What is GSM? A handy guide for your printing needs.

If you have ever ordered business cards, invitations, or some other printed paper products, you might have heard of the term “GSM.”

Or perhaps you ordered a printed product in bulk and had to iron out the details of your purchase, including paper size and thickness. You may have encountered this term during that process.

This term can help you more precisely specify what you want, whether you’re ordering business cards, flyers, posters, signs, stickers – or any other type of printed product.

So, what is GSM in the printing world?

Here’s everything you need to know.

“GSM” is an acronym for “Grams per Square Meter”, a metric in print that specifies the quality of the paper for a particular print job. The lower the associated GSM number, the lighter the paper, and the flip-side of a higher GSM number translates to heavier paper. It is important to understand GSM, as well as the industry standard when it comes to a printing requirement.

It is imperative to start the process by first deciding what is the type of finish you are looking for your print job, whether you’re looking to print books, brochures, flyers, leaflets, business cards or product packaging. GSM requirements vary from print job to print job, and we’ve provided you with a straightforward and easy-to-understand guide below on what is the generally used for the common print jobs in the industry to give you an overview of what to look out for.

Paper Weights and Associated Usage

Once you have a good grasp of the role that GSM plays, you will be able to define and customise specific finishing for your various print jobs and be able to make more efficient use of your marketing dollars.