LWC, MWC and wood-free are terms commonly encountered when specifying paper for magazine printing.
They describe different families of printing papers with different fibre compositions, coatings and production characteristics. Those differences can affect print reproduction, opacity, bulk, weight, feel, cost and the printing process for which a paper is best suited.
For magazine publishers, however, the objective isn’t to become a paper technologist.
The important question is:
Which paper is appropriate for the publication you are producing?
At Magazine Printing Company, paper is considered alongside quantity, pagination, finished size, binding, printing process, finished weight and distribution requirements when we establish the production specification.
What Is LWC Paper?
LWC stands for Lightweight Coated paper.
LWC belongs to the coated mechanical family of printing papers and is widely associated with magazine, catalogue and advertising production.
The base paper contains a substantial proportion of mechanically produced fibre and is coated to provide a surface suitable for good-quality colour reproduction.
One of LWC’s important characteristics is its ability to provide a printable coated surface at relatively low grammages.
That can make it particularly useful for publications where controlling the finished weight of the magazine matters.
LWC is commonly supplied in reels and is particularly associated with heatset web-offset and other high-volume publication printing processes.
What Grammages Are Available in LWC?
There isn’t one universally useful grammage boundary that every paper manufacturer and classification system applies in exactly the same way.
LWC is fundamentally a paper grade, not simply another name for every coated sheet below a particular GSM.
Different mills and paper ranges offer different combinations of grammage, brightness, bulk, opacity and surface characteristics.
This is why we prefer to specify an actual paper appropriate to the publication and production route rather than tell publishers that one arbitrary GSM automatically defines the correct LWC stock.
The important considerations include:
- finished weight
- opacity
- bulk
- print reproduction
- pagination
- binding
- production process
- distribution method
- budget
Why Is LWC Used for Magazine Printing?
LWC can offer a useful balance between printable surface, low weight and economical high-volume production.
For magazines with substantial pagination or large circulations, reducing the weight of each copy can be commercially significant.
A lighter publication can use less paper by weight and may also influence distribution or postage costs.
But grammage alone doesn’t tell you how a magazine will feel.
Bulk, opacity, stiffness, surface and the overall construction of the publication all matter.
A lower-GSM paper with suitable bulk and opacity may therefore be a better magazine specification than simply selecting a heavier sheet because it sounds more substantial.
What Is MWC Paper?
MWC stands for Medium Weight Coated paper.
Like LWC, MWC belongs to the coated mechanical family of publication papers.
MWC generally occupies a heavier part of the coated-mechanical range and can provide a smooth coated surface suited to high-quality colour reproduction.
Depending upon the particular grade, MWC may be considered where the publication requires more substance, different surface characteristics or a different balance between weight and reproduction than a lighter LWC stock.
As with LWC, the terminology should not be reduced to one universal GSM number.
The actual paper specification matters more than the label alone.
What Is the Difference Between LWC and MWC?
Both are coated publication papers commonly associated with magazine, catalogue and advertising production.
The broad distinction is that LWC is the lighter-weight coated mechanical family, while MWC represents heavier coated mechanical grades.
However, choosing between them involves more than comparing GSM.
Two papers at similar nominal weights can differ in:
- bulk
- opacity
- brightness
- surface
- gloss
- stiffness
- print characteristics
The right choice therefore depends upon what the magazine needs to achieve and how it will be manufactured.
What Does Wood-Free Paper Mean?
The term wood-free is potentially confusing.
It does not mean that the paper contains no material derived from trees.
Wood-free paper — also commonly described as fine paper — is made predominantly using chemically processed pulp rather than the high proportion of mechanical pulp associated with coated mechanical publication papers.
During chemical pulping, much of the lignin naturally present in wood is removed.
This gives wood-free papers different characteristics from mechanical-pulp publication grades, including generally good brightness and greater resistance to the yellowing associated with lignin-rich mechanical papers.
Is Wood-Free Paper Coated or Uncoated?
It can be either.
Coated wood-free paper provides a coated printing surface and is widely used where high-quality reproduction and a more refined paper characteristic are required.
Uncoated wood-free paper retains an uncoated surface and can provide a more natural, tactile appearance.
The appropriate choice depends upon the publication.
A photographic or image-led magazine may have very different requirements from a journal, membership publication or editorial title deliberately seeking an uncoated aesthetic.
Is Wood-Free Paper Better Than LWC or MWC?
Not automatically.
They are different paper families suited to different applications.
A wood-free paper may be entirely appropriate for one magazine while an LWC stock may produce a better commercial and physical specification for another.
For example, a high-pagination publication mailed in significant quantities may place considerable importance on opacity and finished weight.
Another title may place greater emphasis on surface, brightness, feel or longevity.
The word “premium” can therefore be misleading when discussing paper.
A more expensive or heavier sheet isn’t automatically a better magazine paper.
The better paper is the one that works appropriately with the publication’s content, manufacturing method, binding, circulation and distribution requirements.
How Does Paper Affect Printed Colour?
Paper has a significant effect on colour reproduction.
Its shade, coating, surface and absorbency influence the way printed colour appears.
The same artwork should not be expected to look identical on every paper stock.
Coated mechanical, coated wood-free and uncoated wood-free papers have different reproduction characteristics.
This is one reason why paper selection and colour management should be considered together.
Once the paper and production route have been established, the selected print supplier manages the appropriate colour workflow for those production conditions.
What About Paper Opacity?
Opacity describes the extent to which printing on one side of a sheet can be seen through from the other side.
It can become particularly important when using lighter papers or publications containing large areas of contrasting imagery and text.
Good opacity can allow a relatively lightweight paper to perform effectively in a high-pagination magazine without excessive show-through.
This is another reason why GSM should never be considered in isolation.
Paper weight, bulk and opacity are different characteristics.
What About Paper Bulk?
Bulk describes the relationship between the thickness of a paper and its grammage.
Two papers with the same GSM do not necessarily have the same thickness or feel.
A higher-bulk paper can create a thicker-feeling publication without requiring the same increase in paper weight that would result from simply choosing a heavier grammage.
Bulk can therefore be important when balancing:
- the physical feel of the magazine
- spine thickness
- binding
- finished weight
- postage
- production cost
For perfect-bound and PUR-bound magazines, paper bulk and pagination also contribute directly to the finished spine width.
Does Paper Choice Affect Magazine Postage?
It can have a substantial effect.
For a mailed magazine, the weight of every copy matters.
Pagination, text-paper grammage, cover specification and wrapping all contribute to the finished mailing weight.
A relatively small change in paper specification multiplied across many pages and thousands of copies can produce a meaningful difference in the total quantity of paper being manufactured and distributed.
It can also affect whether the finished publication falls within a particular postal weight or format category.
This is why we prefer to consider printing and distribution together when specifying regularly mailed publications.
Does Paper Choice Affect Binding?
Yes.
Paper weight, bulk, surface and pagination all contribute to the physical construction of a magazine.
For saddle-stitched publications, increasing pagination or paper thickness increases the bulk at the spine and can affect how the finished magazine behaves.
For perfect-bound and PUR-bound publications, the paper specification contributes to the thickness of the text block and therefore the finished spine width.
Paper should therefore be selected as part of the complete magazine specification rather than as an isolated choice.
Should I Choose Paper by GSM?
GSM is useful, but it shouldn’t be the only consideration.
GSM means grams per square metre and describes the weight of the paper rather than directly defining its thickness, opacity, stiffness or quality.
When comparing papers, consider:
- grammage
- bulk
- opacity
- surface
- brightness and shade
- printing process
- pagination
- binding
- finished weight
- postage and distribution
- budget
This provides a much better basis for choosing magazine paper than simply deciding that a higher GSM must be better.
Which Paper Should I Use for My Magazine?
There isn’t one correct answer for every publication.
The paper should be selected according to the complete specification.
We normally consider:
- print quantity
- finished magazine size
- pagination
- photographic and editorial content
- required look and feel
- printing process
- binding
- cover specification
- finished weight
- mailing or distribution requirements
- budget
If the publication already exists, we can also review the current paper specification and consider whether there are worthwhile alternatives.
Sometimes the existing stock is already appropriate.
In other cases, a different grammage, bulk or paper family may improve the finished publication, reduce weight or create a more efficient production specification.
Need Help Choosing Paper for Your Magazine?
Magazine Printing Company is the specialist magazine operation of Cliffe Enterprise Ltd, an independent UK print-management company established in 1991.
Because we are not tied to one paper range, printing plant or production process, paper can be selected as part of the complete manufacturing specification rather than according to what one particular press happens to run.
We consider paper alongside quantity, size, pagination, binding, printing process, colour requirements, finished weight, distribution and budget.
Planning your next magazine? Get a magazine printing quote and we’ll help you select a paper and production route appropriate to your publication. Or talk to our magazine printing team about your publication specification. Call 01323 405978 or email sales@magazineprintingcompany.com.
