Paper and Coating Abbreviations

Reading about a product you potentially want to buy shouldn’t be hard to do.  In an industry like digital printing, it can be complicated learning about the different specifications of digital ready materials.  MGX is here to help bring you a better understanding of paper and coating abbreviations and terminology so that as a buyer you can make an informed decision.

Many products carry the abbreviations of C0S, C1S, and C2S. While these all sound similar, they refer to different stages of printing and different options of ordering product, so it is always important to choose the correct terminology. Here at MGX those abbreviations tell us about the digital coating preference that is needed for an application.

Papers are produced with a raw, matter surface that is referred to as C0S paper, because at this point no coating has been applied to the surface of the paper.  Most times a gloss shine is desired on the paper.  The paper is passed through a series of rollers that apply a clay coating to the paper and give it a high gloss shine.  If the shine is on one side of the paper it is referred to as C1S.  If it is on both sides it is called C2S.

When we receive material here at our facility, we apply a digital coating onto the paper to prep it for digital presses such as Hp Indigo, Xeikon, Nexpress, etc.  Thanks to our printing development and research we can print on raw matte surface (C0S) or high gloss clay coating (C1S and C2S).  We can coat both sides of any stage of paper.

We break our digital coating down by the abbreviations O1S and O2S.  O1S means optimizing (coating) a material on one side, while O2S means optimizing for two sides.  This cuts down on confusions, because C0S, C1S, and C2S stand for the state of the paper when it arrives, while O1S and O2S refer to our coating application.

Using this paper and coating terminology can help you understand the processes we put products through to make them digital friendly.  When ordering products from MGX don’t be afraid to contact us about the specifications or abbreviations on a product for your application so we can make your work a MASTERPIECE!