Six checks, any printed book, about a minute. None of them requires knowing anything about printing, and together they tell you more than a specification sheet does.
1. Hold a page up to a light
Look for show-through — the photograph on the other side, visible through the paper.
Some is normal. A dark photograph clearly readable through the page means the stock is too light for what is printed on it, and it will make every page look slightly muddled.
Our inner pages are 170 GSM, which is above where show-through starts.
2. Tilt it under a ceiling light
A hard bright patch means gloss. A soft sheen means ordinary matte. Almost nothing means non-glare.
Do it with a page carrying a dark photograph — a page of white space passes any test. Non-glare paper →
3. Look at a dark area very closely
Bring it to about fifteen centimetres and look at the darkest part of a photograph.
You are looking for banding — faint stripes across the dark area — and for whether black looks black or looks like very dark grey with a colour in it.
4. Run a thumb across the surface
Texture, and whether ink sits on top. Good printing on good paper feels like paper. Heavy ink coverage on a cheap stock can feel very slightly raised or tacky.
Then check your thumb: nothing should come off.
5. Open it flat and let go
Does it stay open? A lay-flat album should. A saddle-stitched magazine mostly will. A perfect-bound book will not, and will try to close on your hand.
That is binding rather than paper, and it is the property you will notice most in daily use. Photo book binding types →
6. Look at the smallest text
Can you read a caption comfortably at normal reading distance?
Small text is where cheap printing shows first — letters fill in, thin strokes break up, and edges soften. Printing text small →
| Check | Good | Poor |
|---|---|---|
| Held to light | Faint show-through | The other page is readable |
| Tilted under a light | Little or no reflection | A bright patch you move away from |
| Dark areas close up | Even, deep | Banding, or dark grey |
| Thumb across it | Feels like paper, nothing comes off | Tacky, or ink transfers |
| Opened and released | Stays open | Snaps shut |
| Smallest text | Crisp | Filled in, soft |
The specification that tells you least
GSM alone.
It is the number every seller quotes because it is the easiest to quote, and it tells you the weight and nothing about the finish, the binding, the ink or the printing.
A seller who says “300 GSM” and stops has told you one number out of five things that matter. What GSM means →
Doing this on a sample you cannot hold
Most photo books are bought online, so all six checks above are unavailable at the point of deciding. Three things that partly substitute:
Ask for the finish, not just the weight. “Is the inner paper matte, non-glare or gloss?” is a question a seller either answers precisely or does not.
Ask what the binding is by name. Saddle-stitch, perfect bound or lay-flat. A seller who says “premium binding” is describing nothing.
Buy the cheapest thing they make first. A ₹270 print pack on the same 300 GSM card answers the paper question for less than the price of a magazine, and it takes 5 to 14 days rather than a conversation.
What none of this measures
The design. A heavy, non-glare, beautifully bound book laid out badly is a worse object than a lighter one laid out well, and no physical check finds that. Cheap vs expensive photo books →
Frequently asked
How can I tell if photo book paper is good? Hold a page to the light for show-through, tilt it for glare, look closely at a dark area for banding, and check whether small text is crisp.
Is GSM a good measure of quality? It is the least informative single number. It gives weight and nothing about finish, binding or printing.
What is show-through? The photograph on the reverse being visible through the page. Some is normal; a clearly readable one means the paper is too light.
What is banding? Faint stripes across a dark area. It is a printing fault rather than a paper one.
Should a book stay open? A lay-flat album should. A saddle-stitched magazine mostly will. A perfect-bound one will not.
Part of our guide to paper and printing. See also: what GSM means and can I choose the paper?.
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