Tips And Tricks To Printing With Cardstock

If you are a paper craft enthusiast, then it is possible you have come across cardstock several times already. At a very basic level, cardstock is a thick and durable paper that is used for a variety of paper craft and professional printing.

What you may not know is that the greeting cards you got for Christmas or all the boxes for your morning cereal are all made of cardstock wearing only from the basic paper type which can be from smooth paper to chipboard paper respectively. For that matter, you can find a cardstock variety of any paper that you may like, such as parchment, linen, or even Kraft in all possible colors that you may like.

At ThunderBolt Paper, we know that it's easy to draw, color or cut any kind of paper including cardstock but when it comes to printing there are usually different instructions for each kind of cardstock. The first thing you may need to know is how to work with your printer.

Here are three basic things you need to keep in mind for cardstock and printing

Everything begins with the printer

Before you go all in with your printing ideas, the first thing you would want to do is check the specifications of your printer. There's a high chance that your. Most printers are suitable with only a few kinds of paper types, and may not be able to work very well with thicker and heavier cardstock.

So before printing some invitations cards at home with your beloved home printer, make sure you go through the instruction manual of your printer. Make sure to go through all the compatibility specifications for the size, thickness, weight and kind of paper and especially weight of the cardstock it can handle. 

When you begin working, running a test run is highly recommended. By putting in the exact size details that you need for your prints, see if your printer can work with different specifications and adjust the printer accordingly.

Learn to handle the cardstock with care

You may need to cut any kind of paper to a certain dimension when it comes to printing. But since cardstock or any kind of paper is a thick and heavy paper, you may need to use specific tools for cutting or folding it.

Specially for making printed products such as brochures or greeting cards where you may need cutting, you will require specific sharp cutting tools. For making stickers of specific kinds, you might have to use specific die cut machines for complex dimensions and sharp blades for straight designs for a clean cut.

For simply perforating, embossing or scoring  cardstock you might need proper tools that are meant to work with thick paper. It's better to plan all your actions well in advance with all the required tools at hand so as to have the most ideal results with your cardstock.

Colored printing requires specific care

When you know that your printer can handle different kinds of paper, you will also realize the highest weight of a paper that your printer can handle efficiently. As a rule of thumb, you must print with cardstock going one by one slowly without overloading the printer.

Especially while printing special paper such as parchment paper or vellum paper, you will be required to wait after each print to keep the prints flat on a surface to dry for a longer time than it may be for linen cardstock.

Keeping in mind that printing with thick paper can be a lot of work for your printer, make sure that you allow your printer to rest or reset the settings where needed.

Whether you are working with cardstock for the first time or tenth time, you don't need to worry about anything if you prepare yourself with the right kind of tools along with information, then you cannot go wrong. Of course, when you have a special project, then you must consider professional printing as well.

It is always a learning process when it comes to paper craft or printing at home, but what matters is that you allow yourself some test runs or mistakes. Have you worked with or printed with cardstock? Tell us in the comments.