Cover Stock - Recommendations

[rbritton]

Can anyone recommend a digital color stock, 80lb to 110lb, that offers a great satin / luster, and separately one that is a great glossy cover stock?

We have been using Nekoosa 60008 and 60009 (just different sizes).

I'm really more curious what the de facto standards out there might be for Digital Coated Cover stocks, say from Xerox or the other mfgs.

(Note: we have a color laser based MFP digital printer, Konica C364e, that we use for in house printing of our products).

FWIW, I have been in my current job for four years doing graphics design, pre-press, printing (inhouse mostly, but some outsourced) as well as my historic profession: IT Director.

So all I know about papers only comes from working here, not really in a professional print house.

One of our small print shops sent some paper samples off of a new digital printer they invested into. They looked great. He said that digital coated papers have come a long way, but wouldn't tell me who the mfg was.

So I'm just curious if there are some quality papers that are the norm out there and who the mfgs are as well as SKUs so that I can order a couple cases to give it a try.

Thanks folks. Thanks for helping this "grasshopper" want to learn how to become a better print master!

 

[PricelineNegotiator]

Futura has both a dull and gloss finish available in a wide variety of sizes and weights. Check it out.

 

[rbritton]

Thank you, friend!

 

[studioindustria]

We also have been using Futura with good results on a Konica Minolta Press

 

[halmac]

We use a stock from Sweden called Invercote and we also use Killima. Both work very well in our KM L1060C. Both stocks are silk but we laminate or UV coat everything.

 

[DYP]

If you contact your, or a paper supplier you can get samples to try from various manufactures to try/test.

 

[rbritton]

Thank you, friends. Yes, I need to get some samples in. I was just curious if there were almost standards out there in terms of paper for digital printers. I know there are lots of brands/mfg of paper. Was more curious what the norms were, if any.

 

[PricelineNegotiator]

Thank you, friends. Yes, I need to get some samples in. I was just curious if there were almost standards out there in terms of paper for digital printers. I know there are lots of brands/mfg of paper. Was more curious what the norms were, if any.

A lot of people run the other sheets from Verso (who makes Futura). Blazer is apparently one of the most common as it is much cheaper. The image quality on the Futura and the Sterling lines are quite reputable.

 

[wonderings]

Tango is a standard stock here, we keep on hand 10pt, 12pt, 14pt and 16pt all c2s.

 

[AC Prepress]

We use Futura and Tango here.

 

[rbritton]

wonderings Stupid Noobie question:

What is C2s and C1s. Was watching a video on the Westrock (Tango) site.

 

[davarino]

wonderings Stupid Noobie question:

What is C2s and C1s. Was watching a video on the Westrock (Tango) site.

C2S is "coated 2 sides" and C1S is "coated one side". C1S is used in special applications where the reverse side of the sheet needs to be written on or for some other reason must not be coated. C2S sheets are the vast majority of sheets that get printed.

 

[davarino]

I was just curious if there were almost standards out there in terms of paper for digital printers. I know there are lots of brands/mfg of paper. Was more curious what the norms were, if any.

There seem to be no norms. As a general rule you can trust that the higher the price of a sheet, the "better" it is for a certain purpose. And that's about as far as you can take it.

Your paper vendor can give you a lot of information about what is generally bought. If you don't have an assigned salesperson, you should ask for one: they can be the best educators in general paper knowledge.

 

[PricelineNegotiator]

There seem to be no norms. As a general rule you can trust that the higher the price of a sheet, the "better" it is for a certain purpose. And that's about as far as you can take it.

Your paper vendor can give you a lot of information about what is generally bought. If you don't have an assigned salesperson, you should ask for one: they can be the best educators in general paper knowledge.

Also note that sheets that are designated as C2S aren't glossy - they have a very light coating compared to a gloss sheet like Futura/Blazer (Verso) and more of a coating than most smooth sheets like Lynx (Domtar) or Accent (International Paper). It's a tricky thing, you should really go to your paper supplier and ask them these things in person, just get in your car and go talk to them even if it's 1 hour away or more - you'll be saving a lot more time than trying to understand terminology defined on the internet for such a physical item.