Are there any good inkjet card stocks out there?

[reptilian]

I have been searching the net looking for some good quality card stock, and it seems like there isn't. I did find one brand that looked like it may be good, but I could only find one review on Amazon, and it was pretty brief.
Does anyone know of something out there?
Btw, I'm using an epson 1400 w pigment inks

 

[Peter McNeill]

Try Red River .... http://www.redrivercatalog.com
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[reptilian]

Already checked. They don't have anything over 60#.
Card stock is generally 110# paper.
Projet from Adorama has a paper that is 11.7mil, 145#

What confuses me about this paper, is that it states on their site that it's 145 Lb. ( 215 gsm )

The higher the gsm the heavier the card is, right?
Why is the gsm lower then other papers out there that are 60#
Red River's polar matte is 60lb 229gsm
I have a matte paper from staples that is 61lb 230gsm.

Are gsm or lb the same measurements in different standards (like metric or imperial) or are they actually two different measurements?

I am looking for something that is along the lines of commercial stock suitable for business cards or postcards.

 

[reptilian]

Ok, so after a quick google search, I found I was reading the specs of paper wrong.

The lb and gsm have nothing to do whit each other and I am looking for cover weight.
It's all pretty confusing.
Here is my source:
http://www.paper-papers.com/paper-weights.html
They have some inkjet choices as well. Has anyone used these?

 

[xilvar]

What are you looking to make out of the card stock? typical cheapo laser card stock is much thinner and lighter weight than the heaviest inkjet art matte papers. If you just want something heavy with a very smooth surface then buy one of the 'ultrasmooth' fine art papers.

ie - hahnemuhle ultra smooth photo rag http://www.hahnemuehle.com/prod/us/460/413/photo-rag-ultra-smooth-305-gsm.html

Or any of the papers marked ultra smooth/smooth.

The quality is well beyond that of laser card stock though, so if you're trying to combine it with something printed on laser card stock then it won't feel nearly the same.

xilvar

Ok, so after a quick google search, I found I was reading the specs of paper wrong.

The lb and gsm have nothing to do whit each other and I am looking for cover weight.
It's all pretty confusing.
Here is my source:
http://www.paper-papers.com/paper-weights.html
They have some inkjet choices as well. Has anyone used these?

 

[reptilian]

I am basically looking for a sturdy media. Something along the lines of a professional postcard feel. I want to be able to score and fold it without it cracking in the outside. I don't care what kind of finish it has, but it would be nice to have both on hand to choose from.

I have Epson's premium, and ultra premium matte, and Staple's photo supreme matte. None of them have the feel I'm going for

Red River has postcard paper, but the specs don't seem like that are as heavy as what I'm looking for. I ordered a sample pack from them. Hopefully they have something I'm looking for.

 

[Tom-C]

I am basically looking for a sturdy media. Something along the lines of a professional postcard feel. I want to be able to score and fold it without it cracking in the outside.

There are pre-scored note cards available for inkjet printing. Avery makes some that you can find at office supply stores.

At the higher end, take a look at Museo's artist cards:
http://www.museofineart.com/artistcards.aspx

They are available in several sizes and the quality of printed photos is very good.

Tom

 

[xilvar]

hm. yeah I think your biggest problem if you intend to fold the media is that best inkjet coatings are fairly thick and don't hold up well to the 'stretching' caused by the differential stresses of folding something that thick.

Something prescored is a good idea. You might try prescoring something yourself as well but you'd have to be very careful to get it fully flat again or you would get head strikes. (a vacuum platen printer like the 4800 and up would probably help here)

These are a version of what the other poster mentioned :
http://www.amazon.com/Pre-Scored-Cards-Inkjet-Printers-AVE5305/dp/B0017D88H6

I assume you've checked out everything available in the media section of office depot like places? I know they do carry prescored satin surface inkjet flyers for example. Much lighter than what you want, but maybe ok.

Depending upon how many of these you actually need you could even try coating the paper yourself. InkAid makes a variety of liquid coatings that can be applied to basically anything to give it an inkjet surface. Big time commitment there, and perfect uniformity is hard to achieve though.

xilvar

I am basically looking for a sturdy media. Something along the lines of a professional postcard feel. I want to be able to score and fold it without it cracking in the outside. I don't care what kind of finish it has, but it would be nice to have both on hand to choose from.

I have Epson's premium, and ultra premium matte, and Staple's photo supreme matte. None of them have the feel I'm going for

Red River has postcard paper, but the specs don't seem like that are as heavy as what I'm looking for. I ordered a sample pack from them. Hopefully they have something I'm looking for.

 

[Pretaco]

I've use inkpress paper 7 x 10 pre-scored matte paper for a party invitation. It comes with envelopes and folds into 5 x 7 cards, worked great!

I don't remember where I ordered it though...

 

[reptilian]

Thanks for everyone's input, but I don't want something prescored. I want to be able to fold it where I want to. I'm not looking to make cards, but that's not to say I won't. My main goal is to make matchbook notepads. I might try prescoring something myself, but that takes getting the print lined up perfectly on the paper. Which can be very difficult. I have wasted way to much time, ink, and media doing this with avery's stuff already. I really don't want to mess with that. If there isn't a solution with inkjet, perhaps I'll just go to a printshop. Hopefully it doesn't cost an arm and a leg.