No matter print a cheap magazine or a high-end magazine, paper choice is very important. Let us select the right paper type and weight to print your magazine.
Magazines usually include two major categories. One is called consumer magazines, and the other is called customer magazines.
Consumer magazines aim to guide consumption trends of the public. They can be divided into four categories: 1. Apparel & Lifestyle Magazine, such as ELLE, Vogue, etc. 2. Travel and Nature magazines, such as Conde Nast Traveler, World Travel, etc. 3. Home & Decor magazine, such as Architectural Digest, Rue, and so on. 4. General Current Affairs Magazine, such as TIME, Current Affairs, etc. Customer magazines usually introduce products and provide services to the public. Usually, it is more common for automobile manufacturers, airlines and retail chain stores to send product or service information to various users.
Paper requirements for different types of magazine printing
Different type of zine printing, the paper type is distinct. Magazine publishers usually choose a paper based on the positioning and attributes of the magazine. Generally speaking, high-end Apparel & Lifestyle-themed magazines mostly use coated paper and medium-coated paper. High-quality monthly and professional magazines use medium-coated paper and high-whiteness light-coated paper. High-quality monthly and weekly magazines often use high-white light-coated paper and light-coated paper. Weekly and comprehensive magazines with large circulation often use light-coated paper and uncoated paper.
If for fashion magazines printing, they are mainly aimed at high-end consumer groups. So the paper is relatively high end, and the printing is extremely exquisite. Most of them are mixed with pictures and texts, and most of them are pictures. In this regard, "ELLE" and "Vogue" are the most representative. This type of magazine was originally born as an advertising brochure for high-end luxury goods, and later had content topics to make the advertising brochure look better. Thus, to make the advertisement quality look better is the printing requirement of such magazines.
The reason for using coated paper is that the color reproduction is better. It is very suitable for offset printing and is the first paper choice for fashion magazines. So for such of high-end fashion magazine printing, often select 128gsm, 157gsm, etc. coated paper or matte art paper.
Printed in china, matt paper is also widely used in fashion magazines. Because this kind of paper is not reflective, which helps to protect eyesight. Although the color performance of matte art paper is not as good as coated paper, the fineness of the pattern is far superior to coated paper.
If for comic magazine printing, it uses more colors and is the favorite of young people. Such zine printing will choose offset paper that is easy to read and non-reflective. Paper weights often select 80gsm.
If for catalog and travel magazine printing, they often need higher color reproduction. So often choose glossy coated paper or matte art paper. Paper weights often use 80gsm,105gsm,128gsm.
For financial journals and medical journals printing, often select matte art paper or uncoated paper, so for convenient to read.
High circulation magazines and product catalogs often use 70-90gsm of paper. Higher quality monthly magazines use 80-100gsm. Professional magazines and customer magazines use 70-150gsm. High-end magazines use 128-200gsm coated paper.
But the paper weight often depends on your size, page counts and binding. Such as your magazine size is 8.5" x 10", and the page count is less than 32 pages. If you want to do perfect binding, it need 200gsm coated paper to achieve the requirement of minimum 3mm spine width.
What is the best paper for your zine printing?
If you like bright and eye-catching, high-gloss printing effects. We often recommend high quality gloss-coated paper. If you like a durable and textured feel, we often recommend matte art paper and offset paper. For cheap and have a large circulation printing, often recommend lightweight of coated paper for commercial printing. But meanwhile, it is also necessary to choose the suitable ink for printing.
Both coated paper and light-weight coated paper are not environmentally friendly and can not be recycled. The processing process will also cause considerable pollution. After the wave of magazines pursuing high-grade paper and multi-color printing. Now many magazines are returning to the road of rational thinking. Currently, magazine paper is developing in the expert direction of low weight, good whiteness, and printability. Which can not only reduce the amount of paper used, but also save further by reducing shipping costs. Besides, using light paper weight paper can basically not lower the use value of the magazine and reduce costs at the same time. More importantly, it can save resources such as wood and contribute to the sustainable development of society.
Apart from fashion magazines, such as Vogue and automobile magazines that need to vividly reflect natural objects. General magazines, especially current affairs, professional and technical magazines, use light-coated paper is cheaper than coated paper. It is more suitable to use light coated paper with a slightly worse printing effect than coated paper.
Conclusion
No matter you do cheap magazine printing or high-end magazine printing, the paper choice should be based on your size, page count and binding to consider.
