Home / Blog / What is Cardstock? A Stylish Dive into Thickness, Types & Uses
Have you ever lifted a full sheet of paper that is thick, smooth, silky and better than cardstock? It is not ordinary paper. This is strong, sleek, and smooth, perfect between crafts and boxes.
This guide will also show you what cardstock is, how thick, and the types that you can use. You can use them to do any DIY project, special printing, or homemade customized boxes. Cardstock includes a boutique touch to something you make.
It is a journey from writing personal invitations to making very professional-looking boxes. The cardstock is the real star both in ideas and business. We will check out its unique finishing, various applications, and the reasons why designers, artists, and craft lovers love it.
If you are a novice with cardstock or want to make better use of it, you are at the right place. Let's consider getting into that world of cardstock and what one can enjoy with that paper regarding design and utility.
Cardstock is a heavy paper that is neither too thick nor very strong. It is denser than a standard printer paper and has multiple finishes. So it is great for really sturdy jobs. The printing trade refers to it as "cover stock," but the way the thickness of cardstock usually goes is that it's thicker than 80 lb paper, with weights anywhere between 100 lb and 130 lb or so. It is not much thicker than cardboard in structural properties but provides a pretty good structure to items like invitations, greeting cards, and business cards.
Cardstock does not soften or bend like normal paper. It has a very hard, rigid feel. Its stiffness is great for detail design handling, printing, and making high-quality products requiring that additional support. This is cardstock, glossy, matte, or textured; in all its varieties, it has a very premium feel and thus is a favorite in artistic as well as commercial applications.
Cardstock is one of the most ubiquitous and multipurpose papers around, rendering it useful for nearly anything. Cardstock paper is often used for designing greeting cards, invitations, brochures, and business cards on the grounds of its ability to hold colors and designs beautifully. Also, it holds its own in scrapbooking, paper crafting, and random packing runs.
Apart from being durable, cardstock is ideal for promotional material since it can withstand handling and travel. Cardstock offers a professional, sleek look that distinguishes your product-attractive custom packaging or the catchiest high-end marketing collateral. Plus, cardstock is a good material for crafts, DIY projects, posters, or anything where thickness and sturdiness are key.
Brown Cardstock
Brown cardstock, often referred to as Kraft paper, has a natural, earthy tone that makes it a favorite for rustic or eco-friendly designs. This kind of cardstock is generally uncoated and has a coarse texture, being suitable for old-fashioned invitations, seasonal greeting cards, and crafts.
Its organic, neutral hue could easily match quite a few other materials, and it's often included with products promoting themselves as eco-friendly.
Brown cardstock is quite the thing in scrapbooking, where its earthy look gives pages a lovely old-world feel. It is typically used as a base for handmade cards or gift tags so that it can be combined beautifully with either modern or traditional decors.
Gold Cardstock
Gold cardstock is definitely an approach for creating luxuriousness and elegance. It adds instant opulence to any design with its shiny metallic finish. It is an excellent choice for wedding invitations, business cards, and special event stationery. The metallic effect catches the light beautifully, creating an elegant and arresting shine, a signature characteristic in high-end designs.
Gold cardstock may be employed for personalized packaging and gifting to make a product or occasion feel just that much more special. Its reflective quality is ideal for pampering premium branding materials, where one would like to wow their audience with an opulent presentation.
Glossy Cardstock
Glossy cardstock is a perfect choice to use where colors need to be vibrant and finish smooth and high shine. Reflectivity of this kind of high-quality finish renders images, graphics, and text always sharper and more vivid. Glossy cardstock is, therefore, extensively applied in the printing of materials such as flyers, postcards, and photographs or wherever vividness in the print is required to draw attention.
The smooth layout also brings in the added advantage of protecting the printed art from moisture and handling. Hence, glossy cardstock is preferred in marketing materials and advertisements where immediate effects are needed.
Glitter Cardstock
A glitter cardstock is an exciting addition for just that sparkle and pizazz touch. Glitter embedded into the cardstock makes it the choice for holiday cards, party decorations, or any DIY craft. Of course, the show-off nature of glitter cardstock eliminates the mess of loose glitter, thus making it a favorite among both professionals and DIY hobbyists alike.
While a creative choice in many arts and crafts supplies, glitter cardstock also works well in wedding stationery, wedding invitations, and event decor when you want to grab attention with a little sparkle. It pairs nicely with other materials like satin ribbons and metallic accents, which make it a perfect option for several creative designs.
Thickness of Cardstock
Cardstock thickness is paramount in choosing the right cardstock for your project. Thickness is typically defined by weight, measured in pounds (lb), points (pt), or grams per square meter (gsm). Each of these parameters translates into an understanding of how strong and durable the paper should be, depending on the requirements of your project.
Here is the breakdown of commonly used weights in cardstock relative to their thickness:
| Paper Weight |
Thickness (pt) |
GSM (approx.) |
Common Uses |
Features |
| 100 lb |
12 pt |
271–298 gsm |
Business cards, postcards, invitation inserts |
Balanced stiffness & flexibility, suitable for lightweight professional printing |
| 110 lb |
14 pt | 298–325 gsm |
Greeting cards, flyers, brochures |
Slightly more rigid, still flexible—perfect for standout designs |
| 120 lb |
16 pt | 325–350 gsm |
High-end invitations, luxury business cards, custom boxes |
Premium feel, durable and high-quality printing surface |
| 130 lb |
18 pt |
350–400 gsm |
Premium business cards, luxury postcards, specialty packaging |
Thick, upscale appearance, adds professional weight and feel |
| 160 lb |
24 pt | 450–500 gsm |
Rigid boxes, book covers, high-strength packaging |
Heavy-duty cardstock, resistant to bending or tearing—ideal for premium or structural use cases |
Different Card stock Finishes
The different finishes of cardstock are infinitely varied and worthwhile to be considered. Here are some common finishes: The matte finish has a smooth surface and a surface that's not reflective, giving it a subtle and understated appearance. Such a finish works excellently for professional documents and wedding invitations where readability takes precedence.
A glossy finish would work great for marketing and photography. It is shine- whenever you need shine that reflects color and image magnificently.
Textured finish: Textured cardstock has excellent linen or felt. It gives a richness to premium stationery or luxury packaging.
Soft-touch finish: This creates a velvet-like feel, giving your project a distinctive tactile experience. This is quite popular among business cards and custom packaging.
Choosing the right finish will really help to ensure your design looks as good as it feels.
Cardstock vs Construction Paper
White or colored cardstock and construction paper both have immense popularity in the area of arts, crafts, and creative projects, albeit quite the opposite of one another when it comes to thickness, durability, and applications. Differences, we will examine in detail for your suit choice of paper for the next project.
1. Thickness And Durability
The thickness is the most pronounced difference between cardstock and construction paper. Cardstock generally has a thicker, stiffer feel and is much stronger than construction paper. Cardstock typically is priced anywhere from 100 lb - 160 lb (12 pt to 24 pt), giving it that more premium feel. This makes it an ideal choice for professional applications, some of which include business cards, invitations, custom packaging, and even scrapbooking. The rigidity and weight of cardstock give it an upper hand in strength and longevity over construction paper, especially when being used for items that require frequent handling or need that high-quality finish.
Construction paper, on the other hand, is thinner and less stiff, usually around 65 lb (or about 8 pt) in weight. It is soft but flexible, able to bend unlike the cardboard. Hence, construction paper finds most of its good uses in very simple crafts and school assignments suitable for children's use. Because construction paper is so light, it is great for projects like paper chains, collages, and folding crafts, where flexibility is more important than durability.
2. Texture and Finish
Cardstock finishes can be matte, glossy, or textured, providing a classy and sophisticated look. Because of this variety in its finishes, cardstock is used for high-end prints, luxury packaging, and professional-quality crafts. It allows for smooth and crisp prints and vivid colors, which is exactly why it has become one of the best options for projects that call for color precision as well as detail.
Construction paper has a very rough texture and a matte finish. This property makes construction paper eminently suitable for cutting, gluing, and drawing. Its relatively strong point is its color variation: construction paper is available in almost every color of the rainbow. However, construction paper is not as smooth as cardstock, and that may sometimes render printing on construction paper less sharp or detailed.
3. Uses in Crafting and Printing
When it comes to strong and durable paper that can hold up to various intricate designs and detailed art or professional printing, cardstock is the number one choice. The most common use for this material is for custom invitations, business cards, brochures, wedding stationery, scrapbook pages, and fine packaging. In printing, cardstock, too, gives a better performance with a clearer, more vibrant finish when run through laser and inkjet printers.
Conversely, construction paper holds no such aspects as durability and intricateness in design and thus is considered a more viable option for school projects of endless sorts, basic arts and crafts, or simple sculptures made of paper. Its toughness and so-called kid-friendliness are excellent attributes when making cuts, sketches, or arts and crafts that do not require first-rate paper quality for a long-lasting positioning purpose. Construction paper is the best choice for fast-and-steady craft projects like greeting cards or making paper dolls where creativity takes precedence over professionalism.
4. Cost and Accessibility
First and foremost in the pros of construction paper is price. It is cheaper than cardstock and, therefore, friendly to one's pocket in crafts of considerable size or school-related projects. Construction paper is also available in multi-color packs, so you can find just about anything you need for a particular project.
Cardstock is a more expensive choice, particularly with higher-weight paper and specialty finishes. Still, it is the long-lasting and professional finish that makes that higher investment worthwhile when materials of higher quality are called for.
Printing with cardstock is different from regular paper; it requires the right equipment and configuration to get sharp, vibrant results.
Test Printer Compatibility
Not all printers are made of thicker paper. Be sure to check that your printer includes support for cardstock (usually up to 110-130 lb) and use the back tray if available to prevent jamming.
Review Print Settings
Change your printer settings to "cardstock" or "heavy paper" mode. The ink can absorb well to keep your design sharp and clear. Remember the paper size and finish to match it for the best outcome.
Use High-quality Ink
For photo-quality prints or bold colors, pigment-based ink is ideal. It should be kept away from contact until allowing sufficient drying time, particularly if it is glossy or glitter finishes, to prevent smudging.
Finish Tips
Cut with a paper trimmer for clean edges, and score before folding to prevent cracking. For bulk or professional-grade projects, consider outsourcing to a print shop.
Cardstock is a vital material in any paper craft or custom packaging and is known for its resilience, flexibility, and premium finish. From the simplest to the most complex crafts, customizations, and highest-end packaging, cardstock always shines.
Cardstock in Paper Crafting
This is the reason cardstock has become the reigning type in paper crafting as it is the most durable and capable of;
Die Cutting, Embossing, and Stamping crafters are content with thicker textures for making scrapbook pages, handmade greeting cards, or DIY decoration studies that are strong and eye-catching. Its robustness makes it able to withstand die-cutting and embossing without tearing or losing its shape. All types of art can express a professional finish by using stamping techniques. Besides that, since cardstock can retain color well, whether printed or painted, it is the ideal canvas for artistic endeavors. From wedding invitations to birthday cards, this has a wide array of colors, finishes, and weights, so they can create just the right look.
Cardstock in Custom Packaging
In custom packaging, cardstock is, without a doubt, your best bet. Strong, yet having a soak-friendly smooth surface for printing makes cardstock your godsend material in the manufacture of folding cartons, product labels, and luxury boxes. It makes and models this material as a flexible kind of packaging state, even under pressure, while providing a smooth, high-quality finish when printing logos, designs, or promotional text.
Luxury-packaged products benefit from the premium experience promised to the customer and yet another alternative is available here in the form of cardstock, which is both elegant and durable when compared with conventional forms of paper materials. This is used extensively in industries like the cosmetics segment, high-end retail, and gifting, where a lot of weight is being given to the visual and tactile perception of the product.
In short, with cardstock, you can be confident of doing anything, from the construction of complex items to beautiful, simple packaging. Durable, versatile, and capable of showcasing vivid prints, this is something that no one can do without in both private and professional ventures.
Conclusion
Cardstock is many things more than just thick paper. It gives endless possibilities for quality forms of production, crafts, and packaging with its various finishes, types and thicknesses. You need to get just the right kind when designing a business card, making a home-handcrafted project, or printing premium packaging in order to achieve the best results.
From solid brown to gold cardstock and glitter to glossy finishes, this paper type adds sophistication and durability to projects. Now that you know the various kinds and thicknesses and uses, you can easily choose the right one for your next project. Be it for a hobbyist or professional card stock; it is the material that can make the creation of your brilliant ideas happen.
