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Before Buying Inkjet Paper

There are lots of different types of inkjet papers available. But actually, there are really only five main differences in all these papers, with four of these playing a critical role: brightness, weight, caliper, and finish. Learn how to choose the right paper for your needs, and how these different types of paper compare to each other.

Brightness – You may only see white on your paper, but how white is white? In terms of paper, there are many different levels of whiteness or brightness. Brightness is expressed as a number from 1 to 100, with 100 being the brightest. The high-quality photo papers usually range in the 90s. However, not all papers are labeled with their brightness rating, so the best way to know how bright one paper is from another is to compare them side by side. Individually white paper appears quite white. But when placed side-by-side, white papers show a range of colors, ranging from very bright, cool white to a soft, warm, ivory white.

Opacity – How see-through is the paper? If the opacity is high, that means printed text and images are less likely to bleed through. This is especially important for double-sided printing. Inkjet photo papers have a relatively high opacity (around 94 to 97), compared to ordinary inkjet or laser papers, so bleed-through problems are rare.

Weight – The weight of paper may either be measured in terms of pounds (lbs.) or as grams per square meter (g/m2). Bond papers, which include most inkjet papers, are usually within the 24 to 70 lbs. or 90 to 270 g/m2 range. The weight of the paper and its thickness will not have much of a noticeable effect on the quality of the printed image, if at all. The importance of paper weights lies in the impression that heavier paper creates a feeling of seriousness and importance not found in flimsier paper.

Caliper – Typical multi-purpose papers are usually lighter and thinner than photo papers. This thickness, known as caliper, is needed in order to contain more ink content typically found in photos. Typical inkjet paper caliper may be anywhere from a thin 4.3 to a thick 10.4 mil. Photo papers are usually found in 7 to 10 mils.

Gloss Finish – Photo papers have a particular coating which allows your printed pictures to look and feel like photographic prints. The coating on the photo paper doesn’t allow the ink to be absorbed by the paper quickly, so some glossy papers dry slowly. However, it is becoming commonplace to find quick-dry glossy finishes today. The finish may be described as high gloss, gloss, soft gloss, or semi-gloss, each reflecting the amount of shine. There is also a shiny coated finish called satin.

Matte Finish – If you print images on photo matte papers, you will get soft and non-reflective images, not shiny ones. Matte papers, however, are not the same as regular inkjet papers. These are thicker and are specially formulated for photos. Many of the matte finish papers can be printed upon on both sides.

Article Source: http://www.ezarticles.info

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