When to Use Matte Photo Paper

Matte photo paper is a heavyweight quality paper coated on both sides, which means it can be used as a multipurpose paper and is great for projects like making cards, matte photos and school or business presentations.

“Why would I choose the matte photo paper over standard inkjet paper?” you may ask.

1. Because of the print quality!  Matte photo paper is coated with an inkjet photo coating that renders the colors in much more vibrant tones. The ink gets into the coating and the result bears no contest to the standard paper.
2. Matte photo paper is a premium paper, heavyweight and it can be printed on both sides with excellent results.
3. Due to the special coating, water drops that may accidentally touch the printed paper do not affect the print.

One obvious characteristic of matte photo paper is that it is not as sensitive to fingerprints or liquid stains as glossy paper.  As a result, matte photo paper is an ideal choice for all-purpose cards such as business cards, 2UP invitations, panel cards, 4UP post cards, note cards, place cards, gift tags, mini cards and more. Geographics.com offers a free software available at www.clicknprintgeo.com which can help you get all the above done easily.

There are many practical advantages to using photo paper with a matte finish. It may make a big difference in a presentation or a display that involves photos. From a distance, standard glossy photos may produce glare due to reflection from light sources.  Matte photo paper is designed to keep your photos glare-free without sacrificing color quality like standard printer paper would.

One of the best matte photo papers around is the Royal Brites heavyweight 9 to 10 mil premium matte photo paper. It prints beautifully on both sides and works in both laser and inkjet printers to suit a variety of personal and professional uses.  Matte photos are instant-drying once they come out of the printer and they are resistant to ink smudges and fingerprints. Royal Brites Matte photo paper also comes in 12”x12” as Digital Scrapbooking Photo Paper. This means you can print your scrapbook layouts, pictures, tags and everything on both sides of a 12”x12” matte photo paper sheet and just bind the sheets together to make a great album.

You can also make the same type of album using the 8.5”x11” matte photo paper in a landscape orientation. Remember those old albums with vellum separators between the sheets? You just need to be artsy enough to make a nice back and front cover to it.  Matte photos display very well in scrapbook and photo albums (they take the glue better than the glossy papers), and they do very well under glass since matte paper does not stick to the glass like the glossy paper. If you want to have glossy framed photos, use matte photo paper under a glass since the glass will give it a gloss.

We recommend that you buy matte photo paper made in the USA – you’ll get great quality photos from practiced, trustworthy brands and be supporting US business at the same time!