OUGD504 Studio Brief 01 - Production - Stock (Research)

Stock:
There are various aspects to take into consideration when choosing a stock such as size, colour, texture, composition, printability etc.

Paper Qualities:
As I am designing a publication I need to consider GSM, grain and paper direction.

GSM (grams per square metre)
Is a weight measurement, the higher the GSM value, the more weighty a stock feels.

Paper Grain

If paper is produce through a paper machine it creates a grain as the fibres made line up in the direction it passes through the machine. The grain is the direction which most fibres lay, meaning it is easier to fold, bend or tear along its grain direction.

Direction

The direction of fibres in paper for laser printers usually have a grain that runs parallel to the long side of the paper so it can pass through the printer more easily.

Paper types and print quality:

Stock choice helps to add different colours and textures to a print job, but these also have different printability characteristics and cost. Characteristics that affect the printability include its smoothness, absorbency, opacity and ink holdout.

Smoothness
A smooth surface is obtained through the use of filler elements that may be polished with calendering rollers - typically glossy.

Absorbency
The degree to which ink penetrates. Printing inks tend to dry quicker on absorbent stocks, but this can cause problems such as dot gain.
(Dot gain, or tonal value increase, is a phenomenon in offset lithography and some other forms of printing which causes printed material to look darker than intended. It is caused by halftone dots growing in area between the original printing film and the final printed result. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dot_gain )

Opacity
The extent to which whatever is printed on one side of a sheet shows through and is visible on the other side. High-opacity papers have no show-through.

Ink Holdout
The degree to to which a stock resists ink penetration due to its relative lack of absorbency. Coated stocks particularly prone as ink sits on the surface - increases drying time.

Table types of papers and their uses:

RESOURCE: The Production Manual: A Graphic Design Handbook by Gavin Ambrose and Paul Harris.

After learning more about stock, it has made me aware just how integral to the design production stock choice is. I need to go through each of the paper qualities to determine what would be best suited for my publication.