What paper to print planner inserts • Mercy Digital Designs

There are differences among many types of paper like their weight, whiteness, finish and so on. Then, in this article we will share some tips for you to know what paper to print planner inserts to use. What is the best paper or good enough to get great looking and high quality printable planner inserts.

Usually, we use regular printer paper to print our documents, homeworks, pictures and even planner inserts. In the case of printable planner inserts, if they have a minimalist style without backgrounds that require a considerable amount of ink, the regular printer paper will be good enough. Also, this type of paper would be good for an insert that will be printed on one side of the page, not double sided, like a printable monthly planner you think to use like a wall calendar.

But, for the rest of printable planner inserts, you will have to consider, first, how you will use it. Second, what is the design or style of the planner. Third, if it has decorations or many colors. And how long you want it to last and many other things to choose the correct paper for your needs.

Paper’s Characteristics for choosing what paper to print planner inserts

First of all, we have to explore some of the paper’s characteristics to know which of them we need for our planner.

Weight

The paper weight refers to the thickness of the paper, it’s measured in lbs or pounds, and gsm or grams per square meter. So, the higher the paper weight is, the thicker the paper will be. For example, standard letter paper and regular printer paper have 20 lbs and they are regular thin paper, ideal for our daily needs. On the other hand, presentation paper usually weighs 27 lbs, and there are also 28 lbs – 32 lbs paper that are great for durable and rich color planner inserts. Remember that heavier papers, more than

Size

As you know, it is important to choose the paper according to the size of the planner page you will print, especially for smaller sizes like A5, A6, Half Letter, Personal size and so on. Also, you have to take in consideration the file of your printable planner. If it includes a file with crop lines, you could use a regular size paper like A4 or US Letter size. If the printable planner you have is designed to print directly in precut paper, it will be fundamental to use the specific paper size of your planner.

Some paper sizes:

Half Letter: 5.5 x 8.5 inches / 140 x 216 mm
A5: 5.8 x 8.3 inches / 148 x 210 mm
Personal: 3.74 x 6.73 inches / 95 x 171 mm
A6: 4.13 x 5.83 inches / 105 x 148 mm
Pocket: 3.19 x 4.72 inches / 81 x 120 mm
A7: 2.9 x 4.1 inches / 74 × 105 mm

Read this article, to learn more about how to print printable planner pages depending its size.

Paper finish

There are two types of paper finish: glossy and matte. In general, for planner inserts we suggest using a matte finish paper because it is easier to write on it, especially if you plan to use your planner insert regularly or in a binder. On the contrary, if you really like a bright glossy finish, you could print your planner on glossy paper in the case you will display your beautiful planner page.

Brightness

The paper brightness makes reference to how much the paper reflects the light from its surface. It is measured from 0 to 100 and the higher it is, the brighter the paper sheet.

Whiteness

Paper whiteness quantifies a paper’s ability to equally reflect a balance of all wavelengths of light across the visible spectrum. It’s a number that goes from 0 to 100, generally. Papers containing fluorescent additives such as Optical Brightening Agents (OBA) will measure above 100. Here you can learn deeply about it.

Acid free paper

The most common paper contains acid that makes the paper sheet turn yellow when the time passes by and the sunlight may affect it. But you can use it if you don’t need your planner insert to last long. In contrast, if you want to keep your planner pages with bright colors and for a considerable amount of time, the right choice would be acid free paper.

There are other attributes of paper like texture and color that you will pick according to your taste.

Recommendations about what paper to print planner inserts

Like we mentioned before, if you will discard your planner page after you use it and you don’t use heavy markers on it, a good option would be a regular printer paper or computer paper. This paper is economic, it has a weight of 20 lbs. and matte finish, suitable for short term planner pages.

However, if you will print double sided planner inserts, plan to keep using and referring to your printable planner or print planner pages with colorful designs or decorative elements, you should print them in presentation paper of 27 lbs to 32 lbs that will last, won’t tear when you flip them and will have crisp colors like the following examples:

27 lb to 32 lb paper to print planner inserts

The options about brightness and whiteness would be to your taste. For printing a planner exactly like you see it on your screen, it should have brightness and whiteness of 100. Otherwise, if you want a warmer tone of paper, you may use a lower value.

As well, you have to choose the paper size according to the printable planner insert size and digital files.

We hope you could find this article about what paper to print planner inserts helpful for you to choose the best paper for your needs.

Don’t forget to check out our printable planner pages and join to the Subscriber Library to get free printables.