What Kind of Paper Should You Use For Your Booklet?

Booklets and catalogs have two paper options: one for the cover and one for the internal pages. When you choose the paper for the cover, it can be the same as the internal pages, if you want, or it can be thicker stock. You can also select different coatings for the internal and cover paper depending on the look and feel you’re going for in the final product.

The internal paper can be coated or uncoated and it can be from 70, 80 or 100 pound weight or 10 point. The 70# paper is the thinnest and lightest and the 10pt paper is the thickest you can choose for the internal pages. The 70# paper is uncoated and what we use for letterhead. If you select 80#, 100# or 10pt paper, it’s coated for a glossy look, like magazine paper. The 100# paper is the same weight as a magazine cover, the 10pt paper is thin card-stock.

For the cover you can choose to use the same paper as the inside, or do something different. You can choose 100# gloss text, 10pt gloss cover or 14pt uncoated cover stock. We have a free sample kit you can order to see examples of the different types of paper and coatings we offer.

For the thinnest, lightest booklet, you would choose 70# uncoated for the inner paper and the cover. This will leave you with an inexpensive booklet, but it will be less durable due to the light-weight, uncoated paper.

A magazine feel will come with using 80# glossy pages for the inside and 100# glossy paper for the cover.

If you want the feel of a paperback book, you’d use 10pt glossy paper for the cover and 70# uncoated paper for the insides.

Choose any combination of the papers to get your booklet exactly right for you. Just remember that colors and graphics will pop on the glossy paper, but tend to look softer and muted on uncoated paper. So if you have a lot of text, choose the uncoated paper for ease of reading, but if you have a lot of full-color graphics, it’s probably worth it to use glossy paper to highlight all the work you did putting the graphics together.

If you have any questions, or if you want to order your free sample kit, don’t hesitate to give us a call at 877-405-3949 or contact us online.