Offering prints of your artworks can be a great way to gain exposure and drive sales.
But regardless of whether you want to make prints for your customers, print out an image for yourself, or whether you’re looking for the best paper for Etsy prints… Paper choice is always key!
In the end, the paper for art prints is at least as important as the artwork itself.
After all, the best digital art won’t look good if you don’t choose the best art printing paper!
What you will find here:
Sorting out the best art printing paper for your particular needs requires a bit of know-how at both the artistic and technical level.
This post walks you through all the ins and outs you need to be aware of to make the right choices!
So let’s get started…
What is the best paper for art prints?
To cut things short: there’s no one-and-only best art printing paper.
It all depends on your personal taste (or the personal taste of your customers), how the art print will be displayed (framed with glass, unframed…), and a bit on the artwork itself.
Down below you can find out everything about what makes a fine art paper the best option for your specific wishes.
What paper type is best for digital art prints?
However, one thing goes without doubt: the best paper for printing digital art is always an Archival Paper. Archival photographic papers offer the best image quality and the longest durability.
Art prints on archival paper are also known as Giclée prints.
Giclée Prints
Giclée is the French word for ‘sprayed ink’. In the printmaking industry, the term stands for the highest quality of fine art papers.
Giclée is a sophisticated inkjet printing process that provides extra-fine image resolution and a high degree of detail.
Every Giclée print is done on archival paper. Archival paper is a high-grade fine art print paper that maintains the colors and integrity of the ink for up to 100 years …or more!
The ink used to create Giclée prints is a 12-color pigment-based ink that is true to color and won’t fade. For comparison: a typical digital printer uses a 4-color printing process with dye-based ink, which is not fade-resistant.
If you want to reproduce your artwork on a Giclée print, your image needs to have at least a 300 dpi resolution.
You can have the best digital art and best art printing paper, but if your image resolution isn’t high enough, it’s not worth the trouble!
→ Best File Format For Printing Digital Art
So, when we talk art print papers here, we mean Giclée-type quality: A High-Resolution Image with a minimum of 300 dpi printed on Archival Paper with Pigment-Based Inks.
But no matter what paper you eventually go for, there are always certain quality criteria that apply to all fine art print papers.
Quality Criteria for all Fine Art Papers:
- 1. Paper material
- 2. Paper weight
- 3. Paper color
- 4. Printing technology
- 5. Paper coating
1. Paper Material
- 1. Paper Material
Paper for art prints consists of at least two layers, the paper base and the coating. All art print papers must be acid-free. They must have a pH value of 7.0 or higher. This is very important because any acid in the paper will mix with the inks, making them fade and grow dull.
The very best art printing papers consist of cotton rag or wood cellulose, or a combination of the two. In addition, cellulose-based paper may also be resin coated.
Ok, let’s look into it and see what distinguishes these art print papers.
→ Cotton Rag Paper
Cotton rag paper is an excellent high-grade paper for art prints made from cotton or linen fiber, or a combination of the two.
The material makes the paper a great choice for fine art prints because the texture emulates the look of traditional media. But also digital art and photography printed on cotton rag gains depth and appeal.
With these characteristics, cotton rag paper is the best paper for printing digital art but it’s also one of the most expensive fine art papers.
Cotton rag prints are rated to last hundreds of years without fading noticeably and losing any fibrous sturdiness.
→ Alpha-Cellulose Paper
Alpha-cellulose paper is a popular medium for fine art prints. It’s a matte paper that is free of acid and lignin. With its high-grade wood pulp material, alpha-cellulose paper is a durable paper.
Along with cotton rag paper, it’s the best paper for printmaking and usually less expensive than cotton rag paper.
→ Resin Coated Photo Paper
Resin coated or RC photo paper is an alpha-cellulose based paper type. The paper has a plastic polyethene covering and is usually coated with microporous inkjet receptive emulsion.
These features make it the best inkjet paper for art prints that is fairly affordable for artists who wish to make digital prints at home.
All RC papers are fairly scuff resistant. However, depending on the finishing, some are more prone to attract dirt and fingerprints (more on that later in this post).
2. Paper Color
- 2. Paper Color
The brightness of a paper is typically rated on a scale from 1 to 100, with 100 being the brightest. Regular multipurpose paper, as you know it from copy machines and office printers, has a paper brightness of around 80.
Inkjet paper for art prints, on the other hand, has a higher brightness in the 90 range. Hence, the printing paper is able to reflect more light and make prints appear brighter and more appealing to the eye.
As a baseline, the whiter the paper, the greater the color contrast and the richer the gamut.
That’s why bright white paper is the best paper for printing digital art when you are looking to create vibrant, colorful prints of your artworks!
To achieve that brightness, paper manufacturers either bleach the paper with chlorine or use so-called Optical Brightening Agents (OBA). However, such paper is not the best choice for art prints because it’s likely to sacrifice brightness and color vibrancy over time.
If you want to have durable high-quality fine art print paper, make sure to choose a paper that is acid-free, meaning produced without chlorine bleaching or OBA.
Go for a paper that is ‘Totally Chlorine-Free’ (TCF). TCF papers are those made of pulp, such as alpha-cellulose and cotton rag paper… Hence the best papers for printing digital art!
3. Paper Weight
- 3. Paper Weight
Paper weight is measured in grams per square meter (gsm or g/m2).
It’s best to use a heavier paper for printmaking because it gives your print more rigidity, preventing it from curling and warping.
Choosing a heavier paper grammage is also important when creating larger prints and posters because it makes them easier to mount.
As a rule of thumb, the ideal paper weight for the best digital art prints should be between 200 and 300 gsm.
While 60 to 100 gsm is the weight of regular A4 office print paper, you can find flyers and standard posters printed on around 140 gsm. This is enough to withstand a little wear and tear but way to thin for high-quality fine art prints!
Starting at 200 gsm, we come closer to what is used for fine art printing. About 230 gsm is probably a standard weight for good art print paper. As a rule of thumb, the heavier the paper, the better the quality of the print.
With a heavier weight and thus more rigidity, paper in the 200+ range grammage is the best paper for poster prints to display sophisticated fine art. Approaching the 300 gsm range, the paper is more card-like, as you would use it for greeting cards and similar items.
4. Printing Technology
- 4. Printing Technology
Besides archival quality paper, it’s also important to use archival inks for fine art giclée prints.
Archival inks are pigment-based inks that are extremely fine and long-lasting.
A professional printer uses a set of 12 individual pigment inks. The 12-ink system, with its minute size inks, makes it possible to achieve images with seamless tonal gradations and very rich colors.
The durability of archival inks helps preserve print quality over time and prevent discoloration.
5. Paper Coating
- 5. Paper Coating
Paper coating means adding a surface texture, or a receiving layer, to the paper. This coat absorbs the ink without bleeding, meaning it prevents the ink from soaking too far into the paper.
Coating also plays an important role with regard to the archival quality of the fine art paper. The chemicals used need to keep the image clear over time and prevent its colors from fading.
Inkjet coating uses two main chemicals to create the coating: Silica or Alumina. Using Alumina achieves a higher archival quality than Silica.
The paper surface or finish is what eventually gives the actual look and feel to an art print.
Typical surface finishes are Matte, Glossy, Luster, Pearl, Semi-Gloss and Metallic. These are the terms you’ve surely come across when talking fine art printing.
With that said, let’s get right into the swing of surface finishes!
→ Matte Archival Paper
Matte or Non-Glossy paper is one of the most common art print papers. The paper has tiny, closely spaced pores on the surface that give it a textured look and help absorbing the ink.
(The habitual office paper is also a form of matte paper. However, there are larger spaces between the individual pores.)
The grained texture of matte paper doesn’t reflect any light.
This makes matte art prints the best paper for printing digital art that will be hanging on a wall behind glass!
The matte finish guarantees that you can view the print from any angle without distracting light reflections. So choosing archival matte paper for art prints that hang in a room with a lot of lighting is just perfect. With the minimal glare, the prints look fantastic under all light conditions!
Another big plus: Matte prints are smudge- and fingerprint-resistant. Their texture attracts neither dust nor dirt. This again means a better viewing experience for the art admirer and a longer life for the art print!
The smooth surface of matte paper accounts for a natural, authentic look of your digital art prints. Matte paper is widely considered to be the best fine art paper for photography, especially for photos that are black and white or contain text.
However, matte prints may also look grainy due to the print texture, and the colors may appear dull. This is even more so if the image is displayed without glass.
But nevertheless, using archival matte paper for art prints is something you can’t go wrong with. Matte archival paper is the most popular printing paper for professional digital art and photography prints!
→ Glossy Archival Paper
Glossy archival paper uses the same resin coating as matte paper. The only difference is that glossy paper has more of that coating applied to it than matte paper.
The larger amount of resin coating gives glossy prints their smooth, shiny surface. It brings out contrast and detail and makes the colors pop!
The glossy finish is the typical look of posters and photographs that you can print in consumer shops.
However, it’s not necessarily the best art printing paper for high-standard fine art prints. Why?
Exactly the same reflective surface that makes the colors of glossy prints rich and vibrant can be a problem when you look at the art print under strong lighting. The glare makes it difficult to view the artwork from certain angles.
There will be always some distractive reflections. Displaying a glossy art print behind glass will only worsen the issue.
There’s another thing you need to know about glossy prints: with their extra layer of coating on the surface, glossy papers are prone to attract fingerprints, as well as dust and dirt!
Unlike matte paper, they are NOT smudge- and fingerprint-resistant. This can be a problem, in particular during handling and mounting of the art print.
Can't decide between Matte and Glossy for your framed art prints?
→ Luster Archival Paper
Luster Archival paper offers a happy medium between glossy and matte papers. Its semi-gloss finish is also referred to as Satin or Pearl. The industry term for luster is E-Surface.
Luster paper provides an about as deep color saturation as glossy paper, while offering many of the advantages of matte paper.
Luster tends to have a surface texture, but less so than a matte paper. Due to this pearl-like surface texture, luster art prints are less prone to distracting light reflections than glossy paper.
They are also more resistant to fingerprints and other signs of wear and tear. Their texture hides little scratches and scuffs.
So, luster is a sturdy printing paper combining the best features of glossy and matte paper for great art print results!
In fact, luster paper belongs to the best paper to print professional photos. Professional photographers tend to prefer luster over glossy paper.
Luster paper type is best for digital art prints, too. In particular for those artworks that spot vivid colors and benefit from a decent shine, without having too much of a deflective glare!
→ Metallic Archival Paper
Metallic paper has a distinctive glossy finish and metallic appearance. With its almost 3D-like effect, the paper surface stands out against other finishes.
Metallic paper is extremely durable. It offers a large color gamut and clean, sharp details.
Actually, metallic archival paper is my personal favorite best paper for printing digital art.
I hoped this post helped you find the best paper for printing your digital art.
If you enjoyed, please consider sharing it with other artists! Have a wonderful day and see you soon, Angie 🌸
hey, thx so much for all this information about printing papers. That was totally what I was looking for!! XX
You’re most welcome, Jackie! Glad it was helpful (: