You are here: The different surface types of printer papers.

                              All about Printer Papers -Second Page.

Be informed about how to select the right printer paper and find out every important aspect that is needed for choosing the right Printer Paper both for Inkjets and Lasers.

The thickness of paper expressed in Caliper, which is measured in mils or thousandths of an inch. Thicker printer papers usually weigh more. There is a distinct relation between caliper and basis weight. Generally, the greater the caliper (the thicker the paper), the greater the papers weight will be.

Opacity.
Opacity technically means how easily you can see through the paper. Obviously the thickness and weight of the paper has a strong effect on its opacity. It is measured in percentage with 0%being fully transparent (no opacity) and 100% is fully opaque. With low opacity, you can see words or photos coming through the paper. The higher the opacity the less the chance that printed text and images will bleed through to the other side. This is especially important for double-sided printing. Being deficient in opacity, in two-sided printing might ruin a print job, no matter how perfect the actual printing may be.

Surface- brightness- Absorption

A good printer paper should be bright. The brightness of a paper is generally determined by how smooth the surface of the paper is. Rough or course paper will spread light in several directions, while a smooth paper will reflect more of the light back in the same direction. Smooth paper reflects light back to your eye much better than a rough texture paper does. Printer-manufacturers go to enormous effort in designing their printer paper in order to meat the challenges of todays requirements.

Therefore printer makers make the surface of their inkjet or photo paper coated, making photographs more durable to dust and fingerprints and creating an ideal platform to absorb and fix the inks that are sprayed from the printer.

                    

Papers for inkjets have a specially designed surface. The coating on inkjet paper is intended to control the size of the dot. It allows the print to dry faster and helps control ink when it is sprayed onto the paper, so it looks better when laid down as a photo. In addition, it prevents ink droplets from penetrating (absorbing) too deeply into the paper or spreading out and bleeding onto each other! If the ink goes through to the coat, you wont be able to see all the color in the photograph.            

←A good coated paper should keep as much of the color on the surface as possible.

This coated surface can vary from very glossy to matte, with variations, such as specialist, high gloss, gloss, soft gloss, or semi-gloss and satin. Each of these terms refers to the amount of shine or light that the paper will scatter or reflect back to your eye. Very glossy offering high color saturation and sharpness while satin is a less shiny-coated finish on a paper. The glossy surface makes any image on the paper appear brighter because the light is reflected off its surface, rather than diffused, resulting the highest sharpness, the most tones and the brightest colors possible in a print.

Pictures printed on photo matte paper can be easier to look at because it is not shiny and appears soft and non-reflective. A matte paper has a unique eggshell-like surface, offers a great texture and also protects photos against fingerprints and dust. Its authentic look is nice for older photographs.

Some coated inkjet paper is very affordable and well worth the price. A number of inkjet papers, such as Photo Grade are specifically designed for photographs and feature glossy coatings. These optimized photo papers are a bit more expensive than plain inkjet papers but you will gain enormously in achieving accurate true-to-life color reproduction, and makes an enormous difference in quality printing.

However you should know that even the same ink will look different on different paper stocks, based on paper surface coatings and the color and brightness of the paper stock that you choose.

The importance of the quality of the printer paper can't be emphasized enough!. Inkjet printers can work with plain paper well, but to achieve the best results in your output you definitely should use special paper. On regular paper, even a high-quality one, the ink runs along the fibers causing feathering and blurring.

You should always choose your ink and the printed media accordingly to your situation in order to be truly satisfied with your final printouts.

Laser printers need paper that is specifically designed for the electro-photographic process and will stand up to the heat employed in their fusing process.

High-quality laser and copier papers are usually made from 100 percent chemical wood pulp and are characterized by a smooth surface, ensuring good image transfer, fusing without excessive curl, and reliable printer operation.

Clay or other pigment-coated papers must be specifically designed for laser printers.

If the finish is too rough, the surface will have large inconsistencies. If the finish is too smooth, toner will not adhere well to the paper. The relatively inexpensive copier or "plain, paper work well with laser printers. However, bear in mind that the quality and consistency of the plain papers can be different depending on the materials, processes, and controls that the manufacturer uses. These differences can radically affect the quality of the final printouts.

If color and crisp image or photographic reproduction is your concern, a coated gloss, matte or silk sheet is always a great and safe choice. The ink on a few glossy papers dry a bit slower because the coating keeps the paper from absorbing the ink but newer glossy papers successfully overcome this problem and allows ink to dry instantly. All of the inks currently used in desktop printers are mainly a quick dry type. While Glossy Film and Photo Paper usually cost more than that of the Plain Paper, with the right paper settings you can save a considerable amount of ink. Printing on Plain Paper usually requires more ink.

Whiteness.

Its whiteness does rate papers too. You want paper that is as white as possible since they improve color rendition and contrast. Brightness is expressed as a number from 1 to 100. Photo papers are usually in the high 90s. Not all papers are labeled with their brightness rating; therefore, the best way to determine brightness is simply to compare two or more papers side-by-side. The black dots that appear randomly on either side of the printer paper called: Toner specks. If the toner specks appear, the media might not meet the specifications for your printer.

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