“Which paper should we use?” is the question that decides how a job looks, feels and costs, and it comes with a lot of jargon. Here is the plain version, from the people who load the sheets onto the press every day.
01 · The numberWhat gsm means
GSM is grams per square metre: how much one square metre of the sheet weighs. A typical office sheet is around 70–80 gsm; a business card is usually 300 gsm or more. Higher gsm generally means thicker and stiffer.
Generally, not always. Two stocks of the same gsm can feel different in the hand, depending on the fibre and how the sheet is made. Board is often also specified by thickness (in microns), which is what matters for a box that needs to stand up. Roughly, paper becomes “board” somewhere above 200–250 gsm.
02 · PaperCoated or uncoated
Paper splits into two families. Coated paper has a thin clay layer that keeps ink sitting on the surface, so images are sharp and colours bright. Uncoated paper soaks ink in, so colours look softer, but it feels natural and is easy to write on.
Art paper (gloss or matt)
Smooth and coated. Gloss makes photos pop; matt reads better and looks more refined.
Good for: brochures, catalogues, flyers, magazines, posters.
Art card
Art paper’s heavier sibling, coated on both sides for sharp print front and back.
Good for: covers, visiting cards, tags, invitations, calendars.
Maplitho
The everyday uncoated white paper. Takes pen and pencil well and doesn’t glare.
Good for: letterheads, forms, bill books, notebooks, text pages.
Kraft and speciality
Brown kraft for a natural look; textured and coloured papers for something special.
Good for: bags, wraps, invitations, rigid box wraps.
Because uncoated paper drinks ink, artwork for it needs less ink in the dark areas. Our artwork checklist covers that.
03 · BoardFBB, SBS and duplex
For cartons, three boards cover most jobs. They can look similar on a quote, but they behave differently on the shelf and on the folding line.
SBS (solid bleached sulphate)
Made from bleached fibre all the way through, so it is bright white inside and out, with very clean cuts and folds.
Good for: premium cosmetics, pharma, luxury and food cartons.
FBB (folding box board)
White layers top and bottom around a lighter middle layer. Gives a lot of stiffness per gram, so cartons stay crisp without heavy board.
Good for: FMCG, personal care, pharma and food cartons.
Duplex board
Recycled fibre with a white coated printing side and usually a grey back (white-back duplex costs a little more).
Good for: household goods, toys, shoe boxes, outer and secondary cartons.
Greyboard and corrugated
Thick greyboard (about 1.5–3 mm) is the core of rigid boxes. Corrugated board, with fluting inside, is for mailers and shipping.
Good for: rigid gift boxes, mailer boxes, shippers.
If your product is food, tell us at the quote stage: the board, inks and coatings for direct food contact are chosen differently.
04 · Quick guideWhich stock for which job
These are starting points, not rules. Product weight, budget, finishes and the feel you want all move the answer.
05 · Two floor tipsFolding and finishing
- Heavier stock needs a crease. Above roughly 170 gsm, a fold without creasing can crack, especially through dark ink. We crease before folding.
- Lamination changes the feel more than gsm does. A soft-touch matt lamination on a lighter card often feels more premium than a heavier uncoated one.
Want to feel it first?
Tell us the job and we’ll suggest two or three stocks, with samples you can hold before you decide.