I'm trying to get the right paper for the job. That job is the printed cover that is inserted under the plastic on a DvD or Blu-ray album, to be printed in an Océ CM2522 toner copy machine. Unfortunately, I'm at a loss what all the various words and numbers really mean. I can't find much consistency when I actually get a chance to physically inspect them either.
I'm looking for a really glossy paper that's not too think, but thicker than typical office paper. Pull out the paper in a typical DvD and you'll see what I mean. I know office paper is usually 20 or 24 lb, and I've see 60-something pound paper that was pretty think, so I'd guess I'm looking for something between 35 to 45 lb.
Without physically checking it, I bought and was disappointed in the gloss and weight of HP's
I had some paper hanging around that was just about exactly what I'd want, so I went to an office store to identify it. They came close on gloss, but were too light with Xerox's
The confusing part came when their "100# Gloss Coverstock" was exactly the same, except maybe three times heavier. So if I wanted just a bit heavier, I should look for something like "110lb text"?
Then in looking around I'm seeing papers labeled "smooth" and "matte" instead of "gloss", so I'm pretty sure I don't want that. I've also noticed some papers give a g/m2 weight instead of the pound weight. I've seen 120 and 240, but have no idea how that converts to the pound weight.
On top of all this, I still don't know if "laser" means for toner printers only, nor if "inkjet" means it won't work well in a toner printer.
I can't make heads or tails of
- The weight designations, both pound and g/m2, and how those convert
- Why "coverstock" and "text" can be otherwise labeled identically
- Whether there's an actual glossiness rating I can consider
- What "smooth", "matte", and "gloss" really mean, other than the implications from the words' common definitions.
- What words like "laser" and "inkjet" imply about the printer compatibility
- Auxiliary words like "Premium32" and "Elite" (maybe just brand marketing)