Should I Make My Art Print on 80 or 110 Lb Cardstock

You need to impress out invitations for your next hitting political party, so you head to your local paper store or hop online to pick out cardstock. So you notice yourself staring downwards weight measurements trying to assess the relative thickness of cardstock.

Cardstock thickness is measured in terms of cardstock pounds. Here's the catch: in that location is no typical cardstock weight, nor is at that place a perfect one-size-fits-all weight for every occasion. Even more confusing? A thick and a thin cardstock can both weigh lxxx lbs.

To empathise how that happens, you have to understand the United states paper density calibration, which volition, in turn, help you lot identify the correct cardstock for a given state of affairs.

With that in mind, nosotros're going to get through various cardstock weights you might use for different occasions, depending on what you're trying to achieve. Call up of information technology equally your all-purpose guide to understanding and using cardstock.

Basic Information

What is paper weight? How is paper weighed? And most importantly, how do you know the right paper weight for your projection.

Here's a look at all the basic information you need to understand newspaper weight.

Definitions

Before nosotros get started, there are a few definitions that will assistance yous navigate the topic.

Paper grade refers to the type of paper, with each grade tailored to specific uses. Mutual paper grades include cover (a.k.a. cardstock), text, bail, etc.

Basis weight refers to the designated weight of uncut paper per 500 sheets. It is non to be dislocated with equivalent weight, which tin can be used to compare the weights of differently sized paper.

Caliper and points are easy to confuse, but y'all don't need to worry about keeping them straight–they refer to the same matter. Caliper is a measurement of paper thickness expressed in thousandths of an inch, and points is a measurement of thickness using the same metric. The thicker the caliper/higher the points, the higher the footing weight tends to be.

How Paper Weight is Measured

Paper weight is measured using 3 measures of sturdiness:

Past pounds (lbs)
Past point
Past density

You may wonder why the weight of a cardstock says 65 lb when the reams of paper don't counterbalance 65 lb. That's considering weight in pounds isn't calculated by the ream, merely rather by the weight of the uncut newspaper. So, if 500 sheets of uncut cardstock counterbalance 65 lbs, it's called 65 lb stock.

Indicate is calculated by the thousandths of an inch thickness of sheets of paper. A canvass of paper 0.010 inches thick is 10 pt cardstock, 0.015 inches thick is 15 pt cardstock, etc.

Density (which is calculated based on grams per square meter) is the universal metric measurement of paper density. In North America, this is converted to either pounds or points. Our site uses pounds for the sake of simplicity.

Why "Paper Weight" Doesn't Fully Describe the Weight of Newspaper

As you can come across, weight doesn't fully draw the adding process used to appraise newspaper weight. It's actually a combination of two things: weight and thickness.

This is actually a practiced affair for consumers, fifty-fifty though it is disruptive. Because weight takes into account the actual thickness of the paper, you lot can utilize weight to determine whether a sheet of cardstock is as well thick for your home printer to handle.

On the other mitt, paper weight may be standardized, merely the methods of producing newspaper are non. This means that weight tin mean something quite unlike betwixt one manufacturer and the next.

The Basics of Paper Weight

In N America, paper weight is calculated based on:

Paper grades
Base ream
Footing weight

Here are the x mutual paper grades:

Bond (stronger and more durable than average paper due to cotton content)
Book (designed for specialty utilize in books, booklets, and magazines)
Bristol (made from paper layers glued together under force per unit area, excellent for paperback book covers)
Cover (also known as cardstock, used in business cards, postcards, menus, and more)
Index (stiff, thick paper with a shine finish, used in commercial printing, index cards, and postcards)
Newsprint (low-cost newspaper used in newspapers, advertising, and publications)
Offset (designed to hold ink and resist tearing in offset printing)
Tag (sturdy and stiff, used in tags, placeholders, and store signage)
Text (commonly used in commercial printing for brochures and announcements)
Specialty (paper subject to special procedures for specialized uses)

The base of operations ream is the size and paper count used to determine the density of a newspaper course. Finally, the footing weight is the adding of the weight of the paper form based on its count and base ream. Go along in mind that similar paper weight tin vary due to the characteristics of the paper.

What Counts as Lightweight/Medium Weight/Heavyweight?

Lightweight paper can print in virtually consumer-course home printers and is usually upward to 60 lbs. This kind of paper can be folded without scoring and can exist translucent or average printer newspaper.

Medium weight paper is more often than not betwixt 65 lbs to 80 lbs–motion picture the type of newspaper typically used in cards and yous're in the correct ballpark. Heavyweight paper runs from 80 lbs to 200 lbs and tin can be used in anything from business cards to hang tags to booklets, equally it is sturdy and substantial.

Paper Weight by Paper Type

In case you hadn't guessed still, 80 lb cardstock is a different animal from 80 lb printer paper. The truth is, the type of paper tin significantly alter what the weight means.

Cardstock is thicker than regular printer newspaper but thinner and more flexible than cardboard, sort of a happy medium between the two. It'southward also referred to equally cover newspaper.

Our white cardstock comes in the following weights:

65 lb
67 lb
80 lb
100 lb
110 lb
130 lb
160 lb

Our pastel cardstock is available in 67 lb cover. Bright color cardstock is bachelor in 65 lb cover. Our cute collection of Curious Metallic cardstock is available in 80 lb cover, every bit does our linen cardstock. Our gloss cardstock (eight.v x 11 and 11 x 17) are both available in 80 lb embrace.

Our parchment cardstock is a beautiful addition to whatever project, with colors like:

New Champagne
Natural Cream
Smoke Gray
Anile
Natural
Ice Pink
Spring Light-green

All of our parchment cardstock, regardless of color or size, is bachelor in 65 lb bail. This means it may still be thin enough and flexible enough to print in your dwelling house printer, just make sure to cheque the weight limit of your printer and the caliper (thickness) of the newspaper.

What'south in a Weight?

Keep in heed that the thickness and weight of these cardstocks may be quite different. Our gloss cardstock is technically the same weight every bit our Curious Metal cardstock, but the inclusion of a gloss finish ways the paper will not fold as easily, since the paper is stiffer and information technology may actually be thicker.

Information technology'due south also important to remember that newspaper weight may be affected by the alloy of materials used to craft this particular batch of paper. This ways that our 65 lb bond parchment cardstock is technically the same weight as our bright color cardstock only may have a completely different feel and carry entirely differently when folded.

Remember, printer paper is fairly standard, but exterior of regular function staples, paper is actually quite various. It depends on the manufacturer who created the paper. Even though manufacturers use the same newspaper weight measurements, the content of the paper inside that measurement can be completely different from a paper with the same weight using the same measurement.

That'due south because paper weight isn't solely a function of the weight of the paper–it's also affected by the point and density of the paper in question.

Similarly, our 65 lb cover bright color cardstock isn't necessarily one weight below our 67 lb pastel cardstock. You may have noticed that our cardstock weights don't progress in even increments. That's because paper weights don't tend to progress at even intervals.

How Practice Yous Cull the Right Paper Weight?

So, if paper weight is so variable and the actual metrics used to determine it aren't actually concrete, how do you know what newspaper weight is the correct fit?

You've already gotten started on the first footstep, which is educating yourself about paper weight and getting comfy with measurements.

The 2d stride is knowing your project. What are you trying to achieve with this cardstock? What does it need to exercise?

Does it demand to exist durable? If so, a heavier cardstock will commonly serve y'all better, though this blazon of cardstock may exist also heavy for almost consumer-class printers.

Is information technology a flourish, or the backbone of the project? If it'southward a flourish, you take to call back almost the other paper you're going to use–cardstock accents that are too heavy may seem disproportionate to the residuum of the project. If it's the backbone of the project, you'll be better served past a heavier cardstock.

Does it need to fold, or will it be one flat sail? If it needs to fold, y'all take a choice to make. Lighter cardstock is easier to fold with your ain two hands without any added work. Heavier (i.east. thicker) cardstock tin fold, just information technology may require scoring for the fold to await attractive. Alternately, if y'all just need ane flat sail, you'll have to think nearly whether you want the paper to feel lighter in the hands or if information technology needs to be durable.

Will it get in an envelope (traveling through the mail service with a layer of protection) or will it travel through the postal service on its ain 2 legs (as in the case of a postcard)? Postcards are considerably thicker than alphabetic character paper or even other cardstock because they accept to outlast a trip through the postal system unharmed.

Generally speaking, heavier cardstock is good for two things: durability and elegance. It doesn't fold, tear, or warp as hands, so it can withstand more abuse. Only heavier cardstock (used in the right context) can besides feel elegant in the hand thanks to the weight of the newspaper itself.

Lighter cardstock is useful in cases where you need to fold the cardstock and where durability isn't equally much of a concern.

Of course, that's all fine and expert in theory, but what does that look like in practise? Here's a look at how to cull the right weight for various projects.

Best Cardstock Weight For Invitations

I of the most mutual questions from our customers is the right cardstock weight for hymeneals invitations. You know y'all need thick cardstock for invitations, but yous don't really know what that entails in real numbers.

When yous're thinking about wedding invitations, y'all'll have to consider the printing procedure and the blazon of invitation. Your calm printer may not be able to handle heavier invitation cardstock, and thick cardstock for invitations must be scored before it can be folded.

Nearly consumer-class printers tin handle 80 lb to 100 lb paper, only not all tin, so make sure to check your printer's weight capacity. That said, heavy papers typically start at lxxx lbs and upward, and bond newspaper, for example, tin can be as light as xx lbs or as heavy equally 72 lbs.

Generally, for invitation cardstock, you don't want to go whatever lighter than 53 lbs, but thicker cardstock will look and feel more formal and elegant.

Best Cardstock Weight For Greeting Cards

If you're considering the best weight cardstock for carte du jour making, you have two considerations to work with.

First, since greeting cards are mostly folded, you need a cardstock that can fold either on its own or with scoring. That leaves you lot with a wide margin of error for weights, which is why the 2d consideration helps narrow down greeting card thickness: since greeting cards have to be sturdy enough to brand information technology through postage in good condition, you need a cardstock that's relatively sturdy.

In terms of greeting card weight, this translates to a heavier cardstock that will need scoring to fold. Standard greeting cards range from a 65 to 80 lbs cover, while heavy greeting cards are available in 100 lbs cover and above. If y'all're printing at domicile, go for standard greeting bill of fare weight.

Best Cardstock Weight For Postcards

Postcards are a bit simpler since they're a single rectangular canvas. That said, what you consider a postcard and what the U.S. Postal Service considers a postcard may not exist the aforementioned thing.

To qualify for Offset Grade mail postcard price, your card must exist:

Rectangular
At least iii i/2 inches high 10 5 inches long x 0.0007 inches thick
No more than 4 1/4 inches loftier x 6 inches long x 0.016 inches thick

As you can come across, standard postcard weight leaves some room for error.

Cover paper (sixty lbs to 120 lbs), index paper (90 lbs, 110 lbs, and 140 lbs), or tag newspaper (100 lbs to 200 lbs) are usually the best choices in terms of postcard thickness and postcard weight. Keep in mind that the heavier the paper, the thicker the postcard.

Best Cardstock Weight For Certificates

Equally usual, the all-time cardstock weight for certificates is not ane-size-fits-all–information technology depends on the certificate itself. Like wedding invitations, you have to consider the printing method (i.e. the printing capabilities and printing style) and the formality of the certificate.

Call back, thicker cardstock is heavier and looks more formal, so if you're looking for a formal certificate cardstock, document thickness is a major factor. Weigh this against the printing method–if yous're doing a DIY document and merely have access to a consumer domicile printer, y'all generally tin't become college than 100 lbs.

That said, cardstock for certificates is generally on the heavier side to add elegance. Don't be afraid to reach for 100 lbs paper if you're looking for a document that volition look great for years to come.

Additional Information

Got your cardstock straight?

If you're nonetheless struggling to make sense of i weight against another or how to select the correct weight for the newspaper grade, a cardstock weight chart is your all-time friend.

If you're stuck, go on this cardstock thickness chart at paw for piece of cake reference. Information technology will help yous effigy out roughly what weight you're looking for based on your newspaper grade of choice.

Continue in heed that the type of paper volition also change the weight you need from it, and the weight range that'southward acceptable will vary widely based on the newspaper form. Text newspaper is usually heavier than bail paper fifty-fifty if it's used for the same purpose, and then 20 lbs of bond newspaper does not directly translate into 20 lbs of text paper.

The Correct Cardstock Thickness for Every Occasion

Hither'southward the expert news: we can assistance you lot notice the perfect cardstock thickness for any occasion, whether it's a wedding, a holiday greeting, or but a friend you lot want to surprise.

If you lot need somewhere to go started, check out our white cardstock or whatever of our other cardstock products. And brand sure to go on this post on hand so you know you've ordered the correct weight for your project.

Happy printing!

Link to chart

Search Cardstock By Size

wilsonquidents.blogspot.com

Source: https://finecardstock.com/topic/cardstock-weight-guide/