What is the Difference Between Whiteness and Brightness of Paper?
These terms are not interchangeable. Brightness refers to the amount of light reflected back to the reader’s eye. A bright sheet makes photos “pop” due to the contrast between the paper and the ink. An interesting and useful fact is that the paper grades — premium, #1, #2, #3, #4, and #5 — are distinguished one from the other based on brightness. Bleaching the paper to increase its brightness moves a printing sheet up the scale to a smaller number and increases its price.
Whiteness, on the other hand, refers to the quality (as opposed to the amount) of light. A white sheet evenly reflects all colors of the visible spectrum. However, papers inherently have either a warm, yellowish tinge or a cool, bluish tinge. In general, blue-white sheets appear brighter than comparable yellow-white sheets (although this is not always true once ink or varnish is applied).
If blues and blacks predominate in your design, a cool white sheet (blue-white) will make the colors appear brighter. If reds, yellows, and oranges predominate, these colors will appear clearer and more vibrant on a warm (yellow-white) sheet.
Design your insert after you choose an appropriate envelope size. To do the reverse, and request an off-size envelope to fit an insert, can be costly. Standard sizes are always cheaper and more readily available from your printer.
When determining measurements, designers tend to “crowd” the insert. Leave ¼” on either side of your insert (i.e., make sure the envelope is ½” longer than the long dimension of your insert). Leaving ¼” between the top of the insert and the opening of the envelope should provide adequate space along this dimension. However, if your insert is thick, leave more space than usual. If it is very thin, you can usually get away with 1/8” leeway on all sides. It’s always best to make an accurate mock-up and try it out before you proceed.
