Printing on Uncoated Paper? Here are Some Tips

If you attempt to print with plates that have not been adjusted for uncoated paper, your printed results will be inconsistent and of poor quality. How can you get better results with uncoated paper? First, understand that dot gain is a good thing, and without it, nothing will appear vibrant. Second, understand the nature of uncoated paper. Because these papers are absorbent, varnishes, inks and coating will look different than with coated paper. Vital to the success of printing with uncoated paper, you want to plan out your separations because inks will soak into the paper and spread. When you open the separation, you decrease the actual dot size, and you increase the space around the dot.

To eliminate highlights, reduce the dot by six percent. If you want brighter highlights keep the areas between two to three percent. When you have a 50 percent middletone dot, you may want to reduce it by a minimum of five percent with uncoated paper. That adds definition and greater clarity to your paper. You may also want to adjust to compensate for the paper color. If you have a warm white stock, then you should reduce the overall density to add to the tones. If you have a cool white stock, then you will want to increase the density.