Some people might think printing is dead, but if you're like me, your mailbox at home is overflowing with printed mail pieces. Yes, it is often a junk mail, but printing is by no means dead. One of the main reasons, is that we have many generations in the workforce and life in general now. Generations at various ages who like different styles of communication. Some like online, some like to hold something in their hands, and still others like face to face communication. This is not generation or age specific preference, but a personal one. Think about it. It is not just junk mail that is being printed; business cards, posters, and training materials are printed pieces that are still produced. This module review some printing techniques, how to work with, and what commercial printers do, and the price of printing. We covered offset printing back in course two. We will discuss the CMYK printing process. Remember, this printing option is when the colors: cyan, magenta, yellow and black, are separated onto plates to run through a printer. But we need print paper to print the images on, right? So what kind of papers should projects be printed on? Let's start our printing discussion with covering the varied kinds of paper used by commercial printers. Basically, there's uncoated, coated, textured or specialty papers. Unfortunately in an online class, I can't fully show you all these options because there's a tactile part of picking papers, where touching it is helpful to get the full experience. But any brick and mortar or online commercial printer will send you papers samples to look through and actually feel the various options. Often you can get shoots big enough to send through your home or office printer, that will at least give you a little bit more of a feel of what your finished product might look like. What we can discuss are typical projects, each of these papers tend to be used with. Uncoated papers are just what they are called; paper that is not coated with a gloss. It is similar somewhat to the copy paper you may have in your home office. That lightweight paper that is also commonly used for envelopes, is called white wove. There's also an uncoated paper called text class, which is paper used for book pages. Uncoated paper can be rougher to the touch and has less protection from everyday dirt compared to coated paper. There also cardstock or cover versions of uncoated paper that is heavier, but it too can attract dust because it is not glossy. Coated paper on the other hand, does have a gloss to them because the coating is applied when they are made. There are various kinds of coating from high gloss, to matt, to soft touch textures. Colors do tend to pop more on coated paper, because it makes the CMYK model of colors more reflective. Coatings also can offer a protection to the piece, but they are not recommended for writing on, such as for training materials or handouts. Now, a coating can be added when CMYK piece is printed, but this adds to the cost of the overall piece. However, this can be helpful in case of rush job, if a rush job as needed. Just like uncoated paper, there also cardstock or cover versions of coated paper, that it tends to be heavier. The other papers we will cover, are textured and also specialty papers. There are lots of textured papers, that the more popular opsins are laid, linen, and ribbed. Laid paper has somewhat of a a slight rib texture to it. It is used mostly for artists to paint on, but you can find it at a commercial printer if you want that what a color look with your paper. Linen paper has a very slight raised texture that looks almost woven on the front, but it is smooth on the back. You'll often see these used with some business cards or formal invitations. Ribbed paper is usually the color of cardboard or at least starts out that way. It also can be white, and has ribs or ripples in it like cardboard. It is used for boxes and those cuts sleeves you get at coffee shops. Other specialty papers include recycled and synthetic. Papers made from trees, or more specifically the sawdust from grinding down trees into pulp. However, recycled papers are made from post-consumer waste. There are varied percentage of recycled papers from 30 percent to a 100 percent recycled. These papers tend to be a bit off white since they are made from recycled items. So it can be a personal preference. Synthetic paper is made from plastic, making it flexible and water resistant. Is used for items such as maps, menus, door hangers, posters, or really any product that can benefit from increased heat and tear resistance that plastic offers and the durability of plastic. Another aspect of paper used by commercial printers that you will need to know, is paperweight. In the US, paper is is measured in pounds, but it's not the same type of measurement that you use when you go weigh yourself in the morning. This weight is determined by a ream of paper which is made up of 500 sheets. From there, the measurement system gets really confusing. So I'll explain it based on various paper most people are familiar with. Bond paper is office copier paper. Think of that 500 ream we all wish that employees would replace when a copier is that a paper. It comes in ranges of weights that differ in four, from 16- 32. But that does not mean a ream of 500 pieces of paper weighs 32 pounds. It has to do with the thickness of the paper too. If we skip to cover paper, this is the paper typically used for business cards or postcards, that still show up on our mailboxes, that heavier weight paper that we tend to think of as cover stock. But don't let that fool you because the higher values in this chart, don't necessarily correspond to heavier paper, but it is good for you to know that paper is described in pounds, when working with the commercial printer or a graphic designer and picking paper options. Again, your best bet is to ask for some samples whether it be from a commercial printer or your online resources. So whether you send your printing to a local commercial printer, or use an online service, there are many factors to determine with offset printing when asked, "What kind of papers should this project be printed on?"
