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You might have heard the term "layflat album" and wondered what it is. Layflat albums are a great way to display your photos in a book that won't fall apart after the first few times of opening them up. If you're planning on getting a layflat album, though, it's important to know which type of paper would be best suited for the job. Choosing the right paper for your layflat album is a very important decision. You want something that will look great but also withstand the wear and tear of being handled by friends and family. This article will help you decide which paper types are best suited to your needs.
Matte paper is a great choice for photos. It's less reflective than glossy paper, making photos dull. Matte paper also doesn't have the sheen of glossy prints and tends to look more natural. This makes matte an ideal choice if you are working with pictures taken in bright light that may appear overexposed on glossy pages.
Ultra glossy paper is a high-quality, 100% cotton fiber paper with a smooth surface. The ultra-glossy paper is great for bright colors and works well with portraits, but it's not ideal for black-and-white photos. This kind of album paper is unsuitable for in-studio printing because the high gloss can cause glare on your photo prints when viewing them in studio lighting conditions.
Photo paper is a great choice for printing your photos. It's not bad for text, but you may find that the ink bleeds. If you want to print on photo paper and have your text look good, it's best to use our offset printing service instead of photo paper.
Photo paper also isn't good for photographs with a lot of contrast or color. The ink will bleed into those areas if they are printed on photo paper—this is why we recommend using matte cover stock or uncoated cover stock over glossy when designing an album with photos in it.
Metallic paper is a high gloss paper with a metallic finish. It has a high level of luster and shine, which makes it great for wedding albums and other high-end projects that require a unique look. Metallic papers are also durable, so they can be used to make photo books or albums that will last for years.
Lustre paper is a semi-gloss paper that is subtly shinier than matte but not as reflective as gloss. It has a subtle sheen to it and often looks similar to that silk. Lustre also tends to be thicker than matte or gloss, as it's made with a heavier base stock. This can be good if you need your album to withstand long-term use and abuse, but if cost is an issue, you might want to opt for another option.
The primary benefit of lustre over matte or gloss is the added durability of its base stock. If you're concerned about having your album sit out on display for years at a time without any wear and tear, this would be your best bet—but know that it will cost more than either of its counterparts.
There are a lot of things to consider when choosing paper. You should first take a look at your album and determine how many pages you'll need. Are you creating an album or scrapbook? If it's the latter, then your number of pages will likely be smaller than if it were an album. You also need to consider whether or not you want the page numbers on all of them or just some of them, as well as if any other elements are needed in addition to photos like titles, captions and more.
After taking those into account, there are still more factors that go into picking out paper—such as texture and weight—and they can help inform which papers will work best for what purpose they serve in your project.
