloss art paper | 128–157 gsm | Coated and calendered, both sides |
| Coated card | Gloss art card | 260–350 gsm | Coated and calendered, both sides |
| Coated card | Matt art card | 310–400 gsm | Coated both sides, left dull |
| Uncoated card | Uncoated woodfree | 300–400 gsm | No coating; ink dries into the fibre |
| Uncoated text | Simili text paper | Named on the quotation | Light, uncoated and absorbent |
| Textured | Laid text | 100–120 gsm | Uncoated, with chain lines |
| Textured | Linen board | 300–350 gsm | Woven cross-hatch, embossed after making |
| Textured | Felt-marked text | 270–300 gsm | Irregular felt marking, uncoated |
| Cotton | Cotton soft white | 350–450 gsm | Cotton linter, uncoated, no brightener |
| Specialty | Kraft board | 300–350 gsm | Unbleached, brown through the sheet |
| Specialty | Synthetic stock | 200 micron | Polypropylene film, printable both sides |
| Specialty | Carbonless set | 3 plies, 50–55 gsm each | Coated to transfer under pressure |
| Specialty | Bonded duplex and triplex | 600 gsm bonded and 900 gsm bonded | Sheets bonded, seam visible at the edge |
The weights are the grades listed on the materials page. Simili is ordered in by named weight for each job, so its weight is settled on the quotation together with the page count and the finished size.
What is the difference between art paper and art card?
Art paper and art card are the same coated family at different weights. Art paper is the text weight, held as gloss art paper at 128 and 157 gsm, for flyers, leaflets, posters and booklet pages. Art card is the card weight, held as gloss art card from 260 to 350 gsm and matt art card from 310 to 400 gsm, for name cards, covers, postcards and folders.
Gloss and matt are coated in the same way. Gloss is calendered under pressure until it takes a shine; matt is coated on both sides exactly as gloss is, but left dull. That one difference changes how a job reads:
- Gloss makes a photograph look sharper than it actually printed, which suits product cards, food and beverage and anything carried by an image. Under office lighting its sheen becomes glare on dense small reverse type.
- Matt has no reflection, takes fine type cleanly and suits any job that will later take spot UV. Large blacks on it need a support build rather than K100 on its own.
Neither is a writing surface. A ballpoint skids across the coating of both, and a pencil will not mark gloss art paper at all. If a piece will be written on after it is printed, it belongs on an uncoated stock.
What is uncoated woodfree paper, and how is simili different?
Uncoated woodfree has no coating at all, so the ink dries into the fibre rather than sitting on top of it and the surface stays completely matt. It takes a pen without smudging, which makes it the stock for anything written on after printing. The trade also calls it uncoated natural or offset paper, and it is held as a card at 300, 350 and 400 gsm.
Colour behaves differently on it. Chroma drops roughly fifteen per cent as the ink sinks into the fibre, so artwork should be built for that rather than matched to a coated proof, and full-bleed photographs go soft and grey. On a two-colour identity the drop is even, so the result reads as intended.
Simili is the light uncoated text paper that most manuals, workbooks and internal reports are actually run on. It is lighter than any cover stock and meant to be. Type is crisp and photographs go flat on it, which is the right trade for a book that is read rather than displayed. Because it is ordered in for each job, its weight is named with the page count rather than published in advance.
How do gsm and caliper differ?
Gsm is the weight of one square metre of the sheet; caliper is its thickness. The two do not track each other across families, so the heavier sheet is not always the thicker one. Uncoated and textured sheets are bulkier than coated sheets of a similar weight, while a coated sheet is denser and thinner for its weight.
That is why two stocks with the same gsm can feel quite different in the hand, and why weight alone does not settle a specification. Felt-marked text, for example, is soft, open and bulky for its weight. When thickness itself is the point, bonded duplex and triplex reach a caliper no single sheet in the range will give. The caliper of each held grade is listed on the materials page.
What are laid, linen and felt-marked papers used for?
Textured papers carry a pattern in or on the sheet, and the pattern is part of what the reader feels. Laid text has fine parallel chain lines formed in the sheet; linen board has a woven cross-hatch pressed in after the sheet is made; felt-marked text is marked by a felt roller while it is still wet, so no two sheets carry the same pattern.
- Laid text, 100–120 gsm: chain lines roughly 5 mm apart, with fainter laid lines running across them. It suits letterheads, compliment slips and certificates, and it runs through an office printer. A large photograph across it breaks into a pattern on the ribs.
- Linen board, 300–350 gsm: reads as cloth at arm’s length and as paper up close. It suits law, private banking, invitations and certificates. Hot foil across the deepest part of the weave reaches the peaks, skips the valleys and breaks into dashes.
- Felt-marked text, 270–300 gsm: soft, open and bulky for its weight. It suits invitations, menus, letterpress and art catalogues. Type below 7 pt breaks up on the irregular surface, and reverse type closes up entirely.
Weight matters for stationery in particular. Laid text at 120 gsm goes through an office printer, while uncoated woodfree at 300 gsm is too heavy for one, which is why the heavier sheets in a stationery set are kept for compliment slips and cards rather than letter paper.
Which specialty stocks solve water, copy and thickness problems?
Some jobs need a material rather than a paper. Synthetic stock survives water and handling, carbonless sets make copies under a pen, kraft board looks deliberately unfinished, cotton takes a deep impression, and bonded boards give a thickness no single sheet reaches. Each one solves a particular problem and brings its own constraints, which are worth knowing before the artwork is built.
- Synthetic stock, 200 micron: a polypropylene film, not paper. It does not absorb water, does not tear along a fold and does not go soft in humidity, which suits menus, luggage tags, plant labels and posters in lift lobbies or kitchens. It does not hold a crease, so a fold needs a scored hinge designed in, and it is not one to recycle with paper.
- Carbonless set, 3 plies, 50–55 gsm each: pressure on the top sheet releases an image onto the plies beneath, usually white, pink and yellow. It suits delivery orders, job sheets and receipt books. Heavy solids on the top sheet make the transfer patchy where the signature lands.
- Kraft board, 300–350 gsm: unbleached and brown all the way through, with visible fibre. CMYK goes muddy on brown, so one or two spot colours, white ink or foil are what actually read.
- Cotton soft white, 350–450 gsm: made from cotton linter rather than wood pulp, dense and compressible, and it takes a deep letterpress bite. Fine hairlines spread, so keep rules at 0.5 pt or heavier. Spot UV sinks into it and largely disappears.
- Bonded duplex and triplex: two or three sheets laminated together, with the seam showing as a stripe along every cut edge. Bonded stock delaminates at a crease, so it is never specified for a fold.
How do you choose a paper type for a printed job?
Start from what the piece has to do, then choose the family, then the weight. Ask whether it will be written on, folded, handled wet, read at length or kept, and whether a photograph or the paper itself carries the design. Those answers usually narrow the choice to one family before anyone discusses weight, and the weight question then becomes much easier.
| Job | Starting stock | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Flyer handed out in quantity | Gloss art paper, 157 gsm | Thin enough to hand out by the thousand, coated enough that photographs hold their snap |
| Flyer that should feel like an invitation | Matt art card, 310 gsm | A card rather than a paper; it stands up in a rack and survives a bag |
| Name card | Matt art card, 350 gsm | Smooth, no sheen, and clean with fine type |
| Booklet text pages | Gloss art paper, 128 gsm | Light enough that a 48-page book still closes properly |
| Booklet cover | Matt art card, 350 gsm | Heavy enough to protect the text block |
| Manual or workbook text | Simili text paper | Light and uncoated, with crisp type for reading |
| Appointment card or form | Uncoated woodfree, 300 gsm | Takes a pen without hesitation |
| Letterhead | Laid text, 120 gsm | Runs through an office printer |
| Poster in a damp area | Synthetic stock, 200 micron | Does not absorb water or go soft in humidity |
| Copies signed on site | Carbonless set | Each party keeps a copy |
For folded pieces, the number of panels and creasing also limit the weight, and the brochure paper weights guide covers that decision. To test a shortlisted sheet in the hand, see how to compare paper samples.
Worked example: choosing stocks for an office print set
Choosing papers for several pieces at once works well when each piece is matched to its own job rather than to the others. In this example, an office orders four items together and picks a different family for each: a coated card, a coated paper, an uncoated card and a synthetic sheet, with the reason for each stated in the enquiry.
Hypothetical planning example. Actual production timing, paper availability, and logistics are confirmed individually upon artwork and specification review.
An office is ordering four items at the same time and wants each one specified correctly:
- Name cards: matt art card, 350 gsm. The cards carry fine type, and matt has no glare.
- Product flyers: gloss art paper, 157 gsm. They are handed out in quantity and carry photographs.
- Appointment cards: uncoated woodfree, 300 gsm. Staff write the next date on the back, so the card stays uncoated.
- A notice for the pantry wall: synthetic stock, 200 micron. It hangs near a sink, where paper would go soft.
The enquiry lists the stock, quantity, sides, finish, size and deadline for each item and asks for advice on the notice, where the office is unsure of the size. Each item is quoted from its own specification, and standard turnaround is 7–14 working days.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between art paper and art card?
They are the same coated family at different weights. Art paper is the lighter text weight used for flyers, posters and booklet pages, while art card is the heavier card weight used for name cards, covers and postcards. Both come in gloss, which is calendered to a shine, and matt, which is left dull.
What does gsm mean on paper?
Gsm stands for grams per square metre. It is the weight of one square metre of the sheet, so it tells you how much material there is. It does not tell you how thick the sheet is, which is measured separately as caliper.
Is a higher gsm paper always thicker?
No. Uncoated and textured sheets are bulkier than coated sheets of a similar weight, so two sheets with the same gsm can differ noticeably in thickness. Gsm tells you the weight of the sheet, and caliper, measured separately, tells you how thick it is.
Which paper can be written on with a pen?
Uncoated stock. Uncoated woodfree has no coating, so the ink dries into the fibre and the surface takes a pen without smudging. A ballpoint skids across coated art paper and art card, so anything written on after printing belongs on an uncoated sheet.
What is synthetic paper used for?
Synthetic stock is a polypropylene film rather than paper, so it does not absorb water, tear along a fold or go soft in humidity. It suits menus, luggage tags, plant labels and posters in damp areas. It does not hold a crease, so any fold needs a scored hinge.
How can EZ Print help you choose a paper stock?
Not sure which sheet? Send the artwork and say where the piece will be used or handed over, because the setting usually decides the stock. EZ Print, trading since 2017, quotes every job from its specification: stock, quantity, sides, finish, size and deadline. Standard turnaround is 7–14 working days, and express is quoted per job.
The stocks above run across flyers, booklets and name cards. Send your specification through the quote request page and ask for advice on the stock if you are unsure.
Same-day and urgent printing available. Subject to artwork approval, payment, print type and production availability. Timing confirmed per job.