The paper, and what its weight means
The answer
The stock is 200 gsm uncoated matte, printed with pigment inks and made only once an order exists. Uncoated means there is no gloss layer over the paper: the ink sits into the sheet rather than on top of it, which is why colour reads quieter here than the same file does on a lit screen.
Is 200 gsm good for an art print?
Grams per square metre is what gsm counts — the weight of a sheet one metre square. It is a measure of substance rather than of quality, but it is the one worth knowing, because it is what decides whether a sheet stands up in a frame or ripples in it. At 200 gsm the sheets weigh this much:
| Size | Area | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| 70×100 cm | 0.70 m² | 140 g |
| 50×70 cm | 0.35 m² | 70 g |
| 30×40 cm | 0.12 m² | 24 g |
What does uncoated mean, and why not gloss?
A coated paper carries a thin mineral layer that holds ink on the surface, which is what makes a photograph in a magazine look sharp and wet. An uncoated sheet has no such layer, so the ink is absorbed and the surface stays matte. The trade is real: a coated sheet gives a denser black and a harder edge, an uncoated one gives no reflection at all. On a wall lit from a window, a sheet that does not reflect is easier to look at.
How much of the sheet is printed?
All but a 5 mm border on each edge, which is unprinted so that a frame has something to hold.
| Size | Printed |
|---|---|
| 70×100 cm | 690 × 990 mm |
| 50×70 cm | 490 × 690 mm |
| 30×40 cm | 290 × 390 mm |
Why does the colour look softer than it does on screen?
A screen emits light and this paper reflects it, and an uncoated surface reflects less of it than a coated one would. Nothing has gone wrong when a print reads quieter than the photograph of it: that is the paper behaving normally, and it is the reason the measured colour of every print is published rather than described.