Recycled paper and sustainable plantation paper descriptions & advice

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GSM stands for grams per square metre.
This might not mean too much to you, so each type of stock is described in a bit more detail below.

 

TheOnlinePrinter offers the most appropriate choice of papers suitable for the products we offer. We have included a description of our papers below, as well as recommendations for their use. We only use premium quality paper from premium suppliers. We are an environmentally sensitive organisation. Read more about TheOnlinePrinter and the environment.

 

Satin, Gloss and Uncoated stocks

Uncoated stocks are easy to write on, are not reflective, are the whitest stocks we offer, and have a very smooth finish. They are suitable for books, booklets, office stationery and, in heavier weights, business cards.

Our satin and gloss stocks are suitable for a variety of products, as listed below. Satin is a smooth dull finish, and would be better described at a Satin/Matt (i.e.: too shiny for Matt, but not sufficiently shiny for Satin). Satin has a classical, sophisticated, understated and very elegant look.

Gloss is a much shinier, more reflective ‘get up and go'’ stock. Both are suitable for text and images. Satin is a better choice if reflections from light sources might be a problem.

 

 

Here is a detailed description of the various papers we use, along with recommendations for their use.

 

60gsm carbonless paper

This paper is also called no carbon required paper, or NCR paper. It is used for our carbonless docket books. If duplicate carbonless docket books are ordered, then the original page is white and the copy is green. If triplicate carbonless docket books are ordered, then the original page is white, the duplicate pages are green, and the triplicates are blue.

 

100gsm White Laser-printer Friendly Offset — 100% Recycled Paper

A high quality high white smooth stock suitable for stationery, letterhead, with compliments slips, saddle-stitched booklets, etc. Currently, we only offer this stock on our letterhead and one-third-A4-sized 'with compliments' slips.

It is 100% recycled stock, and it is 100% laser-printer safe.

 

100gsm White Laser-printer Friendly Offset — Sustainable Plantation Paper

A high quality high white smooth stock suitable for stationery, letterhead, with compliments slips, saddle-stitched booklets, etc. The paper is light and thin, but being high quality, limits ‘see through’. The light weight of the paper is suitable for booklets and catalogues that you might mail or put in letterboxes.

This stock is sustainable plantation paper.

 

115gsm Gloss — Sustainable Plantation Paper

115gsm Gloss is a lighter gloss stock that is used for our offset printed boolets and flyers. It is not as strong as the 150gsm Gloss stock, but it does offer a small savings in price.

As with almost all of our paper stocks, 115gsm gloss is grouped in either the recycled paper or sustainable plantation stock and, in this case, its specific group is the sustainable plantation stock.

 

120gsm Satin and Gloss — Sustainable Plantation Paper

This is our most commonly used stock for digitally printed products. It is particularly suitable where a job needs to be folded. We recommend it as the first choice for:

 

150gsm Gloss — 55% Recycled-45% Sustainable Plantation

150gsm stock is used for most of our discount priced printing products. It is sufficiently robust for:

The paper is 55% recycled paper, with the remaining 45% being sourced from sustainable plantations.

150gsm Gloss — Sustainable Plantation

150gsm stock is used for most of our discount priced printing products. It is sufficiently robust for:

The paper is sourced from sustainable plantations.

 

160gsm uncoated — Sustainable plantation

Wide format bubble-jet printed posters are printed on 160gsm uncoated stock.

 

200gsm Gloss Art — Sustainable Plantation Paper

200gsm Gloss Art is a 100% sustainable plantation paper, and it is mostly used for boolets, catalogues and flyers. It is more robust than the 150gsn Gloss stock.

 

210gsm Satin and Gloss — Sustainable Plantation Paper

This is a heavier stock that is used on:

 

250gsm Gloss — Sustainable Plantation Paper

250gsm Gloss is used as a cover for booklets, catalogues. It is always coated with a clear varnish, and this makes the cover resistent to scratching and buffing. 

 

280gsm satin and gloss — Sustainable Plantation Paper

A robust stock suitable for:

 

270gsm Beer mat card

This stock is a hardy material that is used for our quick and cheap beer mats. It is not water-proof, but it is somewhat water resistant.

You should make yourself aware that the 270gsm beer mat card is NOT a beer mat board, but is more like a sturdy business card stock. If you want a thick beer mat, then you will need to choose the high quality drink coasters.

TheOnlinePrinter uses 270gsm beermat card for its cheap and fast beer mats. The cheap and fast beer mats are really meant to be used for 'one off events', or is situations where they are not subjected to the continual 'flodding' that comes from wild parties.

300gsm and 350 gsm satin and gloss, and 310gsm Art Board (Sustainable Plantation Paper)

These are heavy board type stocks. They are suitable if your document needs to be robust (e.g.: rack cards, business cards, posters that will hang from ceilings, etc). They are commonly used for:

 

350gsm Satin — 55% recycled paper and 45% sustainable plantation paper

As with the 300gsm satin and gloss, the 310gsm Satin Art Board, and the 350gsm satin and gloss, our recycled stock is suitable for book covers, calender covers, business cards, Christmas cards and the like. The sole difference is that this stock is a recycled paper stock.

 

390gsm Beermat Board

This stock is a hardy material that is used for drink coasters. It is not water-proof, but it is somewhat water resistant.

TheOnlinePrinter uses 390gsm beermat board for its high quality drink coasters. The high quality drink coasters normally last quite a few weeks (and even many months), but if the high quality drink coasters are subjected to a wild drink-soaked partyy, then they will become damaged (and even turn to pulp if the party is 'too much fun").

 

JAC Gloss

This is a gloss paper that we use for indoor sticker and labels. The paper is robust and has an adhesive on the back — it can stick to most surfaces.

 

Vinyl

Our custom bumper stickers are printed in full-colour on durable vinyl, using a high-resolution 150-linescreen process. The vinyl that we use, whist not a paper, remains a stock upon which we print. It is, as mentioned earlier, durable and very robust. The coating that we apply to outdoor bumper stickers also assists in ensuring the outdoor bumper stickers do not fade.

 

Two Words of Warning!

First Warning: Other printers might offer you a greater range of stocks. This might seem good, but there are associated pit-falls with such a selection - THE PAPER THEY OFFER MAY NOT NECESSARILY BE THE BEST FOR YOU.

An example is when 170gsm paper is offered for small brochures that are to be folded. At first it seems that the end product will have a better 'feel', or it might suggest 'quality' to the end-user. You should note, however, that 170gsm paper must be scored (i.e.: creased) before it is folded, and this adds to the cost.

We have found that our customers whom wish to have the better 'feel' or 'quality' are better off selecting 210gsm paper. The reason is simple: 210gsm stands-out from other brochures because that grade of paper is clearly better, and the additional cost of the 210gsm paper is not that great.

If you are determined to have a 170gsm brochure, however, then ask us for a custom quote and we will supply such to you.

Second Warning: Other printers often acquire their paper from the cheapest source. As a result, THE PAPER THEY OFFER MAY NOT NECESSARILY BE THE BEST FOR YOU. TheOnlinePrinter only uses paper that is approved by the manufacturer of our presses.