Paper Types

There's a lot of different kinds of paper for professional printing - we stock five different types, which cover almost all the printing needs you might want.

If you'd like our professional recommendation of what to use, please don't hesitate to contact us, and we'll be happy to look at what you want to print and how you want to display it and recommend the right paper.

All of our papers, unless otherwise specified, are a minimum of 240gsm (88lb cover, 64lb bond) - classic thick, high quality photo paper.

Satin (Semi-Gloss/Luster)

This is the default finish for most professional prints, and the one that most people choose. The paper's surface is lightly textured but still glossy, giving a nice reflection under the light and enhancing the deepness of dark colors while still not having the highly-reflective surface of a glossy print.

It's suitable for almost any picture, framed or unframed; nice color contrast (unlike matte) and a little texture without the glare of gloss paper.

Gloss

Gloss paper is highly reflective, enhancing the contrast of any dark colors in the image at the expense of making it slightly harder to see if there's any light sources behind you (which will be even worse if it's framed under glass or acrylic).

Gloss paper is good for prints you want to "pop" and which won't be framed under glass or be near any bright light sources.

Matte

Matte paper has no gloss to its surface finish at all, and so has zero glare, and frames really well. Unfortunately, the lack of any gloss also means that the colors are a little more muted. "Normal" printer paper is matte paper, though the matte paper we print on is much higher quality and heavier weight.

It's more suitable for illustrations and drawn artwork than photos, unless you specifically want the flattened look that matte paper brings to photos.

Metallic

Metallic luster paper has a different, "metallic" kind of gloss on it that makes prints slightly oversaturated and luminescent, so that they "pop" in an almost hyper-realistic way.

It's perfect for architectural or fantasy pictures, or photographs that you want to look more "real than real". It's our favorite paper to print digital paintings and artwork on; its only real downside is the slightly higher cost.

We don't have this listed for online ordering, but we're happy to use it if you want to place a custom order.

Canvas / Linen

These are highly textured papers that are designed to evoke the feeling of fine art from days gone by; typically you'd print things that evoke watercolors or very artistic photographs on these.

We don't have these up for regular ordering online, due to their cost and requiring special handling, but we're more than happy to do custom orders on them.