Importance of paper

When it comes to choosing the right paper for print it’s hard to decide. The paper gives everything away—the feel, the quality, what the project represents. It is an integral part in the user experience of your final product.

I never used to think of paper choice until the last minute. I learned very quickly that this shouldn’t be the case. You need to think about paper from the start. Your choice of paper could bring to light any printing issues and catching these early on could save you time and even save you money.

There are so many paper choices, from uncoated to silk and from matte to kraft and in my experience I’ve came to really enjoy this part of a project. You have to make sure to make the right choice to fit your project. I was unsure about my paper choices in a recent project. I recently created a booklet about dog breeds and I wanted to use a Spot UV on the cover—looking to try something different and stand out. For certain finishes like this, my printer informed me I had limited choice on paper. Due to the Spot UV on the front, the cover needed to have a matte lamination. This was so the Spot UV would stand out—otherwise it wouldn’t have had the desired effect. It’s little things like this that make your project stand out. It makes the difference from someone picking your project up and hanging on to it, to someone just picking it up and completely disregarding it.