Not all paper is the same: there are many different thicknesses, materials and sizes on the market. Like the quality of your products and customer service, the paper you use says a lot about your business. It is important to use the right type of paper for everyday use, for communication with customers, for promotional purposes and for handouts during customer meetings. But which paper is the right one?
1. choose the right paper thicknessThe thickness of paper is measured in g/m² (grams per square metre). This unit indicates the weight of the respective type of paper - thicker paper is heavier than thin paper. See here how heavy the most common paper thicknesses are and what they are particularly suitable for:
Weight Use80 - 100 g/m² standard office paper. Perfectly adequate for simple printouts, photocopies or faxes.110 - 120 g/m² Higher-quality paper. Suitable for official business documents, such as letterhead or brochures.130 - 170 g/m² Strong paper. Can be used for flyers, posters and inside pages of brochures.170 - 200 g/m² Paper with a thickness of 170 g/m² or more is called cardboard. It is suitable for outside pages of brochures or magazines, high-quality posters and double-sided flyers.200 - 250 g/m² Stronger cardboard. Suitable for sturdy outer pages of brochures and magazines. Used for postcards.300 - 400 g/m² The ideal paper thickness for business cards. Can also be used for the outside of brochures, but is not as easy to handle due to its thickness.More than 400 g/m² Stronger paperboard, suitable for high quality business cards, for example.2. paper typePhoto paperThere is special photo paper for laser printers, but most people prefer good photo paper in combination with a reliable inkjet printer. An inkjet printer produces the highest quality results when printing photos. Inkjet printers are capable of printing crisp images. Photo paper comes in a variety of coatings from glossy to matte.
Recycled paperRecycled paper is available for all types of printers and is almost as white as regular printer paper. It is perfect for printing internal documents and drafts.
Copy paperIf you need to print a lot of documents for internal use, it doesn't have to be premium paper. Use high-quality printer paper for external or other important documents, and go for simpler copy paper internally instead. You can save a lot of money and protect the environment at the same time. printing near me
Inkjet paperInkjet printers spray liquid ink onto paper at high speed. Consequently, the printer paper for these devices should be more absorbent than standard paper. If you use special inkjet paper, the ink dries particularly quickly, making it easier to avoid unsightly smudges.
Laser paperLaser paper is one of the thickest types of paper. It was specially developed for laser printers and has a special coating on which toner powder, which is transferred to the paper at high temperatures, adheres particularly well. Laser printers produce printouts with sharp lines that are ideal for presentations and handouts. The paper is usually a little more expensive than regular printer paper, but laser paper delivers documents with a high-quality finish - ideal for documents to be sent to clients. Coloured printer paper can of course be used for special occasions.
3. paper sizeFrom notepaper to concert posters: there are also big differences in paper sizes. To simplify matters, the German Institute for Standardisation (DIN) has defined fixed paper sizes, which have been adopted by the International Standards Committee in ISO 216. In most countries (exception: USA and Canada), the sizes have become accepted. The ratio between all formats is 1:√2.
There are four DIN series, marked A to D, each with eleven sizes numbered from 0 to 10. The respective letter and number make up the name of the format, for example A4 (210 mm × 297 mm) or C6 (114 mm × 162 mm).
The most common series has also produced what is probably the best-known paper size: the A4 format. We encounter it every day - for stationery, contracts, magazines or brochures. It is the format of the PDF file and is conveniently compatible with every printer. But there are other important formats, such as the DIN A3 sizes for newspapers or sheet music and DIN A5 notebooks etc.
The paper sizes of the lesser-known B series each lie between the sizes of the A series: for example, the B1 format is smaller than A0 and larger than A1. B2 is between A1 and A2 and so on. The DIN-B series offers some special formats for the A series, including envelopes, folders and envelopes. Books are also often printed in DIN-B5.
C sizes are often found in envelopes and mailing bags: A C4 sheet is slightly larger than an A4 size. This means that an A4 sheet fits perfectly into a C4 envelope.
4 Which paper for which document?Do you want to draw up a contract? Print out a poster in DIN A0 size? Do you need a new business card? You can see which paper types and formats are best suited for different documents here:
Product g/m² Paper size SurfaceStandard document 80 - 100 g/m² A4 SmoothBusiness document 110 - 120 g/m² A4 BondMagazines 170 - 200 g/m² A4/A5 Glossy/mattBusiness cards 300 - 400 g/m² A8 MattFlyers 130 - 170 g/m² A5 GlossyBrochures 200 - 250 g/m² A4/A5 LinenPoster 130 - 170 g/m² A0-A1, B0-B2 SmoothBook 130 -170 g/m² A4-A6, B3-B5 VellumEnvelope 110 - 120 g/m² All C sizes SmoothChoose the right paper size for your purposes to always leave the best possible impression on the recipient. A letter to be sent to a client should of course fit perfectly into a standard envelope and business cards should easily fit into a card slot in your wallet. It is these small details that are taken for granted in a professional environment, and therefore should definitely be taken care of.
We can no longer do without computers in the office, but paper is still part of everyday office life. It is important to choose the right paper for your purposes, because even in the age of digitalisation, customers and business partners appreciate a conscious approach to paper.