There Are Many Types of Paper for Your Book

Choosing the right type of paper is an important part of the overall quality of your book. You can start by looking at the type of book you have. Whether a novel, an art book an instructional book, a children’s picture book, a sketch book or a medical reference book, each book type would most likely use a different type of paper.

Paper comes in shades of color from bright white, cream, ivory, vanilla and gray, even white comes in a variety shades and brightness. There are various finishes that also have a number of options in color and brightness. The two basic finishes are uncoated and coated. Uncoated paper is easy to read and often used for novels and one-color books. Coated paper comes in a few different finishes and is used for photography books, children’s books and anything with color images since the reproduction of color is always better on coated paper.

You can begin to explore the vast array of possible papers that would work best with your printing project often by looking at books that are similar to yours. For example, a children’s picture book does well with a thick paper that is durable and has good opacity. A recommendation we make is a coated paper that is 100 lb (157 gsm) with opacity of at least 98% and approximately 325 PPI (pages per inch). This will give your book the bulk needed in the spine for binding with a page count of a minimum of 24 pages. A typical children’s picture book is 32 pages and with the paper above, it will be pleasurable to read.

Another category is guide books, an example is a title published by University Press of Florida called Grasshoppers of Florida. This compact guide was designed to be carried into the field and used repeatedly as a reference. With 168 pages the publisher wanted a slim book, so we used a thinner paper with lower grammage 105 gsm (70 lb), a higher PPI (513) and even though the opacity is only 94%, the matte finish provides excellent durability and photo reproduction to easily identify the subjects (grasshoppers).

Art books is another category that requires careful consideration when choosing paper. Most often a coated paper of either gloss or matte works best to show off art work whether it be photographs or original paintings. Gloss paper has a high sheen and brings out colors vividly, but, if you don’t like the shine of gloss, matte paper with a spot varnish can be even more striking. We’ve used this technique on many art books and the result is always stunning.

Sketchbooks are another type of artbook and are best suited to use an uncoated sheet since the art is often one color. An example of a sketchbook using an uncoated paper is Squink that used 120 gsm (81 lb) white uncoated paper with one-color drawings that could almost pass for originals.

Make sure to choose the right paper for your project.  Our associates are always willing to help you choose the best paper for your book.  We have numerous samples available to help in the selection process. Give us a call.