Author: Noora Zahedi

On a daily basis, cardstock is reserved for kids’ late-night dollar store trips for their research projects, and paper is an all-encompassing term for papers of all thickness. In print, because the thickness, brightness, and feel of the paper type is important to the customer and to the print process, we refer to thicker papers as cardstock.

To avoid miscommunication when inquiring about your project or getting a quote, if you’re looking for thick paper, ask for cardstock, and the Persis Print team will know what you’re looking for. Here we will look at three different types of cardstock commonly used for ceremonies and weddings, and we can decide together which cardstock is best for wedding menus.

Most cardstocks have a coating. This is what makes them glossy or matte, and gives them different finishes. Uncoated cardstock is similar to matte cardstock in its feel, but has a more natural feel and texture that sets it aside and makes it different to regular finished. It is specially beautiful with white background prints, common with menus and wedding items, due to it’s absorbency of ink.

Pearl cardstock is a special cardstock finish that has a pearl-like glow and shine. Because of its finish, it usually comes in an off-white colour, and is most often used for ceremonial and special occasions like greeting cards, invitation cards, and menus. With Pearl cardstock, the cardstock is the showstopper, not the print or design itself.

Linen cardstock is another special cardstock finish that has a woven texture and feel. If looked at closely, it has a woven tartan-like texture, and is similar to watercolour paper texture. Linen cardstock is often used for certificates and menus. Due to its texture, it’s more fit for simple text prints and stands out with solid backgrounds.

Both pearl cardstock and linen cardstock are best with simpler designs. Due to their texture, the quality on full-colour photos is not as vibrant as uncoated cardstocks. For wedding menus, all 3 types of cardstocks have beautiful and sharp print quality using our machines at Persis Print.

The cardstock you choose depends on the vibe and aesthetic of your wedding day. Pearl has an off-white colour and shiny finish, which can be a deciding factor. If you’re looking for luxury options, both Pearl and Linen are worthy contenders. Uncoated cardstock is perfect for clean or minimal aesthetics, and tends to be more money-wise.

Uncoated cardstock, Pearl cardstock, and Linen cardstock are all great options for wedding menus. They do, however, have different styles that match different wedding themes. The texture differences and levels of brightness can be a deciding factor for brides and grooms. When asking for sample prints or examples of past work, the Persis Print team can help you find the best paper for your vision.

When creating designs for your business, it’s easy to focus on the aesthetic side of things, and trust that the software you use (e.g. Canva, Adobe Photoshop) would know how to best tweak the technical details so you get the best result. However, if you want your graphic design to look the best when printed, you have to learn about colour modes.

In graphic design, colour modes are different systems and settings of colour that help your printed design match what you created on the screen. The quality, colours, and brightness of what is on your screen is different to what a printer can produce, and what the eye can see on a physical object.

Two most common colour modes are RGB and CMYK. Knowing what these are and making sure that the design software you use is using the correct colour mode helps your brand create cohesive and similar results every time.

RGB colour mode is created of 3 basic colours of Red, Green, and Blue. This colour system is optimized to look its best on your monitor, laptop, and phone screen.

Most design softwares set their default colour mode to RGB on the assumption that most of their users are creating graphics fit for social media, websites, and emails. They are best saved as JPG/JPEG, PNG, and GIF formats, all set for digital use.

CMYK colour mode is created of 4 basic colours of Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black. These are the basic colours almost all printers use to print anything. For this reason, CMYK is optimized to match printed colours most closely.

By designing your graphics in CMYK, and making sure the settings on your software are set to CMYK, you ensure that what you see on screen matches the printed material the most. They are best saved as PDF, TIFF, PSD, and AI files because those formats save CMYK colour info.

While printers can print RGB graphics and files, the printed result might look drastically different to the design you created. Printers do not have the facilities to create the brightness and saturation of screens, and RGB colours can never be perfectly translated to CMYK tones. Printers try to create your RGB design to the best of their abilities using Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black inks. By allowing the Persis Design team to design your artwork, you can make sure the design is print-ready and optimized for printing machines.

This means that if you have printed your design, and the colours seem faded, destaurated, or darker than you had on your screen, the problem is not in the design or the printer, but the settings on which your design software was on while you were designing.

Save time and effort by allowing Persis Print’s in-house graphic designers design your work; this way, you can be sure that the colours will be accurate and close to your vision. Making sure you have the correct colour mode settings on your designing software makes sure that what you design matches the final printed work as closely as possible. By learning which colours in CMYK match your RGB colours the closest, you can ensure your final prints are as vibrant as your brand guidelines. Lastly, by saving in the correct format that can encode CMYK info, you can guarantee the final printed work will look its best.