{"course":{"slug":"vector-and-print","title":"Vectors, Logos and Things That Get Printed","url":"https://addaly.com/learn/vector-and-print","level":"beginner","track":"create"},"lesson":{"slug":"paper-and-finishing","title":"Paper, and everything done after printing","url":"https://addaly.com/learn/vector-and-print/paper-and-finishing","position":61,"of":73,"minutes":8,"answer":"Weight is not thickness, coated and uncoated differ in gamut and dot gain by a wide margin, grain direction decides whether a fold cracks, and every finishing process (varnish, foil, emboss.","keyIdea":"Weight is not thickness, coated and uncoated differ in gamut and dot gain by a wide margin, grain direction decides whether a fold cracks, and every finishing process (varnish, foil, emboss, die-cut) is supplied the same way: its own layer, a named spot swatch, set to overprint."},"body":{"format":"markdown","text":"## Paper is a design material\n\nTwo jobs printed identically on different stocks are different objects. Knowing the vocabulary lets you specify rather than accept.\n\n**Weight** is grammage, in grams per square metre. Rough anchors: ordinary copier paper 80 gsm; a good letterhead 100 to 120 gsm; a leaflet 130 to 170 gsm; a visiting card 300 to 350 gsm; a folder 350 gsm plus.\n\n**Weight is not thickness.** Bulk varies by stock, which is why the spine calculation in the previous module needs a caliper from the printer rather than a gsm figure.\n\n**Surface** decides how ink sits:\n\n- **Coated art**, gloss or matt: a clay coating holds ink on the surface. Sharp images, strong colour, larger gamut, low dot gain. What most brochures are printed on.\n- **Uncoated**: ink soaks in. Softer image, muted colour, 20 to 25% dot gain, lovely to write on and to hold. Letterheads, forms, literary books.\n- **Maplitho**: the uncoated wood-free paper that runs an enormous share of Indian commercial and book printing.\n- **Newsprint**: cheap, absorbent, grey, and a completely different set of numbers.\n- **Textured, laid, recycled**: specify by sample, not by name, because names vary by mill.\n\n**Grain direction** is the direction the fibres lie. Paper folds cleanly *along* the grain and cracks *across* it, and a folded job with the grain running the wrong way produces a ragged, cracked fold on every copy. Tell the printer where the folds are; they choose the grain.\n\n## Finishing, and what each one demands of your file\n\n**Lamination**: a plastic film over the sheet. Gloss, matt or soft-touch. Adds durability and stiffness, and shifts colour slightly: matt lamination noticeably dulls and darkens. If colour is critical, ask to see a laminated sample.\n\n**Spot UV**: a glossy varnish on selected areas only. Needs a **separate spot colour layer** in your file, usually named `SpotUV`, containing solid shapes where the varnish goes, set to overprint. Keep it at 100% of a spot; it is a presence-or-absence mask, not a tint.\n\n**Foiling**: metallic foil pressed on with a heated die. Same idea: a separate spot layer, solid shapes, named `Foil`. Fine detail and small type do not foil well; ask for a minimum stroke width.\n\n**Embossing and debossing**: raised or recessed. Another separate layer. Remember from the logo module that a mark distinguished only by colour disappears entirely here.\n\n**Die-cutting**: a shaped cut. Supply the **die-line** as a separate spot-coloured layer, named `Dieline` or `CutContour`, drawn as thin outlines with no fill, and set to overprint so it does not knock out the artwork beneath.\n\n**Creasing, perforating and folding**: usually shown on the same technical layer as the die-line, with different spot names (`Crease`, `Perf`) so the finisher can separate them.\n\n**Numbering, scoring, round-cornering, drilling, padding, gumming**: all normal, all cheap, and all things to ask about rather than to discover.\n\n## The technical-layer convention\n\nEvery one of the above shares a pattern, and if you learn it once you can prepare any of them:\n\n1. Put the marks on their own layer, above the artwork.\n2. Colour them with a **named spot swatch**: `Dieline`, `SpotUV`, `Foil`.\n3. Set the objects to **overprint**, so they do not knock a hole in the artwork.\n4. Confirm the layer appears as its own separation, using the checks from the previous lesson.\n5. Tell the printer the layer names in your covering note.\n\nNames vary by shop. Ask what they use; `CutContour` is the convention in large-format and vinyl work, `Dieline` in packaging.\n\n## The spec you send\n\nOne paragraph that answers everything a shop needs:\n\n> Finished size 90 × 54 mm, 3 mm bleed, printed 4/4, on 350 gsm matt art card, matt lamination both sides, spot UV on the logo (layer `SpotUV`), round corners 3 mm radius, quantity 1,000.\n\nEvery number in it is something you had to decide. Being able to write that paragraph is most of what a print buyer does.\n\n## Ask for samples before you specify\n\nPaper names mean different things at different mills, and a stock you liked at one shop may not exist at another. Ask for a **swatch book** or a set of printed samples early in a relationship; most suppliers give them away because a designer who specifies confidently is a designer who orders.\n\nThen keep them. A drawer of real paper, labelled with weight, name and supplier, is worth more than any online chart, because the two things that decide a stock (how it feels and how ink sits on it) cannot be photographed."},"check":{"question":"A folded A4 leaflet is printed on 170 gsm uncoated stock and every copy has a ragged, cracked white line along the fold. The colour and registration are correct. What is the most likely cause?","options":[{"text":"The fold was placed over a solid dark area, and ink always cracks when folded across a heavy ink film.","correct":false,"tempting":"Heavy ink coverage makes cracking more visible, but a correctly grained fold on 170 gsm will not crack; the grain is what decides it."},{"text":"The stock's grain runs across the fold rather than along it, so the fibres break instead of bending.","correct":true},{"text":"170 gsm is too heavy to fold without creasing first, regardless of grain direction.","correct":false,"tempting":"170 gsm folds without scoring in most stocks. Creasing becomes necessary well above this weight, and the defect described follows the grain rather than the weight."},{"text":"Uncoated stock absorbs ink into the fibres, which stiffens the sheet locally and causes it to split at the fold.","correct":false,"tempting":"Absorption softens the surface rather than stiffening it, and uncoated stock generally folds better than coated, not worse."}]},"prev":{"slug":"reading-separations","title":"Reading separations, and the fifth plate you did not order","url":"https://addaly.com/learn/vector-and-print/reading-separations"},"next":{"slug":"proofs-and-approvals","title":"Approvals, and who pays for the reprint","url":"https://addaly.com/learn/vector-and-print/proofs-and-approvals"},"authorship":"Founder and series editor: Dr Mustafa Mun. Written by AI models to a written standard. Exam keys checked blind by a second model: 3,665 of 3,666 agreed. Academic review invited.","review":{"status":"Draft, open for academic review"},"cite":"Addaly (2026) 'Paper, and everything done after printing', in Vectors, Logos and Things That Get Printed. Edited by M. Mun. Addaly. Available at: https://addaly.com/learn/vector-and-print/paper-and-finishing (Accessed: 13 October 2026).","licence":{"name":"CC BY-NC-SA 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/"},"reader":{"schema":1,"title":"Paper, and everything done after printing","courseTitle":"Vectors, Logos and Things That Get Printed","module":{"index":7,"slug":"the-handover","title":"The handover"},"answer":null,"keyIdea":"Weight is not thickness, coated and uncoated differ in gamut and dot gain by a wide margin, grain direction decides whether a fold cracks, and every finishing process (varnish, foil, emboss, die-cut) is supplied the same way: its own layer, a named spot swatch, set to overprint.","hero":{"kind":"plate","image":null,"alt":null,"caption":null},"blocks":[{"t":"h2","id":"paper-is-a-design-material","runs":[{"text":"Paper is a design material"}]},{"t":"p","runs":[{"text":"Two jobs printed identically on different stocks are different objects. Knowing the vocabulary lets you specify rather than accept."}]},{"t":"p","runs":[{"text":"Weight","b":true},{"text":" is grammage, in grams per square metre. Rough anchors: ordinary copier paper 80 gsm; a good letterhead 100 to 120 gsm; a leaflet 130 to 170 gsm; a visiting card 300 to 350 gsm; a folder 350 gsm plus."}]},{"t":"p","runs":[{"text":"Weight is not thickness.","b":true},{"text":" Bulk varies by stock, which is why the spine calculation in the previous module needs a caliper from the printer rather than a gsm figure."}]},{"t":"p","runs":[{"text":"Surface","b":true},{"text":" decides how ink sits:"}]},{"t":"ul","items":[[{"text":"Coated art","b":true},{"text":", gloss or matt: a clay coating holds ink on the surface. Sharp images, strong colour, larger gamut, low dot gain. What most brochures are printed on."}],[{"text":"Uncoated","b":true},{"text":": ink soaks in. Softer image, muted colour, 20 to 25% dot gain, lovely to write on and to hold. Letterheads, forms, literary books."}],[{"text":"Maplitho","b":true},{"text":": the uncoated wood-free paper that runs an enormous share of Indian commercial and book printing."}],[{"text":"Newsprint","b":true},{"text":": cheap, absorbent, grey, and a completely different set of numbers."}],[{"text":"Textured, laid, recycled","b":true},{"text":": specify by sample, not by name, because names vary by mill."}]]},{"t":"p","runs":[{"text":"Grain direction","b":true},{"text":" is the direction the fibres lie. Paper folds cleanly "},{"text":"along","i":true},{"text":" the grain and cracks "},{"text":"across","i":true},{"text":" it, and a folded job with the grain running the wrong way produces a ragged, cracked fold on every copy. Tell the printer where the folds are; they choose the grain."}]},{"t":"h2","id":"finishing-and-what-each-one-demands-of-your-file","runs":[{"text":"Finishing, and what each one demands of your file"}]},{"t":"p","runs":[{"text":"Lamination","b":true},{"text":": a plastic film over the sheet. Gloss, matt or soft-touch. Adds durability and stiffness, and shifts colour slightly: matt lamination noticeably dulls and darkens. If colour is critical, ask to see a laminated sample."}]},{"t":"p","runs":[{"text":"Spot UV","b":true},{"text":": a glossy varnish on selected areas only. Needs a "},{"text":"separate spot colour layer","b":true},{"text":" in your file, usually named "},{"text":"SpotUV","code":true},{"text":", containing solid shapes where the varnish goes, set to overprint. Keep it at 100% of a spot; it is a presence-or-absence mask, not a tint."}]},{"t":"p","runs":[{"text":"Foiling","b":true},{"text":": metallic foil pressed on with a heated die. Same idea: a separate spot layer, solid shapes, named "},{"text":"Foil","code":true},{"text":". Fine detail and small type do not foil well; ask for a minimum stroke width."}]},{"t":"p","runs":[{"text":"Embossing and debossing","b":true},{"text":": raised or recessed. Another separate layer. Remember from the logo module that a mark distinguished only by colour disappears entirely here."}]},{"t":"p","runs":[{"text":"Die-cutting","b":true},{"text":": a shaped cut. Supply the "},{"text":"die-line","b":true},{"text":" as a separate spot-coloured layer, named "},{"text":"Dieline","code":true},{"text":" or "},{"text":"CutContour","code":true},{"text":", drawn as thin outlines with no fill, and set to overprint so it does not knock out the artwork beneath."}]},{"t":"p","runs":[{"text":"Creasing, perforating and folding","b":true},{"text":": usually shown on the same technical layer as the die-line, with different spot names ("},{"text":"Crease","code":true},{"text":", "},{"text":"Perf","code":true},{"text":") so the finisher can separate them."}]},{"t":"p","runs":[{"text":"Numbering, scoring, round-cornering, drilling, padding, gumming","b":true},{"text":": all normal, all cheap, and all things to ask about rather than to discover."}]},{"t":"h2","id":"the-technical-layer-convention","runs":[{"text":"The technical-layer convention"}]},{"t":"p","runs":[{"text":"Every one of the above shares a pattern, and if you learn it once you can prepare any of them:"}]},{"t":"ol","start":1,"items":[[{"text":"Put the marks on their own layer, above the artwork."}],[{"text":"Colour them with a "},{"text":"named spot swatch","b":true},{"text":": "},{"text":"Dieline","code":true},{"text":", "},{"text":"SpotUV","code":true},{"text":", "},{"text":"Foil","code":true},{"text":"."}],[{"text":"Set the objects to "},{"text":"overprint","b":true},{"text":", so they do not knock a hole in the artwork."}],[{"text":"Confirm the layer appears as its own separation, using the checks from the previous lesson."}],[{"text":"Tell the printer the layer names in your covering note."}]]},{"t":"p","runs":[{"text":"Names vary by shop. Ask what they use; "},{"text":"CutContour","code":true},{"text":" is the convention in large-format and vinyl work, "},{"text":"Dieline","code":true},{"text":" in packaging."}]},{"t":"h2","id":"the-spec-you-send","runs":[{"text":"The spec you send"}]},{"t":"p","runs":[{"text":"One paragraph that answers everything a shop needs:"}]},{"t":"quote","runs":[{"text":"Finished size 90 × 54 mm, 3 mm bleed, printed 4/4, on 350 gsm matt art card, matt lamination both sides, spot UV on the logo (layer "},{"text":"SpotUV","code":true},{"text":"), round corners 3 mm radius, quantity 1,000."}]},{"t":"p","runs":[{"text":"Every number in it is something you had to decide. Being able to write that paragraph is most of what a print buyer does."}]},{"t":"h2","id":"ask-for-samples-before-you-specify","runs":[{"text":"Ask for samples before you specify"}]},{"t":"p","runs":[{"text":"Paper names mean different things at different mills, and a stock you liked at one shop may not exist at another. Ask for a "},{"text":"swatch book","b":true},{"text":" or a set of printed samples early in a relationship; most suppliers give them away because a designer who specifies confidently is a designer who orders."}]},{"t":"p","runs":[{"text":"Then keep them. A drawer of real paper, labelled with weight, name and supplier, is worth more than any online chart, because the two things that decide a stock (how it feels and how ink sits on it) cannot be photographed."}]}],"check":{"question":[{"text":"A folded A4 leaflet is printed on 170 gsm uncoated stock and every copy has a ragged, cracked white line along the fold. The colour and registration are correct. What is the most likely cause?"}],"options":[{"text":[{"text":"The fold was placed over a solid dark area, and ink always cracks when folded across a heavy ink film."}],"correct":false,"tempting":[{"text":"Heavy ink coverage makes cracking more visible, but a correctly grained fold on 170 gsm will not crack; the grain is what decides it."}]},{"text":[{"text":"The stock’s grain runs across the fold rather than along it, so the fibres break instead of bending."}],"correct":true,"tempting":null},{"text":[{"text":"170 gsm is too heavy to fold without creasing first, regardless of grain direction."}],"correct":false,"tempting":[{"text":"170 gsm folds without scoring in most stocks. Creasing becomes necessary well above this weight, and the defect described follows the grain rather than the weight."}]},{"text":[{"text":"Uncoated stock absorbs ink into the fibres, which stiffens the sheet locally and causes it to split at the fold."}],"correct":false,"tempting":[{"text":"Absorption softens the surface rather than stiffening it, and uncoated stock generally folds better than coated, not worse."}]}],"order":[3,1,0,2],"why":null},"prev":{"slug":"reading-separations","title":"Reading separations, and the fifth plate you did not order","minutes":8},"next":{"slug":"proofs-and-approvals","title":"Approvals, and who pays for the reprint","minutes":8}}}