Coated & Uncoated Stock

What is a coated paper? What is uncoated paper? What is the real difference and how will it affect your print?

Coated vs Uncoated Paper

Generally, coated paper stops ink from soaking into the it, giving your print a sharper look and feel which makes a design really pop off the page. When the ink soaks into uncoated paper, however, it adds a much warmer quality. This usually makes a big difference to your design.

What Is The Difference

Coated paper is paper which has been coated by a compound or polymer to yield certain qualities to the paper, often these will involve a surface gloss, smoothness and reduced ink absorbency. These will give you a smooth, uniform finished product with a sleek, professional shine. It will also have reduced ink absorbency which will help bring out the vibrancy of your artwork.

An uncoated paper will be an absorbent paper, resulting in a somewhat more traditional finish which will allow the ink to bleed into the paper giving rich full colours. These papers often have a textured finish due to their porous nature and give a great vintage feel.

Which Is Right For You?

Coated paper will help give you a fresh, contemporary feel. The low ink absorbency will help bring out the vibrancy of your artwork which lead to sharper images.

Uncoated paper will give you a more traditional feel which is increasingly popular at the moment with a fresh, crisp, vintage feel to your print with rich images and and a more raw paper feel.

Uses?

Coated Gloss papers are used more commonly for leaflets, flyers and posters and anything wishing to show off your photography skills!

Coated Silk papers are also used commonly for leaflets and flyers. These are used more often for businesses and give a more subtle, sophisticated feel. These are perfect to show off photography and give a smooth feeling of high quality and distinction.

Uncoated Pulp and bond papers are used more often in formal situations, you will find letterheads and compliment slips often printed on Bond (Uncoated or Offset) paper although with the rise in vintage events and retro sentiments these are becoming more mainstream for music, arts and fashion advertising.