- Three stocks cover 90% of flyer jobs: 70lb uncoated for write-on sheets, 100lb gloss book for handouts, 14pt cardstock for anything that must survive weather or a week in a rack.
- Weight is not thickness: “lb” measures a ream’s weight and “pt” measures actual caliper, which is why 14pt feels stiffer than 100lb.
- Feel the candidates before committing a big run; the free sample package settles gloss-versus-matte in thirty seconds of holding both.
The food truck that upgraded one word
A food truck ordered the same 1,000-piece flyer paper stock job twice: first on 70lb text, then on 14pt cardstock for the version clipped to lunch bags. The text-weight sheets creased in the bags; the cardstock version came back looking new after a full week of service. Same art, one changed dropdown, completely different street life.
Templates for any stock
Every flyer paper stock prints from the same art file: download guideline templates with bleed and safe zones ready.
Before you pick a sheet , check the file, or use complimentary design setup.
Flyer paper stock is the one spec you cannot judge from a screen. The dropdown says “100lb gloss book” and gives no hint whether that is a floppy magazine page or a stiff postcard. This guide translates every option into what your hand feels and what your customer experiences.
Get the weight right and a cheap gang-run flyer reads premium. Get it wrong and a beautiful design feels like a takeout menu.
70lb uncoated: forms and write-on sheets. 100lb gloss book: standard glossy handout, flexible like a nice magazine page. 100lb matte: same weight, no glare. 14pt cardstock: postcard-stiff for racks, doors, and outdoors. When in doubt, order the free sample package and hold them.
Everything on the stock dropdown fits into these three lines.
How paper weights actually work
The pound number is the weight of 500 uncut parent sheets, which is why a 100lb book sheet is far thinner than a 100lb cover sheet: the parent sizes differ. Point (pt) sidesteps the confusion by measuring actual thickness in thousandths of an inch, so 14pt is 0.014". Practical translation: book/text weights bend like magazine pages, cover weights and points stand up like postcards.
Rule of thumb by handling time: held for seconds → 70–100lb text is fine. Kept for days (menus, schedules) → 100lb gloss or matte. Living outdoors or in a rack for weeks → 14pt and up, ideally coated.
The flyer paper stock lineup, sheet by sheet
70lb uncoated text: the professional version of copy paper, takes pen and pencil, best for order forms and info sheets. 100lb gloss book: the default handout, saturated color, slight sheen. 100lb matte book: identical weight, softer look, readable under bright light. 14pt gloss cover: the postcard, survives pockets, rain flicks, and door hanging. 16pt: noticeably stiffer yet, when the piece must feel substantial.
- The flyer doubles as a coupon or keepsake
- Distribution is outdoors, on doors, or in racks
- Brand impression matters more than quantity
- Volume and low cost per piece is the mission
- Pieces get read once and recycled
- People need to write on the sheet
Side by side, the jump from 100lb book to 14pt cover is bigger than any photo can show. That jump is what customers subconsciously read as “established business.”
Matching stock to the job
Street handouts: 100lb gloss book, since it will be read and recycled within minutes. Restaurant menus and price lists: 100lb matte, which resists glare under counter lights and fingerprints less. Door hangers and yard-adjacent pieces: 14pt minimum, coated, or the morning dew ends the campaign. Take-one racks: 14pt, because text-weight sheets slump within a day. Order forms: 70lb uncoated, since ballpoint ink smears on gloss coating.
Coatings: gloss, matte, UV, soft-touch
Gloss brightens ink and adds shelf pop for photo-heavy art. Matte trades shine for readability and a calmer, editorial look. UV coating is a liquid armor layer, high shine plus scuff resistance, best for pieces that live in weather, though you cannot write on it. Soft-touch lamination feels like suede and turns a flyer into an object people keep holding, at a premium worth reserving for high-value offers.
Coating changes the same CMYK ink dramatically: gloss reflects, matte absorbs. Approve photo-critical art on the coated proof stock, never on office paper.
What stock choices cost in practice
| Job | Spec | Cart total | Per piece |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard glossy handout | 500 × 4×6, both sides | $31.84 | 6.4¢ |
| Volume street campaign | 5,000 × 4×6, both sides | $129.37 | 2.6¢ |
| Letter info sheet | 250 × 8.5×11, front only | $91.64 | 36.7¢ |
Stock upgrades move these totals modestly; compare exact combinations live in the cart before checkout, where every stock and coating shows its real price.
Flyer Paper Stock: planning index
Illustrative index for flyer paper stock (lower = better value). Confirm live total on proof cart.
Planning index only (June 2026). Not a live price quote.
Stock decision checklist
Five questions that pick the sheet for you.
- How long must one piece survive: minutes, days, or weeks?
- Indoors or outdoors? Outdoors means 14pt+, coated.
- Does anyone write on it? Uncoated only.
- Photo-heavy art? Gloss lifts saturation; matte tames glare.
- Mailing without an envelope? Card weight for USPS automation.
- Still torn? Free sample package first, big order second.
“We printed spa menus on gloss for years and clients complained about glare at the front desk. Switched to 100lb matte on the same design and the complaints stopped. The sample package would have saved us three reprints if we had ordered it first.”
Spa owner, Scottsdale
For how trim interacts with heavier sheets, the bleed in printing reference explains why thick stocks need the same 0.125" margin your file already carries.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between 100lb book and 100lb cover?
Different parent sheet sizes make the same pound number mean different thicknesses. 100lb book (or text) bends like a heavy magazine page; 100lb cover approaches postcard stiffness, close to 14pt territory. When comparing across shops, ask for the pt caliper or a sample, because the pound number alone can mislead you.
Which flyer paper stock is best for handing out on the street?
100lb gloss book is the standard: heavy enough not to feel like copy paper, glossy enough to make color pop, cheap enough to hand to a thousand strangers. At 5,000 pieces both sides, the run is $129.37, about 2.6¢ each, so generous distribution costs less than one day of most advertising.
Can I write on gloss or UV-coated flyers?
Ballpoint pen smears on gloss and beads on UV coating. If staff or customers fill in anything, a name, a date, a punch mark, choose 70lb uncoated or a matte sheet, which accepts pen acceptably. A common hybrid is matte stock with only the front’s hero image area kept glossy via spot UV.
Is 14pt cardstock overkill for an indoor flyer?
For a hand-to-hand piece read once, yes, the money is better spent on quantity. For anything racked, pinned, propped on counters, or kept, like appointment cards or menus, 14pt stops the slump and curl that make text-weight pieces look tired by day two. Handling time decides, not the room.
Does heavier stock change my file setup?
No. Same trim, same 0.125" bleed, same 300 DPI, same CMYK. The one caution is heavy solid ink coverage near the edge on thick stock, where cutting pressure can flake color slightly; keeping critical art inside the safe zone covers that automatically, exactly as your template already does.
What stock should double-sided coupons use?
14pt cover, because coupons live in wallets and pockets for days or weeks. Text-weight coupons fall apart before redemption. Print the offer side with a clear expiry, keep the barcode or code area free of UV coating if it must be scanned or written on at the register.
Gloss or matte for photos of food?
Gloss, in most cases: it saturates reds and yellows and makes food photography look fresh. The exception is menus read under direct light, where glare fights readability; there, 100lb matte with strong photography wins. Order both in the sample package and view them under the actual lighting where customers will look.
How do I compare stock prices without guessing?
Build the same job twice in the cart with different stocks and read the two totals; the live price includes the sheet, coating, and quantity together. Anchors to calibrate against: 500 4×6 both sides at $31.84, and 5,000 at $129.37. Upgrades scale from there and always show before payment.