The paper we actually hold

Printers are asked for “good quality paper” several times a day. The phrase means nothing on its own, because the sheet that makes a menu feel expensive is the wrong sheet for a court bundle, and the one that folds cleanly into a booklet is the wrong one for a counter display. What follows is the actual range we buy, so the conversation can start from something concrete.

Uncoated stock has no surface layer sealing the fibres. Ink sinks slightly, so colours read softer and the sheet has texture under the thumb. It is what we reach for on documents, letterheads, stationery and anything that will be written on, because a pen skates across a coated surface.

Coated stock carries a mineral layer on both sides. Ink sits on top instead of soaking in, so photographs hold detail and solid colours look denser. The trade-off is that it does not take pen well and it shows fingerprints on large dark areas.

Paper fibres line up during manufacture, and the sheet behaves differently along that line than across it. Fold with the grain and you get a clean crease. Fold across it on a heavy uncoated stock and the surface cracks along the fold, showing a white line through the ink. On a 350gsm business card that is the difference between a finished job and a reprint.

That is why nearly every sheet in the tables above is ordered short grain. It is not a detail we leave to whatever arrives. Where a job needs the other direction, we say so on the order rather than folding against the grain and hoping.

The practical version for anyone sending artwork: tell us where the folds go. We will pick the sheet to suit them.

Three sizes appear in the tables and the difference between them is not cosmetic.

If a design has colour running to the edge, it cannot be printed on a sheet the same size as the finished piece. There has to be extra image beyond the cut line, and the machine needs an edge to grip. SRA3 gives 30mm of width and 23mm of height over A3 for exactly that. It is the reason we ask for 3mm of bleed on artwork, and the reason a file supplied at exact finished size usually comes back with a question.

Posters, plans and drawings run from rolls rather than sheets. The widths are chosen to match paper sizes rather than to look tidy on a shelf.

The uncoated rolls are for plans, schedules, seating charts and anything read at arm’s length. The satin is heavier and holds photographic detail, which is what makes it the right choice for exhibition panels and anything that will be looked at closely under lights.

Rigid work is different again: our standard board for signage and hoarding is 3mm foam PVC at 1220 × 2440mm, which is where panel sizes on a hoarding run come from.

Every sheet listed above arrives with a mark on the packaging. The marks are not interchangeable and it is worth knowing which one you are being given, because “eco-friendly paper” on a quote is not a claim anyone has to stand behind.

If a job needs the certification stated on paperwork, tell us when you order and we will quote the exact stock rather than a generic description. It matters for tenders, for public sector work and for anyone reporting on their own supply chain.

Three things decide the sheet, and none of them is the word “quality”.

Where it will be used. Something handled once at an event and something that lives on a desk for a year are different jobs. Whether it folds. Folding sets both the weight and the grain direction. Whether anything is written on it. That single question rules out coated stock immediately.

Tell us those three and the stock chooses itself. If it is still close, we will print the same file on two sheets and let you hold them, which settles it faster than any description on a website.