What is the difference among gloss/smooth text/cardstock papers and what do other terms mean? [duplicate]

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• How to decide what type of paper to use for a flyer to hand out at a tradeshow? 6 answers

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

• Premium32, 32 lb Paper, 100 Bright.

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

• Elite Gloss 100lb text.

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)

Answer 1

120g/m2 paper stands for 80lb paper in US measures. 240g/m2 in somewhere in between 80lb and 100lb paper.

The European measurements for print paper go with the g/m2. Normal office print paper here is usually 80g/m2.

Here is an excellent chart about the different paper measurements and how they convert:

https://www.printi.com/blog/thickness-of-paper/

For your job I'd use a paper of 100m2/g or 120m2/g with high gloss but definitely nothing thicker. 240g/m2 paper is used commonly for business cards.

The difference with inkjet and laser paper is due to the different way of delivering the toner on the paper.

• For inkjets the paper has to be more porous to get the ink to soak into it.
• Laser printers use toners that are attached to the fibers of the paper with heat and the print result is in a way laying on the surface of the paper rather than soaked into it.

Thus if you try to print with inkjet on laser paper the result can be smeared as laser paper might be coated for better finishing.

In short, you can use inkjet paper for laser printing but it is not recommended to use laser paper for inkjet printing.

Smooth, matte and gloss stand for the finishing of the paper.

• Smooth stands for paper finishing that is free of irregularities and contours (source: http://printwiki.org/Smooth_Finish)
• Matte is unshiny paper that doesn't reflect light and the print result on it can be dull. Matte and smooth paper is usually used in office printing.
• Glossy is heavily coated or polished paper which is usully used in brochures, covers and in fashion magazines.

Also the paper can be coated with lacquering in the finishing section of the printing process. But that is not to be confused with glossy paper as also matte paper can be lacquered.

There is no ready chart for different glosses. You need to see the paper in order to be able to tell the difference between two different gloss levels. Only with experience with printing you can learn to tell the differences just by seeing the numbers.

Based on quick look at the chart I linked above text stands for paper that is used for the inside pages of a book or a brochure. Coverstock then again is thicker paper or cardboard that is used for covers, business cards and packaging.