After I interviewed Sabine Lenz, founder of PaperSpecs, she gave me a live tour of the web site, www.PaperSpecs.com. I was impressed by the breadth of features offered and how easy they are to use. I’d like to share a few of my favorite features with you.
- Technical information about paper terminology is easy to find and is presented clearly. I liked this one on the obscure topic of understanding paper basis weight.
- You can search for a paper by many different characteristics, such as surface, texture, mill, or color. If you find a color you’re interested in, a close-up photo and the closest PMS and RGB numbers to that paper color are shown. What a boon for designers!
- Once you find a paper you like, you can read a summary of its features that includes its recycled content and environmental certifications.
- On the Paper Details page, you’ll find everything you could possibly want to know about the sheet, including mill, color name, weights and sizes, recycled contents, suggested uses, and more.
- Of course, what you really need to know in the end is whether the paper is available from a merchant in your area. A list of local paper merchants who carry the paper is provided, complete with contact information.
- I didn’t take a screen cap of one of the best features of all, the ability to select and order current paper promotions and swatch books, which are shipped directly from the mill to you. With paper shows and presentations happening less frequently, this is a wonderful way to both get inspired and keep your paper swatchbook cabinet current.
Thumbs way up!
I’m glad to have learned about PaperSpecs and am happy to pass the information along to you.
PaperSpecs.com looks like a great tool for print production managers and designers, offered at a very reasonable cost. The site’s design is clean and straightforward; its search and compare features are robust. Having current paper information from many mills in one big database is fabulous. And having access to all of those print promotions will all too tempting!
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October 28, 2009 at 12:58 am
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October 29, 2009 at 7:45 am
Bruce Colthart Creative (@bccreative)
Thanks for the review Nani. I know the site offers a free trial, but still helpful to see what you value from the production point of view (though not necessarily totally separate from a design POV).
Question: Is ordering swatch books and promotions via PaperSpecs.com easier than approaching mills separately. Is there still a sign-up per mill required? Also, are there any new discoveries since you posted this that you admire or value?
October 29, 2009 at 8:27 am
naniprints
Hi Bruce, the thing that’s nice about the promotions and swatch books section is that you can see what’s available from all of the mills. I like it that you can compare the cover of the swatch book you have with the one on the site to see if it’s till current. For some strange reason, some paper mills still don’t mark their books with a production date, and that is a feature—adding the date if there is one—that PaperSpecs is looking at adding to the swatch book listings. They don’t have it yet.
There was no mention of having to sign with each mill. If you order something, they send your request to the mill immediately and the mill ships it out. It’s sent free via ground, or if you want it faster you can provide your shipping account number and pay for the faster method.
My production point of view is to recommend materials that accord with the designer’s vision as far as I can elicit it. So I like the “wild card” search, which reminds me of how I work with designers.
I usually ask, “So what look are you thinking for the paper for this piece? Coated or uncoated? (It’s almost always uncoated!) What surface, dull or matte, smooth, wove, super-smooth, textured (like felt, linen (rare!) or laid)? What color? If white, what kind of white, balanced, warm or cool? Are there budget constraints? If so, can we get away with a #2?” You can plug in all those answers to bring up a selection of sheets that meet the designer’s criteria, then compare them. I liked that this search mode broadened my selection horizons, where I’d be more likely to grab my top 3-5 “known performers” off the swatch book shelf.
I hope this helps! Always a pleasure to see your comments and talk with you about printing and paper, Bruce. ~Nani