Choosing suitable printing papers
There's no 'right' printing paper for every image and every situation, although you can make informed choices based on quantifiable data as well as unquantifiable 'artistic' qualities. Both play a role in the mastery of the craft of printing.
Navigating a path through the wide diversity of inkjet media can be difficult because the sheer breadth of options can be overwhelming. But once you understand the key criteria, matching a particular image to a specific paper will become much more straightforward.
The most critical selection criteria are the thickness and surface of the paper and its inherent tonality. The surface and tonality have the greatest influence on the appearance of the printed image. But both are affected by the type of ink your printer uses, so that's where we'll begin.
Paper thickness
Paper weight is usually specified in grams per square metre (gsm) and thickness in millimeters (mm) – and there's no accurate correlation between these measurements. Some manufacturers use gsm, while others use
