Print design and white paper?

Choosing paper is one of the most fun and important parts of print design. What about choosing a white paper? That should be simple right? Not necessarily.

It’s easy to spend hours pouring over the many paper colors available for a print design project. Paper companies have books and books of various hues and shades. And it’s easy to understand that a different color paper will affect how a design looks and prints.

White paper though. That should be simple right? We would say the answer is “not always.”

In print design we know there are thousands of variations of all the colors on the color wheel. There are multiple hues of blue, and red, and even black inks. This is part of the fun of choosing colors. It is the same for a print project as it is for the walls of your house.

We also need to be considerate of the type of white paper that one chooses for a print project. There are hundreds of  different white papers available. White papers with a bluish tone, a yellowish tone, a glossy finish, a matte finish. The truth is there are more variations of white paper than there are of any other color paper.

One needs to be aware of this when working in print design. Just like a colored paper can affect how an ink looks after printing, various white papers will show the inks differently as well. A white paper with a yellowish tone might make a blue ink appear more green. The same ink on a paper with a bluish tone may appear deeper or cooler than the designer intends.

2 Keys for Choosing Paper

There are 2 things a print designer needs to do and be aware of when choosing white papers and inks. First, get out and see some paper. Grab your swatchbooks, or head to your printer and see theirs. A paper that looks a certain way on its own may appear completely different when compared to another.  Compare different white papers you are considering. It is the only way to actually see the different tones of the paper, the different degrees of brightness, and to experience the varying textures.

Ideally one should see these papers under a 5000 degree Kelvin proofing light – this is considered the standard for print design work. In practice though, it’s best to look at them in a variety of conditions, just as your customer would see them.

Second, if you have doubts about how a given ink will appear or lay on a paper, you can request a drawdown . Read more about drawdowns here. It will incur an extra expense, but it is the only way to absolutely sure what inks will look like on a specific paper.

cutpasteandprint Printing, graphic design, binding, and promotional product specialists in Huntingdon Valley, PA. We proudly serve the Bucks and Montgomery County areas with superior quality, great customer service, and a commitment to getting you and your the best possible printed materials. Our services include: Digital Printing, Offset Printing, Graphic Design, Promotional Items, Bindery, and Copying.