heavy card stock (110-120 lb) with excellent color brightness?

[AshleyTN]

I draw and print note cards and invitations that I sell from my small home business. They are mostly simple, cartoonish drawings, nothing of a photographic detail quality.

I print using an Epson Stylus Photo R3000 inkjet printer.

I am looking for recommendations for a heavy card stock (110-120 lb) that will have excellent color output. I know that photo paper will give the best color outputfor brightness, sharpness, and saturation, but I'm not sure I want to go that high in price (unless it's available cheaper than I think it is?).

Currently, I'm using Beckett Expression Radiance, Super Smooth, 120 lb double thick cover. I love the weight, but the saturation is still a little spotty and there's a tiny bit of feathering. Maybe I'm being picky and this is as good as it gets, but I hope I can do even better to get a really crisp, sharp result.

Can someone recommend what you'd consider to be the next best thing to photo paper? Or if there's a matte photo paper that is great and relatively cheap, that works too!

Thank you!

 

[fotofreek]

Red River has several matte papers, including a 96# coated card stock. That paper may be only coated on one side. Red River also has prefolded greeting card coated stock as well. http://www.redrivercatalog.com/ . You can send for a sample kit that has the various weights of paper of all surfaces for you to try on your printer. If you google Red River coupons you may find a reduced price for their sample kit. I've just started using one of their papers and really like it.

I've used Staples photo supreme double sided matte paper for greeting cards. Of the commercially available matte papers at the "big box stores" it is the most reasonable when on sale, and it is stiffer than one would expect from the weight. It goes on sale periodically at Staples for $2 per pack of 50 sheets. If this paper would suffice for some of your work it would offset the cost of more expensive heavier card stock. If you have a Staples store nearby, you can go online and have their weekly specials ad sent to your email address. That is the way I see when the Staples Supreme double sided matte is on sale.