What weight paper should I print my flyers on?

Flyers are one of the most popular products we sell – in every size and shape, from A3 to DL and everything in between, from folded to flat, with creasing and without creasing, full colour one side or full colour both sides.

Normally people know what they want when the contact us – it’s for example an A4 tri-fold, full colour both sides, or a flat A4, single sided print, or a simple DL in black.  They can picture it in their head (or better still have it designed and ready to go), and know exactly what the printed product should look like.

What people don’t always know, though, is how the product should feel when they have it in their hands.  The most common question for us is what weight of paper should they go for?  We print all flyers on Gloss Illustration Paper as standard (unless otherwise requested), but people always ask whether to go for 115gsm, 135gsm or 170gsm for their flyers.  Which is right for them?  We cannot make that decision for them, but we can help with the decision process.

The easiest way is to get a sample of the paper – just ask and we’ll send them out to you (same for business cards, letterheads etc) – and you can see and feel the difference.  In reality, the difference between 135 and 170gsm paper is very slight.  The 170gsm paper is, by definition, slightly heavier and thus will feel slightly better when directly compared to the 135gsm paper.  But the recipient of the flyer doesn’t always compare them to each other or know the difference between the paper types.

The 170gsm paper is slightly more expensive so price is also a determining factor.

What we suggest:

• If your business is in the photography, wedding, hotel or similar business and you’re giving your flyers out at a glitzy show or exhibition, go for the heavier paper.
• If you’re a restaurant or take away business and want people to keep the menu’s for future use, go for the heavier paper
• If you’re promoting a once-off event in the next month, the flyers won’t be around for long – go with the lighter (cheaper) paper.
• If you’re giving them out at an event where you think people will just grab one, fold it and stick it in their back pocket, go for the lighter (cheaper) paper.
• If you’re sticking them on windscreens go for the lighter cheaper paper as the elements will probably negate any difference in paper quality by the time it’s taken off.

It’s very much a personal decision, it depends on your business, your message, what you expect people to do with the flyer, who you’re giving it to, but as with your design and imagery on the flyers, the paper will convey a certain impression.  Make sure it matches the impression that you want to portray.

The best thing to do is to ask for a sample, touch and feel them and then decide.  You can contact us here or 061 502 341