For those who print brochures, which paper?

[erinmfritz]

I have a brochure that I made in Publisher and am very happy with it except for the print quality. I have a HP officejet 5500 all in one printer. I know that a laser printer would help, but that's not in the budget for a long time. The picture quality doesn't look good on regular paper, I even tried the thicker paper which made it feel better but not look better. So, which paper do you use for yours? I've tried some of the HP photo paper, but it is smooth on one side and I need it smooth on both sides. I appreciate any input you may be able to give. TIA

[perkyaim99]

I had used HP tri-fold glossy paper but it's expensive $25 for 150 sheets now I just use Xerox Glossy paper from staples, it's on sale there 2 for $10 so that's 300 sheets for $10, glossy on both sides. You'd have to fold them yourself and this paper is thinner than HP tri-fold but so much cheaper!! It does say it's for laser printeres but I've used it with ink-jet with no problems if I let it dry before I handle it. Any glossy paper you'd have to let dry with ink-jet. Here is a link, I hope!

http://www.staples.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/StaplesCategoryDisplay?jspStoreDir=Staples&catalogId=10051&productId=146686&cmArea=SEARCH&interceptedCatEntryId=146686&identifier=BI27499&prodCatType=0&langId=-1&storeId=10001&ddkey=StaplesProductDisplay

[Sweet P]

Hello to everyone,

I am new to this industry and this site so

I want to say hello 1st. As we speak I am trying to do my brochures now and it is not quite as easy as I thought. So anyone advice would be helpful.

[sockmonkey]

Unless you are using a textured paper, if your picture quality is poor, I doubt changing papers is going to help the problem. Are your pictures pixilated? My guess is the resolution of your pictures is too long to create a clear picture. Things can often look great on your monitor, but when you print they will look pixilated (jagged or blurry) if the resolution is to low.

Using an inket on glossy paper can create it's own problems, namely smudging, especially if you print on both sides.

[erinmfritz]

Thanks for responding. Welcome to the board Sweet P, you'll learn alot!!

Sockmonkey, I have printed a couple of the pages on photo paper to see if it was the pictures and of course they are not perfect cause I took the photo's, they look much better on the photo paper. I need to find a happy medium I think between glossy and regular paper I guess. I don't like the smudging with the glossy paper. Perky, thanks for the link, I think I tried that paper before and smudging was aweful, maybe I'll revisit that though. Anyone else?

[Vicky_CO]

I use this http://www.officedepot.com/textSearch.do?uniqueSearchFlag=true&Ntt=503-344&x=37&y=8 it is cheaper than glossy brochure paper and makes great clear brochures

[Chauna1]

Look for Brochure paper at your local office supply store. You can get Matte or Glossy I believe. The paper is a little thicker than regular printer/copier paper and thinner than cardstock. It is a medium density paper stock. I use it and it works great.

HTH

Chauna

[BLSoaps]

I've printed my own brochures since I started years ago. We only just upgraded to a laser last February, and it was the BEST business purchase we've ever made.

Since you've already said it's not in your budget, I have a recommendation instead. Having your brochures printed on glossy presentation paper with a laser printer looks a million (seriously!) times better than anything you'll get out of an ink jet. I'd take it to a copy place, like Kinko's, and have them print them off with their machines.

I'd start with having them print one, and make sure it's the paper that's your issue, and not your photos. If it's your photos, you're going to have to work on those first. And it may be your editing program, pixilation issues, or just your photography skills. If it's the later, one of our other 'this was a very worthwhile business purchase' gizmos was a tripod for our camera. And those are cheap. I think DH got ours from Walmart for less than $20. Even having taken photography classes, and taking what I thought were pretty good and clear photos, even I was amazed at the improvement in our photos taken with the tripod, especially the clarity. Even with the tripod, the large photo that we use on the cover of our brochure still is a touch fuzzy just because we enlarged it. If you have a digital camera, get to know all the features, and that will also help.

[perkyaim99]

I'd take it to a copy place, like Kinko's, and have them print them off with their machines.

Along those lines, I've heard great reviews for vistaprint.com, depending on quantity vista is much cheaper than an office supply place. If you use a local place make sure you save your borchure on a CD, the quality is so much better than using a copy.

Glossy paper is a PITA with an ink-jet printer no matter what brand paper you use. When I had an ink-jet I would slide each page as it printed and gingerly lay them out to dry beore I printed the other side or even tried to touch them further.

I did break down and get a laser printer, it has a duplexer so I can print on both sides, no flipping. If you ever consider getting a laser printer, you can get crazy deals right before a new model hits the market, around Feb. I got a $1200 Xerox Phaser 8550DP for $450 and free shipping from Costco. The Phaser ink is nice too, no cartridge the ink is a solid block, no mess.

[AAngels]

I use presentation paper and its glossy and I get it at Office Depot. They even have their brand for less.

[erinmfritz]

Thanks for all of your input. It's nice to have a place to ask these kind of questions. I do use a tripod and a home made light box to take my pictures, made a huge difference when I did that. I printed a page on glossy photo paper and it looks 90% better. I know I can't get it to look like a million bucks on my budget but just looking for a nicer look. I think I will go to Staples or Office Depot and check out the papers suggested. Thanks again.