Coated vs. Uncoated Paper

Shore points out that coated paper was an early solution to dot gain. Dot gain is when a dot or drop of liquid ink spreads like a drop of watercolor falling from a paintbrush onto an absorbent sheet, such as uncoated paper. It's a situation for which printers must compensate, she says.

Shore says that when a photographic image printed on uncoated paper includes a shadow, the ink in the shadow areas can build up on the press and become mottled. The solution: under color removal (UCR) or gray component replacement (GCR).