GSM and Paper Types for Newspaper Inserts: Newsprint vs Glossy Art Paper

Every insert quote we send carries a number followed by the letters GSM, and most first-time advertisers nod at it without knowing what it means. It matters more than it looks. The paper you print on decides how your insert feels in the reader's hand, how your photographs reproduce, whether the offer on the back ghosts through the front, and a meaningful part of what the campaign costs. This article explains GSM in plain terms, sets out the honest differences between newsprint and glossy art paper, and shows how to pick the right stock for a 50,000-copy run.

What does GSM actually mean?

GSM stands for grams per square metre. It is the mass of a sheet of the paper measuring exactly one metre by one metre. The measurement method is standardised internationally in ISO 536, which is why a mill in India and a printer in Mumbai mean the same thing by "90 GSM". The Bureau of Indian Standards has its own specification for standard newsprint, IS 11688, which is the grade most Indian newspapers and A2 inserts are printed on.

Two things that GSM does not measure are worth being clear about. It is not thickness (that is caliper, measured in microns) and it is not quality. A coated 90 GSM art paper is thinner than an uncoated 90 GSM offset paper because the coating is denser than the fibre it replaces. In practice, though, for the two stocks used in inserts, a higher number means a heavier, stiffer, more substantial sheet, and it is safe to read it that way.

Because GSM is per square metre, the weight of one insert depends on its size:

Those kilograms are not academic. The sheets travel from the press to the newspaper's distribution centres in trucks, and a heavier stock means heavier bundles for the vendors who hand-insert them before dawn. Weight is one of the three things behind every per-copy rate, alongside printing and the newspaper's insertion charge, which we set out on the how it works page.

What is the difference between newsprint and glossy art paper?

They are made differently, they take ink differently, and they age differently.

Newsprint is made largely from mechanical pulp, where wood is ground rather than chemically cooked, with a growing share of recycled fibre in Indian mills. It is uncoated, slightly grey rather than white, and absorbent. When ink hits it, the ink soaks into the fibres and spreads a little, which printers call dot gain. That is why photographs on newsprint look softer and why very small type loses its crisp edges. Newsprint also yellows within weeks when it is left in light, because the lignin in mechanical pulp reacts with air and sunlight.

Art paper is a chemically pulped base sheet with a mineral coating, usually clay or calcium carbonate bound to the surface, then calendered (pressed between rollers) to make it smooth. Gloss art paper is polished to a shine; matt art paper is coated but left unpolished. Because the surface is sealed, ink stays on top and dries as a sharp, dense dot. Colours are brighter, blacks are deeper, and a photograph of a car, a necklace or a plate of food reproduces close to how it looked on the designer's screen. Art paper is also whiter and does not yellow the way newsprint does.

One honest point about newsprint that the comparison table hides: blending in is sometimes the goal. An A2 sheet on 45 GSM newsprint reads as a section of the newspaper, which is exactly what a real estate launch or a retail sale announcement wants. Readers unfold it the way they unfold the sports pages. A glossy sheet says "advertisement" the moment it slides out. Which of those is right depends on the message, and we cover that trade-off format by format in our A2 vs A4 vs A5 format guide.

Why is A2 printed on newsprint and A4 and A5 on art paper?

Because of how the sheet travels through the newspaper.

An A2 insert is folded once to A3 and laid inside the paper by the vendor's team, so it behaves like an extra section. At 45 GSM it weighs about the same as the pages around it, folds cleanly, and does not add noticeable bulk to a bundle of 50 or 100 copies. Print the same sheet on 90 GSM art paper and every insert would weigh roughly twice as much, resist the fold, spring open inside the newspaper, and roughly double the freight. The cost per copy would climb well past what the format is for, which is buying the most printed area per rupee.

An A4 insert or an A5 insert goes in flat and unfolded. A flat sheet needs stiffness to survive the stacking, bundling and the ride to the doorstep without curling or creasing, and coated paper below about 90 GSM does not have it. It wrinkles, it takes the curve of the rolled newspaper, and it arrives looking cheap, which defeats the reason for paying for glossy stock. That is why 90 GSM is the floor for the glossy formats and why the pricing page quotes the A4 and A5 rates at 90 GSM.

How much does a higher GSM add to the price?

The base rates are simple. At the 50,000-copy minimum, A2 on 45 GSM newsprint is ₹2.00 per copy (₹1,00,000 for 50,000 copies), A4 on 90 GSM art paper is ₹1.50 per copy (₹75,000), and A5 on 90 GSM is ₹1.20 per copy (₹60,000). GST applies on top, and why the floor sits at 50,000 copies is explained in our minimum order guide.

Moving from 90 GSM to 130 GSM puts about 44 percent more paper into every sheet, and paper is bought by weight. Freight rises with it, as the weights table above shows. The per-copy rate does not rise by 44 percent, because printing, the newspaper's insertion charge and transport handling are the larger part of the rate and they change little with the stock. What we tell clients is to ask for the campaign priced at both 90 GSM and the heavier stock they are considering, on the same quantity, and to decide with the two numbers side by side. The gap is usually small enough that the decision should be made on what the sheet has to do, not on price alone.

When should you choose newsprint?

Choose 45 GSM newsprint, which in practice means the A2 format, when at least one of these is true:

• Space is the message. Floor plans, price lists, a full product range, an election manifesto or a store map need the area. A2 is the cheapest printed area inside a newspaper by a wide margin.
• You want to read as part of the paper. Real estate launches and big retail sale days benefit from the "extra section" effect. Readers expect a large sheet for these categories and treat it accordingly.
• The creative is bold, not fine. Large headlines, solid colour blocks, strong contrast and generous type sizes all print well on newsprint. Delicate gradients, thin serifs and light text reversed out of dark backgrounds do not. Our guide to designing an insert people keep goes through the artwork adjustments in detail.
• Reach per rupee matters more than shelf life. A newsprint insert does its work on the morning it lands. If the campaign is a one-day event or a launch weekend, its short life is not a weakness.

In our own campaigns across cities like Mumbai, Delhi and Hyderabad, A2 newsprint remains the workhorse for property and retail precisely because it is unfussy: it takes a strong offer, a map and a phone number and gets them into several lakh homes before breakfast.

When should you choose glossy art paper, and at what GSM?

Choose art paper when the look of the sheet is part of the argument: jewellery, automobiles, premium residential projects, hospitals and diagnostic chains, international schools, consumer electronics, and any brand whose photography is doing the selling. A5 is also the natural stock for anything the reader is meant to keep in a wallet, such as a coupon, a menu or an invitation.

Within art paper, this is the guidance we give on the first call:

• 90 GSM is the right default. It holds photographs, stays flat inside the newspaper, and gives you the most households for the budget. Most of the glossy campaigns we have run since 2020 have been at 90 GSM, and the response difference between 90 and heavier stock has never been large enough for us to recommend the heavier paper by default.
• 100 to 115 GSM is worth considering when the sheet will be handled repeatedly, for example a course brochure a parent carries to a school visit, or a project sheet a buyer takes to a site.
• 130 GSM is the stock for an insert that has to feel like a card rather than a leaflet: a jewellery collection preview, a luxury project invitation, a showroom voucher meant to be presented at the counter. At this weight an A5 sheet is stiff enough to stand in a card holder.

Gloss or matt is a separate choice from GSM. Gloss makes colour pop and photographs shine, and it is what most clients pick. Matt art paper is easier to read under a bright light because it does not glare, and it takes a ballpoint pen, which matters when the insert has a form to fill or a coupon field to write on. Both are coated art paper and print equally well.

How do you check the paper before the 50,000-copy run?

Three checks catch nearly every paper problem before it reaches the press, and all three take minutes.

1. Ask for a printed proof on the actual stock, not a laser print on office paper. Office paper is typically 70 to 80 GSM uncoated, and it tells you nothing about how your artwork will look on 45 GSM newsprint or 90 GSM gloss. Put the proof at arm's length and check that the offer and the phone number are readable.
2. Check show-through on newsprint. If the back of an A2 insert carries a heavy dark block, hold the proof up to a window and look at the front. On 45 GSM some ghosting is normal; if it interferes with the front's headline, lighten the back or move the block. Art paper at 90 GSM and above rarely has this problem.
3. Weigh a ream if a stock claim matters to you. A ream of 500 A4 sheets at 90 GSM weighs about 2.8 kg; at 130 GSM about 4.1 kg. A kitchen scale settles any doubt about what was delivered.

The bottom line

GSM is paper weight, and in newspaper inserts it splits neatly into two worlds: 45 GSM newsprint for A2 sheets that read as part of the newspaper at ₹2.00 per copy, and 90 to 130 GSM glossy art paper for A4 and A5 sheets that stand apart from it at ₹1.50 and ₹1.20 per copy at 90 GSM. Pick newsprint when space and reach are the job, art paper when the photograph or the feel of the sheet is the job, and 90 GSM unless you have a specific reason to go heavier. Get both quotes, check a real proof, and spend the difference on more households rather than on weight the reader will not notice.