Ninefold PrintStock is usually the largest single cost in a printed job, and it is described in a vocabulary that was built for people who already understand it. Here is the short version.
Text and cover are two different scales
American paper weights are given in pounds, based on the weight of 500 sheets at that grade's basis size. The basis sizes differ between grades, so the numbers are not comparable across them.
The practical consequence catches people out constantly: 80lb text and 80lb cover are not similar. Text is a sheet you would print a letter or a flyer on. Cover at the same stated number is roughly twice as thick and used for business cards and folders.
If a quote says 80lb and does not say text or cover, that is a question to ask, not a detail to skip.
Points measure thickness directly
Board is often given in points instead. A point is one thousandth of an inch, so 14pt board is 0.014 inches thick. This is caliper, a physical measurement, and it is far less ambiguous than pounds.
Common reference points: a typical business card is around 14pt to 16pt. Folding cartons often run 18pt to 24pt depending on what goes in them. A presentation folder wants enough caliper to stay rigid when full, which is usually 12pt or heavier.
Because caliper is a direct measurement, it is the more useful thing to specify when you care about how a piece feels in the hand.
Coated or uncoated changes more than the look
Coated stock has a clay coating that holds ink on the surface. Colors look brighter and sharper, photographs reproduce better, and the sheet feels smoother. Gloss, silk and matte are coating finishes, not different papers.
Uncoated stock absorbs ink into the fiber. Colors go slightly softer and darker, fine detail spreads a little, and the sheet takes a pen. It reads as more natural, and it is what you want if anyone has to write on it.
The same ink prints noticeably differently on the two, which is the usual reason a brand color looks wrong on one piece and right on another. There is more on that in why your brand color moves between jobs.
Coated one side or two
Written C1S and C2S. Folding carton board is frequently C1S: coated on the outside where the printing goes, uncoated inside where it does not need to be. That saves money and, on a food carton, sometimes matters for what the inside surface is allowed to be.
Folders are often C1S for the same reason, so the inside takes a pen.
Grades worth recognizing
- SBS, solid bleached sulphate. A bright white board used for most retail folding cartons and premium packaging.
- CCNB or chipboard, recycled, grey inside. Cheaper, used where the interior is not seen.
- Kraft, unbleached brown. Increasingly chosen deliberately for how it looks.
- Text and cover papers, the general commercial range for collateral, sheets and folders.
What actually moves the cost
Roughly in order:
- Weight or caliper. Heavier is more expensive, and it scales close to linearly. This is the biggest lever you have.
- Coated versus uncoated. Coated generally costs more, though not always.
- Brightness and grade. Premium bright white sheets cost more than standard.
- Availability. A house stock a shop buys constantly is cheaper than something ordered in for your job, and it is also faster.
That last one is worth asking about directly. "What do you have on the floor that is close to this?" frequently produces a sheet that is nearly identical and meaningfully cheaper, because it removes both a mill order and a wait.
Recycled and sustainability claims
FSC and SFI certification means the fiber is traceable to responsibly managed forests, and it requires chain of custody through the printer to carry the logo. If you need the mark on the piece, say so up front, because not every shop is certified and it cannot be added retrospectively.
Recycled content is specified as a percentage. Higher recycled content sometimes costs more rather than less, which surprises people, and it can shift the color of the sheet slightly.
The practical shortcut
You do not have to learn all of this. What you need is to state, in a brief, either a caliper and finish, or an existing piece you want matched. A physical sample removes every ambiguity in this article at once.
If you would rather hand the whole question over, that is the conversation.