Your Ultimate Guide to Cardstock Paper

Everything You Wanted to Know About Cardstock Paper

When it comes to crafting, printing, and creating professional-looking stationery, cardstock paper is your go-to. Whether you’re a DIY enthusiast or a business owner looking for high-quality printing solutions, everyone uses cardstock paper once in a while. Let’s understand why.

What Is Cardstock Paper?

Cardstock paper is a thick, durable paper that falls between regular printer paper and cardboard, based solely on its weight and stiffness. Since it is sturdy, you may use it while making invitations, greeting cards, brochures, and even scrapbooking. Typically, cardstock paper ranges in weight from 80lb to 110lb and is typically used for business and invitation cards. However, some speciality cardstock can go up to 300 lb, often used to make packaging boxes. Its heavier weight makes it more resilient than regular printing paper, providing an excellent surface for printing, crafting, and professional documents.

How Is Cardstock Paper Made?

Now that we know the answer to “What is cardstock paper?” let’s move on to the process of making one.

1. Pulping: To make cardstock paper, the raw materials (wood fibres or recycled paper) are broken down into a slurry of fibres. The fibres are separated and mixed with water. If you wish to make a particular colour such as black cardstock paper, the colouring agent is mixed too.
2. Pressing: The cardstock paper pulp is then spread onto a screen and pressed to remove excess water. This is an important part as the paper’s thickness and weight are modified here. You can even put in flowers in them.
3. Drying: The pressed paper is dried using heat or air to remove the remaining moisture. The drying adds to the strength and texture.
4. Finishing: Cardstock paper is often coated or treated for a smoother or glossier finish. This treatment makes printable cardstock paper perfect for high-resolution printing. You can emboss and texture it here as the finishing touches.
5. Cutting: Since the edges are meandering, the finished product is now cut into standard sizes for easy printing and crafting.
   

Types of Cardstock Paper

Regular cardstock paper comes in various colours, textures, and finishes. So you need to choose which type of paper you require. Below are a few cardstock papers which are readily available at your local art shop or online.

1. Smooth Cardstock Paper: This is the most common and widely available type of cardstock, often used for basic printing needs, business cards, and professional documents. It has a smooth finish to it, without any gloss.
2. Coloured Cardstock Paper: Whether you want black or white cardstock paper, colours are essential to create bold and striking designs increasing their elegance. You can be as creative with them.
3. Glitter Cardstock Paper: This type of cardstock is specially coated with glitter, making it yet another popular item at a stationery shop.
4. Cardstock Inkjet Paper: Specifically designed for inkjet printers, this cardstock paper absorbs ink well, ensuring vibrant, crisp prints without smudging.
5. Printed Cardstock Paper: If your child loves a themed birthday party, such as Jurassic Park, a printed AKA a dinosaur cardstock paper will steal his heart. They are also customisable and readily available online.

5 Innovative Ways to Use Cardstock Paper

Cardstock paper isn’t just for printing. Here are five creative ways to incorporate it into your projects, which will surely turn you into a DIY hobbyist.

1. DIY Greeting Cards and Invitations

The primary purpose of any cardstock paper is invitations and greeting cards. Make custom invitations using white cardstock paper or black cardstock paper. They will surely add a professional touch, which you can later enhance with stamps, embossing, or hand lettering.

2. Scrapbooking

Cardstock and scrapbooking go hand in hand! Why? Because they are durable. Use different coloured or patterned cardstock paper to create scrapbook pages, backgrounds, and embellishments. You can even find dinosaur cardstock paper for fun, themed scrapbooking.

3. Business Cards

Print your business cards on cardstock inkjet paper for a professional finish. With the clean printed ink lines and the stiff paper, you’ll always relay the message to your impressed potential clients.

4. Paper Crafts

Cardstock paper is ideal for paper crafts like paper flowers, paper cutouts, and 3D sculptures. However, unlike origami, you might not be able to fold it many times, but you can still detail them and cut without compromising on durability. You can also use dinosaur cardstock paper for children’s crafts or themed party decorations.

5. Educational Tools and Games

Cardstock paper is perfect for creating educational tools like flashcards, posters, or board games. For this, use the printable cardstock paper, lest they perish with the frequent handling.

Image Courtesy – Altenew

‘The imaginative landscape is to think about and bring about the hope of change’