Getting a story published in a regional or national newspaper is worthy of a memento. How long it lasts and how good the quality is preserved for depends on how it is printed and framed.
The simplest thing to do when framing a newspaper clipping is to use the original. The trouble you’ll have with this approach is longevity because newspapers use very brittle paper. They are lightweight, and not intended for preservation.
For a quality print that can be framed and retain the same colours for years (possibly decades) and without even a wrinkle, it needs to be transferred onto high-quality photo paper.
Scans are how you do that. Not by using a stick of glue to attach it to a thicker card. Quality prints come from being printed directly onto the photo paper, ensuring minimal degradation.
How to Scan a Newspaper Page
Newspapers are printed double-sided, and that’s what poses a problem. The bright light from the scanner causes the print on the reverse side to bleed through into the front side. The term used for this is bleed-through. How to scan a newspaper page without bleed through is to place a heavy black coloured piece of paper on the reverse side. It stops the reverse text, images, and ads, showing up on the front.
Instead, the darkness from the backing paper blocks all light from reaching the reverse, focusing entirely on the front. The result is a cleaner print with no distortions.
The Significance of Printer and Photo Paper Brands
For quality prints that will be used in commercial settings requiring brand consistency, the best results come from using a brand of photo paper that matches the brand of printer. The reason being all major print manufacturers have their own brand of paper. And the printers have custom colour profiles to match that paper stock.
If you were to take one printer brand and use a different brand of paper, you’d likely get different colour outputs. Reds could become more of a dark orange, and yellows may lean more toward a light green tone.
For the best print quality, match the brands! Without doing that, the colours are likely to be different, unless you use a custom ICC (International Color Consortium) colour profile. These are how all major newspapers can show brand advertisements with colour consistency, regardless of the print method used.
The Different Types of Photo Paper Brands Stock
Glossy
Glossy paper may be the first choice as it offers the qualities of what you think you’d like until you see the output. The trouble with it is glare. Glazing, even if framed with standard acrylic glazing, can be prone to glare in bright light conditions.
When you have a story behind the glass, reading it will be difficult for the viewer's eye. If you really want to get the glossy finish, balance it by framing it with a standard sized picture frame but using anti-glare acrylic glazing, or if you are working with a local frame store, you may have additional glazing options such as clarity glass, UV glass and anti-glare glass.
Satin
Satin paper is a semi-gloss option. Consider it a toned-down version of what you’d expect on a glossy magazine cover. Much of the same colour vibrancy on a smooth, untextured surface, without the high gloss sheen.
Matte
Photo paper with a matte finish is the more au-naturelle look. It has a slight texture to it, and that’s owing to it having less of a coating applied than satin and glossy paper that gives it a sheen. The only coating matte photo paper needs is a thin layer of an ink-receiving coating to help ensure that most ink from the printer gets absorbed by the paper.
Pearl/Lustre
Pearl or lustre paper is a more luxurious finish that’s used more in arts and crafts projects than professional prints. It can be an aesthetically brilliant choice for the likes of wedding invitations, or certificates.
About Paper Thicknesses for Printing
The thickness of paper is displayed on packaging, or product descriptions as a GSM; an abbreviation for “grams per square metre”. It’s beneficial when printing materials that will be handled.
For prints that will be framed for display and rarely handled, the GSM of the paper can be disregarded. It’s a useless metric for framing prints. GSM refers to the sturdiness of the paper, like how much manual handling it can take before it begins creasing, wrinkling, and tearing. The design of the paper though, that’s all in the type. Glossy, matte, satin, pearl or lustre.
What really matters when printing for framing purposes is that the paper is acid-free. That’s considered archival quality. For a business with a feature spread in a local or national newspaper soon after opening day, that same original quality could still be on display when celebrating the company’s 50th anniversary.