On October 20, paper rep Kristi Samuels came to the Senior Lab to talk about what was new at XPEDX. The visit gave a nice refresher about paper and its uses as well as gave us a chance to see all of the brand new paper samples from the convention the week before.

Paper Basics
Kristi brought us a lot of useful information about paper properties, categories, and sizes.

Opacity: How opaque a paper is, tells how much print on one side of a page will show through to the other.
Basis Weight: This is the weight in pounds of 500 sheets of paper in its “basic size”.
Bond/Writing Paper: This paper is often used for letterheads and business correspondence. It often has a watermark as well.
Pressure Sensitive: This paper has a self adhesive coating on the back. It’s used for things such as stickers and labels.
Synthetic: This paper is made out of mostly non-cellulose substances. It’s often waterproof and more durable than other papers. Some examples are Yupo, and Terraskin.

Sustainability
There are a number of papers now that use recycled paper or are made using green energy. To know that you are working with a company concerned about the environment, look for the certification logo of the following organizations:

FSC (Forest Stewardship Council)

The FSC is a global organization that encourages environmentally responsible forestry. For a paper to be FSC certified, every one who has a part in the paper must be certified.

SFI (Sustainable Forestry Initiative)

SFI is an organization similar to FSC but is only in North America.

Green-e

This seal shows that green energy has been used somewhere in the creation of the paper.

Green Seal

Being Green Seal Certified means that each sheet of paper is made with a minimum of 30% PCW (post-consumer waste).

Specifying Paper
There are a number of things to keep in mind when specifying paper and sending everything to the printer. Here are some pointers that Kristi gave us.

• Make sure the paper is going to be in stock. The swatch book will tell you if the paper is Millstock or In Stock so you know how much paper you must buy and whether you need to order ahead. Millstock paper must be ordered ahead and a full carton at a time. In Stock paper is stocked at the printer and can be ordered in smaller amounts.
• Check the grain. Grain is the way the paper fibers line up. The direction of the grain determines how well it will fold. Also, when it comes to business cards, if you want it to be sturdier make sure the grain runs side to side, not up and down.
• Look at formation. Better paper has a better formation, or distribution of fibers. This allows the sheet to accept the ink more uniformly, reduces mottling, and enhances the clarity of images.