Paper Weights - Finding What Paper Thickness Is Right
Paper thickness (or paper weight) is a highly contested query when it comes to printed material as brands are always looking for the fine balance of creating quality products whilst also reducing costs where appropriate and possible. For this reason, finding the best paper thickness is somewhat down to a variety of factors such as the brand, the materials purpose, its format as well as the factors previously mentioned. Therefore, it is essential to really know your customers as well as what they expect to receive from you. Factoring these aspects into your decision-making process will shape which paper weight you intend to use.
That being said, you can find what the best paper thickness is for you by having somewhat of a neutral starting point in which you can change until you find what is best for you. We have found that some paper guides are a bit static in their paper weight suggestions. We work on all ranges of printed materials and have pulled together what we deem to be a range of sizes to give you a good starting point in finding the best paper weight for you and your business.
Choose What Paper Weight To View From The List Below
Letterheads
Letterheads are a staple part to any business and the paper thickness you choose will almost certainly reflect your brand. An important factor to consider is that letterheads are likely to be folded so this reflects on the suggested weight range which we believe should be between 100-130gsm.
Compliment Slips
Given that the dimensions of comp slips are usually being much smaller than the traditional A4 size of letterheads, there is often less requirement to fold. With this in mind we advise the best paper weight for compliment slips to be between 120-170gsm.
Business Cards
When people think business, they always think business cards. Business Cards are often one of the first things a new customer will see, so first impressions are key! Traditional business cards are usually 300-400gsm thick, but you can find some that weigh as high as 700gsm!
Whilst there is nothing wrong with business cards with the highest paper thicknesses, we have found that quality can be achieved through other means such as lamination, textured papers stocks or even raised text to strengthen those first impressions.
Brochures
As a brochure showcases your products and services, it is pivotal your paper thickness relates to the quality of your products. For the inner pages we advise the weight being 170-250gsm and for the outer pages 250-400gsm.
Let us think of this within the context of Estate agencies. If you are selling a 2-bedroom home, you may opt for a 250gsm outer with 170gsm inner pages which will demonstrate quality of your estate agency and also reflect the property. On the more luxurious spectrum where you may be looking to purchase a bespoke built home with 5 bedrooms, acres of land and a wine cellar, you want your brochure to resemble the property. Higher paper weight of 400gsm outers and 250gsm inner pages may be more fitting for this property profile.
Leaflets & Flyers
Leaflets and Flyers come in so many different shapes, sizes and folds. The paper thickness will therefore range between 100-200gsm. The larger the paper size, the higher paper weight we recommend and a lower thickness for the more folds there are.
I would suggest having a look at the following ‘Paper Folding Guide’ to use as reference to decide on what flyer paper thickness to choose. As there is no real standard leaflet paper weight, this guide will act as an indicator on what the right paper weight decisions may be for you.
Catalogues
Dependant on the catalogue and how often you update and change the content we would recommend 100-170gsm for the inner pages and 150-400gsm for the outer pages.
There are many factors to consider when deciding your catalogue paper thickness. For catalogues that hold over 100 pages you will have to begin thinking about paper weight in respect to how heavy the total catalogue will be. We all know the Argos catalogue… This had around 1500 pages which is why it would have been printed on paper stock below 100gsm. In contrast, the Next catalogue having around 500 pages could afford to have thicker paper stock and a bespoke perfect bound cover.
Catalogues are a great marketing approach for product related businesses. Check out these statistics from the Royal Mail showcasing how catalogues can help you grow your business.
Magazines
Magazine paper weight would traditionally be 115-170gsm for the inner pages and 115gsm-200gsm for the outer. Compared to a catalogues and brochures, it is more common for a magazine to have the same paper thickness throughout.
From our experience it is best to be mindful of how these magazines will be distributed. If sent with no packaging, we would always suggest that the outer pages are a Silk or Gloss or an uncoated stock with a lamination for effective protection.
Books & Children's Books
The paper weight required for a book is likely to be between 60-90gsm for traditional hardback and soft cover books whilst children’s books will be noticeably higher with a GSM of around 120-300gsm, with toddler books generally being printed on thick card stocks.
Postcards
Postcard paper weight needs to be sturdy to reduce the chance of bending when being put through the letterbox. You want to have more of a card over paper feel so the postcard thickness wants to be around 200-400gsm.
Christmas Cards
The thickness of your Christmas cards can be anywhere between 200-350gsm. Despite the product needing to bend they are designed to have some resistance ready for your window ledge or wherever else your designated cards are placed.
It is important to remember to have a ‘Matt’ or ‘Uncoated’ stock if you intend to be handwriting the messages in the card. Pinterest is a really great platform to explore some creative and fun ideas!
Presentation Folder
Generally used as welcome packs or leave behinds, how want your presentation folder paper thickness to be around the 200-400gsm mark.
It is essential think about what content you will be putting in such folders. For those using for simple A4 documents you may wish for a lower GSM but if you include promotional material, brochures or generally bulkier items a thicker paper stock would be more applicable.
A really powerful tool for those in sectors such as Legal/Solicitors, Estate agents, Car Dealerships, Accounting, For Events as well as any other business-to-business purchase / exchange.
Calendars
The best paper weight for calendars should be 200-400gsm for the cover page(s) and the inner (month) pages should range from 170-300gsm.
Calendars are the ultimate business and marketing tools that in theory are used every single days of the year. Given there are many different formats such as wall, desktop and CD calendars each paper thickness differs.
To have a wider look at which calendar would be right right for you we suggest having a look at The Calendar Printers website where you can have a look at all the calendars to choose from as well as best range of paper weights.
What Have We Found Out About Paper Thickness?
It is safe to say that with a wide spectrum of paper choices it can be daunting to know where to start at times. We hope that the breakdown above will navigate you and others to have a clearer starting point with what paper weight to use.
With so many factors to be mindful of in the decision-making process such as formats, folds, paper dimensions, your target audience, method of fulfilment and of course the brand itself, it is advisable to think about these aspects in your decision-making process with use of the guides above.
The beauty of working across numerous sectors for over 25 years is that we have had time to discover what the best paper weight is when it comes to printed materials.
If you have any queries or want a second opinion from our team here at Chroma, we would love for you to get in contact with us.